I was on the planet Sirma in the Perite subsector with some old friends from back in the military discussing how we could make a bit of money when Hieronymus noticed a job on a board being advertised by someone he knew. He called Chamberlain Ivy Golba (who was chamberlain to the son of Ducal heir Arvinen Elios Okhotnikov) to find out more. The job was to crew a ship belonging to the Ducal Heir on a mission for which we would be paid a salary plus a 350000cr bonus for satisfactory completion.

The mission details were to take the Ducal Heir's ship, the Superb Starling, to Akussanja and meet the Ducal Heir who wanted to hunt and capture some creatures there, then take the captured animals to Tinea-Fabre where they were to be set free into a wildlife reserve where the Ducal Heir would hunt them again to kill them once they had acclimatised to the reserve. Hieronymus negotiated the bonus up to 500000cr and we signed a contract. We were advised the Ducal Heir would be expected to be called 'your grace'.

We met Ivy at the Superb Starling and were shown round. There was another crew member, Rill Dunknever who was the cook. The ship was late on its maintenance and we were expected to get it serviced on route to Akussanja at a class A or B starport. There was no way to get to a suitable starport and then to Akussanja in the 2 weeks we were given to get there, and I thought the J-drive was not in any shape to make a jump safely, so we arranged to get it serviced before we left Sirma. The maintenance took three days with my help.

The creature we were to capture was a Shakuurzarpi which was a carnivorous hunter equally at home on land or in water. We jumped to Asmi then on to Akussanja where we met the Ducal heir. He was a bit of an entitled p*** but I can put up with him for a while as he is offering a huge bonus. We were provided with hunting equipment including folding cages, nets and catch poles as well as sets of Hunters field garb and V-Rifles. We were told we would be leaving in an hour.

We took the ATV into the hunting grounds and parked on the bank of a tributary then set out on foot. Alan and Salvo got caught in quicksand. Salvo freed himself but Alan needed rescuing. We finally reached a cove which was a possible nesting site of the creatures, and I could see two heat sources when I scanned with my binoculars. Salvo threw a flash-bang and spooked the creatures causing them to flee towards the ocean. Everyone fired and Hank hit one, stunning it and allowing us to get it into a cage. We took it back to the ATV then set out towards another possible nesting site.

We came across a Valani launch. It had Shuglii Shimiirkkhuki written on the side and looked like it had landed within the last 24 hours. The Ducal heir recognised it as being involved in a TV show that hunted and cooked wild creatures. There was a trail heading inland so we continued on the hunt. After some time we came across a group from the launch who had caught a Shakuurzarpi. They were being lead by a celebrity chef called Dunkha Gunkii. He agreed to give us the Shakuurzarpi in return for an interview with the Ducal heir. Two of the creatures were considered enough but the first one we captured was showing signs of shock and Alan treated it.

We then jumped to Uuruun Kuu then on to Luumiiliiplen where the Ducal heir wanted the ship to be serviced again. Alan checked on the creatures and found one appeared to be dead and the other injured. The Ducal heir was furious and reduced the promised bonus by 100,000cr. Dunkha Gunkii had arrived at the spaceport while the Superb Starling was being serviced and Hank negotiated to sell him the body of the dead creature for 60,000cr of which the Ducal heir was paid 50,000cr. Salvador had a series of arguments with the Ducal Heir and when the servicing was complete the Ducal Heir ordered him thrown off the ship before we departed.

We made the jump to Tinea Fabre and landed on the planet. We were told we needed to take training in riding a horse while the creature acclimatised to its new enclosure before the Ducal heir commenced hunting it. Alan already knew how to ride so went with Preserve Ranger Tillanidi Cerny to release the creature.

After two weeks training the Superb Starling was flown to the reservation to act as a base for the hunt. We set out on horseback. After riding for a while we saw an air raft flying overhead. As we watched a swarm of creatures called Ellebys Crickets swarmed round it causing it to lose control then crash. One of the crew survived and Alan went to try to help him as the flying creatures returned. The creatures attacked me. They were vicious creatures but were finally driven off. Alan was unable to free the crew member of the air raft who was killed when the air raft exploded. The Ducal heir seemed more concerned about having to replace the air raft than the deaths of its crew.

We continued the hunt and were ambushed by three Sylvie Greycats which were quickly dispatched. When it got dark we made camp. Overnight a Shakuurzarpi crept into the camp after the bodies of the cats. When Heironymus shouted out it fled back into the undergrowth. The Ducal heir ordered us to give chase immediately. As we were trying to chase the Shakuurzarpi two Gisidi Envelopers dropped from the trees onto Alan and Heironymus and enveloped them. The creatures started trying to digest then before they were pulled off and killed.

We continued following the trail until we found the den of the Shakuurzarpi. Heironymus crawled in after it. When we heard a commotion and a gunshot Hank crawled in and shot the Shakuurzarpi. There were three eggs in the den which we brought back with us. The following morning we returned to the Superb Starling and flew back to the star port. We were paid and the Ducal heir stated he was going to lease us the ship for 180 days and we only had to cover the running costs. We were to return it to Sirma after the 180 days.