After minimal surveillance effort, there's no indication that the two Vargr kidnappers are going back to their 'warehouse lair'... at least for the foreseeable future. It was kept rather austere anyway, but it seems reasonable that it's the same location where they held they other captives.

This seems like an appropriate place to turn the tables on them... poetic justice in a sense.

Reese suggests that a sleep gas be used to knock them out when they park their work van at home. You can then use the same van to transport them to the other side of the warehouse where the lair is, return the van while the deed is done, thus leaving the Vargr to make their way home via public routes.

It's currently Friday morning and the two of them will be off work at 1730 hours.


Indy gave Reese a rough estimation of the Vargrs' weight so he can adjust the sleep gas appropriately. Too much and they might never wake up, which was going to cause a lot more problems then they'd really like. Best to err on the side of caution.

She asked if there was anything that she could do to help the others while waiting for the shaving to begin.


Walter is expecting to meet with Serge's business associate on the morrow, and the ship is scheduled for departure on Sunday.

Sylvester was giddy, it was like hazing in college! He would help however they wanted him too. He hoped Val had a good time like he planned to.

"Thanks, Indy. Those numbers are better than my estimate, though for the amount I'm using, it won't make a significant difference, but it's always better to have accurate data," Reese answers.

"Did you have any particular pattern you wanted to carve on them? The area could affect the result."

In reply to Reese Hardsimm (msg # 3):

     "Y'know, Reese," Vonon says, having overheard this discussion as he's headed to get a cup of Kaff, "There's a chemical weapon we used to use, back in my Patrol days, called...Vor-Gas, I think it was--it's something the Imperium whipped up centuries ago, that lets security teams safely take down bad guys who're holding hostages.  I'm not one hundred percent certain about its availability here on Duncinae--I know the Caledonians make their own version of it but I don't know if the Confederacy does, as well.  It might be an imported item."

     "Anyway, you could have Pablo or Jack see if they could use their credentials as Longshot's Security Team to see if they can purchase a couple of grenades of the stuff."

     "As I understand it, Vor-Gas has a centuries long history of safe usage against multiple species.  Not doubting your skills, Doctor, but a mass manufactured chem-weapon might be safer than what you can whip up in our small MedBay.  Just saying..."

- Oh, Capt'n, are you talking about this? - Serge pulled out of the pocket and demonstrated him a tranq gas grenade as if it was an everyday thing he was carrying around in the pockets, like a spare change.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:53, Sun 19 Mar 2023.

In reply to Serge Baklanov (msg # 5):

OOC: "demonstrated" a tranq grenade?  Y'mean you just popped the sucker, right there in the Wardroom?!  ^_^


     "Yeah!" Vonon exclaims, pointing at the cannister-shaped grenade Serge is holding up,

     "I don't know if that's Vorgas, or some other substance, but yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about.  How many of those do you have, Serge?"

In reply to Reese Hardsimm (msg # 3):

"I didn't want any particular pattern," Inderpal replied firmly. "I want it all shaved off."

She saw Serge pull out the grenade and smiled. That seemed a great idea.

"That's a good idea, but we'll probably need masks or something to avoid being knocked out ourselves once we enter the room. How long would it put these guys out for? Enough time to tie them up?"

In reply to Inderpal Kumar (msg # 7):

     "If that stuff is like the Vorgas I've used," Vonon responds, "it usually dissipates to ineffectiveness in a few minutes--five, ten minutes at most.  Then, for the first fifteen to twenty minutes, it'll take a medical team to wake up the subjects of the gas.  After that time, though, it wears off fairly quickly, and the subject can awaken as normal.  About thirty or forty minutes and they're awake.  Longest I've ever heard of Vorgas lasting on someone was a whole hour, no longer."

     "If we wanna keep 'em down after the first twenty minutes, while we work on them, I'm sure Reese, here, could give them a light sedative to keep them under until we're done."

     "Also...I've been thinking about something.  Even though we'll still be on-planet for a couple of days after this is done, I think it's important for all of us involved to not try to hide our faces when we record this."

     "This whole operation is based on truth--the truth that those two did mean to kidnap someone for ransom, the truth that they did kidnap Inderpal, the truth that they held her against her will, and the truth that we're doing all this to balance the scales between Inderpal and the Two Idiots."

     "I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but I believe that it will lessen the credibility of our Truth, if we make any effort to conceal our identities.  I'm not saying that we introduce ourselves, or anything like that--in fact, everyone should try not to mention anyone else's name!--but no masks."

"Sounds good to me Vo. And bald is a good answer for them Indy!"

Sharik had been listening to the discussion, sitting at Indy's side.  Her left hand rested gently in the small of her fellow ex-scout's back.  She cleared throat, when Vo mentioned no masks not to conceal their identities, "I am not sure about the legal angle here, Cap'n.  Unless we are filming, the perps are unreliable at best.  From what I can tell from Indy's debrief, they mistook her for another woman - the wealthy socialite, Astrid Cumberbatch, who was also at the winery that evening."  And to remind the others, she brought up a recent stock picture of Astrid to remind the assembled just how different the two looked physically - matching primarily in height and hair color/length and little else.

"If they couldn't tell the difference between humans then .... " she posited, "it's unlikely that they will distinguish them that well now."  The thin astrogator paused for a moment, before sitting up, "Another vargr, however..."  And she got in line with Vonon's thinking.  It may be impossible to mask his scent from their targets; so, the Captain would likely remain immediately recognizable to them afterwards; Shar shrugged and simply noted, "Your call."  Ultimately, she had to trust her Captain (as she had many times in the past) with respect to ways of his racial brethren.

She was gonna carry her stunner and her brass knuckles, `just in case`, anyways.  She was ready, and would be carrying a balaclava anyways, for when they were moving to and from the site; it went with the rest of her outfit.  A dark set of fitted, coveralls with accent piping and tactical webbing for equipment; all covered by long, dark, high-necked, double-breasted, groat-skin trench coat and gloves.  Somehow the ensemble was extremely fashionable (well, the custom tailoring definitely helped) and functional all at once.

Lol. But, I'll be grateful if you will be offering a better wording every time you feel it is appropriate.




- Three of those.



Serge looked over Sharik's shoulder.
- She's pretty. Are there pictures of her in a magazine spread?

Sharik simply snorted, playfully dismissing off her ex-marine companion's remark.  "Not as pretty as our girl." the auburn-haired astrogator chirped, giving Indy's hand a gentle squeeze.

"And pretty much irrelevant, anyways." Shar refocused on their attention back to the task at hand, "You can try and hit on Astrid Cumberbatch after our successful sortie."  All of the pics that her agent had dug up were stuff from the Duncinae equivalent of Architectural Digest - which meant that the girl and her family were old money and liked old stone architecture.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:22, Tue 04 Apr 2023.

Indy looked at the photos.

"Can we drop off some leaflets for an opticians while we're there? She looks nothing like me."

Astrid was definitely pretty, but Sharik was prettier by far.

     Vonon is standing nearby adjusting the vest of what looks suspiciously like a Police Tactical Uniform--he seems to be un-doing then re-doing several Velcro adjustment straps around the vest...

     "What, you didn't know?  All of you Humans look the same to us Vargr..." Vonon says, then throws his arms up in frustration over the vest.

     "Okay, I admit it!  I've gained a little weight since I last wore this, and I'm having trouble getting it to fit right..."

     Vonon is wearing a single piece jumpsuit made from a heavy looking material--likely ballistic cloth--colored a dark "lunar gray".  The vest, looking like the same material, has many pouches--front and back--and clips for hanging gear, it even has an integral pistol holster, located under his left arm.  Right now, with the collar at his neck and the cuffs at his wrists, covered and sealed by Velcro straps--though the pant legs seem to be fitting well, tucked into his black Space Boots--Vonon is looking a little like he's stuffed himself into a suit that's one size too small...

     Vonon looks back to Inderpal,

     "Oh, we get the big details right--we can tell a blonde from a brunette from a redhead, and we obviously can see differences in height and weight and skin tone--but it's the little details we sometimes don't catch!  Eye color, cosmetics use, tiny distinguishing marks, body art, that kinda stuff."

     "And that's because Vargr don't rely on our eyesight as much as your people.  Oh, yeah, all that stuff about Vargr having sharper eyes than you?  That's a load of crap!  On a Human vision chart, the average Vargr would test out at something like...mmmm...twenty/forty.  But then, we don't count as exclusively as Humans do on eyesight, in order to interpret the environment around us."

     "We augment the processing of environmental stimulus with both our hearing and our sense of smell--we hear a faint sound, we turn our eyes towards that sound, then we catch a faint scent from that direction--without conscious thought we process all that together--and we tell our Human friends that there is a feral animal hiding behind a bush, over there, a hundred feet away.  Even though most of us can't see with full clarity, that far away."

     Vonon yanks down on the front hem of the tactical vest,

     "Now, would somebody please help me with this vest!"  Vonon growls in frustration.

- We'll fix that now!
Serge grabbed the strap of the vest and put his knee on Vonon's side.
- Exhale, captain!
And with these words Serge pulled the straps and tightened the vest. Then for a few seconds Serge looked at Vonon in embarrassment.
- Eh.. What?.. Are you trying to say something?.. Why did you bulge your eyes?..

In reply to Serge Baklanov (msg # 15):

     "Gah!  Dats Goo...!" Vonon gasps, trying to get air back into his lungs, "That's Good!  Thank you, Serge..."

     Vonon shifts his tactical vest a little bit, just getting it to settle on his shoulders better, then nods his acceptance,

     "Yes.  Very good.  Now..." Vonon gestures towards Serge,

     "Serge, here, has three knock-out gas grenades--we should only need two--oh, and everyone must have a protective mask!  Filter Mask, Respirator, I don't care, just so long as it protects you from the gas."

     "Did we ever settle the question to hide our faces, or not to hide our faces?  I think we'll have enough time to get off-world if we don't hide our faces, and Indy just uses her first name, when she explains what's happening and why,"

     "Oh, and Serge, The Ship will replace those two for you, just not here on Duncinae.  The first world with decent tech that we touch down on, we'll buy you replacements.  I promise."

     "Okay, so, I've made arrangements to rent an airlorrie.  We use that to get all of us to where the Two Idiots are living.  We locate the Idiots--preferably we catch them someplace where they are together in a confined space--we quietly get close, then we pop one of the sleepy-grenades into that room, with them.  That should keep them knocked out long enough for us to set up the scene."

     "When the Two Idiots wake up--or, when we're ready, we wake them up...Reese?--when they're awake, they will each be tied to a chair with plastic sheeting on the floor under them..."

     Vonon pauses to chuckle, and adds, "hurr-hurr  If those Two Idiots are any kind of real criminals, that, right there, should freak them out!  A real criminal wakes to find himself tied up with plastic sheets on the floor, he expects to be getting his throat cut, soon.  hurr-hurr  I'm just doing it, so we don't leave a sloppy, furry mess on the floor  hurr-hurr"

     "Okay, when these guys wake up, they are tied to chairs and stripped to their waists--" Vonon looks aside to Inderpal, "To the waist, right?  Or you wanna do a full-body job on these Idiots?  We can always just dump buckets of hair remover over them, then use buckets of water to rinse them--no scrubbing involved!  Might even produce a better result if they look all patchy and mangey...everywhere..."

     "So, Inderpal," Vonon asks, "Have you given thought to what and how you want to present your case to the viewers of the Duncinaean dataweb?"

"I want to do a full body job on these animals," Inderpal replied. "Although they can keep their underpants on. I don't want to see Vargr bo****ks if I can help it."

She looked at Vonon's own vest and wondered if she could get one of her own. Then she smiled.

"As for presenting my case, I'll have to write down what I want to say... or we can get them to say it!" Her grin was slightly disturbing now. "Make clear that they did what they did for precisely no good reason."

She moved back to look at the photos and her face went back into a thoughtful expression.

"How much hair remover would you need and how long would it take to work? Also, we'd need to avoid getting it on ourselves. I don't fancy being patchy myself."

"Wear a boarding suit, sealed then. Or a shower cap." he grinned. "Then shower to clean the hair remover, before you remove the suit. or you might get it on you when you remove the suit."

In reply to Sylvester Jinx (msg # 19):

Inderpal did not respond to this, but mentally decided the shower cap would be the best option. She waited to see what Vonon would say in response to her ideas.

Sharik noted simply, her tone entirely deadpan and yet casual, "We have plenty of fully sealed masks in the locker, if necessary."  She and Indy had done the ship's locker inventory a while ago, and seen the two dozen or so life-support items first hand.  They were more than adequate given full-facial visibility as well as a complete environmental seal.  The lithe astrogator added, "We can cover the company logos as needed."

Her hand holding Indy's, Shar simply encouraged the dialogue, "Patchy, complete, or with added body art ... all will be fine and achieve the desired results, I suspect."  She was also noncommittal about any statements, "As for statements of intent?  They know they screwed up, but the physical shame is more likely to hit home than any forced statement.  Everyone knows words can be coerced."  Not that she was saying it shouldn't be done, cause it would be hilarious to have a record of - but, it just may not mean as much to their quarry as it would to Indy.

"Embarrassment by shaving just helps to drive home to them how idiotic they were." she noted, "And might.." and it seemed more dubious to Sharik, "curb future behaviors..."  Or, though she left it unsaid, the perps might just view the humiliation as the price of doing business with non-Vargr and then they would simply try to plan better next time.  And cover their entire bodies to foil/delay identification.

That is why they'd left the lawyer on retainer.  Copies of the recording as well as all of their own public findings were left with the attorneys.  You know, just in case, it would help in the future (and even if they were unlikely to be back this way for a while).

"So, when do we go to shave the puppies?" he asks with a grin on his face. His hazard suit was collected and ready to go, including the helmet and face mask, he didn't care to be bald himself, Val might not like it too much.

OOC: AAARGH! You go shave the Vargr as soon as one of you actually says you are DOING something, not just sitting around discussing what you can or might or want to do!


Having determined that the two Vargr are going about their regular everyday schedule, completely oblivious to what's about to happen, the Shaving Party shows up at the Vargr apartment--the one that's in the other half of the converted warehouse from where they'd held Indy.

Their door isn't even locked. Someone eases the door open and Vonon tosses the two tranq grnades in.

"Roh-roh," can be heard a moment before the sound of two bodies hitting the floor.

Vonon and Sharik rush in, make sure the two Vargr are, indeed, unconscious before letting Reese in. He verifies that they are just asleep, gives them an additional dose and indicates they are ready for transport.

It's easy enough to haul them out--one at a time--to their own van, load them in, and then drive the van around to the other end of the warehouse. Reversing the process soon has the two Vargr ensconced in the prepared chairs.

You may now proceed with the shaving!

"So, do we wait for them to wake up before the shaming, or let them sleep through it and wake up bald? Either way is fine by me. Get that stuff on their genetalia too, completely bald! Hehehehehe." Covered completely by his suit and gloves, Sylvester helps apply the cream/foam hair remover to their bodies. Helping as Indy indicates, she gets to get whatever parts she wants, it's HER revenge, he was only happy to help a friend!
This message was last edited by the player at 15:02, Thu 27 Apr 2023.

Serge took on the role of cameraman and was filming the event.

In reply to Serge Baklanov (msg # 25):

     Once the two morons are brought to the other end of the warehouse in which they live, Vonon quickly searches for a pair of simple metal office chairs he'd noticed when he was here last--when Inderpal was rescued.

     "Strip the two snarfs down to their boxers, then sit 'em in these chairs and tape 'em up." Vonon says, producing a large roll of duct tape from a shoulder bag,

     "Don't forget to put a big piece over their muzzles--for now."

     Vonon sees Serge preparing to start recording,

     "Serge!  Indy!  Once the idiots are secured to their chairs, Reese will give 'em something to wake them.  Don't record Reese giving them anything!  Once they start to wake up, Serge starts recording...and it's your show, Indy."

     "The rest of us will stay silently in the background.  We'll prepare the buckets of hair remover and rinse water.  We get this done quick!  We hand you the stuff as you call for it.  Just dump the depilatory all over them, give it a couple minutes to work, then rinse 'em off.  It doesn't have to look pretty--in fact, a patchy, mangey look works better."

     Varca turns to Sylvester and adds, "Leave their boxers on!  Unless you wanna be the one to rub the cream onto their ballocks!"

     Vonon catches Indy's eye, "Remember, if we wanna sell this as a prank to get even, then you have to be seen as doing the important stuff, Indy.  We can carry stuff for you, even hand you the hair removing cream, but it has to be you taking the direct action.  And you need to keep explaining that you're doing this to them, because they grabbed you off the street and held you against your will for hours--all due to a case of mistaken identity.  Mention that their plan was to hold that other woman until they were paid to return her."

     "Never use the word 'Kidnap' or 'Hostage'!  Never!  Those two words have a Legal definition--as in they are Illegal Activities!"

     "Okay, looks like we're ready." Vonon nods, grabbing a bucket in which he'll mix up a batch of the depilatory cream Reese prepared, "Okay, Reese, do what you gotta do to wake 'em up.  Serge--you start recording as soon as Reese is clear of the idiots..."

     "Indy--you're gonna do great.  Don't be angry!  Be indignant!"

"I thought we were removing ALL of their hair? I have safety equipment on, to keep the stuff off of me." he says as he begins helping to pass buckets.

Serge showed thumb up.
- I think this track will be appropriate, - Serge pushed a button:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpC7NuGlDNQ
This message was last edited by the player at 17:47, Fri 28 Apr 2023.

Inderpal takes the depilatory cream once Vonon has repaired it. She has memorised a speech on the way over that she will recite once they are woken up. Because she wants to make sure they are conscious for every minute of this.

Once they wake up, she begins.

"Let me explain a little about what is going to happen and why, you bunch of horrific idiots."

Sharik was as she usually was on such operations: efficient and effectively background.  She handled much of logistics to make sure that equipment and personnel got to where they needed to, when they needed to.  The auburn-haired ex-operative allowed those to focus on their specialties and roles; she was there when Indy needed support with her speech, or her hair, or her suit.  But, when the spotlight focused on her companion, Shar faded into the background.

She was fully present and carried her stunner with her ("Just in case"), but didn't seem to need the glare of the lights herself.  Shar did make sure that Rrarrik and Aroo were both fully securely bound by double-checking their bindings, but also fully awake when Indy started her spiel.  She even referred to the two vargr by name multiple times to get their attention and ensure that they knew their captors had the correct individuals (and that the captive knew that as well).

Sharik's own mask had the glare filter on, which allowed her own features to be obscured to try and make her far less recognizable (whether on the video or by the perps).

Inside his suit, Sylvester had a grin a mile wide! He was having fun! He helped Vonon pass buckets to Indy since she wanted to apply it all, he was satisfied helping his friend get retribution!

[The Warehouse.  Planet Duncinae.]

     Okay.  The task finished--apparently--Vonon sets his mask over his face, then says "Cut.  Save.  Whatever.  Everyone--get ready to leave..." Vonon pantomimes to Serge the pulling of a pin from a grenade.
 (OOC: yeah-yeah, grenades at this Tech Level have different safety measures than a safety pin! I know that!  I'm using Artistic License, here! ^_^)

     As everyone prepares to leave, Vonon steps close to the two now-messy Vargr, leans down and quietly speaks through his mask in the common dialect of the Vargr,

     {"You dumb Herbivores futzed with the wrong Pack!  Be glad we didn't hand you over to the Pinkskins for them to punish you for Kidnapping!  Snarfs!  The both of you..."}

     Once everyone is geared back up, Vonon gestures towards Serge,

     "Our parting gift, if you would, sir...?"

     Once the grenade has dispersed its gas, and Reese has confirmed the two are again unconscious, Vonon pulls his Blade from its scabbard on his tactical vest--strapped horizontally across the small of his back--and proceeds to cut the tapes holding to their chairs.

     "Clean up the evidence." Vonon says, as he's freeing the unconscious Vargr, "Except for the goop on the floor, gather everything we brought in here with us.  Don't forget the grenades we tossed around!"

Inderpal starts to grab the items that they brought with them, placing them in the bags that they brought along with them to carry the stuff.

She looks down on her kidnappers and considers spitting, but realises that would leave DNA. Instead, once they are finished, she leaves without looking back.

Serge felt pity for the two "snarfs"... almost.
When the job was done, he double-checked that all traces were gone and was the last one who left the warehouse.

Sylvester helped with the cleanup, thankful his hazard suit was clean with none of the defurring potion on it, he didn't want to be bald for Val, she liked his hair! "I hope you didn't get any on you chief, or you might have patchy fur that looks like mange!" He headed back to the vehicle as fast as he could, just in front of Serge.

In reply to Sylvester Jinx (msg # 35):

     Once everyone is back aboard the airlorry and it's airborne, heading back to Longshot, Varca says,

     "Okay folks--it's Friday night, now.  Longshot is scheduled to lift off Sunday afternoon--unless the other guys find out something that we have to look into which might prevent that.  So, I'm highly recommending that all of us..." Vonon gestures around at everyone in the airlorry, "plan on remaining aboard the ship from now until liftoff."

In reply to Vonon Ronkunu (msg # 36):

Inderpal is deep in thought, but she realises that Vonon has a very good point. They don't want to draw any more attention to themselves than they have to right now.

"Agreed."

In reply to Inderpal Kumar (msg # 37):

Sylvester nods his head to Vonon, "Not a bad idea Capt."

Sharik was the last to leave the site, she's been diligent in cleaning up and trying to leave little to no trace on anything left behind.  She's policed the brass (well, grenade pins, glassware, needles, and bottles/containers).  As the last of the detritus and debris is swept into a holding bag for incineration, the auburn-haired ex-operative starts to ensure that prints (foot and finger) aren't left anywhere by wiping and sweeping any surfaces.

She's knew it wasn't perfect, but she was extremely efficient about it.  Apparently, this was not her first rodeo.  Shutting the door behind her, her soft terry cloth wiped the various access surfaces and then got popped into the incinerator bag.

"Yeah," Shar seemed to completely agree with the Captain's recommendation, as she sidle up next to Indy, "we should sequester."  She could think of a lot of things that could be done on the Longshot over the next couple of days.  ToWith Indy.

After tossing the sealed garbage bag in the trunk and piling into grav vehicle, Sharik looked to see if Vo wanted to drive (as is his prerogative as Captain), but knowing that she had far more experience with small atmospheric gravitic craft.

"++Buckle up.++" she chirped into the common crew channel.  The visor on her mask popped open revealing her smooth Solomani, Asian features and a slightly crooked smile.  Her fingers danced over the panel and the navigation route appeared - a touch circuitously to the Longshot, then she intoned quietly - and almost reverentially, "Let's go home."

In reply to Sharik Kaagira (msg # 39):

Inderpal smiles slightly. She is still going to need therapy to do with all of this, but revenge - for the time being - feels good.

She says nothing as they heard back to the ship.

Nothing appears in the news the next day, and only one face-snap can be found of the two hairless Vargr as they are caught dashing from van to apartment door.

Then again, it is the weekend so they probably don't have to work. And we food delivery apps like BiteForce and DoorDrop, they don't have to go out.

Sharik is able to tap into one of their orders from the Super Rx pharmacies to find they've ordered a couple gallons of hair growth formula.

Sharik spent the weekend puttering around Longshot.  There were hours spent on astrogation calculations and other ship duties.  But plenty of time was spent sipping coffee (with Indy, of course), reading (with Indy, of course), and doing yoga (with Indy, of course).

The auburn-haired dilettante also spent a number of hours sculpting; Shar had taken up the hobby of micro-sculpts which entailed detailed use of both PRIS goggles and Static Fist gauntlets to create tiny figurines with features etched at the near-nanoscopic scale.

The ex-operative also seemed to take a special glee in monitoring the cosmetic and beauty products purchases of the two vargr perps.  She also made sure that a couple of 'Dumb' and 'Dumber' t-shirts had been anonymously added to the invoice of items.  Copies of the videos were sequestered along with the evidence file supporting their findings and dispositions on the entire matter.  Everything above board was readily made available to the attorneys that they were retaining on Duncinae.

With the group having returned, Sir Walker left them thick as thieves as he did not what to know what transpired but was happy that they all appeared alright.

"Serge, what time did you want to meet with Liao?" he asked

- I think we can invite him for a dinner tonight, - Serge said.

"Lets do it here then so he knows what he is getting into." Sir Walker said with a smile.

In reply to Sharik Kaagira (msg # 42):

Indy for her part started looking up possible places they could go to next; she wanted somewhere with less chance of kidnapping, for one thing.

2Starmaster:
Serge will send the appointment to Liao.