The Gazelle took up station much like the other escort had held many days before. The Patrol Corvette joined it, but the repair ship landed. Time passed. The two imperial ships were in geosynchronous orbits about the space station so there was little chance of the traveller's Harrier being detected as they were right on the horizon.
After a few hours the Patrol Corvette also landed. And a few hours after that it was up in orbit again, although this time it was in a higher orbit than the Gazelle, and unlike the other imperial ship it was moving.
Some careful sensor scans later it became clear that the patrol corvette was making a scanning sweep of the planet, and that it was likely that the Harriers would be noticed.
Making a plan on the spur of the moment the travellers moved the ships around the far side of the planet such that they would not be detected by either imperial ship as the patrol corvette made its first few orbits of the planet. The idea was to pounce on the patrol corvette once it was on the other side of the planet from the gazelle, and take it out without the other ship knowing.
When the time came to engage the enemy the Harriers had the element of surprise and this time, with the corvette not picking them up on sensors they killed the crew with radiation damage, leaving it still in orbit. Boarding the ship confirmed that there were no survivors strong enough to put up a fight and a crew was transferred to pilot the ship down to the planet surface and hide it.
In no time all the travellers' crew was burying the bodies, covering the ship, and transferring to the Harriers anything that might prove useful. This included the ships logs and records, battle dress and weapons from the marines, and a full cargo manifest. Other items such as the ships boat and gcarrier were ignored for now, and a more thorough search of the ship for salvage (or to repair it sufficiently to keep it) were postponed.
The Harriers took off again, and observed that the gazelle was still in place. What to do next. Hmmm.
To be continued.
Saturday, 30 June 2018
Fast times at Arunisiir Port
The Harriers arrived in Arunisiir and headed to the planet. On the trip a Gazelle class escort was detected, although it seemed that the Harriers had not been detected. Captain Slayed directed two of the Harriers into position on the opposite side of the planet while the party landed to see what had happened.
The spaceport gave permission to land, and the Harrier headed to the surface of the planet. On drawing close it became apparent that the treasure ship was at the space port, but had clearly landed heavily. The ground was cracked in places, and soot and fire damage was visible on the aft of the ship. Landing a little way away the party considered their options.
Day 1
The spaceport authorities seemed to be represented by a lone Aslan who stalked up to the ship. Meeting him the party discovered that he considered himself the owner of the land and so demanded that the party pay him say 100Cr per ton of ship. Captain Slayed, fresh from his authoritative command of the situation with Klowaaar on Paradise, used the same alpha male approach and made this newcomer, called Ekaft, stand down and sullenly trudge off without payment.
Goff headed out to the salvage yard to see if there was anything interesting, while the others headed to the bar. There, Slayed met Chief Engineer (acting) Polo who eventually opened up and admitted that there had been an accident on the ship and there had been many fatalities. It might be possible to be hired on to help out in the engineering bay, but any prospective employees would have to be vetted by the captain (she rolls her eyes at this) before they could start.
Lady Nitrane and Unter remained in the bar while Slayed went to find Goff.
In the bar the more people caught their eye. One was a scout who was loudly proclaiming is awesomeness, and was sitting next to a battered robot. It turned out that the scout, called Van, had saved the day, and was gladly receiving drinks from any who would buy them for him. As Nitrane and Unter approached he said in a mock-exasperated voice that he supposed he could recount his heroics just one more time. This he did, at great length, and in summary all he had really done is jump back to Fist to tell the authorities and then return, but to the crew of the treasure ship he was a hero. His robot, called Bucket, sat impassively through this.
Slayed in the meantime had found Goff and broached the subject of what to do with the Imperial Treasure Ship. Initially the conversation skirted around the desire on the part of the party to make off with whatever was in the treasure ship vault, but it turned out that Goff disliked imperials and had also worked out that the party were more pirate then philanthropist, which he didn't mind. After all, he had been a friend of Lady Yemar for 'more years than she'd care to remember'.
Back at the bar two imperial crew members had joined the small crowd around Van, and proceeded to loudly join in. They were called O'Leary and Ilin, and they were gunners who liked a drink. Lady Nitrane and Unter took them to another table and discovered from them that the ship was looking for engineers. At this point Slayed returned after his talk to Goff and the imperial crew noticed his bearing and demeanour and decided enough was enough.
With not much else to do, the party headed to the ship, all except for Slayed who headed to the trading offices to get a feel for what might be available for sale. After making contact with a couple of traders he too headed to the ship to make plans.
Day 2
The next day, the crew decided to head to the treasure ship and offer the services of engineers for the purpose of helping repair the ship. It had been discussed that some kind of sabotage might be appropriately pulled off in order to make the ship mis-jump (although where to find it afterwards) or to stop it jumping (more plausible) or even pay with the manoeuvre or power plant to blow at a specific time. With no specific plans in place it was decided to at least get someone on board to look around.
Approaching the ship the marines on duty stopped the party and asked their business. Slayed said he had some crew who might be useful in the imperial ship repairs. The marine radioed in and a short time later Second Officer Halbinar disembarked and met with the party. Yes, the services of experienced engineers would be appreciated, but they'd have to see the engineer and personally check their identity and their expertise levels. It was agreed that some time later the engineers would approach the treasure ship for these checks.
Before the scheduled meeting, the party, and Slayed in particular, decided to have a look around the space port. Noting the System Defence Boats and many missile turrets, their state of repair and effectiveness was a significant point of interest. It seemed that this planet, which was nominally TL6, still managed to mount an effective missile defence, although the SDBs were significantly less impressive, merging low and moderately high technology in their construction.
At the appointed time, the party and Goff approach the treasure ship. Goff is first interviewed by Second Officer Halbinar, and then Chief Engineer (acting) Polo asks some questions about his experience and capabilities, which Goff seems to have passed as they agree he can start work the next morning.
That evening is spent planning what Goff might be able to do to the treasure ship drives. One approach was to make the ship mis-jump, another to prevent it from jumping at all. With there being no actual working jump drives any tampering might be found when they were repaired. Alternatives were discussed but without someone on board to take advantage of the situation there was not a lot that could be done effectively.
Day 3
Goff reported for duty in the morning and boarded the treasure ship. The rest of the crew had an uneventful day. They purchased supplies for the three Harriers for 4 weeks each, putting the supplies for the other ships in the cargo hold.
Other than that, the party got into a routine of visiting the bar and speaking to whichever crew they found there.
Day 4
The next morning the spaceport was woken by a ship buzzing low over the port then heading back up to orbit. This unusual event was made more interesting by the realisation that it was a scout ship that was last recorded on the ships logs in Theev, and belonged to Hrol Irontooth, a proper pirate's pirate. It was known to the party that Hrol's flagship is a 1,200 ton Halaheike-class pocket warship.
In addition, the Harrier picked up a short, encrypted message coming from the treasure ship to the scout as it buzzed the port. It seemed that the pirate had someone on board the treasure ship. Could the drive explosion have been sabotage?
Deciding to try to use this to the party's advantage, Slayed approached the treasure ship and demanded to see the captain. The marine on duty was persuaded to fetch the first officer, and First Officer Jagad, when she arrived, was persuaded to allow Slayed to see the captain.
On arriving in his office there was a long delay while the captain finished some essential paperwork and then focused his gaze on Slayed. As the information was relayed to the treasure ship captain that a possible saboteur was on board it became quickly apparent that the message was not at all welcome. the captain flatly refused to believe that a message could have come from his ship, and furthermore there was no chance that some upstart vagrant ship captain like Slayed could tell him otherwise.
At this point Admiral Slayed informed the captain that he had been in the Imperial Navy, to which the captain asked what rank. Slayed refused to answer. The captain asked to see his ID to confirm who he was. Slayed refused to hand it over. At that point the captain asked that Slayed be escorted out and resumed his paperwork. Slayed made a snide comment about the importance of pushing bits of paper around and left, escorted by First Officer Jagad and the marine.
While Slayed got the impression that Jagad sympathised he was informed that there would be no more access to the treasure ship for him.
Day 5
The next morning Goff was refused access to the treasure ship due to the unsavoury company that he kept. This seriously curtailed some of the plans that had been considered. Now, any information about the treasure ship, its cargo, how to open the vault and what its destination or route would be would have to be gleaned from talking to and befriending people in the bar. Slayed's assumption that the captain had the means to open the vault would also be harder to test or put into practice.
At this point there were discussions about what to do about the Gazelle escort ship in orbit. It was decided that when the repair ship arrived, presumably with the other escort, it would be easier to proceed without there being two escorts.
A message was sent to the other two Harriers to carefully and stealthily attack the Gazelle, fleeing should there be difficulties. They sprung into action. Approaching from over the horizon, the Harriers got a sensor lock and fired their particle barbettes before the Gazelle even knew they were there. They fired again, the Gazelle diving for the relative safety of the planet surface where they would be in range of protective missiles. The imperials fired wildly, now knowing where the Harriers were.
The Harriers increased speed, chasing the Gazelle and firing again. And again. And then the Gazelle impacted with the ground and the Harriers returned to the other side of the planet. Job done.
Back at the spaceport the travellers were making themselves conspicuous. LAdy Nitrane was sunbathing on the wing of the Harrier. Slayed and Sparrow were playing ball, and Unter was shirtless riding backwards on a bicycle. They did not hear the Gazelle crash but they found out that they had been successful when the Harriers reported in, and at the same moment activity around the treasure ship burst into frantic action.
The turrets on the treasure ship were activated and all marines brought out onto the apron. Other crew ran to the central spaceport offices and seemed to be demanding vehicles, as soon enough they were heading out in the direction of the crashed escort. A strange tension filled the air.
Some time later the vehicles returned, the crew somewhat dejected looking. The ship was still on a heightened level of alertness for most of the day but it eventually relaxed as no further threats were detected.
Day 6
The next day things seemed to be more or less returned to normal, which was slightly odd given that clearly the threat had not been eliminated. Sparrow went to the bar as it opened and found the treasure ship's astrogator Osha there, already drinking. She seemed to be a little shaken up by the events of the previous day.
Sparrow got talking to her and they seemed to hit it off. Osha had the distinctive gills and blue skin of a Dolberg native. She started talking about her life growing up on Dolberg and how she joined the navy. After a while, and noticeably more relaxed, she observed the time and made her goodbyes, voicing a hope that they could meet again soon, or as soon as her shore leave came around again.
That night the party discussed the fact that they'd been on Arunisiir for nearly a week and that soon enough there would be questions about why they were still there. The questions seemed so worrying that the plan was made to pretend to jump to Exocet (where the party had been before) but in reality to stay stealthed in orbit around Arunisiir and observe from afar. They said their farewells and informed the relevant authorities of flight plans and took off. They headed out towards the 100d limit but made a large loop around the planet and returned to the opposite side from the spaceport whereupon they landed and distributed supplies to the other Harriers.
Day 7
Establishing a routine of one ship up and two ships down, one day on station and two off station, the travellers began waiting for things to happen.
Nothing else happened that day that the Harriers could detect.
Day 8
A ship was detected arriving and landing. It registered as a type of trading ship.
Day 9
Nothing happened
Day 10
A ship took off, identified as the far trader Hopeful Wanderer
Day 11
Another ship took off, this time the far trader Fafnir.
Day 12
Nothing happened
Day 13
Nothing happened
Day 14
Three ships arrived. A Gazelle Escort, a Patrol Cruiser, and a Fleet Tender. The Imperials had finally arrived! What had happened at the space port was anyone's guess, but at last things were happening.
To be continued...
The spaceport gave permission to land, and the Harrier headed to the surface of the planet. On drawing close it became apparent that the treasure ship was at the space port, but had clearly landed heavily. The ground was cracked in places, and soot and fire damage was visible on the aft of the ship. Landing a little way away the party considered their options.
Day 1
The spaceport authorities seemed to be represented by a lone Aslan who stalked up to the ship. Meeting him the party discovered that he considered himself the owner of the land and so demanded that the party pay him say 100Cr per ton of ship. Captain Slayed, fresh from his authoritative command of the situation with Klowaaar on Paradise, used the same alpha male approach and made this newcomer, called Ekaft, stand down and sullenly trudge off without payment.
Goff headed out to the salvage yard to see if there was anything interesting, while the others headed to the bar. There, Slayed met Chief Engineer (acting) Polo who eventually opened up and admitted that there had been an accident on the ship and there had been many fatalities. It might be possible to be hired on to help out in the engineering bay, but any prospective employees would have to be vetted by the captain (she rolls her eyes at this) before they could start.
Lady Nitrane and Unter remained in the bar while Slayed went to find Goff.
In the bar the more people caught their eye. One was a scout who was loudly proclaiming is awesomeness, and was sitting next to a battered robot. It turned out that the scout, called Van, had saved the day, and was gladly receiving drinks from any who would buy them for him. As Nitrane and Unter approached he said in a mock-exasperated voice that he supposed he could recount his heroics just one more time. This he did, at great length, and in summary all he had really done is jump back to Fist to tell the authorities and then return, but to the crew of the treasure ship he was a hero. His robot, called Bucket, sat impassively through this.
Slayed in the meantime had found Goff and broached the subject of what to do with the Imperial Treasure Ship. Initially the conversation skirted around the desire on the part of the party to make off with whatever was in the treasure ship vault, but it turned out that Goff disliked imperials and had also worked out that the party were more pirate then philanthropist, which he didn't mind. After all, he had been a friend of Lady Yemar for 'more years than she'd care to remember'.
Back at the bar two imperial crew members had joined the small crowd around Van, and proceeded to loudly join in. They were called O'Leary and Ilin, and they were gunners who liked a drink. Lady Nitrane and Unter took them to another table and discovered from them that the ship was looking for engineers. At this point Slayed returned after his talk to Goff and the imperial crew noticed his bearing and demeanour and decided enough was enough.
With not much else to do, the party headed to the ship, all except for Slayed who headed to the trading offices to get a feel for what might be available for sale. After making contact with a couple of traders he too headed to the ship to make plans.
Day 2
The next day, the crew decided to head to the treasure ship and offer the services of engineers for the purpose of helping repair the ship. It had been discussed that some kind of sabotage might be appropriately pulled off in order to make the ship mis-jump (although where to find it afterwards) or to stop it jumping (more plausible) or even pay with the manoeuvre or power plant to blow at a specific time. With no specific plans in place it was decided to at least get someone on board to look around.
Approaching the ship the marines on duty stopped the party and asked their business. Slayed said he had some crew who might be useful in the imperial ship repairs. The marine radioed in and a short time later Second Officer Halbinar disembarked and met with the party. Yes, the services of experienced engineers would be appreciated, but they'd have to see the engineer and personally check their identity and their expertise levels. It was agreed that some time later the engineers would approach the treasure ship for these checks.
Before the scheduled meeting, the party, and Slayed in particular, decided to have a look around the space port. Noting the System Defence Boats and many missile turrets, their state of repair and effectiveness was a significant point of interest. It seemed that this planet, which was nominally TL6, still managed to mount an effective missile defence, although the SDBs were significantly less impressive, merging low and moderately high technology in their construction.
At the appointed time, the party and Goff approach the treasure ship. Goff is first interviewed by Second Officer Halbinar, and then Chief Engineer (acting) Polo asks some questions about his experience and capabilities, which Goff seems to have passed as they agree he can start work the next morning.
That evening is spent planning what Goff might be able to do to the treasure ship drives. One approach was to make the ship mis-jump, another to prevent it from jumping at all. With there being no actual working jump drives any tampering might be found when they were repaired. Alternatives were discussed but without someone on board to take advantage of the situation there was not a lot that could be done effectively.
Day 3
Goff reported for duty in the morning and boarded the treasure ship. The rest of the crew had an uneventful day. They purchased supplies for the three Harriers for 4 weeks each, putting the supplies for the other ships in the cargo hold.
Other than that, the party got into a routine of visiting the bar and speaking to whichever crew they found there.
Day 4
The next morning the spaceport was woken by a ship buzzing low over the port then heading back up to orbit. This unusual event was made more interesting by the realisation that it was a scout ship that was last recorded on the ships logs in Theev, and belonged to Hrol Irontooth, a proper pirate's pirate. It was known to the party that Hrol's flagship is a 1,200 ton Halaheike-class pocket warship.
In addition, the Harrier picked up a short, encrypted message coming from the treasure ship to the scout as it buzzed the port. It seemed that the pirate had someone on board the treasure ship. Could the drive explosion have been sabotage?
Deciding to try to use this to the party's advantage, Slayed approached the treasure ship and demanded to see the captain. The marine on duty was persuaded to fetch the first officer, and First Officer Jagad, when she arrived, was persuaded to allow Slayed to see the captain.
On arriving in his office there was a long delay while the captain finished some essential paperwork and then focused his gaze on Slayed. As the information was relayed to the treasure ship captain that a possible saboteur was on board it became quickly apparent that the message was not at all welcome. the captain flatly refused to believe that a message could have come from his ship, and furthermore there was no chance that some upstart vagrant ship captain like Slayed could tell him otherwise.
At this point Admiral Slayed informed the captain that he had been in the Imperial Navy, to which the captain asked what rank. Slayed refused to answer. The captain asked to see his ID to confirm who he was. Slayed refused to hand it over. At that point the captain asked that Slayed be escorted out and resumed his paperwork. Slayed made a snide comment about the importance of pushing bits of paper around and left, escorted by First Officer Jagad and the marine.
While Slayed got the impression that Jagad sympathised he was informed that there would be no more access to the treasure ship for him.
Day 5
The next morning Goff was refused access to the treasure ship due to the unsavoury company that he kept. This seriously curtailed some of the plans that had been considered. Now, any information about the treasure ship, its cargo, how to open the vault and what its destination or route would be would have to be gleaned from talking to and befriending people in the bar. Slayed's assumption that the captain had the means to open the vault would also be harder to test or put into practice.
At this point there were discussions about what to do about the Gazelle escort ship in orbit. It was decided that when the repair ship arrived, presumably with the other escort, it would be easier to proceed without there being two escorts.
A message was sent to the other two Harriers to carefully and stealthily attack the Gazelle, fleeing should there be difficulties. They sprung into action. Approaching from over the horizon, the Harriers got a sensor lock and fired their particle barbettes before the Gazelle even knew they were there. They fired again, the Gazelle diving for the relative safety of the planet surface where they would be in range of protective missiles. The imperials fired wildly, now knowing where the Harriers were.
The Harriers increased speed, chasing the Gazelle and firing again. And again. And then the Gazelle impacted with the ground and the Harriers returned to the other side of the planet. Job done.
Back at the spaceport the travellers were making themselves conspicuous. LAdy Nitrane was sunbathing on the wing of the Harrier. Slayed and Sparrow were playing ball, and Unter was shirtless riding backwards on a bicycle. They did not hear the Gazelle crash but they found out that they had been successful when the Harriers reported in, and at the same moment activity around the treasure ship burst into frantic action.
The turrets on the treasure ship were activated and all marines brought out onto the apron. Other crew ran to the central spaceport offices and seemed to be demanding vehicles, as soon enough they were heading out in the direction of the crashed escort. A strange tension filled the air.
Some time later the vehicles returned, the crew somewhat dejected looking. The ship was still on a heightened level of alertness for most of the day but it eventually relaxed as no further threats were detected.
Day 6
The next day things seemed to be more or less returned to normal, which was slightly odd given that clearly the threat had not been eliminated. Sparrow went to the bar as it opened and found the treasure ship's astrogator Osha there, already drinking. She seemed to be a little shaken up by the events of the previous day.
Sparrow got talking to her and they seemed to hit it off. Osha had the distinctive gills and blue skin of a Dolberg native. She started talking about her life growing up on Dolberg and how she joined the navy. After a while, and noticeably more relaxed, she observed the time and made her goodbyes, voicing a hope that they could meet again soon, or as soon as her shore leave came around again.
That night the party discussed the fact that they'd been on Arunisiir for nearly a week and that soon enough there would be questions about why they were still there. The questions seemed so worrying that the plan was made to pretend to jump to Exocet (where the party had been before) but in reality to stay stealthed in orbit around Arunisiir and observe from afar. They said their farewells and informed the relevant authorities of flight plans and took off. They headed out towards the 100d limit but made a large loop around the planet and returned to the opposite side from the spaceport whereupon they landed and distributed supplies to the other Harriers.
Day 7
Establishing a routine of one ship up and two ships down, one day on station and two off station, the travellers began waiting for things to happen.
Nothing else happened that day that the Harriers could detect.
Day 8
A ship was detected arriving and landing. It registered as a type of trading ship.
Day 9
Nothing happened
Day 10
A ship took off, identified as the far trader Hopeful Wanderer
Day 11
Another ship took off, this time the far trader Fafnir.
Day 12
Nothing happened
Day 13
Nothing happened
Day 14
Three ships arrived. A Gazelle Escort, a Patrol Cruiser, and a Fleet Tender. The Imperials had finally arrived! What had happened at the space port was anyone's guess, but at last things were happening.
To be continued...
Monday, 28 May 2018
Back in home for tea?
Goff turned his attention away from the green scenery on the screens and asked the party what they wanted to see him for.
Lady Nitrane passed him plans to the space station, and pictures, and explained what the party had found. He considered the plans, asking some basic questions before noting that there was an unusual aspect to the station. Why, for example, did it have such a large amount of space set aside for laboratories, and also why so much manufacturing capability.
After the party made their case for Goff to help them with their genuine Sindalian Empire station, Goff pondered the opportunity and in short order said that he would help them. Of course he'd have to see it for himself, and he had four conditions:
1. A reserved docking bay for his use only.
2. 1000 tons of cargo space, near the docking bay, for his use only.
3. The freedom to pick his section heads, from people he knows and trusts
4. 10% of the manufacturing capacity for one year, to do with as he pleases.
The party agreed to these terms, while asking if any of the people he wanted to hire were on the way to the station. No, they were not.
Goff led the party back to the elevator and down to the vehicle, where he advised that the trip back would be a long one, and promptly fell asleep.
On arriving back at the lounge Goff told Bran and the others that he was going on a holiday. Their faces fell.
Back and the docking bays, Goff advised that his should would be able to follow along with the party ships and so he could be on the Harrier to get to know the party better. His ship, he explained, was quite automated.
Leaving The World the party headed to Paal, and then to Pourne and Clarke.
On Clarke the party met with Keeper Malos, the dour sullen gentlemen the party had worked with previously. He was glad to see them, in his own way, and said that he had some news that might interest them.
Apparently an Imperial Treasure Ship had experienced an explosion and was to be found on Arunisiir, a world only 2 jumps from Clarke. If the party were quick they might be able to take advantage of the situation. He had also acquired the ship specs in case they were interested.
A quick decision was made to follow the lead, although to Goff the change of plans was couched in terms of helping the Imperium, to which Goff replied that the Imperium were no friends of his.
Goff left his ship on Clarke, and the Harriers went via the gas giant in the Blue system on to Arunisiir.
TO BE CONTINUED
Lady Nitrane passed him plans to the space station, and pictures, and explained what the party had found. He considered the plans, asking some basic questions before noting that there was an unusual aspect to the station. Why, for example, did it have such a large amount of space set aside for laboratories, and also why so much manufacturing capability.
After the party made their case for Goff to help them with their genuine Sindalian Empire station, Goff pondered the opportunity and in short order said that he would help them. Of course he'd have to see it for himself, and he had four conditions:
1. A reserved docking bay for his use only.
2. 1000 tons of cargo space, near the docking bay, for his use only.
3. The freedom to pick his section heads, from people he knows and trusts
4. 10% of the manufacturing capacity for one year, to do with as he pleases.
The party agreed to these terms, while asking if any of the people he wanted to hire were on the way to the station. No, they were not.
Goff led the party back to the elevator and down to the vehicle, where he advised that the trip back would be a long one, and promptly fell asleep.
On arriving back at the lounge Goff told Bran and the others that he was going on a holiday. Their faces fell.
Back and the docking bays, Goff advised that his should would be able to follow along with the party ships and so he could be on the Harrier to get to know the party better. His ship, he explained, was quite automated.
Leaving The World the party headed to Paal, and then to Pourne and Clarke.
On Clarke the party met with Keeper Malos, the dour sullen gentlemen the party had worked with previously. He was glad to see them, in his own way, and said that he had some news that might interest them.
Apparently an Imperial Treasure Ship had experienced an explosion and was to be found on Arunisiir, a world only 2 jumps from Clarke. If the party were quick they might be able to take advantage of the situation. He had also acquired the ship specs in case they were interested.
A quick decision was made to follow the lead, although to Goff the change of plans was couched in terms of helping the Imperium, to which Goff replied that the Imperium were no friends of his.
Goff left his ship on Clarke, and the Harriers went via the gas giant in the Blue system on to Arunisiir.
TO BE CONTINUED
Monday, 21 May 2018
Getting Goff
The travellers arrived in the The World system near a gas giant, on the scanners was the huge space station that they had been told the legendary engineer Goff could be found on.
The station was enormous, about 50 kilometres in diameter and 10 km high. On opposite sides of the station were cubic protuberances about 3km on a side. This thing was huge, and the robotic voice that answered them when they hailed the station directed them to one of the side cubes. "Follow green" they were told.
Getting closer the party could see tiny dots darting around which the sensors identified as fighters. Closer still the opening that they were being directed to came into view. It was a full half a kilometre across and seemed to pass through to the other side of the cube. Green lights were visible.
Entering the enormous docking bay the travellers saw dozens of docking stations, four of which were already occupied (by a refuelling barge, a large savager, a system defense boat of some kind, and a far trader). Three green lights highlighted the docking ports that the Harriers could connect to. These were in a line, and when the party emerged from the ships they could see that they were along a single corridor. A person was waiting for them, grimy overall and an air of someone who works hard..
He introduced himself as Teppic, and asked them what they were doing at the station. Lady Nitrane told him that they were from Drinax and were flying the flag so to speak. They were also interested in talking to someone called Goff who they had been told was interested in old Sindalian ships. Teppic was vaguely interested, but kept walking as he took them to the common lounge area.
Emerging into a large common area the party could see tables and booths, a bar and various games machines. Through an open hatch a food preparation area could be seen. The five or six people already there were interested in the arrival, but in a half-hearted way, as if they were used to strangers arriving.
Teppic offered the party a drink, but really only had beer so that's what the party ordered. The rest of the crew of the Harriers were filing in now too, and Sparrow was tasked with keeping them in order.
The party were approached by another person, this time an older man with white beard, but with similarly greasy and worn overalls. He introduced himself as Bran. He said he'd heard that they wanted to talk to Goff. He wasn't expected back for a few days, he said, but it might be possible to take the party to him if it were urgent. Upon deciding that they might take him up on the offer he said his brother would be awake in about an hour and that he would take them.
Eventually Bran's brother Garn woke up and groggily came to see the party. He offered to take them to Goff, which meant putting on overalls with black pants and red shirt so that the robots that patrolled the engineering levels did not catch them and take them to the holding cells.
The trip involved taking a flat transportation pod, a bit like a mining cart, through the depths of the station to the dark levels. For the first hour Garn was quiet and didn't say much, but as he woke up he got more talkative.
Eventually reaching their destination, Garn and the travellers disembarked and put on torch headbands to light the way. Garn explained that the dark levels were so named because the lighting rigs had been salvaged centuries before.
After some time Lady Nitrane saw a light ahead which turned out to be Goff himself.
Goff was poking about under a large cylinder which had a panel removed. He grunted when the party got near but did not look up. "You!" he pointed at Lady Nitrane. "Hold this!". To Unter he said, "Get that wrench. No! Not that one, the heavy one! Now hit this as hard as you can just here." Luckily Unter hit true, and Lady Nitrane's arms only tingle for a bit.
He checked that the panel was on correctly and started packing up. When Lady Nitrane started talking he cut her off. "Plenty of time for that when we get there.". With that he led the party (telling Garn to make his own way back) to a small vehicle, into which he dumped his gear.
When everyone was aboard he adjusted some instruments and laid back. The vehicle started driving and Goff had a nap. Some time later they arrived at an elevator shaft and Goff got everyone out and into the lift, then pushed the up button. The lift arose for quite some time before stopping and opening up into a large dark room. Goff exited the lift and started waving his hands around until sensors detected him and turned on the lights.
The room had a wall of screens which seemed to be showing countryside. He hopped up on a chair, still staring at the screens and sighed. "Lovely isn't it" he said.
TO BE CONTINUED
The station was enormous, about 50 kilometres in diameter and 10 km high. On opposite sides of the station were cubic protuberances about 3km on a side. This thing was huge, and the robotic voice that answered them when they hailed the station directed them to one of the side cubes. "Follow green" they were told.
Getting closer the party could see tiny dots darting around which the sensors identified as fighters. Closer still the opening that they were being directed to came into view. It was a full half a kilometre across and seemed to pass through to the other side of the cube. Green lights were visible.
Entering the enormous docking bay the travellers saw dozens of docking stations, four of which were already occupied (by a refuelling barge, a large savager, a system defense boat of some kind, and a far trader). Three green lights highlighted the docking ports that the Harriers could connect to. These were in a line, and when the party emerged from the ships they could see that they were along a single corridor. A person was waiting for them, grimy overall and an air of someone who works hard..
He introduced himself as Teppic, and asked them what they were doing at the station. Lady Nitrane told him that they were from Drinax and were flying the flag so to speak. They were also interested in talking to someone called Goff who they had been told was interested in old Sindalian ships. Teppic was vaguely interested, but kept walking as he took them to the common lounge area.
Emerging into a large common area the party could see tables and booths, a bar and various games machines. Through an open hatch a food preparation area could be seen. The five or six people already there were interested in the arrival, but in a half-hearted way, as if they were used to strangers arriving.
Teppic offered the party a drink, but really only had beer so that's what the party ordered. The rest of the crew of the Harriers were filing in now too, and Sparrow was tasked with keeping them in order.
The party were approached by another person, this time an older man with white beard, but with similarly greasy and worn overalls. He introduced himself as Bran. He said he'd heard that they wanted to talk to Goff. He wasn't expected back for a few days, he said, but it might be possible to take the party to him if it were urgent. Upon deciding that they might take him up on the offer he said his brother would be awake in about an hour and that he would take them.
Eventually Bran's brother Garn woke up and groggily came to see the party. He offered to take them to Goff, which meant putting on overalls with black pants and red shirt so that the robots that patrolled the engineering levels did not catch them and take them to the holding cells.
Eventually reaching their destination, Garn and the travellers disembarked and put on torch headbands to light the way. Garn explained that the dark levels were so named because the lighting rigs had been salvaged centuries before.
After some time Lady Nitrane saw a light ahead which turned out to be Goff himself.
Goff was poking about under a large cylinder which had a panel removed. He grunted when the party got near but did not look up. "You!" he pointed at Lady Nitrane. "Hold this!". To Unter he said, "Get that wrench. No! Not that one, the heavy one! Now hit this as hard as you can just here." Luckily Unter hit true, and Lady Nitrane's arms only tingle for a bit.
He checked that the panel was on correctly and started packing up. When Lady Nitrane started talking he cut her off. "Plenty of time for that when we get there.". With that he led the party (telling Garn to make his own way back) to a small vehicle, into which he dumped his gear.
When everyone was aboard he adjusted some instruments and laid back. The vehicle started driving and Goff had a nap. Some time later they arrived at an elevator shaft and Goff got everyone out and into the lift, then pushed the up button. The lift arose for quite some time before stopping and opening up into a large dark room. Goff exited the lift and started waving his hands around until sensors detected him and turned on the lights.
(ignore what's on these screens)
The room had a wall of screens which seemed to be showing countryside. He hopped up on a chair, still staring at the screens and sighed. "Lovely isn't it" he said.
TO BE CONTINUED
Friday, 18 May 2018
Best Paals
Paal starport control guided the party ship into a bay on a very large expanse of concrete. Paal sees a lot of trade convoys, and is itself a rich agricultural world, exporting a lot of grain and basic goods.
On approach, the party looked for and found the Harriers, but very strangely they were in a triangle or star formation and all had bright colours showing on their hulls. Slayed worked it out first, they were displaying a moving image of the Drinax flag. Very showy and not at all subtle.
On landing the party made their way to the starport building and made contact with Krrsh. He was delighted to hear that they were on the planet, and arranged to meet with them as soon as possible.
In a private lounge, Krrsh and some of the more long-serving crew met up with the party with huge grins on their faces. Not only were they happy to see the party after many months, but it turns out that Paal has tremendous respect and some envy for Drinax. As soon as the local government found out that they were from Drinax they offered free accommodation, free landing rights and cargo facilities, free maintenance, and so on.
This seemed to calm a slightly annoyed Slayed and the party down. It seems that Krrsh had determined the best course of action, which was to literally fly the flag for Drinax.
Shortly thereafter the party received an invitation from a starport official for later in the day. The purpose of the meeting was unclear, but the party decided to dress up in some of their more fine clothes for the meeting.
This, it transpired, was the correct decision as the purpose was to find out who the travellers were, and what their relationship with the Drinax delegation was. Upon finding out that the party were in fact the owners of the ships, and were Drinaxian nobility, the locals almost wet themselves in excitement. Of course the same offer benefits would be made to the party, and of course they were welcome to stay as long as they wanted for free.
A second meeting was arranged for the next day. More senior officials had been brought to the starport and the tone was one of barely suppressed excitement on the part of the Paal delegation.
The Paal representatives were keen to know if Drinax was open to creating a new relationship with Paal, and would people from Drinax be visiting more often in an official capacity now. The travellers assured them that this was very likely to be the case. Also, the Paal people were very glowing in their terms to describe Drinax goods. The travellers it turned out had some small number of goods that they would graciously gift to the Paal people as a gesture of good will. It was a close call, but none of the Paal representatives actually fainted.
Following the meeting some of the cargo in the Harrier's cargo bays was given to the Paal people.
The decision was made that Dr Astor would proceed to Palindrone to start working with Lady Yemar to bring her back to health. Krrsh would take him there in the Far Scout, with a good crew and some marines. There was a suggestion from Lady Nitrane that Lady Yemar might conceivably take some form of revenge on the scientist, so Krrsh and the others would be responsible for his safety while on Palindrome. Brooke went with them as she would be able to find her way back to Theev from Palindrome.
The party and the remaining crew then boarded the Harriers and with some fanfare departed for The World where they hoped to find Goff.
TO BE CONTINUED
On approach, the party looked for and found the Harriers, but very strangely they were in a triangle or star formation and all had bright colours showing on their hulls. Slayed worked it out first, they were displaying a moving image of the Drinax flag. Very showy and not at all subtle.
On landing the party made their way to the starport building and made contact with Krrsh. He was delighted to hear that they were on the planet, and arranged to meet with them as soon as possible.
In a private lounge, Krrsh and some of the more long-serving crew met up with the party with huge grins on their faces. Not only were they happy to see the party after many months, but it turns out that Paal has tremendous respect and some envy for Drinax. As soon as the local government found out that they were from Drinax they offered free accommodation, free landing rights and cargo facilities, free maintenance, and so on.
This seemed to calm a slightly annoyed Slayed and the party down. It seems that Krrsh had determined the best course of action, which was to literally fly the flag for Drinax.
Shortly thereafter the party received an invitation from a starport official for later in the day. The purpose of the meeting was unclear, but the party decided to dress up in some of their more fine clothes for the meeting.
This, it transpired, was the correct decision as the purpose was to find out who the travellers were, and what their relationship with the Drinax delegation was. Upon finding out that the party were in fact the owners of the ships, and were Drinaxian nobility, the locals almost wet themselves in excitement. Of course the same offer benefits would be made to the party, and of course they were welcome to stay as long as they wanted for free.
A second meeting was arranged for the next day. More senior officials had been brought to the starport and the tone was one of barely suppressed excitement on the part of the Paal delegation.
The Paal representatives were keen to know if Drinax was open to creating a new relationship with Paal, and would people from Drinax be visiting more often in an official capacity now. The travellers assured them that this was very likely to be the case. Also, the Paal people were very glowing in their terms to describe Drinax goods. The travellers it turned out had some small number of goods that they would graciously gift to the Paal people as a gesture of good will. It was a close call, but none of the Paal representatives actually fainted.
Following the meeting some of the cargo in the Harrier's cargo bays was given to the Paal people.
The decision was made that Dr Astor would proceed to Palindrone to start working with Lady Yemar to bring her back to health. Krrsh would take him there in the Far Scout, with a good crew and some marines. There was a suggestion from Lady Nitrane that Lady Yemar might conceivably take some form of revenge on the scientist, so Krrsh and the others would be responsible for his safety while on Palindrome. Brooke went with them as she would be able to find her way back to Theev from Palindrome.
The party and the remaining crew then boarded the Harriers and with some fanfare departed for The World where they hoped to find Goff.
TO BE CONTINUED
Thursday, 17 May 2018
Calming things down, and then getting people excited again
The next morning the scientist and his daughter took the party in the hut, which was equipped with a slow gravitic drive, to a remote location where, it was promised, an explanation of the situation on the planet would be forthcoming.
The journey took about an hour, taking the party over lush green woods and grassland. The scientist explained that the plants on this planet are similar to those found on many worlds but are different in important ways. No seeds from earth-like worlds will grow in the soil on this planet but there are many plants that have the same function. A husk of a large seed can be ground down to flour for bread, and there are leafy vegetables and tubers that can be eaten by all intelligent races.
He surmised that the reason that the planet has been more or less ignored is that the people who wish to take advantage of lush green planets want to do so to grow their crops to make them money, not to have alien crops that are not commercially viable.
Upon arriving at the destination, some of the party noticed a crashed space ship, mostly covered in mosses and creeping plants. This, Dr Astor explained, was the slave ship that the founding members of the colony arrived in. What happened is not clear, but the Aslan crew were dead and a large number of slaves emerged from their low berths to start a colony on this new world.
The slaves had been bred by the Aslan to be physically strong and attractive, but mentally quite slow. A ratio of 1 male to 10 females was also bred into the slave stock as this reduced the amount of testosterone and therefore the anger and violence decreased. The founding fathers did know enough to spread out and start taking advantage of the benevolent planet they found themselves on. This was just over 100 years ago. Since then, the population has grown but has been more or less centred on this crash site.
Taking the party back to the settlement Dr Astor told that from time to time a particularly clever person would be born. These originally were killed, in case the Aslan returned, but more recently they have been given more and more elevated positions in society. Dr Astor's wife was one such person. And when she died he and his daughter swore to rectify the genetic imbalance on the people of this planet.
Talk turned to whether the scientist would help Lady Yemar. Dr Astor agreed that he would do what he could, coming with the party to see her. He was concerned that in his absence shortages might arise that would impact his daughter's work. Also there would be nobody overseeing the inhabitants and advising them. The party undertook to deliver goods to Fantasy from time to time, and to ensure that all was well.
Arriving back at the settlement the party decided to take the ship that the scientist arrived in and return to the starport. How to approach the angry Aslan and the crew of the second ship was discussed but Dr Astor was adamant that no lies be told, and that come what may the two other ships should leave the planet and its inhabitants alone.
Arriving at the starport Slayed spoke to the second crew, admitting that the scientist was with them but that they had their ship back and would be given a sum of money by Dr Astor to compensate them for their trouble and their time.
At that point Klowaaar arrived and stormed up to the hatch and roared for justice. Slayed stood there and shouted back NO!!!. To everyone's astonishment (including Klowaaar) he immediately stopped, cowed down and acquiesced.
In the three days that everyone would need to refine the fuel, the party talked to the second crew. They were just adventuring around this region of space and had no other work. Slayed suggested that they might take on some work from the party, namely delivering goods to Fantasy and other locations, and be based out of Drinax. Rachando, Slayed's good friend the merchant, would be able to manage their activities.
So with the scientist on board, and everyone ready to go, the party jumped to Paal.
TO BE CONTINUED
The journey took about an hour, taking the party over lush green woods and grassland. The scientist explained that the plants on this planet are similar to those found on many worlds but are different in important ways. No seeds from earth-like worlds will grow in the soil on this planet but there are many plants that have the same function. A husk of a large seed can be ground down to flour for bread, and there are leafy vegetables and tubers that can be eaten by all intelligent races.
He surmised that the reason that the planet has been more or less ignored is that the people who wish to take advantage of lush green planets want to do so to grow their crops to make them money, not to have alien crops that are not commercially viable.
Upon arriving at the destination, some of the party noticed a crashed space ship, mostly covered in mosses and creeping plants. This, Dr Astor explained, was the slave ship that the founding members of the colony arrived in. What happened is not clear, but the Aslan crew were dead and a large number of slaves emerged from their low berths to start a colony on this new world.
The slaves had been bred by the Aslan to be physically strong and attractive, but mentally quite slow. A ratio of 1 male to 10 females was also bred into the slave stock as this reduced the amount of testosterone and therefore the anger and violence decreased. The founding fathers did know enough to spread out and start taking advantage of the benevolent planet they found themselves on. This was just over 100 years ago. Since then, the population has grown but has been more or less centred on this crash site.
Taking the party back to the settlement Dr Astor told that from time to time a particularly clever person would be born. These originally were killed, in case the Aslan returned, but more recently they have been given more and more elevated positions in society. Dr Astor's wife was one such person. And when she died he and his daughter swore to rectify the genetic imbalance on the people of this planet.
Talk turned to whether the scientist would help Lady Yemar. Dr Astor agreed that he would do what he could, coming with the party to see her. He was concerned that in his absence shortages might arise that would impact his daughter's work. Also there would be nobody overseeing the inhabitants and advising them. The party undertook to deliver goods to Fantasy from time to time, and to ensure that all was well.
Arriving back at the settlement the party decided to take the ship that the scientist arrived in and return to the starport. How to approach the angry Aslan and the crew of the second ship was discussed but Dr Astor was adamant that no lies be told, and that come what may the two other ships should leave the planet and its inhabitants alone.
Arriving at the starport Slayed spoke to the second crew, admitting that the scientist was with them but that they had their ship back and would be given a sum of money by Dr Astor to compensate them for their trouble and their time.
At that point Klowaaar arrived and stormed up to the hatch and roared for justice. Slayed stood there and shouted back NO!!!. To everyone's astonishment (including Klowaaar) he immediately stopped, cowed down and acquiesced.
In the three days that everyone would need to refine the fuel, the party talked to the second crew. They were just adventuring around this region of space and had no other work. Slayed suggested that they might take on some work from the party, namely delivering goods to Fantasy and other locations, and be based out of Drinax. Rachando, Slayed's good friend the merchant, would be able to manage their activities.
So with the scientist on board, and everyone ready to go, the party jumped to Paal.
TO BE CONTINUED
Finding Astor
With the ship landing quite close the party jumped in the air/raft and headed directly there. They found the ship in a small open area amongst some small ponds and with footprints leading away from it back towards the settlement.
Deciding that they were under-armed, the travellers entered the ship looking for weapons and found a laser pistol and two slug rifles. These were taken and they headed out to follow the tracks, which lead directly to the high tech hut. Its door was slightly ajar and a voice cried out as they arrived.
"We're here to protect you from the Aslan that you stole the ship from"
At that, Lady Nitrane and Sparrow returned to the ship while Slayed and Unter stood outside the hut. Unter, with a wide experience of putting down insurgencies and other unrests realised that standing in the middle of the town square with guns out was unlikely to be well received, so he holstered his weapon and Slayed did the same. Sitting down - still on alert - the time passed.
After a while a figure emerged from a house and offered water and bread to the two sitting in the middle of town, which was received with thanks. A short time later Lady Nitrane and Sparrow arrived back with the medical records.
Lady Nitrane placed the records at the door of the hut and stood there waiting. The voice came from inside...
The scientist it turned out was sympathetic and his worried daughter was put at ease when an agreement was reached for everyone to have a meal and talk.
SESSION END
Deciding that they were under-armed, the travellers entered the ship looking for weapons and found a laser pistol and two slug rifles. These were taken and they headed out to follow the tracks, which lead directly to the high tech hut. Its door was slightly ajar and a voice cried out as they arrived.
"Go away! Leave him alone! He doesn't work for you any more! GO AWAY!"The party jumped out of their vehicle and the door slammed shut. A few people were seen running into other buildings.
"We're here to protect you from the Aslan that you stole the ship from"
"Go away and leave us alone. I mean me, He's not here.""And we're here to help protect you from the party which was gassed and from whom you stole the second ship"
"Leave now, please. You came from Tobia. He doesn't work for you any more."."OK. Actually we have need of assistance with a medical situation."
"He's just trying to help the people here. Go away.""We have some records that we can show you. Um, the're on our ship. We'll be back in two hours."
At that, Lady Nitrane and Sparrow returned to the ship while Slayed and Unter stood outside the hut. Unter, with a wide experience of putting down insurgencies and other unrests realised that standing in the middle of the town square with guns out was unlikely to be well received, so he holstered his weapon and Slayed did the same. Sitting down - still on alert - the time passed.
After a while a figure emerged from a house and offered water and bread to the two sitting in the middle of town, which was received with thanks. A short time later Lady Nitrane and Sparrow arrived back with the medical records.
Lady Nitrane placed the records at the door of the hut and stood there waiting. The voice came from inside...
"Please stand away from the door."Lady Nitrane declined.
"Please, I just want you to step back." This time with a hint of desperation.Still no movement from Lady Nitrane, although the rest of the party walked away a little bit to give some room.
Pleading: "I just want you to move back a little."At last Lady Nitrane realised that everyone else had stepped back and did the same. The package was retrieved and not long after a male voice asked about Lady Yemar.
The scientist it turned out was sympathetic and his worried daughter was put at ease when an agreement was reached for everyone to have a meal and talk.
SESSION END
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