The Acrid stench of success

The next day in Acrid's spaceport began with Slayed performing his usual morning inspection walkabout of the treasure ship. This time he was looking in particular to see the mood of the crew, and keeping an eye open for Launch Pilot Henshaw and Marine Salvesdes.

The mood on the ship was darker than normal. Many crew seemed upset that the captain had not turned the ship around and gone back to the Imperium for proper repairs. Others were grumbling about the fact that the journey ahead of them would take many weeks longer than first planned, not to mention the many weeks spend waiting on Arunisiir for repairs.

On the other hand, some were pleased that they were off Arunisiir at last, and away from that Aslan noble who kept pestering them for fees for landing on his land, and in a spaceport with proper amenities at last.

With the inspection complete Slayed returned to the Harriers and the party established a series of tasks for the crew and travellers to do.

• Slayed would stay near the Harriers and coordinate the efforts.
• The crew of the Harriers were tasked with talking to the crew of the treasure ship to find out more information.
• Unter was tasked with finding a secluded location where the suspects amongst the treasure ship crew could be interrogated.
• Sparrow was tasked with the most important job of finding either Launch Pilot Henshaw or Marine Salvesdes alone. The idea being to lure (or force) them to the interrogation spot.
• Nitrane decided that another party might be a suitable distraction and so went about finding somewhere to host it.

These missions were met with mixed success:

• Unter found the perfect spot - a short term hire commercial office in a secluded part of the spaceport.
• The crew found out that the treasure ship apparently has a self destruct mechanism, but could not determine how it worked, and also that there are a large number of gemstones in the vault, although it's not clear how that came to be common knowledge.
• Nitrane unfortunately was not immediately able to find a suitable location so decided to leave it for a few days.
• And Sparrow found Henshaw, alone, in a dirty dingy space bar. Lady Nitrane decided that it should be her that approached Henshaw. 

The Launch Pilot was alone in a very dirty dingy bar - the sort frequented by dirty mechanics, people who spilled beer on the floor, and bartenders who spat in their glasses before cleaning them with an oily rag, and who didn't clean the floor. There were two other treasure ship crew in the bar but they were not with Henshaw. Lady Nitrane went to the bar and realised that while Henshaw was alone, it would be clear that Nitrane would not normally frequent such an establishment, and that if she were to be seen talking to Henshaw that it would be very obvious. She aborted the attempt.

That evening Nitrane and Slayed were required, with the officers of the treasure ship, to attend the Captain's table for dinner. In port the captain had taken up residence in a large suite in the best hotel and entertained the officers in his dining room.

With everyone sitting around a large round table, Nitrane found herself sitting between First Officer Jagad and Assistant Astrogator Ven Laffit, a young man who turned out to be a firm believer in the superiority of the Imperium and was a total bore. Slayed sat between the Captain and Purser Vaughan, a terribly boring man more interested in accounting and number crunching. Nitrane tried to start up a conversation with Vaughan but he was not at all interested, dismissed her attempt and polite enquiry, and ignored her for the rest of the evening.

The dinner ended quickly and everyone made their excuses to leave - nobody seemed interested in staying behind to talk to the captain. Slayed and Nitrane made their way back to the Harriers. There the discussion turned to what they might do with the treasure ship.

It was noted by Unter that if they wanted to get rid of most of the crew then taking the ship while in port would do that for them - most crew were on shore leave at any one time. What that meant though was they needed some way of opening the hangar doors and making an escape in the dangerous acrid atmosphere of the planet.

The next day the tasks were reassigned. The crew continued with their casual interrogation of the treasure ship crew, Sparrow was tasked with finding someone who might be persuaded or bribed to let the ships leave when the party want then to. The rest of the party would look for the two suspects.

First though Slayed took Unter on his daily inspection of the treasure ship. Unter knew a few people from Arunisiir but the visit was really to give him an idea of the layout of the ship. Salvesdes was on board but they had no opportunity to speak with him.

Meanwhile Sparrow was using his investigate skills to find the right person to ask. Eventually he tracked down an official who was authorised to open the doors and control the weather systems, and who was also rumoured to be very easy to do business with. A preliminary agreement was reached.

As Sparrow was returning from finding the spaceport official he noticed Henshaw shopping in the commercial district. He immediately called the other travellers and Lady Nitrane jumped into action. Nitrane joined the other woman at the shopping district and casually joined her looking for clothes. Henshaw seemed to be taking advantage of the facilities on Acrid after a lack of opportunities on Arunisiir. Eventually Nitrane suggested that she knew an out of the way place to shop and persuaded Henshaw to accompany her.

Henshaw and Nitrane are about to enter the party's hired space, where the rest of the party await, and  where they intended to interrogate the suspects.

To be continued.

On to Acrid

With Lady Nitrane and Admiral Slayed on the treasure ship the fleet jumped to Acrid.

On the first day they were given a tour of the ship and familiarised themselves with the layout and personalities on board. On the following days Slayed kept circulating around the treasure ship, and as the days passed the response from his appearance changed from surprise, to cautious deference, to expectation, to happiness. Admiral Slayed was the officer they wished they had, with a carefully considered compliment here, a quip there, and stern consternation when required.

Meanwhile Lady Nitrane was spending all of First Officer Jagad's off-duty time in the company of the other woman, but when the first officer was on duty Nitrane wandered around the ship and was able to find something to occupy her by going to the med-bay and performing the duties of the on-board doctor.

Over the next few days the following encounters took place:

• Captain Torsa - On the first day Torsa mentioned that the vault could only be opened in the right location (for this trip it being the Byrni system) and with the right key (using the DNA of the captain). Over dinner Slayed tried to get the captain to open up about the contents of the vault, and while he was rebuffed the response was more of a deferral than an outright refusal.

• First Officer Jagad - Lady Nitrane spent a lot of time with the First Officer, gleaning much information about the composition of the crew and when the crew joined the treasure ship. The reason for the questioning was the communications burst sent from the treasure ship to the pirate ship that buzzed low over the spaceport on Arunisiir which Jagad investigated but ultimately decided it could be anybody on board.

• Second Officer Halbinar - Harried and overworked, Halbinar deals with ship logistics in concert with the cargo chief. Slayed and Nitrane made his acquaintance on Arunisiir and kept up polite relations on board. Halbinar seems to get space sick but tries to hide it.

• Astrogator Osha - The blue-skinned astrogator was alarmed to see the two travellers aboard the treasure ship, and has been her usual nervous self the whole journey. Whenever she sees Slayed or Nitrane she stammers and flaps her hands nervously and leaves.

• Cargo Chief Niven - Stocky and foul-mouthed. Slayed spoke with the cargo chief  and learned that the ship was carrying Dust spice as well as advanced electronics and advanced machine parts. Niven could not divulge the contents of the vault though.

• Marine Commander Harc -Paranoid and always seen in battle dress holding a pistol. As the ship entered its sixth day in jumpspace Harc visited the med-bay and asked Nitrane to help tend to his cybernetics which need constant attention. She was very successful and Harc grateful. He almost smiled.

• Marine Salvesdes - this marine was on duty a few times when the travellers visited the treasure ship on Arunisiir, and escorted Unter when Nitrane had dinner with the captain. During the jump Salvesdes has been seen around the ship in his role as security guard.

• Crewman O'Leary and Crewman Ilin - These two are troublemakers, and were first seen on Arunisiir in the bar. On the ship they tend to be located wherever gambling is taking place. They are clearly dislikes by all the officers, and seem resigned to leaving the ship at the first naval base they come to.

• Chief Engineer (acting) Polo - She is not happy being the acting Chief Engineer, and lets people know it the first opportunity she has. Very superstitious, she has routines on board that are very strange - going down corridors on one side, only entering a room that's lit, and so on. Other than that she's nice company.

Other crew members have been met but not really talked to much. They are faces seen around the place, and have been introduced, but have not yet had anything much to do with the travellers:

• Tactical Officer Grimsbold - A veteran naval officer and close friend of Plot Smith. She regularly butts heads with Commander Harc.

• Launch Pilot Hanshaw - A middle aged woman who talks lovingly about her child, a girl in a boarding school on the planet Cyan. Seems more the carousing sort than a strait-laced naval crew member.

• Assistant Astrogator Ven Laffit - a young man on his first tour of duty. Firmly believes in the superiority of the Imperium and advocates all out war with the Aslan. 

• Lead Pilot Smith - an older man, on the verge of retirement. Brags that he knows many pirate ships by their sensor signature, having been to the Trojan Reaches many times.

• Co-Pilot Ashen - Comes from deep in the Imperium and has a strange accent and customer. Off duty he wears bizarre garments made of tattered silk rage which he claims are the height of fashion on Capital.

• Purser Vaughan - grey bureaucrat caring only about paperwork and protocol - and as such is Captain Torsa's right-hand marionette. Cold and unsympathetic Vaughan seems to have been against the idea of asking the Drinaxians to accompany the treasure ship to Byrni.

Arriving on Acrid after a week, the treasure ship and the Harriers landed and were  put into the one large hangar away from the caustic (and acrid) atmosphere of the planet. The captain, seemingly pleased at progress, let the crew have shore leave, with a rotation of crew to guard the ship and perform maintenance, cleaning and do on.

On Acrid, Slayed had a conversation with:

• Mechanic Talis - Seen in a bar crying her eyes out, which was different to the sharp and efficient mechanic on board the treasure ship. She was in a relationship with Mechanic Felmar who died in the explosion that downed the ship. Once back in port she broke down and happened to be seen by Slayed, who put a fatherly arm around her and let her cry out her tears. Gently questioning her it became clear that Felmar had talked about a 'new beginning' for both of them where they'd be rich and free, but he refused to explain the plan. Felmar spent a lot of time talking to Launch Pilot Henshaw and Marine Salvesdes. After she dried her eyes she gave Slayed a big hug and thanked him for his sympathy.

Once back together the party talked about possible approaches to getting into the vault. Nitrane came up with scheme after scheme that involved somehow gassing or tranquillising the crew (although with no means of doing so). Sparrow was more interested in maybe tricking the vault to stay open after it was suppose to be closed, but that would mean any treasure in there now would be gone.

The relationship between Felmar, Henshaw and Salvesdes was discussed as being a possible lead, but as they were just sitting around in the Harrier drinking nothing was done.

To be continued.

He loves me, he loves me not

The next morning some of the crew went for a hunting expedition (which was more of a shooting expedition with no intention of killing anything) while the rest stayed in the bar and around the ships.

Upon returning Lady Nitrane found that she had received an invitation. It was a gold edged card, carefully written out with meticulous penmanship, inviting her to dine with Captain Torsa of the Imperial Treasure Ship Martin II. Did he have a thing for her? Had she gone overboard by talking to him for such a long time the evening before?

The day was drawing to a close, leaving little time to prepare. Nitrane chose a simple but elegant dress and asked Unter to accompany her as her bodyguard. She chose not to take electronic lock openers or other devices in case of detection, and then crossed the flat expanse of the spaceport and arrived at the treasure ship.

At the hatch she was met by a guard and accompanied up to Captain Torsa's quarters. Unter meanwhile was escorted to the galley for his meal.

Torsa greeted Nitrane cordially and kissed her hand. He led her to an end of the room where some memorabilia were strategically placed. She took in the scene as aperitifs were offered to her. Taking a moderately alcoholic one she realised that there were pictures of ships on the sideboard but no family. Torsa's conversation was smooth and practised - he was clearly used to speaking in noble circles - but there was something that Nitrane picked up. He was apprehensive about something that he was carefully trying to hide.

The couple moved from the end of the room to the table, where Torsa slide Nitrane's chair under her at her end of the table and took his position at the other end. Soup was followed by fowl, and then a roast haunch, but Nitrane was more interested in finding out what Torsa was up to.

Lady Nitrane mentioned it was terrible luck that the ships had gone missing, but Torsa took it that she felt bad for him rather than the missing (presumed dead) crews. She then tried a slightly clumsy attempt at flattery but he seemed to be aware that it was less than honest and she ceased that line of conversation.

Over the dessert Torsa got more and more agitated and eventually asked if he could be quite blunt. Did Admiral Slayed think poorly of him?

Nitrane managed to successfully stifle her huge guffaws when she realised that was the whole purpose of the evening. Torsa wanted to know if Slayed liked him or not! She told him that Slayd didn't hate him at all, and in fact had talked about Torsa the night before. The captain seemed entirely heartened and more or less dismissed Nitrane - her usefulness at an end.

Leaving the captain's quarters Nitrane bumped into First Officer Jagad who had been waiting for her. Jagad asked about the meal with Torsa and as Nitrane rolled her eyes and suggested it was less than pleasant Jagad asked if Nitrane wanted a coffee and that she had a coffee machine in her quarters where they might be able to talk more privately.

Entering the First Officer's quarters Nitrane took in that Jagad was a tidy person but not afraid to be feminine. There was indeed a coffee machine and Jagad promptly made one. With nowhere else to sit she motioned Nitrane to sit on the bed and brought the coffee over.

Talk turned to the treasure ship and the predicament that it was currently in. Jagad gushed that it was such a good party the night before and how difficult it was to meed new people who were interesting - most times in port the locals were underwhelming and the port officials somewhat overawed by Imperial Navy people.

As Nitrane was mentioning that she and her ships had been hunting pirates not long before Jagad reached up and tucked one of Nitrane's stray hairs behind an ear and smiled. That stopped Nitrane in her tracks as she looked into Jagad's eyes and realised it was no pure happenstance that saw Jagad waiting for her outside the captain's quarters.

Some time later (maybe eight hours).

Unter wondered for the hundredth time what was taking Nitrane so long. He'd seen many crew he'd recognised from the night before, but when they started coming in for their next meal he hoped that  the eight hours of so that Nitrane had been busy was worth it.

Nitrane stirred and got out of the bunk, dressed and bade Jagad a fond farewell. She went to find Unter and with him returned to the Harriers to tell Slayed that he should be expecting an invitation. Slayed laughed and waved a gold edged invitation to breakfast with Captain Torsa.

Slayed dressed in his Drinaxian officer uniform rather than the Imperial one and went across to the treasure ship. Eagle eyed crew on the Harrier saw that it was Torsa who met Slayed at the hatched and bowed to the approaching man. They entered the ship.

Some time later (probably an hour).

Slayed emerged and strode purposefully back to the Harrier. The PCs asked what had happened and he held up a single finger to motion them to wait. He pressed the button and the cargo door slowly closed, and when it did so Slayed laughed his head off.

Torsa was interested to know if the Drinax Harriers could  escort the treasure ship on its journey to Byni. It would be travelling at Jump-2 anyway and it seemed, with such good fortune, that Slayed could indeed accompany the Imperials.

What's more, Torsda had insisted that Slayed accompany him on the treasure ship and Jagad suggested in strong terms that Nitrane also travel on the treasure ship so Slayed was not alone. Torsa agreed and the two of them were to embark in an hour as they were  leaving shortly.

Nitrane and Slayed packed bags, went to the treasure ship, were assigned staterooms and prepared for take off.

To be continued....

Nitrane's Arunisiir Shindig

Lady Nitrane looked at the fuel technician, looked at the rest of the party then turned again to the technician and told him that she'd forgotten that they had already refuelled at a gas giant and therefore did not need any fuel. He shrugged and walked away.

(What your ships look like compared to other ships)

Heaving a great sigh of relief the travellers considered their situation. They needed to get lots of supplies for their ships, and still thought that they should get out of Arunisiir spaceport as quickly as possible. However, seeing as many of the Harrier crews had been 8 weeks or more since their last shore leave, and there was cargo to sell, it seemed likely that they would stay on Arunisiir for a few days. Lady Nitrane kept an eye on the treasure ship along with Unter, and decided that the imperials were back to a normal level of security.

As it was approaching evening when they arrived the crew of all three Harriers went to the bar to let their hair down. Lady Nitrane took the role of hostess and entertainments officer, keeping the men and women of the crew occupied. Unter kep order, ensuring no rowdiness broke out, and Slayed wrapped up proceedings and ensured that everyone returned to the ships in good order.

The next day, Captain Slayed went with the other two ship captains to resupply the ships, and to buy additional supplies as a contingency against needing to stay on station some more. After than he went to the trading station and sold the cargo that had been in the Harriers' cargo bays for the past three or four months.

Meanwhile, continuing the efforts to give the crew a short but intense break, Lady Nitrane decided that a party would be in order. She arranged the bar to provide staff and alcohol for the party, and organised food, cookers and tables for the evening. The three ships were positioned as they had been on Paal, with all three cargo holds arranged in a three sided triangle. One would hold the bar, another would be where food was cooked, and the third for tables and chairs.

As things were being arranged, Nitrane saw First Officer Jagad heading to the bar and asked if she and the officers from the treasure ship would be interested in attending. Jagad's eyes immediately widened in pleasure and she gushingly accepted. She had been so bored on this uninteresting planet and this would be a delightful send off. Nitrane asked about what had happened while she and the travellers were 'away' and Jagad told her about the escorts being downed by an unknown assailant. Nitrane told her that the party were from Drinax and flew the flag from time to time, even this far out, and also were pirate hunters. Jagad accepted this and was impressed, although not as impressive as the Imperial Navy of course. With that she thanked Lady Nitrane for the invitation and with a much more lively stop started toward the bar, then changed her mind and returned to the treasure ship, waving at Nitrane on the way past.

The evening approached and the crew that had volunteered to be cooks and waiters for the guests were put through a trial run and everything went smoothly. Selecting appropriate music (something bluesy and rock and roll-y seemed the most appropriate) the travellers returned to their Harrier to dress for the evening. Captain Slayed wore his admiral uniform now that the cat was out of the bag. Similarly Sparrow wore his officer uniform. Unter and Nitrane decided that he'd wear his bodyguard tuxedo while Lady Nitrane picked out an elegant but not too dazzling number befitting a hostess.

The guests arrived, most of the treasure ship officers were there; First Officer Jagad, Second Officer Halbinar, Astrogator Osho, and Chief Engineer (Acting) Polo were known the travellers. Lead Pilot Smirh, Cargo Chief Niven and Tactical Officer Grimbold were not. In addition a number of crew from the treasure ship also came. Lady Nitrane greeted everyone and saw too it that people were having fun. Unter took up a position near the cooking area and supervised. Unter was located near the bar, supposedly supervising but more often than not testing. And Captain Slayed was to be found at one of the tables talking and laughing with whoever came and sat near him.

After a while Jagad and Osha came to see Lady Nitrane to give thanks and to tell her that they had to go back to the ship. Jagad was very keen to speak with Nitrane again and hoped she could so so before the treasure ship left.

A little later, after night had fallen and the party was in full swing, a solitary figure was seen approaching. It was Captain Torsa, marching proudly up to the party. Lady Nitrane immediately noticed and went to meet him. Torsa was wearing his dress uniform and identified some personal marks of nobility amongst the imperial navy insignia.

Torsa greeted Lady Nitrane civilly and proceeded to walk to the bar, where a colourful pyramid of cocktails was being poured. Torsa got a small sherry. At the cooking area he observed the cooks and their delicious seared slabs of meat. He did not partake. Lastly he checked the seating area and saw that Captain Slayed was settled in talking to anyone who wanted to chat. Only then did he engage Lady Nitrane in a polite and reserved conversation.

After a short while, Lady Nitrane realised that he was looking at Captain Slayed from time to time. She adjusted her position so that Slayed was visible over her shoulder and watched Torsa intently. Expecting disgust or disdain, instead she saw envy and longing. It seemed that Captain Torsa had been informed that Captain Slayed was in fact Admiral Slayed (Imperial Navy, retired). While Slayed led a crowd of people in song, recounted tall tales, led a conga line, and was the life of the party, Torsa was not approached by anyone and got at best an acknowledging nod from one or two people.

The conversation with Torsa continued, with Torsa looking over her shoulder at Slayed, and Nitrane using her diplomatic skills to ensure Torsa was engaged. A useful idiot, he started opening up to the mission they had at hand. It transpired that their next stop would be Acrid when they left, but when she coyly asked about the contents of the vault he smiled and said that he couldn't possibly tell her that.

It was then that she realised he was looking at her more, with the longing she'd seen on his face before, and not at Slayed. He said that he would very much like to speak with her again before they left. Captain Slayed at this point came over, bejeweled admirals jacket unbuttoned and having wished many of his audience a good night as they hurried back to the treasure ship. Captain Torsa stiffened and gave a slight formal bow as a laconic and relaxed Slayed firmly shook his hand. Torsa at this point thanked Lady Nitrane for the evening and turned to go.

"Tosser" said Slayed as the captain marched away, back straight.

With the party over for the Imperials, the crew relaxed and settled in for a few more hours of cards, drinking and laughing. They were advised that due to their sterling work they could choose what they wanted to do the next day. Some wanted to go hunting, others wanted to do some damage to the stocks of alcohol in the bar.

The travellers retired to their Harrier to discuss what would happen next.

To be continued.

Return of the prodigal travellers

The Harriers returned to the sky after stripping the Patrol Cruiser of its easily salvageable items and burying the crew. The next concern was the Gazelle still in orbit above the spaceport. They didn't have long to wait to see what would happen next as their sensors picked up the Gazelle coming over the horizon with full sensor sweeps as it appeared to be searching for the downed ship.

The Harriers pulled back, allowing the Gazelle to be drawn all the way around from the starport. The Gazelle did not detect the Harriers and when the party opened fire the imperials were taken entirely by surprise. After two rounds of pounding, the party watched as the imperial ship crashed in to the planet surface, its hull falling apart, life support all but destroyed.

With nothing to salvage, and no more navy ships in orbit, the travellers decided to move closer to the spaceport, the better to keep an eye on the treasure ship.

On the first day the scout ship Whistlestop, crewed by Yan and his robot Bucket, left Arunisiir and jumped away. The next four days were uneventful, with no traffic in or out. Unfortunately the supplies on the ships were running out, leaving the option of having one ship return to the port for supplies, or to land and go hunting and gathering.

At this point the Harriers decided to go closer still to the spaceport, but one miscalculated and was detected by the spaceport sensors. Three times the ship was challenged to identify itself, but three times refused to acknowledge the request. After the third time 24 missiles were launched and streaked towards the Harriers, which were in close proximity to each other.

With barely enough time to react, the Harriers instantly initiated electronic countermeasures and all missiles were destroyed. In the explosions the ships returned to the side of the planet away from the Arunisiir spaceport, hoping that the attackers would assume that the ship was destroyed.

With supplies running short a decision needed to be made. Clearly the spaceport was on high alert, but something had to be done. It was decided that the Harriers would move away from the planet to outside the 100 diameter range and then make a long sweep around to approach the spaceport as if they had just arrived. At the appropriate moment the transponders were all turned on, and they started down to the planet.

Almost immediately they were hailed by the spaceport and asked their identity and purpose. The three Harriers were identified as yacht/traders under the command of Captain Slayed. Their purpose included that they had trade goods to sell. The spaceport control tower advised that an incident had taken place and that it would be necessary to do a full search of the ships on landing, and that permission to land was based on that being accepted.

Lady Nitrane asked what the incident was, and the person talking to her admitted that at least one ship had been shot down. He abruptly stopped discussing it, and directed the Harriers to land.

Knowing that a search was imminent the decision was made to check for suspicious goods on board. This meant jettisoning the recently acquired battle dress and FGMP-15 weapons obtained from the marines on the Patrol Cruiser. Hoping to find them again, Sparrow took note of the location, direction and speed.

Upon landing the travellers saw the repair ship landed close to the treasure ship. Also the newly arrived trader was located near the spaceport control centre. Landing close to where they had been berthed previously, the three Harriers were approached by Imperial marines and officers waiting for the hatches to open.

Lady Nitrane, incensed that there were imperials conducting the searches, contacted the control tower to find out what was happening. In short, the control tower explained that due to the circumstances of multiple ships disappearing, and the overwhelming weaponry of the imperials, the navy had taken charge of security at the spaceport. It came down to the ship not being serviced, and the travellers not being able to purchase supplies, unless they subjected themselves and their ships to a search as had been explained as they approached the planet.

Very reluctantly they agreed and opened the hatches. Captain Slayed assembled all crew and presented their papers. Second Officer Halbinar, who the party had previously met, conducted the ID checks while the marines performed searches of all three ships. They had, Slayed advised them, jumped to Exocet at an agreed time to meet with their other ships, and then as they had some cargo to deliver, returned to Arunisiir. Other  than a slight discrepancy in the cargo manifest of one ship, which Captain Slayed explained away, the crews were cleared.

Unfortunately, the need to check ID did give one vital piece of information away. As she finished the checks, Second Officer Halbinar saluted Slayed and said "thank you Admiral" and walked back to the treasure ship.

As they looked at each other and considered what to do, the Arunisiir spaceport technicians approach the party and asked "need refuelling?" At which point the realised that their tanks were full, which might be hard to explain given they had just gone to great lengths to explain that they had jumped from Exocet.

To be continued.

Imperial Navy Blues

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.

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...