The Treasure of Sindal

Time for an update.

Drinax to Torpol
The entire fleet jumped to Torpol, planning to go three ways from that point on. The Harrier and Frontier Trader would be visiting Noricum to investigate the source of the message globes. The Far Scout, Lab Ship and Salvager would proceed via Palindrome (dropping off the Lab Ship) to Theev, where the salvager would be returned to Admiral Darokyn and the Far Scout given some weapons. Lastly the the Far Trader would commence a regular trading route between Torpol and Drinax to generate funds.

Torpol to Marduk
The Travellers decided to split the Harrier and Frontier Trader in an effort to find out what happened to Professor haut-Belzoni who had left Drinax over a week earlier. The Harrier would travel to Noricum via Marduk and the Frontier Trader via Oghma, enquiring at those worlds on the way through.

On Marduk it became apparent that the professor, in the scoutship "Confidence", had not come that way, so the Harrier flew to Noricum.

Marduk to Noricum
Arriving in the Noricum system the Harrier was immediately hailed by an Imperium Navy ship and told to stop engines and prepare for boarding. Deciding that it was better to run than be boarded the party set off in the direction of the nearest gas giant with the Gazelle class escort "Thompson" in pursuit.

When the navy ship closed to range it opened fire, only just missing the Harrier, which then responded. After a few rounds the Harrier was winning but the outcome became inevitable when the Frontier Trader arrived in system and opened fire with missiles, disabling the imperium ship.

The party ships approached and found that the Thompson's crew were dead, most likely from radiation damage, and that the ship was badly damaged and beyond repair. Finding some things to salvage, a crew were set to work to take a Particle Cannon barbette, the ships computer (with logs), and the power plant.

Before work could be completed another ship was detected entering the system. This was not immediately picked up as it was very distant, but soon it became clear that this ship was closing in on the salvaging operation. For a while nothing was done; the approaching ship broadcast nothing, and the party did not hail it. Eventually though the party determined that it was on a direct course to them and send a comms message.

Responding immediately the captain of the ship remarked that he was just heading down to the planet to see the Sindalian emperor. This was accompanied by a slight change of course towards the downport on Noricum and the ship flew past.

Leaving the Frontier Trader to finish salvage operations the Harrier landed at Noricum downport and awaited the return of Failock from his trip, whereupon they visited him to ask where they might find the emperor too. Served drinks by an Aslan female, the meeting was amicable but a little strained. When the party left Failock blasted off and was last seen heading out towards the 100 diameter limit.

After visiting the emperor - a pleasant man in a ramshackle hut - the party moved their ship to close to the location mentioned in the message globe. They were met there by the Frontier Trader and search parties went out to find the location of the base.

On a hunch Slaid decided to search the dam and found it to have a considerately higher water level than would have been the case in years past. Opening some sluices the water level was dropped so that an entrance to an underground base was exposed.

Opening the door the party found a kilometre long passage opened into a small communications base. It had apparently been shut down deliberately as there was no damage but also no possessions or signs of anything being interrupted. An oddity was found in the form of a particle cannon in a far room which pointed at a series of numbers carved or etched into the wall.

Just them they were interrupted by a voice emanating from a holo projector. It was Failock who thanked them for putting themselves is such a difficult position. He advised that we was repossessing (reclaiming) the Frontier Trader and that they could just stay in the base while he cleaned out the remaining crew on the surface. At that point a number of explosions filled the corridor and it was filled with a hardening foam, preventing escape.

Determining a means of cutting through the foam, the party emerged from the tunnel sooner than Failock would have liked. The frontier Trader was under attack by an Aslan trader with an Ion cannon which reduced power so that it could not power up or return fire, while Failock's scout ship was just taking off. The party split to help the trader from a boarding party, and to the Harrier which would engage Failock's scout.

The boarding party were victorious, and took many of Failock's marines captive (as well as the crew of the aslan ship). The ship combat happened in the atmosphere above and again the party were victorious, shooting down the scout just after an escape pod launched. That too was shor down.

Finding Failock's body in the escape pod (and taking samples) they went to the downed scout and found that the aslan female was the pilot and amazingly still alive in her battle dress. She was taken on board the Harrier for medical treatment while the other captured crew were set to work to fix damage and clear out the base.

Captain Slaid talked to the crew and persuaded nearly all of them to join the party cause, and the aslan female, once she was patched up (and following a small sual) declared that she would follow the chieftain (Captain Slaid) faithfully for a year and a day.

Back in the base the computer eventually divulged that there were two scout ships that departed with message globes which were going to go to Thebus to meet up with escort. Unforunately  checking the dates they would have arrived in the middle of one of the largest naval battles of the Sindalian civil war.

Noricum to Thebus
The party knew that a large battle had taken place but not exactly where, so they arrived near the main planet and went to the Highport. There, while they fended off people trying to get them to stay in hotel rooms or take safari's to the planet surface, they found some local pilots who advised them of the Proactive Recycling Company and the location of the wrecks which were shill being salvaged 2000 years later.

Making an appointment to see the president of the company, they travelled to a gas giant where the PRC had their base. The president eventually agreed to sell them the data of wreck locations and the party located five 100t scout wrecks to examine.

Making their way through the system faint signals were detected as if something were following them, but nothing was identified. They went from one scout to another without luck until reaching the last one. There the message globe was found held in the fist of a mummified pilot.

Upon searching the logs in the scout computer they found that the other scour was going to head to Number One.

Making their way back to the main port they undertook maintenance and then left for their next destination.

Thebus to Number One
Landing on the top of a mountain - almost the only dry land on the planet - they party initially found difficulties getting through customs and security checks. Unter was taken away for questionning and in the meantime Lady Nitrane and Jack Sparrow went to the main city - Dragonsdome - to see if there was any information about a scour ship arriving 2000 years ago.

Trying to be careful about what they asked for, the initial attempt ended up with some history books and the well wishes of some bureaucrats. Realising that they'd been too vague, and with Unter released, they tried again which resulted in a meeting with the 9 year old girl who turned out to be the Warden.

The Warden was interested in hearing about their anti-piracy exploits, while the chamberlain, a rival to Lady Nitrane, glowered at them. They persuaded her to check the records for a scout ship and in no time at all were made aware that one had arrived and had been immediately encased in Everglass and sunk: the warden of the day not being sure which way the civil war would go he decided to hedge his bets. As it turned out the rebels won, so the scout ship remained in its watery resting place.

Submarines that went to the required depth being in short supply the party had to search around until they found Captain Greenfell who could take them where they wanted to go. The eight hour trip there was uneventful and they found the scout relatively quickly. Determining that the best approach was to cut a hole in the side of the scout and enter to search this plan was put into action and the globe was found straight away (and just in time).

On the return trip a number of depth charges were dropped on the submarine but the party and Captain Greenfell escaped. On their return to Dragonsdome they told the story of their trip to the warden, who was not very interested, and made their way back to the ship.

Opening the globe they finally worked out that the codes were firing solutions for Sindalian model particle cannons, and that four would be needed to fire together on the planet Ace. With only two of the correct model guns in their possession they decided that the closest place to find them would be Salif, a jump-2 away.

Number One to Salif
Upon arriving the party found that Salif is a tidally locked planet, meaning one side always faces the star, and the other away resulting in a desert too hot to live in on one side, and a frozen wasteland on the other. Where they met though was a habitable ring around the planet.

Arriving in the downport they started looking for weapons to buy. Finding that they needed permission from the government they lodged a request and retired to their hotel room to wait. When they got there a man was waiting for them and broached with them an offer to overlook their past digressions and give them the permissions to purchase the weapons if they'd only help out with a little job.

The job, it turned out, was to kidnap Tiznee Zazzle, the holostar leader of the planet, and they help her get to Albe (jump-7 away) for medical procedures. Upon returning they'd be heroes, and would get a discount on the purchase of the weapons.

Planning well meant that the kidnapping went smoothly and within a day the party and Tiznee were transferring onto a luxurious ship for the trip to and from Albe while the Q Ship was sent to Thebus to get a new paint job and a new transponder identity.

On the journey attempts to get Tiznee to open up were futile until near Albe when she let them know that she was going for procedures to make anagathics work on her again. Keeping their noses clean the party didn't do anything on Albe (an Imperium tech level 14 world with a hundred billion inhabitants) so when Tiznee was all done with her recovery they were ready to taker her back immediately.

The journey back was spent determining how the triumphant return would work, and a story including Failock was devised for added realism. Transferring to a battered trader the party and Tiznee emerged as heroes. A number of days of interviews and holorecording were ahead of them.

Purchasing two new particle cannons and power plants to power them used up most of the cash on hand. The arrival of the Far Scout, after a circuitous trip to find them (the party forgot to leave word where they were heading) meant they were back up to three ships, which would be four if they could find the Q Ship on Thebus.

Salif to Number One
Intending only to refuel the party were hailed just as they were taking off and told the warden wanted to see them. Powering off the ship and dressing in their fancy clothes they made their way eventually to see the warden in her offices. There she told them that she knew about their "rescuing" of her "good friend" Tiznee and wanted to hear all about it.

Lady Nitrane started telling the story but there were so many interruptions that it went late enough that the party were invited to stay the night and take up the story again the next day. After some unusual breakfast choices the story continued but more interruptions, and invitations of others to come and hear the story (requiring retelling of earlier parts) meant that it was a full day before excuses could be made and the party left. Time will tell if the story recounted by Nitrane holds up with the official story.

Number One to Thebus
The Q Ship was meant to land on Thebus, get a new paint job, and hide up while things were taken care of on Salif. Not being able to raise them from the Harrier, the Far Scout was asked to do a sweep with its superior planetary scanners and it found a likely location within an hour or two. Unusually there was more than just the one ship and so the party went to investigate.

It turned out that the Q Ship had landed near the wreckage of an Aslan trader, and in the last few hours two Aslan military landing craft has landed nearby which had disgorged some Aslan warriors in battle dress and some heavy vehicle mounted weaponry. The problem turned out to be that the Aslan thought that the Q Ship crew had shot down the Aslan ship, and killed everyone.

Emerging from the Harrier Nitrane, Unter and Sparrow approached the heavily armed Aslan marines. Unter tried to ask to speak to their leader but found diplomacy to be a little tricky without sufficient knownedge of how Aslan society works. Sparrow took over and had a better result, with the Aslan noble who ordered the action brought to them in the form of a holo projector.

Given an hour to come up with an explanation the party identified that a missile was the probably cause of the ship crashing. The Q Ship does not have missiles. Also with a line of Aslan dead buried near the ship it seemed that there had been survivors, so Unter looked for and found tracks leading away. While following the tracks a number of crossing tracks were found, made by human type boots. Whoever had left the ship was being followed.

Arriving in a clearing they found the recently deceased bodies of four Aslan, who had been living there for some time. The bodies had been scalped, which led to the assumption that the Aslan had been hunted by some sick individual (or individuals) wanting an authentic "kill Aslan" experience.

The Aslan noble pacified, the party and Q Ship were allowed to leave. Not wanting to revisit Number One (where the warden had made them promise to visit her to finish the story) plans were made to travel directly to Ace. Refuelling at a gas giant the ships jumped for Ace.

To be continued.

Where to from here?

The players are on Drinax, taking a well earned rest and preparing to travel to Noricum where the  hope to discover the secret of the Message Globe.

• Captain Slaid is overseeing the repairs to the Frontier Trader. These take a week at which point the ship is ready to fly. 

• Lady Nitrane checks with Scholar Voha about getting some help in repairing one of the laboratory spaces on the lab ship. The idea being that a general purpose lab might be attractive to the scientist haut-Belzoni and persuade him to accompany the party.

• Sparrow is seen spending time with  his Aslan friend Kasiyl. He is finding out more about why Kasiyl left ASlan space.

• Silent Unter carouses with Chieftain Galx of the Vespexers. She is keen for some of her people to be included on the party ships, to demonstrate that the whole of Drinax supports the re-establishment of the empire.

After the Frontier Trader is repaired and a laboratory space established on the lab ship, Lady Nitrane approaches Scholar Voha to see if he knows where haut-Belzoni can be found. Voha admits that he has not seen the Imperium scientist for a few days and gives some suggestions as to where he might be.

Lady Nitrane spends time looking for him and asking around, eventually finding word that he was seen at the starport. When she reaches there it is found that he left three days earlier on a scout ship called the Confidence.

Deciding that it might be a good idea to find out a little more, she uncovers after careful investigation that haut-Belzoni was seen talking to, and being wined and dined by, the individual called Feihlokh who attended the banquet. It later transpires that Faihlokh himself left on his scout ship two days later.

At this point the weapon for the Harrier is a day or two away, and the other ships will return from their trading mission a few days after that. It is decided that rather than speed after haut-Belzoni that the party prepare and plan carefully what they might do.

The Harrier is returned to full weapons complement, and the trading ships report a good profit, so the signs are all positive as the party decide where to go.

DECISION TIME:

The proposed approach is as follows:

Harrier and Frontier Trader to travel to Torpol, then Oghma, then Noricum. The hope is that this is the route taken by the archaeologist and that he is taking his time (the scout is rumoured to be a little tight fisted so might want to refuel at gas giants which takes time).

The Far Trader to be set up to trade between Drinx and Torpol, using Rachando as broker on Drinax, and Vii Lon as broker on Torpol

The Far Scout, Lab Ship and Salvager will head to Palindrome, via Torpol, Borite and the refuelling station. At Palindrome the lab ship will be dropped off for Lady Yemar's future healing. The Salvager and Far Scout will head to Theev where the salvager will be returnef to Admiral Darokyn. While on Theev the Far Scout will be equipped with weapons and afterward will travel to Noricum to meet with the party.

It is decided that Krrsh will captain the ships heading to Palindrome and Theev. He has the codes and has been there before. The crew of the Far Trader is yet to be determined.

EQUIPMENT:

Captain Slaid has purchased Scout Battle Dress, and Silent Unter has purchased Command Battle Dress. Lady Nitrane has declined to purchase any at this time.

High Society (Part 2)

The room in which the globe will be opened is a sealed chamber, utilising the best anti-bugging technology available at TL15. Present are King Oleb, Princess Rao, haut-Belzoni, Ambassador Poloc, Scholar Voha, and the party.

[Background known to the players]
The glorious Empire of Sindal endured for hundreds of years, and ruled over much of the Trojan Reach. The old Emperors of Sindal were proud and generous; their descendants were proud and cruel, and kept order through orbital bombardment and biological weapons. Subject worlds that refused to pay the ruinous taxes demanded by the Star Dragons were blasted into oblivion from high orbit. In time, the Sindalian provinces rose up en masse, supported by rebels within the Star Guard, and the empire tore itself apart in civil war. Old Noricum, the former seat of the Emperor, was destroyed. Parts of the empire survived – worlds like Albe or Drinax had the strength and technology to hold onto some territory – but for the rest of the sector, the fall of Sindal brought an end to interstellar rule of law.

Timeline:-2000: Rise of the Empire of Sindal
-1600: Sindalian revolts begin.
-1400: Fall of Noricum and collapse of the Empire. The duke of the regional capital of Drinax claims the imperial title.
-1000: Aslan first cross the Great Rift to the Trojan Reach
500: Aslan expand into Tliowaha Subsector. Trade between Imperium and Aslan grows.
700: King Glaxo bombs rebel worlds.
884: King Oleb XIV establishes the Drinax tax.
885: Fall of Drinax.The Aslan, led by the Ahroay’if clan, bomb Drinax.
1085: Reconquest of Asim.
1105: Current year. 

It was a cruel irony that perhaps the finest and bravest officer to ever wear the crest of the Star Guard came into her own in that last war. Admiral Gani Peras was a brilliant naval officer, beloved by her crew and feared by her enemies. Both loyalists and rebels courted Peras; her sense of duty demanded that she stay loyal to her oath to the Emperor, but her sense of honour forced her to acknowledge the wholly justified grievances of the provinces. She led the defence of the spinward fleets, slowing the advance of the rebels and ensuring that the war impacted on the civilian population as little as possible. She avoided direct engagements where possible, preferring to use smaller lighter ships to attack enemy supply lines and fuel dumps. Whenever a rebel commander used ortillery on civilian targets, though, Peras showed no mercy. The rings of debris that still orbit Homestead and Vume are testament to the wrath of Gani Peras.

Not even a commander of her calibre, though, could stop the civil war. Around the year -1400, her squadron of five surviving ships jumped into the Noricum system – the besieged seat of the emperor. What happened next is a matter of conjecture, but most historians agree that Peras somehow convinced the emperor to hand over the contents of the Imperial Treasury. Some believe Peras hid the treasury somewhere on Noricum; others claim she intended to use the treasury as a bribe to convince the advancing rebels to negotiate. Others believe the Last Loyal Admiral betrayed her oath at the last, and stole the treasury for herself.

Peras returned to her squadron and they jumped out – out of the system, and out of the history books. There were never any confirmed sightings of them again. Peras became another legend of the Reach, gone for two thousand years.
[End of Background]

In the sealed room, haut-Belzoni explains that twenty years ago he obtained a curiosity – a message globe. These devices are common across Charted Space. Each globe contains a secure message and can only be opened with the proper authorisation (or enough hacking skillz). Open the globe without the right key and its contents are instantly erased. This particular globe bore the emblem of the Empire of Sindal and came from the world of Albe (Sindal/0601), one of the most important worlds in the old Empire and now an imperial protectorate. This globe was a message intended for the Duke of Albe, and required Ducal-level clearance to open. Even more astoundingly, the datestamp on the globe showed that it was sent only a few days before the fall of Noricum. Presumably, similar message-globes were dispatched to the other key systems of Sindal, like Drinax but never arrived, lost in the chaos of civil war.

Haut-Belzoni knew the tale of Gani Perot and the treasure of Sindal, and realised the message globe could be the key to that mystery. All he had to do was open it and the one world where the old Ducal-level clearance codes might still exist was Drinax. So, haut-Belzoni took a leave of absence from the university, and here he is.

At this, Scholar Voha produces another relic from the archives of  Drinax – a second message globe. This one, he explains, was also sent by Gani Peras’ fleet to the Ducal Seat at Drinax at the same time as the message went to Albe. The globe was opened at some point in the intervening centuries but all it contained was a string of numbers and letters. Perhaps these numbers are a code; but not one any cryptographer in all those years managed to break. This second globe from Albe may contain the key to the code.

With great ceremony, Voha accesses the computer archives, and King Oleb gives his authorisation. Computer systems built during the days of the Sindalian Empire flicker into life as Oleb enters the codes passed down to him from the dukes of Drinax. The message sphere pops open, and haut-Belzoni examines the contents.

CONTENTS OF IMPERIAL VAULT TRANSFERRED TO ADMIRAL PERAS’ FLAGSHIP.
ADMIRAL PERAS ORDERED TO SET COURSE SPINWARD ALONG MAIN TO REFUGE.
IMPERIAL FAMILY AND RETAINERS WILL FOLLOW IF DEFENSIVE LINES AT SALIF FAIL.
KEY DISPATCHED TO THE DUKES OF ALBE, DRINAX, DPRES AND YGGDRASIL.
SIGNED BY HIS HAND, FELIX STAR DRAGON, EMPEROR OF SINDAL.

Following that message is a page of closely printed letters and numbers, similar but not identical to the message sent to Drinax, followed by the word ACE.

Haut-Belzoni points out a string of co-ordinates printed at the bottom of the message, and explains they are a date, time, location and verification stamp. It is a genuine message, sent only a few weeks before the fall of Sindal. The location is on Noricum, the old Imperial throne world, but it was not at the Imperial palace. The location is not one he recognises – and he has made a study of Noricum. It must be a previously undiscovered secret base!

The Imperial family died on Noricum; they never followed Peras to the refuge, perhaps because the rebels broke through the lines at Salif (Sindal/0206) quicker than expected. That might also explain why no message-globes are known to have reached Dpres or Yggdrasil - the rebels swept in from the spinward side and may have intercepted the couriers, probably in the Thebus system. The battle of Magg’s Moon was one of the last decisive encounters of the war. It might be worth looking for wreckage in that system, or questioning salvage crews and junk dealers on the markets to see if a sealed message globe was ever found.

King Oleb however appears to be a little uninterested. Perhaps there is something in all this, but it's been over two thousand years so there's very little to be gained by all this. He dismisses haut-Belzoni and the ambassador and says he'll think over it.

As soon as they leave he rounds on the party and excitedly exclaims "You must find this!" in his most enthusiastic voice. He will provide the characters the Ducal codes that may prove useful for opening things, and tells them that they must ensure that if there's anything relating to the Sindalian Empire to be found, it must be returned to him to strengthen his claims. He cares not for gold or treasures that are not directly related to the empire, so there's a good chance, if any of this is true, for the party to fund more piracy and mayhem in the Trojen Reach.

It is the Princess who suggests that it might be useful to escort the scientist, so that they can not only take advantage of his knowledge, but also keep an eye on him. She is not sure how many other people he has told of the message globe but it's a good bet that there will be others interested in the treasures of an empire.

End of Part 2.

High Society (Part 1)

The characters are still on Drinax.

Arriving at the starport on the floating palace the party are informed that none of the royal family are currently available, but that Princess Rao wants to see them as soon as she can get free of her current engagements.

While they wait, the Captain sends the NPC crew to the Frontier Trader to wake it from its mothballed slumber. They arrive and start work, but it will take some time. He then goes with the party to see Rachando, who is just finishing up with a guest and will see him shortly.

When Rachando's guest emerges Sparrow is surprised to see that it is his good friend Kaisyl of the Ahroay'if, an Aslan noble. While Slaid visits with Rachando Sparrow accompanies his furry friend to speak with him.

After the small talk is out of the way, Slaid asks if Rachando can obtain a particle weapon to match that which is in the Harrier already. Rachando thinks that is possible, but will take a couple of weeks as the weapon will be sourced from the nearest Aslan world.

Sparrow finds out that his friend is here without any fanfare. Kaisyl is not in hiding as such, but his ship is hidden in the outer system and he is not insisting on any diplomatic or other rights that might usually be extended to him.

When Princess Rao is available, they meet with her in one of her private rooms. She is pleased that the pirate that menaced Torpol and Clarks has been brought to justice, and more so that those planets are now much more favourably inclined toward Drinax. She insists that while King Oleb is going to want to hear tales of daring and piracy in high space to disrupt trade, she considers diplomatic effort to be much more likely to succeed. The approach therefore is to be in parts piracy, trade and diplomacy.

Princess Rao also informs the party that they are all invited to a banquet to be held that evening, which means getting out the ball gowns, dress uniforms and evening wear once again. Lady Nitrane heads off to visit with Lady Hill, the most influential courtier in the palace, and an old dear friend. When Lady Hill sees Nitrane's Theev dresses she agrees that they are entirely fashionable, and they set to work to prepare for that evening.

Sparrow dusts off his old diplomatic attire, and Unter his tuxedo. Slaid polishes the trinkets and baubles on his admiral dress uniform.

Before the banquet drinks and nibbles are served while the guests mingle and talk. All are introduced to the King (who upon seeing the party mugs and hams it up terribly, winking and exaggerating to make it known that they are not at all doing something for him - with some eyebrow raising from the Imperial ambassador) and to the guest of honour, an Imperium scientist called Yutal Mirobar haut-Belzoni (who appears to be tolerating the backwater hicks to whom he is being introduced, and occasionally cleaning his hands).

Unter meets up with Chieftain Galx, the representative from the Vespexer tribes (those who live on the surface of the planet). She and Unter are very good friends, and she and her muscled companions chat with him while waiting for the banquet to start.

Chieftain Galx

Sparrow notices Kaisyl is there looking slightly frantic. He clearly does not want to make conversation with anyone so is either in motion or hiding behind a pillar until Sparrow catches up with him and Kaisyl relaxes.

Lady Nitrane does the rounds, in her regal manner, passing Lady Hill who murmers approvingly at her dress. Nitrane's ex-husband, Lord Wrax of the Star Guard, appears to be avoiding her however as he is always at some distance chatting to various people who at times turn to look at her.

Slaid notices Rachando in conversation with a number of people who look like merchants. Looking around, Slaid sees a few other people who are unknown to him. One, someone he finds out is called Faihlokh, gives the impression of being rather more than the humble merchant he is dressed as. This Faihlokh at one time is seen with Lord Wrax. Faihlokh looks over at Lady Nitrane, then at Slaid, before returning to conversation with Wrax.

When the gongs are sounded for the meal to commence, the party are split up. Unter and Slaid are with guests of no particular importance, and their meals pass uneventfully. Lady Nitrane finds herself next to Scholar Voha, chief scientists in the Scholars Tower. He is aware of their mission and while some innocuous chitchat indicates that the mission is well, they agree to talk later in more privacy.

Sparrow is seated next to the scientist haut-Belzoni who, it becomes painfully apparent, is a rather boring individual. It's possible that from others historical naval technology, and in particular Vilani logistics during the Fifth Interstellar War, could be very interesting. But not from haut-Belzoni. His droning voice and mannerisms that suggest he's explaining something interesting to a backwoods ape are too much, so it takes a good 10 drinks for Sparrow to be numb enough to nod in a friendly manner and not feel any more pain.

The only vaguely interesting piece of information that comes out of haut-Belzoni's lips is that he's found a message globe from the old Sindalian empire and he intends to open in the next morning in the presence of the King and Scholar Voha. Sparrow nods (at times alarmingly and exaggeratedly) and eventually haut-Belzoni shuts up.

After toasts are completed and the banquet guests start to leave or continue mingling Lady Nitrane, interested to hear what the scientist had to say, catches up with Sparrow and, noticing he is quite drunk, instantly sobers him with a medpack. It is then that Sparrow notices Princess Rao catch his eye, hold for a second, and then continue talking to her companion. The message is somehow clear. He is to come over and talk to her. When he does, she turns to him, as if to just wish him a good evening, and says that he and the party will attend the opening of the globe the next morning. She instantly turns to another guest - the conversation with Sparrow taking no more than two or three seconds.

After alerting the rest of the party, Sparrow heads off to spend an evening talking with Kaisyl while Nitrane, Slaid and Unter return to their lodgings for the evening. Sparrow learns more about why the Aslan noble is on Drinax. He's not very talkative - wanting to keep things even from his close friend - but some things do come out. Kaisyl is here because of something called Ihatei - an assemblage of unattached males who gather to make war. There is a gathering near to the Aslan border and somehow Kaisyl is involved.

The next morning the party are escorted to the Scholar's Tower where the globe will be opened.

Continued in Part 2.

CHARACTER UPDATE: Moving to Second Edition Mongoose Traveller

As we have reached a point in the game where the various party ships are being assessed and possibly upgraded, I have decided to upgrade the game system to Second Edition,

Differences: very few, and they are outlined below.

TLDR: I'll update your character sheets and ship stats and present on Friday. There will be some decisions to make at that time, but only really very minor ones.

Characteristics

No change. The six characteristics, their value ranges, their bonuses, and how you get them are all unchanged

Careers

Minor changes that have no impact on your characters. The careers are more or less identical, as are survival rolls, advancement rolls, etc.

Skills

The actual skills in game are for the most part unchanged. There is some rationalisation of some skills, and some more subtypes for others. I think it's an improvement overall.

• Unchanged: Admin, Advocate, Astrogation, Broker, Carouse, Deception, Diplomat, Explosives, Gamber, Gunner, Investigate, Jack of All Trades, Language, Leadership, Mechanic, Medic, Melee, Navigation, Persuade, Pilot, Recon, Seafarer, Stealth, Steward, Streetwise, Survival, Tactics, Vacc Suit.
• Changes to subskills: Animals (Riding and Farming replaced by Handling), Athletics (Flying removed), Art (Acting and Dance merged into Performer), Drive (Hovercraft and Walker added), Engineer (Electronics removed), Flyer (Airship and Ornithopter added), Gun Combat (now only Archaic, Energy and Slug are the three types), Heavy Weapons (now Artillery, Man Portable and Vehicle), Trade (renamed Profession and adding Belter to the list of examples).
• Significant Changes: Electronics added, which merges in as subskills Comms, Computers, Remote Ops and Sensors. Sciences now replaces Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences and Space Sciences. Electronics is no longer a subskill of Science, and Astronomy and Cosmology have been added.
• Removed: Battle Dress is removed, and the armour requires only Vacc Suit skill to use. Zero-G is removed and instead you use Athletics (Dexterity) to move around in zero-g environments.

Skills Limits

There are some skill limits in place, which we'll either ignore for current characters (i.e. max level of 4 for a skill) or are not relevant as we are nowhere near the limits (max number of skill levels known is nowhere near impacting anyone).

Training Skills

Great improvement!
In order to train up an existing skill or learn a new skill the character needs to commit to one or more Study Periods. A Study Period is equal to 8 weeks of study and practice. The 8 weeks of a Study Periods need not be consecutive, but each week needs to be a full 5 days of 8 hours a day learning and practising. NOTE: Usually this is only possible when Jumping, so I'll count jump weeks only.

• NEW SKILLS: Once 8 weeks of training is complete a Study Period is complete. At this point you need to make an Average (8+) EDU check. Success means you've learned a new skill at level 0.
• EXISTING SKILLS: If you are improving an existing skill above 0 the number of successful Study Periods required is the skill level you want to get. So learning Vacc Suit-1 means one Study Period, and Broker-3 means three successful Study Periods.
• FAILING: If you fail a Study Period check you have to commit to a new Study Period, but you gain a cumulative +1 DM for success checks for that skill.
• Note: Learning or improving Athletics uses the appropriate characteristic (STR, DEX or END) in place of EDU.
• Note: Jack of All Trades cannot be learned or improved, but having Jack of All Trades adds the JoT level to success checks. Your innate ability to pick things up is to your advantage. (This means Lady Nitrane gets +3 DM on Study Period checks).
• Library: the Harrier has a Library which means that every week of learning and practice counts as two weeks towards a Study Period.

Failure doesn't necessarily indicate that you don't understand it. You might be distracted, or the captain is having you do extra chores.

Combat

No changes here.

Equipment

No real changes here.

SpaceCraft

Big changes to how drives work. This is in fact the stimulus for me converting to the new system.
No longer are there "Type A" and "Type D" drives. The drives now take up a percentage of the hull depending on the rating you want. Manoeuvre and Jump drives use Power Points, which unsurprisingly are produced by the Power Plant.

What does it all mean? I'll convert over the Harrier, Far Scout and Frontier Trader and see,

Space Combat

Improved and slightly simplified. Rather than a Hull Value and a Structure Value which are reduced slowly by weapons fire only if those areas are hit, there is a Hull Value that works more like hitpoints. These are removed by damage from weapons and reduced to 0 means 'ship dead'. If the attack has an effect of 6+ (ie you roll 6 more than you needed, after all mods are taken into account) then you get a critical hit, which is the traditional 'you hit a drive' or 'you hit the fuel tanks' that are more common in the first edition and classic editions.

Weapons are now handled slightly differently - the values for damage are about the same as now but stacking is different (i.e. more than one in a turret) and the modifiers are different (e.g. pulse lasers get a +2 to attack, beam a +4 even though they do less damage).

What effect this will have in combat I'm not sure - I expect that you'll breach the hull and take the ship out a lot quicker most of the time. I'm sure an opportunity to try it will arise.

Trade

The extreme ends of the purchase and sell modifiers are less extreme. No more "you get 400% of the base value" as it maxes out at 160% but other than that it's more or less the same. We'll be using the online tool anyway.

Planets and Systems

No change to planet stats, although it's a little clearer in the book what happens with law levels and you lot ignoring them

That's about it.

Home Sweet Home

This episode starts on Clarke and then progresses by way of Torpol back to Drinax, where it all began.

Finally getting the reward money from the authorities on Clarke, and noting that Vii Lon is now up to full health, the party decide that it is best to do one more run to Torpol to drop her off. To that end they get cargo and head back.

The trip is uneventful, and the cargo sells for a good amount. The available cargo however is not particularly worthwhile so the party decide that heading straight to Drinax is better than waiting for more cargo to become available.

Rather than head to Drinax with the entire fleet, it is decided that the Harrier will head to Drinax with sufficient extra crew to man the Frontier Trader which is hoped can be repaired enough to make the trip to Pourne. The other ships are heading directly to Pourne under the command of Krrsh and will meed the party there.

On arrival there are no members of the royal family to greet them, so the party wait. While this is happening the additional crew head to the mothballed ship to start getting her back online.

To be continued.

The long and winding road

The story continues in the Thebus system before heading through Oghma and Torpol to Clarke.

Nitrane and Unter continue to investigate the lab ship. They find another air/raft bay (empty) and what appears to be another engine room (door blocked) and then a secondary bridge.

At this point however they hear Sparrow say "Uh, guys!" and then the link goes dead. An alarm in the vacc suit systems alerts them to the fact that Sparrow's suit is suddenly very low on air. They decide to push ahead as it would be the quickest way to where Sparrow was guarding the lab ship crewmember.

Passing a row of stateroom doors they come across one that is open and a figure lurches out at them. A fight ensues in which damage is taken by the party thanks to a giant metal club that the inhumanly strong crewman is wielding. They are forced to kill him.

In the meantime Slaid had reached Sparrow's body, out cold from nasty blunt force trauma to the head. The visor on the vacc suit helmet badly cracked. Slaid tapes up the helmet and then shares air with Sparrow, meaning both now have only a little air left.

Deciding to rendezvous at the lift up to the docking ring, and appraising the ships waiting nearby that they have encountered some problems, Nitrane and Unter come across another lab ship crewman coming out of the kitchen locker that held corpses. This person is wielding a frozen human leg as a weapon.

This person, the one they captured originally, is inhumanly strong as well but is eventually killed.

Going up the left the party find that they have next to no air left. Sharing the air keeps two alive for a bit longer, but means everyone is now in a precarious situation. Luckily Ben Parr and Adro Venniser arrive with spare air bottles and some quick changing brings everyone's air levels up.

Krssh arrives in an air raft and makes it easier to bring across the still comatose body of Sparrow into the Harrier, where the best medical bay is waiting for him. Extreme quarantine and bio-hazard procedures are in place just in case he's infected, or able to infect others. Sparrow is stabilised and brought around. The head wound is treated.

Professor Jim Cheese has been looking through the data brought back hours earlier. With some clever insights he has determined that the danger is passed. The research in the lab ship related to combat drugs. An explosion, the cause of which is unknown, caused multiple experimental drugs to be released in to the air vents simultaneously. These killed 80% of the crew and researchers instantly. The remaining crew were affected in different ways but with a common theme of periods of lucidity, periods of inhuman strength (and inhuman behaviours) and then periods of exhaustion.

Any active reagents have long ago dissipated, been scrubbed by the air system, or are in other ways totally inert. This reassures the party and work is put in motion to clear out the lab ship for sure (the shipboard marines take this task), the engines are checked and maintenance performed, the fuel tanks are resealed and pressure checked, and the hull repaired. That last required some planetside work so a course is set to Thebus.

Thebus is a safari tourist world. There are plenty of spaces in which to land that are well away from prying eyes and the work is done.

Jumping to the Oghma system there is hope that the ships crews (all of which are at absolute minimum levels) can be bolstered by new additions. Also this is a good place to pick up more cargo to sell on Torpol to pay for improvements to the ships in general.

Oghma is a warlike space-faring planet. The inhabitants are renowned for their slaving, raiding and pillaging, and indeed a good number of crew are hired here. A number of suitable cargoes are found and the jump is made to Torpol.

Arriving in Torpol Captain Slaid advises Provost Falx that they have returned. When they reach his office he is there, drink in hand and dressed in his bright orange robes (with tony golden fez with scale model of the starport on top). He welcomes them profusely, offers drinks, and is then wowed by Captain Slaid's amazing presentation of the proof that the mission has been completed. A round of applause is followed by Falx asking two colleagues (each with their own tiny structures on their heads) to also see the presentation. They are likewise amazed and the reward money duly handed over.

The matter of Vii Lon is also raised. Unfortunately she almost died when the low berth was opened (she had been in there for 20 weeks, way beyond the normal expectancy). As luck would have it she was roused in an advanced (even for TL15) medical bay. It turns out that she was indeed an official representative of Torpol, with a very senior position (if her health insurance cover is any guide). With her needing expert medical care (and the planet only being TL8) the party are asked to look after her a little while longer.

The cargo from Oghma is sold for a tidy profit, and with making the jump to Clarke with empty holds something to be avoided, more cargo is found and loaded into the ships.

The jump to Clarke is uneventful. Arriving, it is still a dark, depressing place. Keeper Malos is less impressed by the presentation by Captain Slaid and he moodily takes the proof to show his colleagues. The cargo is sold for more profit, and the party wait.

To be continued...

The Continuing Saga

The party starts on Palindrome, and make their way through the deep space fuel depot and Noricum to Thebus.

On Palindrome the party decide to get the far trader (formerly belonging to Ferrik Redthane) fixed. This takes 9 days or so, and that means shore leave for the crews, and plenty of time to buy cargo and find new crew.

When fleet leaves it consists of the Harrier (The Phoenix), the salvager, the far trader and the far scout. The crew on board is at minimal levels, and there is an assortment of cargo that can hopefully be sold for a tidy profit.

Arriving at the fuel dump in empty space, the ships refuel and realise that the resources here are limited. Perhaps in future they should bring some fuel? The refuelling is not without incident, but very little can go wrong if they take things slowly.

The next jump is to Borite. There they manage to sell all the cargo at the starport above this primitive planet and make a tidy profit. No crew can be found to hire, nor any useful cargo to buy, so they jump to Thebus after refuelling.

In the Thebus system the lab ship is known to be in orbit around an uninteresting distant rocky planet. Arriving in system near this planet the lab ship is found (eventually) and then before exploring it the party make the decision to refuel in case they need to make a run for it, which means a few days travelling to the nearest gas giant, refuelling, and returning.

Back at the lab ship the party scan for signs of life, which requires that the ship be very close. Numerous life signs are detected but the resolution is not fine enough for more details. A visual scan of the ship is made which detects three possible entry points; the two air lock hangar doors or the pinnace docking ring. The latter is selected.

Slaid attempts to open the door which takes 40 minutes, needing to use computers to break in. There they find an elevator shaft which leads from the zero-G pinnace ring down to the normal gravity of the ring.

Emerging into a partly lit reception area the party ask for signs of life and are told that there appears to be something 15 metres away, but that scanning is difficult.The party also quickly realise that the circular nature of the vessel makes it difficult to see more than 10 metres in either direction. The furthest that can be seen - if they lie flat on the floor and look up - is less than 15 metres.

Moving through the ship the first section consists mostly of staterooms. Some have had their lights destroyed and others are intact. Some have bedding removed, and even mattresses. In one a dead body is found in the cupboard.

Other rooms are found, including mess hall, private lounges, a scientist library (the contents of which made their way back to the party ship thanks to Sparrow taking them there), and a galley with a freezer full of dead crew.

In the middle of that a small herd of escaped lab animals are encountered. Some are stunned, but the effects wear off quickly enough that conventional weapons are used to dispatch them.

Exploring further the party find the bridge and the first drive bay. In the bridge Slaid breaks into the computer and is able to unlock the iris doors throughout the ship. He gets to work on more information about the ship. Unter and Nitrane explore the drive bay, and in the upper deck they find a living crew member.

The figure is crouched over and appears to be paying no attention to the players. Nitrane tries to get his attention by hitting the wall, but while the figure appears to have heard the noise it does not look up.

After some closing of airlocks and moving around the figure sees the party and freaks out. He starts shouting but because they are wearing vacc suit helmets they can't make out what he is saying. Nitrane grabs him in a bear hug while Unter departs to find something to bind their captive.

While this is going on Slaid is assaulted in the bridge. Minding his own business he is hit by another wandering crew member. Not one to put up with that kind of rubbish he shoots a her, killing her.

Sparrow, who left earlier, returns with an improvised speaker to allow the party to communicate with the captive. He understands what is being said but unfortunately the party still will not open their helmets to hear what he is saying. They eventually bind him in a stateroom and Sparrow stands guard.

Unter and Nitrane continue exploring the ship. They find an air/raft dock, cargo bay and the main laboratory. At the far end of the lab is a mound of tables, chairs, mattresses and anything else not bolted down. This appears to be a lair for one of the unfortunates on board. Breaking into it the party find a hatch cut into the floor that leads into one of the fuel tanks.

Breaking it open reveals nothing else of interest so they continue. A second lab is found and in the corner of this, another assemblage of furniture makes another lair. It seems that the people affected by whatever happened on board have some animalistic urge to create protected homes.

To be continued...

Decisions, decisions.

The story starts in the Vume system, and then moves through Theev to the Palindrome system.

Repairs on the Far Scout in the ice cave are almost complete when a ship flies low overhead. While the speed of packing and repairing is redoubled, a scan is attempted. With the bulk of the icy moon causing problems the fast departing ship is spotted just before it heads over the horizon. It does not return before the work is complete.

Crews are assigned to the three ships. Captain Slaid and Jack Sparrow are in the Phoenix, while Lady Nitrane and Silent Unter are in the salvager. The remaining crew are sufficient to fly all three ships.

The first ship to take off is the Phoenix, then the salvager, and finally the scout. More scans are performed but from orbit the only ships detected are distant. Rather than investigating the low flying ship the decision is made to travel to Theev's most distant gas giant to refuel.

Arriving in the Theev system the first thing noticed is that there are quite a few ships around. Most are refuelling but there are some defence boats keeping the peace. With the gas giant so large it is not hard to find a secluded, or at least unpopulated, part of the surface to refuel.

The crew from Ferriks ship are brought out of their low berths and given medical attention. Each is given an opportunity to join Captain Slaid's crew, which two do immediately. The third is allowed to talk to the crew, although an eye is kept on him. Uneventfully the ships top up and then proceed to Palindrome, where they hope to take advantage of the hospitality extended by Lady Yemar.

When they arrive Lady Nitrane attempts to make contact, but some interference prevents conversation. Approaching the planet another attempt is made, and Lady Yemar, advised that the party's prey has been caught, suggests landing in a large hangar that can accommodate all ships at once.

Greeting them once they land is the official that first approached Lady Nitrane on their first visit. This time taking Captain Slaid (in his admiral's uniform) and Silent Unter (in his dinner suit) they arise to the large room above the starport building. Lady Yemar is a gracious hostess again and talk turns to the situation at hand. The subject of the scientist to help Yemar overcome her medical condition is also raised again - Nitrane suggesting that the Lab ship that the party are aware of could be used somehow.

Ferrik's ship is in need of repairs, and Yemar's people are sent to assess it.  For 2 million credits it can be fully repaired, and also be made to look like its not been a pirates vessel. This is quite a lot of money, but the party will get that much from providing Ferriks body to Torpol, not to mention that the ship would be a little easier to sell - resulting in a lot more than 2 million credits it is hoped.

Captain Slaid considers what to do with the Salvager. Admiral Darokyn has sent word that he wants it back after the 12 months of exile from Theev are up. The last of Ferrik's crew decides to stay, but one of the engineers decides to take up the offer of a passage back to Theev instead.

To be continued.

Ferrik Down

The story continues in the Vume system.

In orbit around the icy moon of a distant gas giant, the party start scanning for signs of Ferrik. Unter mans the sensors and directs Sparrow to orbit the planet so as to maximise coverage and minimise time. Course promptly plotted, the ship starts its search.

After an hour, and with the scan nearly completed, Unter detects an anomaly. It doesn't show up as anything in particular but there is something there. Satisfying himself with another series of orbits the ship continues, and sure enough there is the anomaly again.

Unter now directs a geostationary orbit be taken, and closer to the surface, in order to scan the anomalous are more thoroughly It's at that moment that a ship is detected.

Seemingly unaware that the party's ship had ceased its orbits, a small ship, around 200 tons, is detected flying low and fast over the surface. It appears to be making a break for it by using the planet as cover. Unfortunately the party are sitting in orbit watching it go.

Captain Slaid takes charge and immediately requests that the ship be identified. It looks like a far trader, just like the one that Ferrik is known to use. Slaid releases the Phoenix and directs it accelerate and catch the fleeing ship. The Mercifuge remains in orbit tracking the ship.

Satisfied with the identification of the fleeing ship, Slaid orders both ships to open fire. The far trader returns fire, but the Phoenix is much more manoeuvrable and armoured and is barely scratched. The Mercifuge joins in and between then they cause significant damage to the trader.

Captain Slaid opens a comms channel to the ship, demanding that it stop. A response, sounding like Ferrik, indicates that the ship will do no such thing. Slaid directs another attack. The Phoenix opens fire causing catestrophic damage to the power plant. The trader falls to the planet surface and flips end over end.

Landing close to the wreck, Captain Slaid requests that Unter perform a detailed scan of the downed ship. As luck would have it the ship has come to rest right-side up. The scan reveals the internal structure, which is a common layout for such ships.

Slaid and Unter enter the wreck, manually cranking the iris door. Inside they find a person moaning and barely conscious, badly thrown around by the crash but kept alive by the armour of his vacc suit. They make sure he will survive, bind him, then move through the ship towards the bridge. There another person is found, along with a dead body. The living crew member is also checked and bound. The dead body is Ferrik Redthane.

Searching the rest of the ship they locate another one living crew member and three others dead

Deciding that the ship may be worth something to salvage, they use the Mercifuge to grasp the trader and then prepare to leave. Slaid considers it worthwhile to check where the trader took off from in case there is anything interesting there.

Making their way slowly over the surface of the planet then reach the general area where Ferrik took off. Transferring to an air/raft then search for any signs of where the ship had been resting. Some time later then discover the tattered remains of a camouflaged covering over a tunnel entrance. It would seem that in his rush Ferrik had decided to flee without taking it down.

Entering the cave in the air/raft the party find another ship -a Far Scout - a habitation module, a crane, spare parts and supplies, and a large cylindrical container which could be the one taken from Torpol.

They land the air/raft near the habitation module and enter, surprising three men who are sitting around drinking caf and reading. The men are totally surprised and raise their hands in response to seeing the armed and armoured party enter. Asked if they have any guns they gesture to the next room where some low tech shotguns are found.

The men were hired on Theev to repair this ship and are expert engineers, although they were not aware at the time that the ship was on an icy moon in the next system. Now that they are here they can fix the ship and perhaps go home. It depends on how things pan out with the party though.

Considering that the repair of the Far Scout is a good idea, Slaid gets everyone to work. The Mercifuge can enter the cave but the Phoenix has too wide a wingspan so it is left outside in the canyon.

The days pass more or less uneventfully. Repairs are made to all ships using the spare parts that were in the cave or in the Mercifuge. After seven days they detect a ship arrive in system near the gas giant. After nine days, and very close to finishing, a ship flies close overhead. Who these people are, or what they want will have to be discovered.

To be continued.

Hunting Ferrik

The story continues on Theev, but moves to the Vume system.

The party have just docked on the Skull on the trail of Miria Silverhand's ship, called The Mercifuge. Within  that ship's computer they hope to find the whereabouts of Ferrik Redthane.

With no time to lose, the party head into the station. It is large and busy but they find a terminal and do a quick search for The Mercifuge. All they can uncover at this time is that it is in the Orange sector, which is some distance away. They pedestrian transit across to that sector and search again. This time they enter the ships codes and locate it in a hanger 500 meters further along.

Quickly entering the codes the party enters the hangar. There is The Mercifuge resting on supports to keep it upright. Ramps lead to the cargo doors on the side, and to the main airlock at the front of the vessel. Sizing up the situation the party leave Pilot Sparrow outside and make their way in using the security codes obtained from Miria's computer.

They immediately find themselves on the bridge, with a number of iris valve doors, and one normal internal door, leading out. Concerned that there may be crew on board the first action is to set up guards to cover the doors, and Sparrow is brought inside to assist.

Needing to power up the computers, Captain Slaid attempts to power up in a hurry, but by skipping through power up routines he misjudges and in the end takes slightly longer than the normal powering up would take. Next he attempts to change the security codes for the ship, which would give the party the edge in the ability to open and close doors, but this is unsuccessful. Considering that there may be cameras throughout the ship Slaid brings these up and the party are astonished to find that while there are personal possessions throughout the ship there are no crew onboard.

Heaving a sigh of relief Captain Slaid prepares to leave port with the ship. Silent Unter mans the comms and requests clearance to depart. He also makes contact with the Phoenix and Krrsh responds that they too will leave. A rendezvous point of the 100 diameter limit is agreed.

As the ship leaves Lady Nitrane checks the cargo bay. On the cameras a number of crates and other cargo canisters are noticed. Checking through the manifest and visually checking the crates Nitrane determines that there are 25 tons of jump drive, crated up and seemingly brand new. Also located in the cargo bay are numerous tons of spare parts, hundreds of days of rations, tools, a modular habitat, and more. It seems that whoever picked this cargo had in mind to repair a ship somewhere away from a port.

Meeting with the Phoenix the Captain decides how to jump to Vume. The Mercifuge could grasp the Phoenix and jump. This would leave The Mercifuge low on fuel, but the Phoenix would still be fully fuelled. In the end though it is decided that both ships will jump independently, and upon arrival may dock to present Ferrik with the appearance that The Mercifuge has brought more salvage.

The Phoenix arrives only one hour ahead of The Mercifuge and when the latter arrives Krrsh, with the better sensors, initiates primitive signalling comms using lasers rather than radio communications. This approach means that should any other ships be nearby they would not be alerted by sudden bursts of static.

With the two ships at close range it is communicated that the salvager will grasp the harrier and approach the icy moon where the planetary sensors on The Mercifuge are about to start a sweep of the planet to see if they can find any sign of Ferrik.

To be continued.

I'm not accepting that

The story continues on Theev.

The dinner at the Rose Pavilion over, the party head back to the ship. Time is short and with the location of Miria Silverhand now known the party need to take advantage if they can.

Considering the approach they will take, Lady Nitrane starts looking for non-lethal weapons. Given it is the middle of the night Silent contacts Davon who agrees to provide what weaponry he can. Some time late a tranq rifle, sonic pistol and assorted flashbang and tranq grenades are delivered to the ship. Some tactics are discussed also: hit Miria first with a flashbang and then follow up with a tranq grenade. If necessary Silent can use the tranq rifle and Nitrane can use the sonic weapon.

Suiting up, everyone is wearing the advanced boarding vacc suits that have stood them in good stead so far. In addition to the non-lethal weapons the party are also carrying a variety of laser pistols, laser rifles, arc swords and the like. One can never be too careful.

Leaving before dawn they head out and arrive just before first light with the intent of performing a scouting run, with an option to proceed or back out depending on how things work out. Sparrow waits with the air/raft a kilometer or so from the known location of Miria Silverhand ready to move should the need arise.

The three remaining party members head towards the large assemblage of downed ships that makes up a warren of hiding places. They see nobody as they approach but are certain that they are being watched.

Just at the entrance to the complex jumble of ships that Miria calls home, Silent holds up a fit to halt, and a figure in battle armour appears in front of them. Turning off the advanced camouflage that helped him blend into the surroundings, the figure gestures to Silent that the target is 30 yards ahead, up one level but remain silent. The figure departs without uttering a word. The party surmise that it is one of Admiral Darokyn's men.

Making their way carefully, the party find a large open area that was once perhaps the cargo bay of a merchant ship. The floor is covered in grimy grey water so passing it will be difficult. The party split up, Lady Nitrane to the left, Captain Slaid to the right, and Unter directly through the middle. The arrive at the bottom of a ladder, and above is an open iris valve.

Slaid checks for anything that may be recording their arrival, but the darkness hinders him. Is that a small mirror up in the corner though? Or just an exposed end of a piece of metal? Wordlessly, Silent takes the lead.

Unter peeks over the lip of the ladder well and sees a very dimly lit area. Formerly staterooms they have been pulled down for scrap leaving rubbish and rubble, and some pools of dirty water. He emerges quietly and takes a position from where he can cover the door at the far end. Nitrane climbs next, taking a similarly tactical position. Then Slaid.

Crossing over from side to side to maximise fields of vision, and talking only in whispers over suit-based intercoms, the party approach the door. Silent lies prone and trains his tranq rifle on the door. Slaid take a position adjacent to a wall, readying a grenade. Nitrane takes a position just next to the door and then hits the small open button that has been recently wired in.

The door opens. Nitrane, Slaid and Unter enter silently. The corridor here is just as dark as before. There are doors this time to left and right - staterooms perhaps? And at the end another iris door which is closed. Unter takes up a prone position on the floor, training his gun on the end door. Nitrane opens the first stateroom door which Slaid covers her. The room contains only the junk left over from when the valuable contents were removed.

Lady Nitrane moves to the next door. But then...

Immediately the deafeningly loud blasts of an autocannon on full automatic fire fill the corridor as the end iris valve opens. Nitrane and Unter are hit. Slaid, around the corner, is not.

The dark corridor is filled with smoke from the firing of the gun.

Unter squeezes a shot into the smoky darkness and rolls to one side.

Nitrane's trauma kit, recently installed, injects serums into her to give her a burst of endurance. She fires the sonic pistol through the doorway, hoping to hit something.

Slaid throws a flashbang grenade, but in the darkness and smoke misjudges and it bounces halfway back to the party. Nobody is affected by it due to their suits.

Unter fires again into the darkness. No firing is coming from the autocannon. This seems odd.

Nitrane decides that while the corridor is free of high velocity lead bullets she should approach at speed. As she arrives at the door she sees in the darkness a form sitting behind the gun. The head looks up, noticing her, and the world turns white from an explosion that knocks Lady Nitrane from her feet.

Ears ringing, even in the armour, the party look in to the room. The explosion has ripped the body apart and damaged the autocannon. Belongings, bedding and rubbish have been thrown about. Assuming that this was a ruse they immediately look for other exits, and get Sparrow to fly over the Scrapyard looking to see if Miria is fleeing.

Nobody finds another exit. Slaid gathers up the possessions, trying to see if there are any recent entries on a personal computer pad. The computer contains the codes to Miria's ship, and there is a clear indication that the location to Ferrik is in the ships computer. Unter collects the body and noticing the helmet, cracks it open. People peer in. It kind of looks like Miria, but with the explosion damage it's not definitively possible to say that it's her.

With the body collected up in a sack, and all possessions gathered up, the party head out. Sparrow reports that with the gunfire and explosion there are dozens of people fleeing the scrapyard. None appear to have a silver arm, but a simple disguise like wearing a coat would hide it from sight.

Jumping down after the body sack the party splash through the cargo hangar lake, and out into the early morning daylight just as Sparrow lands the air/raft next to them. The body and possessions are thrown into a crate that was brought in case they needed to being Miria into the spaceport unseen.

The party make their way back to the ship as quickly as possible without drawing attention to themselves. There they quickly prepare to leave, but not before a small sample of tissue is sent to Davon for analysis. There is no time to ensure that it gets to the intended party though.

Nitrane heads to the medbay while Sparrow requests that the hangar doors be opened. He takes off, clipping a door on the way out. They head to orbit.

Slaid has a better look at the computer that was retrieved. As the ship heads to orbit it becomes clear that the next step has to be to get aboard Miria's ship and retrieve the jump locations from the ship's computer. A course is set to the Skull, and landing permission is granted.

Sparrow lands the ship, and while Unter is being treated in the medbay a plan of attack starts to be formed.

To be continued...

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What follows is a transcript of the video and voice recordings taken from the computer and helmet of the person suspected to be Miria Silverhand. No voice analysis has been performed on the voice recordings to determine if the voice heard is in fact that of Miria Silverhand.

Camera 1: Three figures are seen approaching. Each wears heavy armour, all identical. No insignia is visible. Each has what looks like sacks of grenades on their waists. Many guns are visible. They approach stealthily but are too arrogant to skulk or hide. One holds up a hand in a military gesture indicating a halt. Another figure emerges and seems to communicate something using military gestures. The fourth figure leaves. The original three proceed in.

Voice recording: Female: "Krud. That's Darokyn's scout. Double Krud. Looks like Darokyn's making his move". Sounds of movement, effort, as if putting on armour and dragging something heavy.

Camera 2: The three figures enter the cargo area. With military precision they split up to avoid booby traps. They meet at the foot of the ladder.  

Voice recording: Heavy breathing. Sound of a medical injector. Female voice: "Darling Ferrik I hope you get this. I think they are coming for me. That imperial scumbag has found where I am. Hoping to scare them off. If not I'll take them with me. I love you."

Camera 3: One rises up the ladder and pauses for a moment. He then creeps to a position with good arcs of fire. He wields a gun. The other two rise up the ladder, One produces a strange looking pistol and the other produces a grenade and primes it. They take up positions like a well drilled unit, covering each other and preparing to enter the next door.

<FROM THIS POINT THE RECORDINGS ARE LOCATED ONLY ON HELMET COMPUTER. PERSONAL COMPUTER HAS BEEN TURNED OFF>

Voice recording: Heavy breathing. Small click - perhaps a safety being turned off and firing mechanism primed.

Helmet camera: view of closed iris valve. Head moving around. Looking at switch in hand. Looking at firing mechanism on an old rusty gun.

Voice recording: Sounds of metal scraping on the other side of the iris valce. Female voice: "Krud it" click, then very loud gunfire. Female voice yelling.

Helmet camera. Iris valve opens. Gun firing through hole as it opens. Smoke fills the corridor. Nothing can be seen clearly. Figures moving about. A flash.

Voice recording: Female" Holy Krud ... <incomprehensible>... see a damned thing... <incomprehensible>  .. damned piece of shit... small bang.

Helmet camera. One figure suddenly looms out of the smoke.

Voice recording: Female:  ."NOOO!" Loud explosion.

Helmet camera: <RECORDING ENDS>

Voice recording: <RECORDING ENDS>

You again?

The story continues on Theev.

Thoughts turn to how to find Miria Silverhand. Having tried looking him up on the local net, Lady Nitrane instead considers if Lomar Fisk might be able to find a way. She contacts him again, at first to thank him for the evening before, and then to see if he can answer some more questions. He agrees to meet her for lunch the next day at a delightful restaurant on the top floor of a hotel which has panoramic views of the whole city.

Captain Slaid on the other hand, remembering that The Grand Hotel caters to the imperial crews when ships visit, decides to take a room there and let it be known, in a roundabout way, that he is an Admiral. The hope is that someone will let Admiral Darokyn know that another admiral is in town and maybe an approach will come that way. All the staff at the hotel are 'unable to say' should any direct questions be posed, but Slaid is pretty sure that they have taken it in and someone will be told. But will it be Darokyn.

The Grand Hotel lobby

The next day, after taking in the entertainments, Captain Slaid decides to lunch at the best restaurant in the hotel, on the top floor, where he is intrigued to see Lady Nitrane lunching with a gentleman. Aware of the rendezvous with Lomar Fisk, the Captain says hello, whereupon Fisk grabs another chair and insists that he join them. Whatever Fisks' motivation to help Lady Nitrane is it does not appear to be romantic.Captain Slaid introduces himself as the captain of the ship that Lady Nitrane travels on, which doesn't seem to contradict any stories and lunch continues.

Following lunch, where Fisk agrees try to get in touch with Darokyn, Lady Nitrane and Captain Slaid, joined by Silent Unter, return to the ship and change into armour and pick up their weapons. It's time to start asking people about Miria Silverhand.

Up front it is agreed that there would be no threats or intimidation, only gossip, rumour and bribery. They start hitting the bars and shops of the Lower City...

...where three days (and quite a few credits) later they have their information.

Miria is located in the Scrapyard, a region of the lower city that consists of many downed ship that have been part scrapped, and part welded together, It is an area of lawlessness (more so that the rest of the lower city) and even knowing that she's in there, a fair amount of searching for her will still be required.

Upon surfacing from the Lower City the party find waiting for them a note from Fisk to meet him later that day as he also has some information to share. Captain Slaid too has a message, a pristine white card with gold edgings inviting him to dine at the Rose Pavilion that evening. It does not mention who he is to dine with, but it takes no brainpower to determine that it must be Admiral Darokyn himself.

Lady Nitrane, taking Silent Unter along as bodyguard, meet with Fisk at a bar. As they enter they notice that he is with a man. Before they can be introduced Unter says "Hello Davon". It would appear that Silent and this Davon have a history. Luckily, they are on excellent terms, and with this good fortune a potentially tense meeting becomes an invitation to dine with Admiral Darokyn, who it transpires is Davon's commander.

Oh calamity! What to wear? Lady Nitrane goes shopping again. The assistants at Blacksand's most prestigious and fashionable boutique welcome her back, and instantly get to work. Lady Nitrane pays the small fortune for the frankly astonishing dress, and everyone is ready for the evening.

The Rose Pavilion

Lady Nitrane, looking absolutely stunning, is escorted by her bodyguard Silent Unter, Captain Slaid in full Admiral dress uniform (with ceremonial sword) is accompanied by his batman Jack Sparrow. Lady Nitrane is welcomed back and led to Darokyn's table with Slaid. Unter and Sparrow are shown to a table close by.

Admiral Darokyn welcomes them and a small field springs up, preventing eavesdroppers from hearing their conversation, which after some excellent small talk turns to Miria Silverhand and her boss Ferrik Redthane.

Admiral Darokyn

The meal is excellent, the conversation and wit sparkles, and in the end they agree that they will 'take care of' the Redthane problem for Darokyn in exchange for her exact location. They also agree not to return to Theev for one year while it all blows over and everyone forgets that the party were here at the same time that Redthane and his lieutenant are removed from play.

The party have a morning to complete all their shopping before they need to take on Miria in her hiding place, after which they are to leave Blacksand and the Theev system for 12 months.

To be continued...