Senior Scout Gevaudan Cannagrrh mustered out of the Artemis Security Services some time after the Fifth Frontier War in the Spinward Marches.
He purchased a 200 ton Far Scout Variant and gave it a name that translated to Sixth Horizon. The vessel had a Passenger capability of six with ten Low Passage berths. With a Jump-4 and sub-light Thrust of 6Gs, the Sixth Horizon satisfied Gevaudan's need for speed and range.
The oldest profession in the universe was the most obvious choice after the Fifth Frontier War. Added to the nature of his home polity, the Society of Equals, Gevaudan used its laws and Library data to look for a means of slaving the most valuable stock from low-Law worlds near the polity.
With a Jump-4 capability, Gevaudan was able to take up slaving Concubines from Rorroksueknea / Aelluekh (Gvurrdon 2628) and transport, thus immigrating the Concubines 'legally' as slaves, to the Society of Equals and bypassing immigration laws there. Choosing Gnoengungag / Ksits Usathu Odzuetarug (Gvurrdon 1923) for its low Government rating, Gevaudan was able to sell each haul of slaves at reduced taxes.
Gevaudan's Concubine operation was limited to only 16 slaves per run and so was not a burden on Population ratings of a world. On return trips, he used the same staterooms and low berths for normal Society Passengers and their luggage. His route through Non-Aligned Vargr Extents space, was fast with only three jumps, each with a gas giant for fuel skimming and onboard processing. His Far Scout was capable of re-supplying at the end of each run to and from the Society of Equals.
The Senior Scout was very gentle with his stock of Concubines. The mildest of slaves were treated to double-occupancy staterooms for the three week journey to the Society of Equals, while the others were given low berths to sleep through the journey. He did not make use of stock barracks, but occasionally made use of capture collars with unruly Concubines. With his training in Medical, Gevaudan took extra time in reviving his transported slaves and Passengers with the utmost caution. The slaver made use of Sonic Rifles on runaways rather than un-Vargr (translation: inhumane) weapons such as Tape Guns on furred slaves. The disorientation suffered from such weapons made re-capture or other punitive measures easier. This was a seldom, perhaps annual encounter with individual slaves.
Given the Sixth Horizon's Thrust of 6Gs, he could outrun almost all Law officials, Corsairs and even incoming missiles. Though six gees is punishing, getting hit by nuclear missiles was more dangerous and Gevaudan was prepared to ride out a combat while belted to an acceleration couch.
Not needing the bridge's manual controls due to his cybernetic Ship Systems Integration, Gunnery Integration and supplementary specialized Astrogation laptop computer, Gevaudan was able to run most of the ship while jacked into the onboard computer. It was not until the Collapse that the Senior Scout encountered something he could not outrun. Virus arriving in the Vargr Extents during the 1130s made his life hard. He was forced to make modifications to his Ship Operations during the threat of Virus and the Vampire Fleets of the times. IFF transponders and Comms systems were gutted from the Sixth Horizon to be replaced with flashing light (or laser) signallers that were manually activated to signal vessels of the ship's identification, tonnage, destination and cargo. As he was known as a frequent slaves supplier after the arrival of Virus, the Society looked forward to his arrival every 1.5 months.
Gevaudan continued this route well into the Collapse when Rorroksueknea was enveloped by the Wilds. Thanks to Quarantine precautions supplied by the Rimward Regency, Gevaudan was able to retreat monthly into the Society of Equals which managed to cordon off Virus to just a few parsecs to Trailing. His business gained a reputation for quality, healthy and often willing Concubine slaves eager to be relocated to civilized space. The Courier went so far as to provide those slaves transported in double-occupancy staterooms the opportunity to train in non-violent Skill-0 through use of the ship's library computer and off-duty Robots Bob and Vincent. If he had time between ship operations and sleep, Gevaudan would also help with training. Though those Concubines were suffering a reduction in their Charisma and Societal station as slaves, coming out of the Wilds to stable civilization was an upgrade.
As a parting gift to each Concubine sold, Senior Scout Gevaudan would give each slave a slave's ear hoop of semiprecious metal as a subtle sign of quality as a slave above the rest. While this was often overlooked, the slaves transported by the Sixth Horizon managed to sell at higher prices due to specialized treatment by the Vargr Courier. He would often write missives to any slaves that caught his eye, standing out above the other Concubines. It was his idealistic tendency to follow up on those he had sold to the Society that they were treated well after transported. Some Concubines wrote back to the captain of the Sixth Horizon, reporting a better life or earning their freedom some time afterwards.
Gevaudan has only one other crew aboard the Far Scout. It was rumored that his second crew was often one of his few mates, married to the Scout for the time they worked aboard the Sixth Horizon. Gevaudan cycled through at least four mates in this manner, but no pairing resulted in offspring. Even more hushed is the rumor that at least one of his mate-crew were slaves that caught his eye and he then emancipated, crewed and married for the term needed by law to free a slave. Often, former mates of the Courier would meet on a world to compare their experiences with the Scout and Courier. The two Servitor robots are Vargr-shaped, but human manufactured, which the Senior Scout named "Bob" and "Vincent" by borrowing Humaniti names to separate them from Vargr robots. During the Collapse, the robots were modified to keep from infection by Virus. This was a careful era for the Courier and slaver. Vincent was programmed for Steward duties in addition to Gunnery in one of the ship's two turrets. The robot was gentle to the stateroom slaves and crew and this was a boon to the captain of the Sixth Horizon as it kept the peace despite the slaves' lowered status.
Another rumor that follows Senior Scout Gevaudan is that he at one point came into contact, during the Fifth Frontier War, with an Ancients artifact that aided in jump
Astrogation re-vectoring. While this rumor is true, by the time the Vargr captained the Sixth Horizon, he and the strange device had taken separate paths. His Far Scout vessel is Jump-4 rated by its own virtue. As an accomplished Astrogator, Gevaudan always takes at least one time band extra to run his calculations before engaging the jump drive of the ship he pilots.
In addition to Passengers and slaves, Gevaudan could re-fit his vessel's cargo capacity for transporting a single universal mail container to transport mail. This was only done pre-Virus eras and only after Quarantine measures were commonplace later. This required that he un-bolt a single low berth from the ship to re-allocate its displacement tonnage to cargo availability. This was done in times of low slave stock availability at his source world(s).
Gevaudan's route through three jumps of space favored low- to mid-Law levels so as to avoid many entanglements with police vessels. This was a double-edged sword as in the same worlds, he was risking Corsairs. Both threats were by and large uninterested in his cargo of slave stock.
During slave the Spinward runs, Gevaudan when purchasing slaves would make sure to include the stock's luggage (if any) in the 4.5 tons of available cargo space. This was never much, but the Courier believed in treating his stock as kindly as the profession allowed. The Scout never illegally purchases shanghaied or immorally captured slaves. He prefers self-indentured, (due to high debts or other reasons), stock and will take on only the mildest of deported criminals sold to slavery, (most choosing enslavement over worse local punishments). Proficient in Medical, Gevaudan also keeps meticulous records his stock health and vaccinations - often performed personally. This gave him a good reputation with slaver Fetches and with slave Buyers at the journey's end. His ship's Jump-4 capability gave him added clout in that he could minimize cabin fever of his stock due to gas giant refuelling without stopping at any world on the route but the final destination to the sale.
In this post-career profession, Senior Scout Gevaudan Cannagrrh was both publicized and advertised by his elder sister, the Dame Qithka Cannagrrh of Kfan Uzangou (tr: White Fangs) magazine of Gvurrdon Sector. This spread his name over the Society of Equals and the Rimward edge of Gvurrdon. His Vargrtarian award for his gentle means of slaving was recorded in the late 1140s in the Society of Equals. Many of his former slaves managed to emancipate themselves through the courts or buying their freedom. A few tested for Equality by becoming full citizens of the polity. Less than that took his example when buying their own slaves from the Senior Scout later in life. By this time, the old Vargr captain was ready to retire and settle down though finding a place to do so was difficult for the elderly spacer.
