Arjuna was the captain of the Gagak.[1] He was first introduced in Earth Afire.
History[]
Earth Afire[]
Arjuna went to a WU-HU Corporation depot in search of temporary crew members to salvage the many destroyed ships left in the wake of the Formic scout ship. Magashi, the depot's captain, refused the offer not allowing any of her men to leave the depot with Arjuna and his crew. Arjuna meant the offer as a way of also prolonging Magashi's food supplies.[1]
However, Rena Delgado overheard the offer and offered the remaining crew of El Cavador exchange for passage to another depot and food. Arjuna was originally cautious in making the deal with Rena because it would require him to feed an extra 37 children of El Cavador's crew, but Arjuna also believed that a free miner woman was worth 4 corporate men, so he decided to take the offer. To calm Rena's distrust of salvage crews, Arjuna allowed Rena to tour his ship and meet his family before Rena made the offer the women of El Cavador.[1]
Over the next several weeks, Arjuna trained the women of the El Cavador in the different aspects of salvaging and negotiated with Rena further on different aspects of their agreement. Eventually, the women went on their first salvaging mission, which Arjuna directed from the Gagak, telling them which materials were worthwhile to collect for the salvage mission. However, the mission went downhill when the vulture Khalid appeared out of nowhere. Arjuna was almost forced to leave Rena and Abbi, when Rena discovered an exit. Arjuna was happy to see that Rena survived the encounter.[1]
Earth Awakens[]
Late one night, Rena Delgado woke up Arjuna to ask him if they could subscribe to the Themis news feed, so she could look for information on Victor. Arjuna could not allow Rena to do that as it would cost too much money. Rena then proposed establishing a partnership between the crew of El Cavador and the Gagak in order to turn it into a more profitable mining ship. Arjuna turned down the offer due to the patriarchal essence of his tribe, but said the partnership would be possible if Rena and the other women married Arjuna as his concubines. Rena declined the offer, but started proposing possible options for a patriarch of her family. Arjuna then agreed to pay to find information on Victor as he was the only living adult male from El Cavador.[2]
Arjuna and Rena ended up having an argument about increasing the shielding of the ship because attacks had been increasing around The Belt by scavengers. Arjuna did not want to increase shielding, as it would require removing the walls, which took away his men's privacy.[2]
The Swarm[]
When the oxygen extractor broke, Arjuna approached Victor to ask him about the possibility of repair, as the Gagak would need to be turned around and head to a depot in order to retrieve a new extractor if it could not be fixed. Victor asked Arjuna for a couple of days before turning the ship around in case he was able to fix the extractor. Arjuna agreed to Victor's proposal, as turning around the ship would waste fuel.[3]
Later that day, Arjuan was approached by Edimar, who wanted permission to send a probe ahead of the Gagak to Asteroid 2030CT because of an unusual dilution of the light from the asteroid. Arjuna gave Edimar permission to send the probe.[3]
After the discovery of Formics on Asteroid 2030CT, Arjuna had Victor contact Lem Jukes and Mazer Rackham about the situation. Only Lem replied, informing them that he had contacted the Hegemon and he was willing to offer money if they investigated the asteroid further. Despite the money, Arjuna was not willing to allow Victor to investigate the asteroid. Arjuna also speculated that part of the reason Victor wanted to risk his life investigating the asteroid was due to a rift between Victor and Imala Bootstamp. Victor, however, convinced Arjuna to allow him to use modify a quickship to investigate the asteroid, which would put the crew of the ship at little risk.[3]
A little later that day, Arjuna received a message from the Polemarch Khudabadi Ketkar, informing him that the International Fleet was commandeering the Gagak under the authority of the Wartime Space Commerce Act, and Ketkar gave command of the Gagak to Imala in order to investigate Asteroid 2030CT further.[3]
When Imala received an email from Ketkar conscripting Victor into the IF, she and Victor took the orders to Arjuna. When Arjuna read their orders to the crew, they complained and said that the Fleet wasn't giving them any choice. Arjuna rebuked them and reminded them of the purpose that the IF served.[3]
Before Victor and Imala left, he detached the quickship they were using from the hull of the Gagak and asked them to be safe before going radio silent.[3]
When Victor returned in the Formic miniship, Arjuna grabbed the ship in the Gagak's docking claws and soon connected a docking tube to it. He entered the ship and made sure Victor was safe before explaining Imala and Rena's mindset while he was in danger in the asteroid.[3]
Imala eventually got an e-mail from Rear Admiral Shongwe and informed Arjuna, Rena, and Victor of the new orders to go to an International Fleet base four months away. Arjuna agreed to follow the orders and told Imala to keep the captainship when she tried giving it back to him. Arjuna believed Imala made a great captain and that her skills for peacemaking were necessary in the current.[3]
When they arrived at Turris Outpost, Arjuna went with Imala, Victor, and Rena to meet with the captain in charge of the station, Mangold. He presented the crew with the IF's offer of purchasing the Gagak for 60 thousand credits and safe travel back to The Belt. When Arjuna refused, Mangold threatened to commandeer the ship under the authority of the Hegemon. Victor realized the IF needed the Gagak to investigate something out in deep space, but Mangold didn't confirm or deny this conclusion. Mangold presented the options that the crew had, but none of them were in Arjuna's favor. Angry at the situation, Imala presented Mangold with an agreement on her terms, that would see Arjuna rightfully compensated for his ship and his family safe in their travel to the Belt. Though hesitant, Arjuna agreed to the offer, and Mangold revised the contract. After signing, Mangold demanded that Arjuna and Victor return to the ship so he could speak to Rena and Imala alone.[3]
Personality[]
While other "vultures" were renowned for being cruel, Arjuna and his family were compassionate. In accord with his patriarchal culture, he viewed women as being lesser than men. However, he recognized the intelligence and leadership qualities of Rena Delgado.[2]