Necromunda: Deadly Business

Prologue: Deadly Business

"Talk is cheap. Show me some Thrones" - A common Tradesberg saying.

Chemical fog burped up from the Great Sump River which smothered the wooden piers, reducing the neon lights from the Grand Bazaar to an indistinct glow in the ever-present glow of the Under Hive. Even at this late hour, there was life in Tradesberg; the taverns and gambling halls were more active around these hours than at any other time. Merchants still tried to hock their wares off, calling out to possible customers or to passing trade caravans. SDC controlled water purifiers - large collectors that were tasked with separating any remaining water from the glowing alchemic stew of the river - chugged along, making echoes in the depression. The settlement was rarely quiet.

Because of this - or driven further on - cutpurses, burglars, muggers, and houseless Dregs(1) used this time to fill their pockets with Black Thrones or put some notches on their blades. They prayed upon traders getting off their cogs, other houseless Dregs, on hapless schmucks who just happened to get in their way. Once they saw red, white, and black, though, most of them would slink back into the shadows and wait for better opportunities.

On the SDC controlled docks, the boiler keeper and sailors had quit their labors and retreated into the heaven of Tradesberg. Using the scraps they called pay on stewpots lining Starch Alley, or on drink in one of the many Acid Warden controlled bars. Maybe even find some company for the night. Others who were not so lucky slunk off to places unknown or into the holds of their vessels for some much-needed sleep. Odd tranquility had overtaken the normally hectic waterways.

Men and women in heavy boots made their way down the southernmost pier. They wore a mixture of factory environment suits, leather armor, or scraps of metal plates they found along the way. They carried an assortment of cudgels and stub pistols. All of them were Houseless Dregs, some of the lowest of the low in Tradesberg. Most formed their own gangs for either protection or trying to give off the illusion of power, but most of the time they sold their numbers when the House Gangs needed proper fodder. They were being driven on by an older man who was tailing them from behind, shouldering a well-maintained lasgun. He had on the metal black and red bodysuit of the Ironway Spiders - a Van Saar(2) aligned gang.

Black Bessa was a big river cog moored near the end of the pier, an ancient hulk from somewhere beyond Tradesberg. The ship had arrived three days before, and its cargo of corpse starch, scrap metal, and ammunition had been unloaded. Now it waited hungrily as her captain tried to secure fresh cargo. Rumor was he was trying to secure Ogryn(3) slaves for the slag mines up north. It was a common practice for captains to make big promises of greater pay to enlist new sailors onto their crews. Failing to do so would normally cause them to resort to shanghaiing sailors from other crew or from the local populace. This normally lead to attempted mutinies or battles out on the river. A smart captain always knew how to tell the correct amount of truth for business.

She was the objective for these Dregs. For many of them, they thought of the riches the river cog was keeping in her holds, while others were using this opportunity to impress the Spider bringing up the rear. Maybe if they showed how useful they were then they would be recruited into the gang, and then they would get ahold of the Van Saar technology. No one would mess with them again.

Without a sound the Dregs scurried up the gangplank that connected Black Bessa to the docks, spreading out onto the deck. The lonely sentry, a sailor more interested in his glowsticks than in his duty, failed to notice the intruders creeping across the deck. The crack of a club against his skull ensured he wouldn't notice anything else for a few more hours.

"The hold," the Spider whispered, gesturing with his lasgun to the covered hatch. "Open it." Two Dregs hurried forward to undo the bolts keeping the door closed.