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Bob's GURPS Traveller Campaign |
The characters are all at the imperial SubSector capital Regina for various reasons. They all invidually responded to a job offer by Captain Nadina Rafik for various positions on a her recently acquired Far Trader, The Lady Macbeth. They were selected out of the many applicants based on their various skills and other criteria set by Captain Rafik.
When they initially get together the Captain introduces them all to each other and she appoints the Vargr Pilot Hard Gveg'h as her executive officer. The Captain explains that they will need to travel to the independent world 899-076 (popularly known as Liberty Station) to claim her ship.
The Captain and Hard go and look for passage to Liberty Station and find few ships going there directly. They reject travelling in a commercial line to a closer system and then arranging passage as too expensive. They end up contacting a Captain Leever the owner/operator of the converted scout ship Victor who is headed to Liberty Station. They arrange passage receiving a discount if their engineer, Bart Grizzwald, will help do some work on the drives and power plant. Captain Leever also informs them that he has two other passengers, Anro Vista and Raf Vell, who are also heading for Liberty Station.
The night before lift off the crew meets at a starport bar and Anro Vista and Raf Vell join them. The two passengers are willing to buy drinks for the crew all night and seem very interested in everyone. The Steward, Dev Faustus, gets a feeling the two are trying to pump everyone for info and aren't trustworthy. Schmee notices that Anro carries himself like someone who has spent some time in the penal system and has a shiv hidden in his boot. Hard keeps quiet and neither he or Dev Faustus drink.
Everyone shows up in plenty of time for lift off the next day. Bart has been up all night working on the ships systems, but doesn't seem especially worse for wear - maybe just a bit more distracted then usual. Everyone, including Anro and Raf, checks their personal weapons with Captain Leever and puts their Vacc Suits in the lockers near the rear airlock. Dr. Caliban remarks that he doesn't own a Vacc Suit, and Captain Leever tells him he can use one of the ships generic emergency suits if needed.
The first few jumps are uneventful. Anro and Raf start a poker game and win pretty consistently cleaning out Bill, the mate on Victor. Schmee amuses himself with the ships computer and Bart is rarely seen outside of the engine room where he has slung a hammock.
Around 2:00 AM on the morning before coming out of the third jump, Schmee, the Captain, and Dr. Caliban hear some movement in the companion way outside their cabins. Schmee wakes up Hard, who he is sharing a cabin with, and looks out the door to see Anro and Raf heading towards the rear of the ship. Hard and Schmee quietly follow the pair and see them digging around in the lockers containing their Vacc Suits. Anro and Raf pull pistols out they had hidden in their Vacc Suits and then return to their cabin.
Hard text messages Captain Leever and Captain Rafik about what is happening and also let the rest of the crew know. Captain Leever opens his gun locker and gives the crew the guns they checked, which the hide under their clothes. At the same time Bart reports that someone has activated a powerful homing beacon on the ship. Schmee heads to the bridge, and with the permission of Captain Leever, is able to jam the beacon.
The rest of the crew discuss the situation and decide they must do something about Anro and Raf before they come out of jump. Dr. Caliban suggest drugging their drinks the next morning and the plan is adopted. During breakfast the next morning, the Doctor attemps to slip some durgs in Anro and Raf's coffee as he gets them another cup. Anro sees what the Doctor is doing and goes for his concealed pistol. Before he can get his gun out Ben Rogers has his gyroc pistol out and tells him not to do it. Anro goes for his gun anyway and takes a shot at Ben missing, Ben shoots and nails Anro in the chest. Raf holds his hands up and gives up without a fight.
Dr. Caliban is able to stabilize Anro while Ben and Hard question Raf. Under duress Raf admits that they were planted on the ship by pirates and were to have the beacon transmitting when the Victor came out of jump. At that point their ship, The Wallach, would be able to zero in on the Victor while Anro and Raf tried to neutralize the crew on board.
It is decided that Anro and Raf will be put in the cryo tubes. Hard and Schmee offer to help out on the bridge with the hopes that Schmee will be able to plot the next jump faster then Captain Leever and Hard can use his skills to mask the Victor's sensor signature. Bart takes over from Bill in the turret in case anything does happen. Upon coming out of warp, Hard is able to minimize the ships sensor signature and also picks up the Wallach on sensors. The Wallach is hiding in an asteroid field. Schmee plots the next jump (to Arden) and they are able to make jump without being detected.
At Arden the authorities are contacted and are happy to take custody of Anro and Raf. There is no bounty for the two, but the Arden Naval authorities take depositions from the crew and promise to prosecute them fully. The Victor then makes the final jump to Liberty Station.
The ship lands at Liberty Station and Captain Leever gives them a good break on the cost of passage for all their help with the pirates and for Bart's work in the engine room. He gives them directions to "Verin's Ships, Parts, and Repair", the shipyard where The Lady Macbeth is supposed to be.
The entire crew went to the shipyard and were greeted by Rove Verin, the owner. Rove was a friend of the late Captain Fredericks. He explains that Captain Fredericks left the ship at the yard while he and his crew went to Arden for R and R and to meet with a possible long term charter. As far as Rove knows Captain Fredericks died on Arden under questionable circumstances. Rove was contacted by the law firm of Delur, Norcross, and Hinch who paid the storage fees and told him they were retained as executors of Captain Fredericks will.
Rove takes the crew out to the ship and lets them take over. He told them he is in no hurry for them to leave and they may remain in the relatively secure shipyard for as long as necessary.
From the outside the ship is fairly battered, but whole looking. Going inside it is a bit musty but everything appears to be in good shape. Everyone goes to check out their area of responsibility of the ship and reports back to the captain.
The Captain checks out the Captain's office and cabin. The ships papers and logs are in order. The ship is registered out of Arden, and all licenses and registrations are up to date. She will need to submit forms to register herself as the new captain and owner, but that is just a formality. Looking at the ships log books show that it mosty ran high-value cargos on routes off the beaten track. It also regularly carried passengers and did some charter work.
Bart checks out engineering and finds that the main power plant and drives are in good shape. They are a bit out-dated and better performance should be possible with upgrades to higher-tech equipment. Annual maintenance is overdue and there is quite a bit of work he wants to do before any real stress is put on the systems. There is an enclosed ship's boat, but it needs a lot of work and is currently not running.
Hard and Schmee check out the bridge. It is clean and of a pretty standard layout. It does have a lot of equipment and modifications that indicate that the ship often ran short-handed. Controls are all available from every chair and there are quite a few automated systems to monitor sensors and communications. The sensors and communications equipment are about what you would expect on ship of this age. The computer system is very good and pretty close to state of the art. It was obviously upgraded in the past year.
Dr. Caliban, who obviously does not know his way around a ship, checks out the passenger cabin that has been converted into an infirmary. He finds it poorly equipped and short on many supplies, especially pharmaceuticals. The Doctor also checks out the cryo-tubes, after being shown where they are, and finds they are in fair condition. It does not look like they have been used recently, but all the diagnostics check out.
Dev Faustus checks out the living quarters, galley and ships supplies. The passenger cabins are in good shape, but the decor is hap-hazard with lots of old furniture, mis-matched linens, etc... The galley is pretty basic, nothing fancy, but functional. The food supplies are limited consisting mostly of military field rations, canned foods, and freeze-dried packets. The crew cabins have been stripped for the most part - bare mattresses and little furniture.
Ben checks the weapon locker and finds 2 pump shotguns with a small supply of ammunition. Ben also checks the ship's basic security/alarm/anti-intruder systems. They are rudimentary and could use a lot of upgrading.
Ben and Dev check out the turrets. Turret one has a sandcaster and two 250 mj lasers - all in good working condition. Turret two has a sandcaster, one 250 mj laser, and one missile rack. There are 80 sand cannisters for each sandcaster (capacity 100 for each). There are only five SIM-10 missiles for the missile launcher (capacity is for 77 missiles).
The Captain checks out the cargo hold - it is empty and clean. There is some manual cargo handling equipment, nothing fancy.
Everyone does a search of the ship looking for anything unusual or hidden, several secret/hidden compartments are found. There is a large one (roughly 10'x10') in the ceiling of the cargo hold (taking up some fuel space). Two roughly main sized ones in the engineering section concealed in parts of the maneuver drive and power plant. There is one smaller one in the wall of the Captain's quarters and one small one in the floor of the cockpit.
Cabins are divied up with Ben and Dev taking cabins near the turrets. Hard and Schmee agree to share a cabin near the bridge. Bart strings a hammock in the engineering section and doesn't take a cabin. Dr. Caliban takes the remaining free crew cabin.
That is pretty much where the first session ended. I think we are off to a good start. I still need character bios for the Captain, the Doctor, and Dev character.
Back to TopEveryone starts working on getting their various areas of responsibility into order. Schmee digs into the ships computer and after some serious work decided that something is not kosher. The computer is new and very state-of-the-art but the files on it appear to be more suitable to an older model. It appears the original computer was taken out and only specific files copied over. Everything was back-dated to make it appear that the files had always been on the computer, but Schmee's hacking skills are able to show that they are copies from the original system.
Meanwhile, Hard gets to work getting the bridge in order and sets up a ship SOP and a duty roster. Everyone is worked hard getting the ship in shape. Hard also conducts unannounced drills for various situations. Various combat drills, sudden decompression, emergency liftoff and landing, etc... Many in the middle of sleep cycle. The crew generally performs well and gets better with subsequent drills. The Doctor performance during the drills is so poor to the point of being comical. He cannot put on a Vacc Suit without aid and even gets stuck in a closing hatchway during one drill.
Ben and Dev conduct an evaluation of the crews ground combat skills. Everyone on the ship, including the Doctor, are passable shots with pistols. As far as unarmed combat goes, only Hard, Dev, and Ben show any skill. The Doctor shows some skill with a knife and moves as if he has had some training, but he shows little interest in sparring. Bart refuses to participate in the evaluation and spends his time working in the Engineering section.
The Captain has Dev accompany her while she goes and speaks with Rove Verin about the ship. They ask him about any work done since Captain Fredericks left the ship at the yard. Rove tells them that some technicians showed up with a work order shortly after Captain Fredericks left for Arden. They replaced the computer system and made some adjustments to the comm system. He digs through his files and comes up with the work order. It is from Arden Electronic Specialties (AES), and appears to be in order. The technicians took the old computer system with them with they left. Both the Captain and Dev feel that Rove is telling the truth and feel that he is essentially honest man that was a true friend to Captain Fredericks.
The Captain begins looking into the ships finances and the source of the line of credit that was offered to her by the Law Firm that handled here uncle's will. She can't find anything wrong with the offer. The interest rate is a bit high, but not extraordinary for a free trader with a somewhat unpredictable future.
The Captain also looks into local markets. Their is little cargo to pick here, but Arden should be a good location to find cargo and/or passengers. The ship also needs to stop in Arden to update its registration to show her ownership. She does make contacts with various people who worked with her uncle, and begins to make friends in port.
Everyone takes stock of their departments and reports back to the Captain.
Hard reports that the bridge is in order and is generally pleased with the crews' performance during drills - with the exception of the Doctor. He works with the Doctor, especially with Vacc Suit drills.
The Doctor reports that the infirmary is in poor condition. And suggest trying to get the following (in descending order of importance).
Schmee goes through the computer system and recommends upgrading the following programs:
Ben says that the counter intrusion systems on the ship are nearly non-existent. He suggests adding cameras to all corridors, engineering, the bridge, and cargo hold. In addition he re-keys the weapons locker and requires everyone on board to check their weapons into the locker. Ben, the Captain, and Hard are all authorized to open the weapon's locker. He also places hold-out pistols in the hidden compartment on the bridge and in the Captain's quarter's.
Dev has some interesting, if unorthodox, suggestions for anti-boarding systems. There is some discussion about their legality.
Dev and Bart are generally pleased with the weapons in the turrets. Dev stresses the need to increase the number of missiles available. Currently there are only five SIM-10 missiles. The magazine has the capacity for 77 missiles. He suggests purchasing the more advanced SIM-12 missiles at a cost of 22,000 credits each.
Bart works hard on getting the drives and power plants into order. He suggests several upgrades but spends most of his time getting the current sytems up to specs. He doesn't ask for any specific parts or money, but at the end of two weeks work Rove Verin presents a bill for 75,000 credits for the various parts, tools and materials that Bart has been getting from his shipyard. At the end of the two weeks the engine is up to spec and every major system is running fine. Bart has hardly slept during this time and the Doctor insists that he have a few days of downtime.
Bart does not have time to work on the ship's air-raft, but estimates he can fix it up with just a few thousand credits in parts while the ship is in Jump space.
There is no ready source of refined fuel in-system. There are private fuel suppliers, but their prices are exorbinant. The ship contains enough fuel for one jump - which will get the ship to Arden which has both a gas-giant and an advanced star-port with refined fuel.
The ship is now ready for the Jump to Arden to update the registation and begin looking for a cargo and making money.
Back to TopHere is a rough time-line of the events leading up to present:
Hard and Schmee check out comm system and Bart helps doing diagnostics. Everything seems to be in order - then Hard spots an anomaly in the diagnostic reports. A hidden transponder has been installed that is set up to be activated when a coded signal is recieved by the comm system. In effect, another ship could send out a signal and cause the transponder to start broadcasting making the ship very easy to find on sensors and target.
I've added some info about Arden and the Arden Federation in the Library Data section of the site.
There is no real cargo to ship to Arden from Liberty Station. You can probably get passengers, but rates are low due to high competition.
Back to TopEveryone was there except Kurt - Dr Caliban spent most of the session in his cabin recovering from the recent emergency drills that Hard had been conducting.
The session started out with people finishing up things in Liberty Station. The transponder found in the comm system was unhooked, but can be set off manually now by someone on the bridge. A warning will now go off if someone is trying to trigger the transponder, and then the decision can be made to turn the transponder on or not.
Four passengers purchased cut-rate passage to Arden (500 credits each). They all checked their weapons and there were no problems with them during the trip to Arden.
Once in the Arden system, the Arden Naval forces hailed Lady MacBeth and provided flight paths to the system gas giant and to Arden itself.
Upon landing on Arden the berthing fees were paid and the Captain headed in to update the registration of the ship. Dev accompanied Bart to a used-parts store to get what he needed to fix up the ships boat. Schmee and Ben headed into town to check out AES.
Schmee and Ben met with Jayce Able at AES and he showed them various program upgrades they could purchase for their ship. While demonstrating various levels of targetting programs in a simulator, Ben showed his impressive skills as a gunner. Jayce treated Schmee and Ben to lunch and drew up proposals for the various software upgrades they could take to the Captain.
After leaving AES, Schmee and Ben headed to the University of Arden where Schmee started making some contacts at the Computer Science department. Schmee was able to make friends with Fred Zewe, a member of the faculty who had a grudge against AES. Fred revealed that AES is a front for the Zhodani Intelligence service and that the Station Chief there was Orden Vass. After this Schmee and Ben returned to the ship.
The Captain was then contacted by Martin Kent, the former engineer of Lady Macbeth and the only survivor from her uncle's crew. He sets up a meeting with the Captain and some of the crew at a bar in the working-class section of the city.
Bart and Dev return to the ship with the parts they needed and some additional security cameras for Ben.
It is decided that the Captain with have Ben and Bart accompany her to the meeting with Martin Kent. Dev will go the bar ahead of them and hang out at the bar and scout things out. Schmee and Hard will follow the Captain's group and make sure they aren't followed and go into the bar after them and help keep an eye on everything.
The Captain is waved over to his table by Martin Kent as soon as she enters the bar. The Captain introduces herself and Ben and Bart. Martin Kent remarks that Captain Rafik is even prettier in person then in the pictures that Captain Fredericks had.
Ben looks around and notices a pair of men (probably Zhodani) a few tables over seem to be paying covert attention to the group. Ben gets up and goes to the bar and is able to signal Dev, Hard, and Schmee to keep an eye on the pair.
Martin Kent lowers his voice and begins talking about the events that led up to Captain Fredericks murder:
"We had been contacted by Stev Morten to do some charter work from Arden. The Captain was nervous after our last job, and decided to leave the ship at Rove Verin's shipyard on Liberty Station instead of bringing the ship to Arden."
"When we landed the Captain and Wilkins went to make contact with Stev Morten and I went to look for some parts and say hello to some friends. I heard about the murders on the news that night and have been in hiding since."
"Our previous job had been to run some "advisors" and their equipment to Quare. Quare is in the midst of a civil war, the current government is friendly to the Imperium and the insurgents are supported by the Zhodani. We were dropping of Major Icarus Trask and his men to act as advisors to the insurgents. Kind of a dangerous job, but the Captain needed some cash."
"The drop-off went fine. The government forces have few military ships and we were able to evade them. After we dropped Major Trask and his friends we went to a nearby settlement hoping to find a cargo. Captain Fredericks met Jessica Wong at the settlement. Miss Wong was some sort of a do-gooder who had been helping out refugees from the war - she also had info on some attrocities being committed by the insurgents and their Zhodani advisors. Anyway, Captain Fredericks was always a soft touch, and he agreed to lift Miss Wong and a bunch of refugees off and fly them to the independent world Caloran."
"As we were getting the refugees loaded, a bunch of insurgent troops jumped us and tried to stop us. They shot up the ships boat and two crewmen and a bunch of refugees were killed. We got out with what we could with the Captain piloting and Mister Wilkins in turret one using the Sand Casters to keep the insurgent troops pinned down."
"Miss wong was wounded and died before we got to Caloran. We got the rest of the refugees to Caloran and then headed to Liberty Station."
"I think someone is worried that we have something we can take to the Imperium about what is happening on Quare and that is why the Captain and Mister Wilkins were killed. I've got passage on a ship leaving tomorrow for Imperial Space - after I get there I'm getting a legit dirtside job and living clean and quiet."
After telling his story Martin Kent says goodbye and leaves. One of the pair of Zhodani that had been watching him, gets up and follows him out. Hard leaves a few minutes after.
Hard follows silently behind Martin and his shadow. Hard jumps the Zhodani just as he is about to hit Martin. Hard throws the Zhodani to the ground and quickly knocks him out - thumping him with gusto. Hard looks up at Martin and tells him that the Captain wanted to make sure he got home ok. Martin then takes off running, as Hard makes sure the Zhodani would not wake up anytime soon.
While Hard is gone, the Captain looks over at the other Zhodani with a look of concentration on her face. Suddenly the Zhodani's head snaps up and he looks the Captain right in the eye. The Captain has an "oh shit" look on her face as the Zhodani makes a call on his communicator.
Several minutes later two large individuals with bulges under the jackets come in and escort the Zhodani gentleman out of the bar.
Hard comes back shortly after that with a smile on his face and sits down and buys drinks for himself and Schmee.
Eventually everyone makes there way back to the ship.
The next day the Captain is contacted by Lapso Barrillias, a local broker who has a job offer. Lapso has secured an Imperial permIt to land a team on the nearby Amber Zone world of Edinina. The target is a load of hedlar trees -- a particulary sought after old gowth timber prized by collectors for its beauty and strength. The material is nearly impossible to get, and will sell for a high price.
Edinina is a moon around a gas giant and is an Amber Zone because its eccentric orbit occasional brings it through the gas giant's rings which exposes it to meteor storms and high levels of radiation. The inhabitants are mostly degenerate mutated humanoids and there are several dangerous types of fauna that are subject to high rates of mutation due to the periods of radiation.
The Captain is able to negotiate a rate of 20% of the profits up to 1 million credits and 1/2 of the profits beyond 1 million credits. Lady Macbeth's crew will also be responsible for providing security to the lumberjacks while they harvest the wood.
The team of six lumberjacks arrive with their equipment the next day. The leader of the team, Bruce, has been to Edinina before and has horror stories of the dangers. They have all been well-paid in advance for the risks they are going to take. The lumberjacks invite Lady Macbeth's crew, and especially the pretty Captain, to a farewell blow-out they are having at a local bar the night before they leave.
Everyone goes to the party except Bart who has parts of the Ship's boat spread all over the hold. A good time is had and the lumberjacks drink like it is their last night alive.
The Ship lifts the next day and the jumps to Edinina are uneventful. Upon entering the system the sensors pick up two other ships in system. One is on its way out of system. The other ship, The Victor Hugo, is another trader hoping to harvest some wood from Edinina. The Victor Hugo hails the Lady Macbeth and seems friendly. They let Lady Macbeth know they can call them for assistance if they run into problems.
Schmee gets to work calculating the moons orbit and running its positions through several computer models he has prepared. He determines that in a few days there will be a 4 to 5 day window when Lady Macbeth can land and work.
Hard scans the Edinina and finds a couple of sites containing wrecked/crashed ships. He goes over his scans with Bruce and they pick the three best sites to work. Site A is 4 hours by ships boat from one of the crash sites, site B is 5 hours away, and site is 7 hours away. There is some discussion about having some of the crew check out the crash sites while the lumberjacks work to see if any thing can be found to salvage.
That is pretty much where we ended the session. We'll start next time with landing on Edinina.
Back to TopThe Lady Macbeth lands on Edinina in one of the locations seen as a prime spot for Hedlar trees. Hard and Dev get off ship first and move through the area looking for tracks and other signs of danger. They find tracks of a pack of large carnivores that are a day or so old and some older barefoot human tracks.
Ben comes down and begins to work with Hard setting up cameras in a permiter around the area as the rest of the crew and the lumberjacks move in to begin logging. Bart remains on the ship to finish tuning up the ship's boat.
While patrolling the perimeter Dev gets a sense of an impending threat and looking around sees a huge animal close to a nearby outcropping. He raises the alarm and makes a run back towards the lumberjacks. Dev takes a shot at the beasts with his RPG, but the shot goes wide. One of the beasts sprints towards Dev as another heads towards the main group of lumberjacks. The Captain moves towards Dev and takes a shot at the beast but misses. Schmee runs back towards the utility vehicle and scrambles to hide underneath. Ben moves towards the beast that is heading towards the lumberjacks. Hard and the Doctor scan the perimeter they are at looking for more of the creatures.
Dev drops his RPG and draws his gyroc pistols. Ben shoots they beast heading towards the lumbermen with his Gyroc carbine dropping it. Dev dodges as the beast on him tries hit him. The Captain takes another shot at the beast on Dev. Schmee shoots at the beast that Ben dropped. The Doctor reports that two more beasts are coming in from the other side of the perimeter. Hard moves to try and get a bead on the two newly arrived beasts.
Dev shoots up the beast on him. Ben moves to confront the two new beasts. One of the two new beasts heads for the Doctor while the other rushes the lumberjacks. Ben gets a shot of one the one rushing the lumberjacks with his carbine. The Doctor shoots the beast rushing him point blank with a shotgun, but the beast keeps coming. Hard pops a few rounds at one of the beasts, hitting but not stopping him.
Dev finishes off the beast on him and moves towards the main group of lumberjacks. Ben shoots and takes down the beast on the doctor. Hard shoots and wounds the beast on the lumberjack. The lumberjack is able to dodge the beast as it pounces on him.
Dev move closer to the group and Ben takes down the last beast with another well-aimed shot from his gyroc carbine.
There is a lot of excited chatter among the lumberjacks and several of the group notice more of the beasts in the distance. The beasts head off, seemingly frightened by the killing of their brethren.
Doctor Caliban does a post-mortem on the beasts taking pictures and notes. Dev beheads the one he killed, and stashing the head in a cryo-tube to be taxidermied/mounted later. The Captain gets the lumberjacks back to work.
The rest of the first day is uneventful. The lumberjacks report that they should have the hold filled in two more days work. The planet has a 30 hour day which allows them to work for about 16 hours each day.
The first evening sees the lumberjacks getting drunk and bragging about their part in the fight with the beast. The Captain is on watch in the bridge when she sees some feral humans running around. Two of the cameras in the perimiter are taken out. Hard comes to the bridge, and they bring up the ships outside lights.
One of the humans steps into the light and fires a primitive gun at the ship. Later in the night some arrows come from out of the shadows and hit the ship.
The next morning Hard, Dev, Ben and Schmee patrol the perimeter and find some primitive deadfalls, trip wires, and snares. They are easily disarmed. The lumberjacks and the rest of the crew then come out and get to work. The rest of the day is uneventul, and at the end of the day the lumberjacks load the wood they have cut that day and begin their nightly drinking.
It is decided to take the ship and fly to the closest crash site which is several hundred miles away. The Lady Macbeth flys over the wreckage. The wreck is an old beowulf class freetrader that is partially broken up. The holes in the hull are covered with animal skins and there is a fire pit near the wreck. The crew decides to land and try and trade with whoever is living in the ship. They gather up some extra blankets and take some of the lumberjacks' rotgut whiskey.
The Captain, Bart, Doctor Caliban, Dev, and Ben head towards the wreckage. Three burly men dressed in furs and rough woven clothes come out of the ship. They are armed with swords, but also carry some modern firearms. The leader approaches the group and speaks to Captain. "Where is your leader women?" he barks.
"I am the leader" responds Captain Rafik. Dev bristles at the barbarians tone towards the Captain, but keeps his cool.
The Captain negotiates with the leader to trade for some furs and meat and to let Bart and Dev go inside the wreckage to see if there is anything else worth trading for. Bart and Dev search the ship and find little of value until they look in the unwrecked turret. There they find 25 Sim-10 missiles.
Captain Rafik negotiates a trade for the missiles which includes Bart getting the power up in part of the wreckage and the Doctor treating anyone who is ill in the clan of barbarians. Dev and Ben use the ships air-raft to move the missiles to the Lady Macbeth. Meanwhile Doctor Caliban sets up an impromptu clinic and Bart works on the wrecks power plant.
The barbarians warn the crew about the Devil Dogs and to avoid the tribes of primitive canibal hill people to the north. After everything is loaded the Lady Macbeth heads back to the original landing site.
The next day after the perimeter is cleared, Captain Rafik puts the meat she got from the barbarians out as an offering for the cannibals. As the lumberjacks get to work, some of the primitive humans come and take away the meat. The rest of the day is uneventful and the hold is quickly filled.
The Lady Macbeth lifts for orbit and signals the other ship that is logging letting them know they are leaving. The jumps back to Arden are uneventful. Schmee plots a course that will take the ship into the Arden system from a different direction then it left.
Once in system Lady Macbeth skims fuel and then lands on Arden. The Captain is able to get an excellent price for the wood - 1,900,000 credits. Of which the Lady Macbeth gets 650,000. Lapso Barillas is very pleased with the results of the venture and promises to try and find more work for the ship.
Captain Rafik decides to give the crew some of the share of the profits to have as spending money while they take shore leave on Arden.
Everyone should feel free to email me any specific things they are doing during their shore leave. We should be playing again 11/22/2005.
Back to TopThe Captain is contacted by an agent of Sir Evan Stirling who needs someone for some confidential work. The Captain and senior members of the crew go to the offices of Stirling Shipping to meet with Sir Evan.
Sir Evan explains that his 16 year old son, Andre, has disappeared, possibly run away. He was told that the crew of the Lady Macbeth included at least one experienced bounty hunter and had a reputation of getting things done. He is willing to pay 250,000 credits for the safe return of his son. The only restrictions are that his son is not to be harmed and no police are to be involved.
Research by the Captain reveals that Sir Evan is currently involved with some trade difficulties with the Sword Worlds and very pre-occupied with business. The group decides to go to the Stirling estate and question members of the household staff and other family members.
At estate the crew spoke with family members and staff. Andre's Mother seemed more worried about having Andre marry properly than anything else. His younger sister Beatrice is convinced that she would do a much better job of running the family businesses than her brother and resents the fact that he is the heir. His younger brother, Collin thinks Andre is a wimp.
The Estate Staff is pretty closed lip but generally has good things to say about Andre. His tutor says Andre is a bright boy who sometimes feels trapped in his life.
Looking over the household compute logs turns up a series of emails between Andre and someone named Matsui who represented "The Academy for the Exceptional" on Arkadia. Matsui references Andre's high scores on a test of psionic abilities and tells him there is a place for him at the academy - if he can get to Arkadia and bring 50,000 credits. There are no records of The Academy anywhere or of anyone named Matsui on Arkadia.
Checking in at the port there is a record of an 18 year-old names Saal Vaenii who shipped out on the Far Trader Finicky Feline which's ultimate destination is listed as Arkadia. The ship left 2 days ago. Asking around it is likely tha Saal is actually Andre.
The Lady Macbeth lifts in pursuit, and Schmee plots the most likely course. The ship stops on Digitis enroute and catches up with the Finicky Feline which is also in port. Members of the crew are able to locate Andre who is seeing the starport while most of the Finicky Feline's crew are on leave. With some fast talking and suggestive smiles from the Captain the crew is able to convince Andre that they can take him more directly to the Academy. Brother Bloom plays up Andre's belief in his on special place in the universe and that he has potential. In reality Andre seems to lack any psionic potential.
The trip back to Arden is uneventful with various crew members coming up with novel ways to stroke Andre's ego and keep him compliant. Upon landing on Arden he is returned to his grateful father, but Andre feels betrayed by the group.
Sir Evan makes good on his reward and thanks the crew for there fast and quiet work.
11/21/2005 Between Session ActivitySchmee does some guest lecturing at the University of Arden in the College of Astrogation on the pecularities of the Edinina system. He also brings an odd sculpture onto the ship.
There is a news report about an attempted assassination of one of the members of the musical group Lo/Rez. The would be assassin pulled a gun and began shooting. The band member he was shooting at was saved by the quick actions of their security team. He was knocked to the ground by one Dev Faustus. Mr. Faustus then proceeded to gun down the assassin. Mr Faustus is an associate of Bollah Security. Bollah Security had been contracted by the band to provide security while on Arden. Mr. Faustus was questioned by the police and released with no charges filed.
Back to TopThe group is again contacted by Professor Erasmus Riske who is possesion of a centuries old pocket computer that used to belong to Harald Birk, first mate on the notorious pirate Alison Murdoch's ship, Black Widow. Professor Riske, who is an expert on the history of pirates in the sector has been able to access the computer and claims to know where Alison Murdoch's secret hideout is. He believes there will be a treasure trove of loot and valuale historical data at the hideout.
After some negotiating with the Captain, Professor Riske agrees that the Lady Macbeth and crew would get 85% of what was found and he would be satisfied with 15% and exclusive rights to document and publish the story.
The Captain and the Doctor, who seems to have taken an interest in navigation, plan a route to Puparkin which is the system that the hideout is located in. The route will be Arden to Zircon to Jewell to Mongo to Puparkin.
The Captain is able to get a cargo of Cotton Seed, 12 low and 8 Mid passage passengers for the jump to colony world of Zircon. There is a problem during the jump and the crew looses a week getting back on course.
When the ship lands on Zircon the discover that the crew of the converted scout/courier Gundarin (Sword Worlds registry) landed about a week before them and has been asking questions. Professor Riske admits that he talked with Captain Freileng of the Gundarin about the same mission, but couldn't come to an agreement on terms.
The Captain along with Ben locate the starport bar where most of the Gundarin's crew, including their Captain are currently drinking. The Doctor, Brother Bloom, and Professor Riske decide to go to the local market to get some fresh produce.
The Doctor, Brother Bloom, and the Professor are followed by a tough looking member of the Gundarin crew and he attempts to lead the Professor away. Doctor Caliban confronts him and the sword worlder draws his broadsword. Doctor Caliban responds by drawing his rapier. As the two duel a crowd gathers and Brother Bloom leads the Professor back to ship. Doctor Caliban holds his own against the Gundarin crewmen pricking him several times. The Gundarin crewmen eventually gets in a lucky blow with his heavy broadsword and the Doctor is forced to withdraw.
Back at the Starport bar Captain Rafik begins chatting up Captain Freiling. One of the Gundarin crewmen recognize Captain Rafik and inform Freiling who she is. Freiling is initially hostile, but Captain Rafik is able to use here considerable charms to get the grump sword worlder to relax. After several drinks Captain Rafik convinces Captain Freiling to return to the Lady Macbeth with her for a night cap.
While everyone else is out on the town, Bart whips up a couple of small tracking/transmitters for Dev. Dev then goes on commando and sneaks up to the Gundarin and plants the transmitters without being noticed.
When the two Captains get to the Lady Macbeth the Doctor has prepared a bottle of wine with a knockout drug. Captain Freiling drinks the doctored booze and passes out. Captain Rafik then gets all the crew on board and takes off immediately.
When Captain Freiling wakes up he is outraged that he was kidnapped, but there is little he can do since the Lady Macbeth is already underway to Jewell.
On Jewell Captain Freiling is released, but refuses to accept money from a woman for passage back to Zircon. Captain Rafik makes a payout to the crew and works to locate proper cargo for Mongo and Puparkin. It is decided that weapons, cold weather gear, ammo and food would be the best choice for Puparkin and Luxury goods would be good to sell on Mongo. The crew takes shore leave and Dev purchases a high tech flame thrower.
Lady Macbeth then jumps on to Mongo - not much of interest on this mining world and the luxury goods purchased on Jewell are sold. No new cargo is loaded and the ship quickly lifts for Puparkin.
At Puparkin the ship heads to the orbitting space station and docks. They are met by representatives of the two leading factions (one lead by Johnny Tenor and one lead by Vand Gal) and given offers for the cargo. The Captain states that they would rather try and sell the goods themselves to the various habitat domes on the planet below.
Professor Riske goes onto the station to do research about the pirates operating out of Puparkin. Dev, Ben, and Schmee keep an eye on him to keep him out of trouble. The Professor speaks with several different pirate types, and seems to know the pirate lingo. He makes various notes and then heads back to the ship.
The Lady Macbeth then leaves the orbitting station and heads to the planet surface to visit the domes. The ship stops at one dome and sells some cargo. After leaving the first habitat dome, Hard flys the ship low and uses terrain features to mask the route the ship takes to the extinct volcano where the pirate hideout is located. The hideout is found under a large outcropping that has space underneath it for a few ships to land. The Lady Macbeth lands and this is where we left off.
Back to TopSchmee, Ben, and Dev examine the entrance to the complex but are unable to get past the security systems. Professor Riske is able to get past the doors using Harold Birk's pocket computer.
The group moves cautiously in three groups through the airlock into the complex. Ben and Dev take up security positions as people spread out. The complex is in remarkably good condition, probably attributable to the cold and a well designed and still functioning life-support system.
After checking out the halls, the group moves to get through the security door into the hangar area. The Professor again uses the old pockey computer to spring the doors. Schmee watches the professor closely and sees that the old computer has nothing to do with how he is opening the door - the door recognizes the Professor's palm print!
In the hangar area are two old battle-droids standing inert by the large hangar doors, and ancient grav-car and crates of old supplies and parts. The group locks the doors behind them and moves to examine the rest of the complex.
The professor is unable to get past the security door labeled Captain Murdoch. Eventually Ben and Schmee are able to out-fox the security lock and get in. The room is decorated in a haphazard way with many fine and expensive paintings and furnishings.
While people are examining the room, the Professor slips to the next room labeled First Office Birk, puts his palm on the security pad and ducks inside sealing the door behind him.
The Professor activates several systems in the complex from behind the sealed doors. Bart gets on the computer in the Captain's room and tries to lock out Professor Riske. He informs the rest of the crew that it looks like he was able to send out a transmission.
Meanwhile the battle-droids have been woken up by the Professor and move out of the hangar area down the hall. There is fierce fire fight during which Dev is severely wounded. Most of the crews personal weapons are of little use against the droids, but Ben and Dev are armed with high-power gauss/accelerator weapons that can harm them. Ben and Hard (using Dev's Gauss pistol) are able to take the droids down while the Doc patches up Dev and sends a few rounds from his pistol down the hall.
After the droids are brought down, Captain Rafik orders Hard, Schmee, and Dev to get on the ship and get airborne in case the Professor has called for any ships to come.
Captain Rafik continues to try and negotiate with the Professor, but the Professor wants her to surrender since he has help coming. Captain Rafik lets her frustation get the better of her and tries to shoot up the security pad on the door to no effect. Meanwhile Bart continues to work on locking out the Professor from the complex's computer system, eventually succeeding. Ben continues to provide security for the crew remaining in the complex.
Hard, Schmee, and Dev race the Lady MacBeth and get her airborne. The fly low out of the crater they are in and drop into the crater next to the one the complex is in. They are able to get a sensor reading on a converted scout heading their way.
The converted scout moves to the crater the complex is in and begins to descend. Schmee pilots the Lady Macbeth out of its hiding place (badly scraping the front of ship on the crater rim). Hard gets a solid sensor lock on the pirate scout ship enabling Dev and the ships targetting computers to easily bring the Pirate ship crashing down to the crater floor. Hard then lands the Lady MacBeth while growling at Schmee about his accident coming out of the crater.
The crew is then able to convince the Professor to surrender, now that he has lost access to the complex's computers and comm system and his pirate friends have been shot down.
The crew strips the complex of all valuables including some gems and gold found in the Captain's safe. They also check out the crashed pirate ship and capture the three surviving crew members and are able to salvage 2 - high-powered laser systems from the turrets and various other parts that catch Bart's eye.
They stash all the prisoners in cryo tubes including Professor Riske. Under questioning they find out that Professor Riske is is actually Harald Birk, the former first officer of the Black Widow. Birk was in command of a captured Free Trader when the Black Widow was destroyed. The free trader misjumped and it took it 700 years of traveling in cold sleep to reach civilization. When the ship was recovered Birk changed his name and became a history professor and used that cover to get a ship to take him to the old hide-out to recover his wealth and restart his pirate ways.
The Lady MacBeth continues on its way stopping at the habitat domes on the planet to sell its cargo of weapons and survival gear and then jumps on its way back to Jewell. They drop off the pirates in cryo on Esalin, but keep Birk in cryo.
Brother Bloom has a private meeting with Doctor Caliban, Captain Rafik, and Dev Faustus. After the meeting Brother Bloom says goodbye to the entire crew saying he will continue his travels with others for a time. Dev also takes leave of the crew saying they can find him on Tenalphi if they need to contact him.
Back to TopThe crew is on shore leave on Esalin and Schmee, Ben, Dr. Caliban and Hard are all relaxing in one of the Starport bars. The group is approached by Markus Cirrus. Cirrus explains that he is the medical director on a nearby world that has had an outbreak of the deadly Wringerman virus. He was supposed to meet with Dr. Anthony Torelle (a researcher at Dickerson Pharmaceuticals) at the starport who has a vaccine that will cure the disease. He hasn't been able to locate Dr. Torelle and would be willing to pay the crew a reward/fee of 10,000 credits if they could locate him, or at least locate the vaccine. He also asks them to keep it quiet since he doesn't want word of the outbreak to spread and possible force his homeworld to be quarantined.
The four crew members agree to try and help Mr. Cirrus. Dr. Caliban checks his medical database and finds that Wringerman Virus is a deadly disease that affects only humans. It causes nitrogen gas to separate from the blood, similar to "the bends". The symptons include severe joint pain and insanity, before death finally takes the victim. There is no known cure or vaccine.
Asking around the port they find a Sky Cap that assisted Dr. Torelle with his bags and recommended a hotel to him. Schmee checks the planetary database for any info on Dr. Torelle and finds that he was dismissed from his former position with an Imperial University Medical research firm on Jewell. He has never worked for Dickerson Pharmaceuticals - which is a small firm dealing with mass produced common over the counter type drugs.
The group heads to the hotel the Skycap recommended to the Dr and talk to the desk clerk. The pass him a few credits and tells them that someone matching Torelle's description checked in under the name Edwin James. He also mentions that someone else was asking for him 15 minutes ago and had headed up to his room.
The crew splits up with Ben and the Doctor running up the stairs while Schmee and Hard take the elevator up to the floor where Torelle's room is. They rendezvous on the floor and peaking around the corner see two bruiser types standing outside Torelle's room. The group moves on the two bruisers who come to confront them. Ben tells the bruisers to drop their weapons and waits for them to fire first. When they fire Ben drops one of them with a well placed shot, while Hard drops the other with some Judo moves.
The hotel room door opens up and a couple more muscle types move to confront the crew members while two others head towards the fire exit carrying a large refrigerated medical storage unit between them. There is a short battle and they bring down the muscle guys and Hard is able to stop the two carrying the storage unit with more Judo. When he realizes that one of the two carrying the unit is a Zhodani he gets a pretty rough with him as he puts him down.
The move into the room and find Torelle tied in a chair in some sort of catatonic state. They truss up the prisoners and haul them into the room as well. Dr. Caliban opens up the refrigeration unit and finds that instead of a vaccine the unit is full of containers of live Wringerman virus.
The group discusses what to do with the virus and their prisoners. They eventually decide to contact Imperial Naval CID and attempt a sting to trap Cirrus and see what is going on. Hard contacts an old naval buddy, Inspector Weller, who is in charge of the local Naval CID unit. Weller is able to identify the Zhodani as an intelligence agent named Iaron. He also does a check on Torelle and finds he was dismissed from his research position because of his involvement in a xenophobic/human first terrorist organization known as The Galactic Truth. It is theorized by the group that The Galactic Truth was going to use the virus to make some sort of terrorist attacks and that the Zhodani wanted the virus to use as a possible weapon against the Imperium.
Inspector Weller agrees to help with the sting. Dr. Caliban and Ben contact Cirrus and let him know that they know there is no vaccine and no outbreak and that Torelle had live virus. They offer to sell/deliver it to him for more money. They eventually get 100,000 credits deposited into their accounts and then tell Cirrus where to pick up the virus and Dr. Torelle. Meanwhile Hard works with Inspector Weller and sets up with Naval CID troops on the roof and in the next room.
When Cirrus shows up to claim the virus, the trap is sprung and they are able to capture Cirrus and his henchmen. Inspector Weller is grateful to the crew, and overlooks reporting the money that Cirrus paid them.
Hard also uses his contacts to find a good replacement for Dev. Caine is a retired Admiral's steward who has some gunnery experience and excellent skills as a steward. He is a dapper man, very much the english butler type. He is an excellent cook and quickly settles in to his job getting the guest quarters and crew common areas spic and span into order. He does request some money from the Captain to refurbish the guest cabins and galley area.
Meanwhile - Susan, who was absent at the session submitted the following detailing what Captain Rafik was about while the rest of the crew was having their little adventure.
Nadina walked out of the store and looked around the seedy side of town. There was always a seedy side of town. One just had to know how and where to look for it. She walked a few paces away from the front of the store and slipped a lighter out of her pocket. She considered the computer chip in her hand for a moment or two and thoughtfully applied flame. The flame burned orange in the night air. It did not take long until the chip was a melted lump of silicon and plastic. Looking around one more time, she reached into her pocket and took out several more chips and tossed them into a near by dumpster. She sighed deeply and headed toward a healthier part of town.
Taking off dark glasses and a dark shapeless cloak, she entered a club. Perhaps a drink or two would help dissolve her melancholy state. The bar was not one that usually catered to the traders and frigates that came to call in this system. This club was high society. It was not one that catered to trader ships captains and their crews. Perhaps she could stir up a bit of trouble and watched what happened, maybe that would lift the feeling that had been dogging her for the last few days. She sauntered in to the club.
It did not take long until there was a gaggle of men around her, some were single, and others married. It never took long. They had only one thing on their minds. She didn’t have to be a psychic to know what. She always had been able to attract the opposite sex. It was a gift and a curse. Sometimes it seemed more of a hindrance than a help. It would not have taken long to get these dandies fighting over her. A look here, a word there and soon the club would be in the midst of a fist fight. She shook her head ruefully; perhaps more of her conservative upbringing had rubbed off than she thought, or perhaps she was just getting older, but tonight the thought of men fighting over her was not as thrilling as it had been.
Her head began to ache, again. She rubbed her temples. This had happened too often of late; perhaps she should talk to Dr Caliban. She discarded that thought as soon at it occurred to her. That was one place she was not going to go. Looking at the group of men that surrounded her, she begged off and left the bar. The only benefit was that all of her drinks and been paid by the hopeful but out of luck men.
The way back to the space port was much longer than she thought. She stumbled for a block. She didn't think she had that much to drink. Hailing a cab, she gratefully climbed in and sank into the seat. The pounding in her head was much harder now. She felt as if someone had taken a screw driver and shoved it behind her eyes over and over. She had not had a headache like this in years. Not since she was twelve years old. Not since the last time she had a "true" dream. Not since she had come into her "powers". She shuddered at the thought. She wanted to bury herself in her bed and hide for about twenty million years. She didn't want to know or think of what that might mean.
The cab arrived at the berth where the Lady Macbeth was located. She handed the cabbie some money. It must have been enough because the cab driver did not complain. She staggered into the ship. It was very quiet inside. The rest of the crew was out on shore leave; at least she thought they were. She headed toward medical and rummaged around for something to take away the pain. She swallowed some pills marked pain reliever and grimaced at the bitter taste. Medical might be a little worse for the wear, but at the moment she did not care. She placed her hand on the wall of the ship for support and a guide. She was not totally surprised when she heard someone in Engineering. Bart must be tinkering again. Nadina thought a vacation to the engineer was a junk yard and a large credit amount to play with the engines. Securing the ship as best she could with a raging headache, (she knew Bart would not think to do it). She headed to her bunk and collapsed as darkness surrounded her.
Yasim and Jalda were relaxing after dinner. Yasim was reading the evening paper and smoking his favorite pipe. Blue smoke drifted around him. Jalda listened to classical music and worked on a needle point project. It was home. It was comfort. It was a place that never changed in its normality. It was dull and boring.
The front door came crashing in as several men in black entered the small but neat and tidy home. Yasim jumped to his feet, while Jalda shrank in terror away from the intruders. The fight was short lived as the men in black overwhelmed the older man. The man Yasim and his wife Jalda were soon trussed up like a Christmas goose, just before it was put into the oven to cook.
Another man in black strode into the house. He had a hard angular face. An air of menace seemed to follow him and seeped dread into the older couple.
"I knew one day you would come." Yasim said in a stoic voice while looking up into the new mans face. "I knew you would find us someday. It's been twenty nine years, but I knew you would come."
"You thought you could hide from us is the middle of the Imperium? It was only a matter of time." The man sneered. "I will wipe out the shame of what you did to MY family name. You are a traitor, not only to your people, but to me. You both will be punished and made an example of."
Jalda gasped. She looked at the hard cold man. Hopelessness and despair filled her. She knew the ruthlessness of the government and the hatred rolling off of the man in front of her. She knew the horror of the re-education camps. Their minds would be wiped and they would become model citizens. Only one hope remained to spare them the horror of becoming mindless puppets.
"Do you think that you could flee and then help our enemies train against us?" He laughed grimly. "We will first dig the secrets out of your head. If there is anything left by the time we are done with you then we will set you up as a standard for all to see. All will learn they cannot defy us. You set a very bad example when you fled. They must learn that we will find them no matter how long it takes." He looked intently at Yasim and concentrated. "You think you can block me? You are pathetic." He motioned to one of his men. The man stalked over and backhanded Jalda. Her head snapped back with the force of the blow.
"NO!" yelled the old man. It was at that moment the cold man stuck. His mind probe lanced into the older mans thoughts. At the same time, the sound of two bullets bursting through the glass of the windows and into the heads of the old man and lady. The man staggered trying to disconnect his thoughts from the dead man. He looked at his men and signaled them to search outside for the shooters. They returned a few moments later empty handed. He looked thoughtfully at the rapidly cooling corpses pondering what he had barely caught a glimpse of. The deepest secret his parents had wanted to hide from him.
"I have a sister."
Nadina sat straight up out of bed. Two words tore out of her throat "MOM! DAD!" she screamed. "It was a dream," she moaned. "It had to be a dream." It wasn't a true dream was it? If it was, she would think what it meant later. Putting her head in her hands she sobbed.
The Lady Macbeth lands on Jewell. The starport is very busy and the ship is lucky to get a berth. It is harvest time and there are large numbers of merchant ships hoping to get a good cargo.
On Jewell the Captain negotiates trading the ships the 300Mj lasers for one 405Mj laser and Bart gets to work installing the new laser. This will upgrade the turrets as follows, Turret 1 = two 405 Mj lasers and a Sand caster, Turret 2 = one 405Mj laser, one missile rack, and a Sand Caster. Luckily upgrading the weapon systems takes most of Barts time so he doesn't have time to make any extra trips to the salvage yard.
The Captain also accompanies Dr. Caliban as he purchases an Automedic for the ship. The Automedic won't be as good as a doctor, but should be able to stabilize anyone who is injured if the Doc isn't available.
It is also decided to thaw out and release Professor Riske/Harold Birk. Professor Riske is told that his former base was cleaned out and that they don't want to run into him again. With that warning the Professor makes his way off the ship.
While Bart is happily renovating the lasers, the rest of the crew decides to hit the town for some RnR. Mr. Caine prefers to stay behind and continue his work on redecorating the passenger cabins and common areas and upgrading the galley.
After going through port security and surrendering their weapons - Schmee gets hasseled about his pockey knife, while Dr. Caliban is allowed to carry his sword with no challenge. The rest of the crew makes their way to the Fire Pit, a low-key Jazz club. Everyone gets involved in a game of Tyx, a new card game involving a mixture of luck and skill. The Captain, Ben, and Hard seem more intested in relaxing and socializing rather than gamblinb, but Schmee and the Doctor quickly become involved in the game. The other players include Xac Glar, a good looking human, Captain Adell Lar'Kesh a vargr and Captain/Owner of the fartrader Nine Rings, and Melanie Charrand a human and local gravitics technician.
During a break in the game Xac Glar approaches the group and offers to sell them a data crystal. He claims it is a sensor recording from an imperial close escort sensor logs. During a scrap beween some Vargr corsairs and the Imperials, a sensor tech on the close escort managed to scan a merchant ship that was with the corsairs. The ship took a few hits from beam lasers that caused explosive decompression and popped the power plant offline. He tracked the vessel on a "dead man's spiral" heading above the orbital plane of the system. The ship had no power readings the whole time he monitored it. A good atrogator can plot the present position of the ship. Xac offers to sell the crystal to the group for 50,000 credits.
Xac wants to conclude the deal this evening, since he is leaving port tomorrow. He offers to discuss if further with the Captain over dinner. The Captain agrees and leaves with Xac. Unnoticed by everyone else, Hard shadows the two out of the club.
The Doctor and Schmee return to the card game. Ben gets a bit bored so leaves for some zero-g dancing at The Astral Dome. The Doctor and Schmee's luck comes and goes, but Schmee is sure that spending some time he could work out a good betting scheme and beat the game.
The crew rendevous the next day and the Captain reports that she has gotten the crystal at a considerable discount. Schmee takes the crystal and begins looking at the data.
The sensor logs look genuine and the battle took place in the Keanue system. Schmee feels confident he can pinpoint the location of the derelict in the system.
The Captain gets a cargo and some passengers and the crew jumps to Alell. Mr. Caine proves to be adept at handling the passengers and keeping them and the crew comfortable, the ship clean and neat (except for engineering), and everyone well fed.At Alell the ship unloads the cargo and takes on some passengers to Regina.
At Regina, the Doctor asks for shore leave and is gone for a few days. The Captain gets a cargo for Yori. The Doctor returns and the ship jumps to Yori. At Yori the cargo is sold and the ships make the final jump for Keanue.
Keanu, also known as the system of wooden acting, has a small scout base on a cold hard world of rocky desert. The entire population of about 2,000 clusters around the only water (and fuel source) on the planet at the scout base. There are currently two Imperial Scout ships in system.
Schmee is able to plot the course to the derelict and Hard quickly picks it up on sensors. It is indeed above the orbital plane of the system and takes five days to get to the derelict. Schmee turns off the Lady MacBeth's transponder to help prevent detection by any other ships in system. The ship takes up position next to the derelict.
Schmee announces to everyone that he is worried about this mission. He thinks it might be a set up and that they should wait before anyone goes over. Hard then begins to make careful passive sensor sweeps and after a time detects energy readings for ship in a cluster of asteroids. He also detects the ship sending a transmission, though he can't determine its destination.
The crew discusses what is the best course of action next, and it is decided that the ship is probably waiting for some mishap on the derelict before showing itself. They rig up an explosive device, and Ben tosses it into the blast hole in the engineering section of the derelict.
As soon as the explosion is triggered the detected ship moves out with active sensors and another ship with on active sensors comes out of another asteroid cluster.
The ships turn out to be the Gundarin commanded by Capt Freiling and the known pirate ship The Wallach. A furious battle begins. The crew of the Lady Macbeth does well. The Lady MacBeth takes some hits, but the only serious damage is to the power system, which Bart is able to the repair and to the cargo hold. The Lady MacBeth's accurate shooting and good use of missiles enables them to drive off both the attacking ships.
Schmee is able to intercept transmission between the ships after the battle that indicate that the Gundarin is heading to Tureded to refit. There is no indication of where the Wallach is going.
After the battle the ship moves back to the derelict. They purposely set off another booby trap they spot and move through the ship looking for what can be salvaged. The derelicts bridge is smashed and useless, but Bart is able to bring up the power system and maneuver drive. It is decided that they will tow the derelict towards the scout base on Keanou while Bart continues his work on the ship.
The Lady MacBeth is hailed by an Imperial Scout ship that sends over an Ensign to take depositions from the crew about the action and get copies of the sensor logs from the fight.
Upon arriving at Keanou it is decided that Hard will pilot the derelict to the planet since its jury rigged controls are very tricky, while the Captain will land the Lady MacBeth. The Captain brings the Lady MacBeth down rather roughly and Hard makes a perfect landing with the derelict.
While celebrating the recent victory, Captain Rafik is approached by an aslan - Captain Arlieu Maniuuslirinana is interested in possibly buying the derelict for salvage. Captain Rafik asks Captain Arlieu to wait until the next day before sending over her engineer to inspect.
The next day Bart does some more cleanup on the derelict and takes any parts that interest him. The Aslan engineer comes and inspects the ship. Captain Rafik is contacted by Caprtain Arlieu and they negotiate a price of 2.35 million credits for the derelict.
The crew has decided to go on to Tureded to look for a cargo and maybe news on the Gundarin. This is where we left off. I think our first space battle went pretty well.
Before leaving Keanu the Captain arranges for a general warrant for piracy to be issues against the Gundarin. Schmee gives a lecture on applying new advanced mathematical theories to astrogation to the ISS Navigators stationed at Keanu.
The Lady MacBeth makes the jump to Tureded with no mishaps. They try and get a berth at the the highport, but are unable to due to a lack of corporate sponsorship. They then land at the low-port, deciding to land close to the Gundarin. Hard makes a low pass over the Gundarin spraying dust onto the crew working on the outside of the ship.
Upon landing and checking the newsnet and talking with other crews in port it is discovered that the Gunadarin reports that it was jumped by pirates. It fought off no less then three pirate ships and was able to make it to port. The Gundarin also lost one Gunner KIA and their Navigator is in a coma in a Tureded hospital. They are advertising for a replacement navigator and gunner, and have sold their ship's air-raft and are looking for short-term, high-reward work while in port.
There are several security firms for hire in Tureded and Ben takes charge of hiring the firm Rifles Inc. to provide security for the Lady MacBeth while they are in port. The company will have three guards on duty at all times with the ability to call in a bigger force if needed.
Several of the crew goes into town. Schmee decides to remain on board with Bart and Caine. Caine prepares a shopping list and sends with the crewmen going into tow. Ben goes to several weapons suppliers looking for non-lethal ordinance. While out shopping, Hard notices that two of the Gunardin's crew are shadowing the Captain. After a brief discussion it is decided to split up with the Captain going off alone and Hard shadowing the Gundarin crewmen.
The Gundarin crewmen continue to shadow the Captain, and Hard has no problem keeping them in sight while staying hidden himself. The Gundarin crewmen make no moves against the Captain, though they make several calls back to their ship. Hard contacts Schmee, who stayed on the Lady MacBeth, and Schmee is able to begin intercepting messages to and from the Gundarin. The crewman are instructed to keep an eye on Captain Rafik, and grab her if she is ever alone and there are no witnesses.
The Captain orders Roses and with a card saying "Thanks for the Good Times" sent to the Gundarin. Hard and Doctor Caliban send flowers to the Navigator in the hospital.
Everyone returns to the ship. Hard and Dr. Caliban decide to visit the hospital and see the Gundarin Navigator, Werner. They take the ships airraft which makes it impossible for the Gundarin crew to follow. At the hospital they ask to see Werner and eventually are led to him after questions about who is going to pay for his medical treatment. They hospital is waiting to perform surgery until payment is made.
When they get in to see Werner, Hard watches the door while Dr. Caliban examines the patient. He has severe head injuries and will probably be in a coma for a long while. The Doctor "lays hands" on him and brings him out of the coma. As he regains consciousness the first thing he sees is the snarling face of Hard telling him he better find a more honest crew to work with.
After leaving the hospital, the Doctor stops at several upscale wine and food shops and buys some very nice wine and provisions for the ship.
Upon hearing about the medical bills, Captain Rafik pays them from her personal funds. Schmee nearly throws a fit when he realizes that not only has the Lady MacBeth's Doctor treated their enemy, but the Captain is paying his medical bills...
Meanwhile, Bart highers some contractors and begins working on and supervising repairs to the ship. Captain Rafik decides the Lady MacBeth needs a new paint job and some kill marks on the front to show their success at fighting off pirates. The Captain draws a bit of a crowd when she comes out to paint in the hot Tureded sun wearing rather skimpy work clothes. Several nearby Captains send dinner invites to the Captain and she accepts one from Capt. Mavzlowski of the beowulf class free trader Avalon.
The Captain goes out for dinner with Capt. Mavzlowski and has a nice time. Ever dutiful, Hard tails the two and keeps an eye on the Gundarin crewman shadowing Captain Rafik. The evening ends uneventfully with Captain Rafik saying good night to the Captain of the Avalon outside the Lady Macbeth.
Late one night several of the Gundarin crew leave on their small atv's and come back several hours later towing a trailer. They then unload several crates all marked with the SuSag logo. Next morning there are reports on the news of a robbery at a SuSag warehouse. Hard contacts the SuSag rep on the planet and lets them know what they saw last night. The SuSag rep thanks him and tells him that SuSag will remember his assistance. Shortly afterwards local law enforcement and several SuSag security people arrive at the Gundarin. They search the ship and find only a small amount of the stolen goods. The Gundarin is ticketed by the local Law Enforcement and told they are no longer welcome in port. The Gundarin lifts shortly afterwards, sending a transmission to the Lady MacBeth to the effect of "This isn't over, we will meet again." Hard offers to meet them soon, and they don't respond.
Schmee and the Doctor decide to try to take in some local culture and sites of natural beauty. They start by going to a nice restaurant. The Doctor talks with some of the locals and gets info on some nearby sites to see and info about a local gallery opening going on that evening.
Schmee and the Doctor head to the gallery opening. Schmee doesn't find any art up to his standards or to his tastes. As they are leaving, a young rather dingy looking girl bumps into the Doctor and takes his wrist-comp. The Doctor alerts Schmee and he heads off on a chase of the girl. The girl is able to lose Schmee in the twists and turns of the city.
Dr. Caliban thinks there is something familar looking about the young pickpocket. He calls his wrist-comp and the girl answers. The Doctor offers to meet so he can buy back his wrist-comp. When they meet he is again feels that she looks familar. The Doctor give her 50 credits and tells the girl, whose name is Holly, to keep the wrist-comp and he will call her to speak with her again.
The Doctor calls up some historical news reports from the comm system on the air-raft. He is able to determine that the girl looks like an older version of Holisara Damsane, a child of a Regina noble family that was kidnapped and presumably killed six years ago. The Doctor and Schmee decide to look into it more after their tour.
When the Doctor and Schmee return to the ship, they do some more digging and find the following news stories:
Regina/Regina -- (dated six years ago)
His Excellency Count Ulin Damsane has confirmed a report that the Count's daughter, Holisara Blaisen Damsane, disappeared while attending an art show with her mother, Countess Jassra, this morning. The event, held at the exclusive Campbell Academy, where many of Regina's social elite send their children, was not open to the public, and so far no clues have surfaced as to the girl's whereabouts. The young Damsane is a star pupil at Campbell Academy and is considered an artist of great promise. The Count immediately offered a Cr500,000 reward for any information leading to the recovery of his daughter.
Violante/Aramis -- (dated 16 weeks after the previous story)
News services on Violante confirm that an Imperial Marine commando unit raided the lair of a group of Ine Givar terrorists who had been discovered responsible for the kidnapping of Count Ulin Damsane's daughter, Holisara. During the attack an air/raft carrying the victim and the leaders of the terrorist cell escaped form the compound and was pursued by Marine vehicles. After a warning volley of weapons fire was directed at the craft, the entire vehicle was engulfed in a tremendous explosion.
"The totality of the destruction makes us suspect that the air/raft was filled with explosives," said a Marine spokesman. "Whether they committed suicide, or our warning shots happened to set it off, we really can't tell." The Count and Countess, who had at last report offered a Cr1,000,000 reward for information leading to the return of their daughter, were in seclusion this evening. No ransom demand was ever received in the months since the child was kidnapped.
Regina/Regina -- (dated 2 years after the previous story)
An airraft accident clained the lives of two leading Regina citizens last night. Count Ulin Damsane and his wife Countess Jasra Blaisen Damsane were both killed when the primary and backup lift units on their airraft failed. City investigators say the double failure is strange, but at this time don't suspect foul play.
The Count is survived by his younger brother and heir, Demetric Damsane. Demetric is reported to be very upset over the death of his brother and was not available for comment.
The Doctor contacts Holly again and she comes back to the ship. Holly reveals that she was raised by a retired Imperial Scout named Kessel Haadaskaglu. Haadaskaglu found the girl on board his scout ship after entering jump space. He had intended to drop her off on the next main world he stopped at. By the time they showed up at an acceptable world, the scout had become too fond of her and had de-facto adopted her. Holly spent the past six years being raised onboard the ship and has learned many basic space crew skills.
One year ago Haadaskaglu was shot in the back by a man he'd beaten at cards on Tureded. His ship was eventually auctioned off and Holly has been living on the streets since.
The crew discusses it and decides to take Holly to Regina and attempt to get DNA records from the Damsane family and see if she is indeed Holisara Damsane. There is some discussion about what to do it she is the Damsane heir, and the Doctor seems somewhat reluctant to return to his homeworld. The Captain helps get Holly cleaned up and purchases her some new clothes and and a used vacc-suit.
The repairs complete and everyone refreshed by a fairly long shore leave, the Lady MacBeth takes on passengers and cargo and lifts for Regina. Schmee and Hard allow Holly on the bridge during jumps and Schmee has her compute their course for the jumps, while he does the same. Her navigation skills aren't great, but certainly better then most 12 year olds.
We will pick up next time on Regina.
Imsaggir/Ilelish - Fire destroyed a rural home early Saturday and killed two people.
A neighbor called emergency response about 4 a.m. and reported that the house near the Martin County town of Shoals, about 100 kilometers southwest of Imsaggir city, was engulfed in flames, said First Sgt. Jeff Franklin.
After firefighters extinguished most of the fire, they found the bodies of two adults burned beyond recognition, Franklin said.
The cause of the fire had not been determined.
"Our preliminary investigation indicates no sign of foul play," Franklin said.
The victims are believed to be Piotr and Kristiana Rafik. They are survived by a daughter, Nadina Rafik, who is believed to be a far trader captain in the Spinward Marches sector.
Regina/Spinward Marches - Imperial Marines were called in and stormed a prison near the Regina capital Monday after inmates rioted in an escape attempt, sparking a gunbattle that left two guards and seven inmates dead, the Justice Ministry said.
At least 10 guards were wounded in two hours of shooting at the Ortochala prison, home to some 4,000 high-security inmates, and several buildings in the compound were burned, Justice Minister Georgy Kavtaradze said.
Officials were not sure how the inmates got their weapons but believe they were smuggled in. Kavtaradze said the riot was planned by several leaders in the jail as part of a carefully orchestrated escape attempt.
Ministry spokeswoman Tamar Mchedlishvili said seven inmates were killed and 16 wounded and 5 inmates are missing and believed to have escaped.
She said the revolt began around 2:30 a.m. when prisoners broke down the doors of their cells and the bars on their windows.
"For an hour, our officers warned the participants in the revolt that if they did not calm down and return to their cells, then an operation would begin. Unfortunately, these warnings were not listened to," Kavtaradze said.
Tri-D broadcast pictures of heavily armed Imperial Marines storming the prison.
Kavtaradze said authorities acted as they would have "on any civilized planet."
"I want to underline that this morning our capital was under a real threat," he said.
Elena Tevdoradze, the head of the parliament's human rights committee, said she had attempted to negotiate with the inmates but "they were decided in their actions."
"It is believed that the escapees instigated the riot to help cover their escape." she said. The escapees include Captain Aldahad Barnes and three former crew members of the notorious pirate ship The Midnight Shadow. The fifth escapee is not thought to be connected to the Midnight Shadow's crew.
Authorities believe the escapees will attempt to leave the planet as soon as possible. Until they can be recaptured, or their whereabouts confirmed, all vessels leaving port are sugject to search.
On Regina
Schmee is obviously nervous and on edge. He is scanning the news wires and searching recent port departures.
Doctor Caliban sends an anonymous and coded email to his Grandfather and arranges a meeting. Hard shadows the Doctor to the meeting and keeps an eye out for anyone showing special interest. The Doctor seems very familar with the seedy side of town where the meeting is taking place. The Doctor explains the situation with Holly and passes off the information he has. Grandfather agrees to look into it and get back to him.
Captain Rafik "befriends" an office worker in the municipal records department. She persuades him to get her a copy of the accident report for the accident that killed Count Ulin and Countess Jasra Damsane (Holly's parents). She brings a copy of the report back to the ship and Ben looks it over. Ben says it looks like it was a pretty cursory investigation, but that might just mean that the investigators didn't want to make waves.
The Doctor's Grandfather contacts the Doctor and leaves an information packet for him to pick up. The packet contains the DNA records that prove the Holly is the Damsane heir. Grandfather has also left a warning that Count Demetric Damsane is a tough customer and not to underestimate him.
The Captain looks for a way to meet with the Count in a social situation. She finds that there is to be a party/reception to announce the IPO of stock for a company that Count Damsane is involved in. Navisoft is a software company specializing in ship's navigation software. The company claims that their software will be able to completely replace a ships navigator in most situations. Doctor Caliban contacts his Grandfather and gets an invitation to the reception.
Operating under an alias Captain Rafik attends the reception as a potential investor with Schmee going along as her technical expert. The reception is an elegant affair but also has some booths demonstrating the companies software. At one of the booths guests are encouraged to write down a navigation problem - the problem is then presented simultaneously to a the software and to several ships navigators on hand. Invariably the software gets the solution done before the sophont navigators.
Schmee watches the demo and discusses the software with the representatives of the company. He examines the results of all the problems and is suspicious of the software. He eventually submits a tricky real-space navigation problem when there is no-one else submitting problems and the software gets the problem done just minutes before the sophont navigators.
Meanwhile Captain Rafik is able to schmooze her way to the Count, who makes plans to meet her for a late dinner at his private suite in the building.
At the private dinner Captain Rafik is able to charm Count Damsane and leads the conversation to talk of his family and the deaths of his niece and brother and sister-in-law. The Captain is able to covertly read the Count's mind when talking about the air-raft accident - and she confirms to herself that the Count was responsible for the "accident". The Count is so charmed by the Captain that he provides her with the codes that will allow her to buy stock in NaviSoft at the pre-sale price of 20 credits a share instead of the IPO price of 25 credits.
When the Captain returns to the ship her and the Doctor have a discussion with Holly, explaining to her who she really is and letting her know what a bad person her uncle, the Count Damsane, is. They explain that she will have to remain on the ship. She is sad about not being able to visit Regina, but excited about being allowed to be a member of the crew.
The crew discusses spending ships funds on buying NaviSoft stock with plans to sell as soon as the price reaches 30 credits a share. They decide to invest 2,000,000 credits of the ships fund buying 100,000 shares at 20 credits a share.
Meanwhile the Captain and Hard go the port authorities and to apply to get the Lady MacBeth certified to carry Imperial mail. They fill out the required forms and return to the ship.
Schmee continues his research into the prison break. He determines that it is likely that the escapees may have already lifted on the 400 ton Far Trader Winter's Night the same night as the prison break. Hard contacts some associates in the local naval patrol fleet and gets the sensor records of the Winter's Night jump out of the system. Schmee is able to determine from the sensor records that the ship did not jump in the proper direction if it was going to its stated destination. Hard contacts naval authorities informing them about Schmee's suspicions about the Winter's Night.
The next day Hard and Ben get an invitation to meet with a Commander Severin at naval headquarters. They go to the meeting and meet with Commander Severin and senior member of the scout service. They tell the two that they have heard that the Lady MacBeth was planning on heading down towards the Sword Worlds. They request that Hard and Ben keep their eyes open while they are there and send back coded info on the fleet and political situations as they observe them. After Hard and Ben agree Commander Severin provides Hard and Ben with mail drops and coded personal ads they can place on various worlds to contact Naval Intelligence. Commander Severin also says the Lady MacBeth's mail certification will be waiting at the ship.
Captain Rafik arranges to sell the last of the Hedlar wood on the ship to the Doctor's Grandfather and Bart purchases a turret with weaponry for the APC. The Captain files a flight plan to head to Arden and looks for a cargo and post the ships availability to carry mail.
A K'ree names Raek then comes to the ship to speak with the Captain. Raek would like the Captain to purchase a work of art he believes is being held by the Fornice Merchants Association on Arden. He provides 750,000 credits to purchase the art and to cover shipping costs back to Regina. He says the Captain can negotiate the best price and keep any moneys remaining after paying for the art and shipping. The Captain agrees.
The crew has been carefully watching the NaviSoft stock prices and decide to sell when it hits 28 just before they are planning to leave. They deposit the 2 million back into the ships accounts and invest the 800,000 profits from the sale into an older Ships Software company as a long term investment.
The ship then travels to Arden.
On Arden, the Captain first contacts Sir Evan Stirling to discuss trading opportunities in the Sword Worlds. She arranges to have a meeting Sir Evan in a weeks time.
The Captain and Schmee then head to the Fornice Merchants Association warehouse to see about buying the art work. They are informed that the artwork was stolen a week ago from the warehouse yard. Schmee looks at where the theft took place, but there is little evidence remaining. The Captain is given a copy of the police report and negotiates buying the artwork for 50,000 credits if it can be recovered.
Various members of the crew hit the streets to see if they can find info about the theft. All of them come to the conclusion that the Andros Syndicate was behind the theft. Schmee arranges a meeting with a representative of the syndicate, and for an information fee, is able to find out that they stole the art piece for a Brother Mora, the leader of the Defenders of Wodan - a Solomani cult that had recently begun operating on Arden.
The crew researches the cult and finds out the cults main form of worship involves destroying non-human religous artifacts. They find out that the cult owns a large house in a run-down neighborhood of the capitol and some rural land a few hundred kilometers outside of the city.
Ben and Hard stake out the house and observe several robed individuals working in the yard and garden. They are able to see bulges under the robes that are probably firearms and Ben notices a set of windows on an upper floor that probably hide a heavy weapon of some sort. They eventually see Brother Mora come out and talk with some of the robed individuals. The all seem to almost worship Brother Mora.
That night Schmee and Hard take the air-raft out to check out the cult's land outside of town. They land several kilometers away and hike towards the land being as quiet as possible. They find a large fenced compound complete with guard towers and three quansit hut type buildings. Circling the compound they find an area in the woods that has a circle of standing stones and with a large burned area in the middle.
Hard decides to sneak into the compound while Schmee keeps lookout in the woods. He sets of a primitive alarm while clambering over the fence, but is able to hide before he is discovered. He eventually looks in the buildings and finds the one that has the packing case that contains the K'ree artwork. He then sneaks back out of the compound and he and Schmee return to the ship.
We ended the session with discussion of how to recover the artwork from the compound.
On Arden
The plan to get the crate containing the K'ree artwork out of the Brotherhood compound was to have Ben, Bart, and the Captain create a diversion with the ATV at the Standing Stones. This would draw off some of the sentries and so that Hard, Schmee and the Doctor could land in the Air Raft and quickly grab the crate.
The group watched the compound and waited until the lights went out in the building Brother Mora was in. They waited half an hour and then Ben drove the ATV up to the standing stones and knocked one of them over. Two of the seven sentries went to investigate. When they got to the stones the Captain triggered the grenade launchers and launched smoke and a "warbler" grenade. The two Brothers fell back stunned.
Hard then brought the Air Raft down near the back of the large storage building. Schmee tries to shoot the sentry and misses. The sentry returns fire with his battle rifle badly wounding Schmee. Hard maneuvers the Air raft and knocks down the sentry. The Doctor moves over and treats Schmee, closing his wounds and bringing him back to consciousness. Two of the other sentries moved towards the commotion caused by the Air Raft and the lights came on in Brother Mora's building.
Hard moved towards the corner of the building nearest where Brother Mora would appear, and the Doctor gunned down one of the sentries as he moved around the other corner of the building.
Brother Mora came around the side of the building and Hard attempted a Judo move but missed. Brother Mora attempted to control Hard's mind, but Hard was able to resist the attempt.
Schmee shoots at Brother Mora and hits, the poison from his dart staggers Brother Mora but doesn't stop him.
A sentry moves up next to Hard and tries to shoot him, Hard knocks the pistol aside. Hard then draws his laser pistol. Brother Mora takes a hit from an inhaler and his eyes light up. He again attempts to control Hard's mind and succeeds (I looked at the rules for this and he shouldn't have been able to try again - if you fail on a mind control attempt you can't try again for 24 hours). He orders Hard to attack Schmee.
About this time the ATV, now driven by Bart, roars up towards the compound. Ben is now in the turret and he lights up the gate area and fence around it with the mini-gun.
Hard is again able to shake off the Mora's control and Brother Mora flees from the back of the large building and more sentries move towards the area. Schmee picks the lock on the back door of the building.
Bart barrels the ATV into the compound and Ben shoots up the Brotherhood truck.
Hard shoots the sentry standing next to him putting him down. Schmee dives into building. The Doctor trades shots with another sentry and the Doctor's armor stops a shot from a battle rifle.
Bart attempts to run down Brother Mora, but he is able to dodge aside. Ben jumps out of the back of the still moving ATV and moves to intercept Brother Mora.
Brother Mora moves around the side of the smaller building, takes a hit off his inhaler and takes control of Ben's mind. He orders Ben to go kill the Vargr. Hard moves around the other side of the building and shoots down a sentry in passing. The Captain jumps out of the moving ATV and lands on her butt. The Doctor moves into the storage building and he and Schmee begin moving the crate.
Ben moves towards the back of the large building looking for Hard. Hard stealths around the otherside of the building Brother Mora is hiding behind. The Captain moves into the storage building and the Doctor and Schmee contine to move the crate. Meanwhile Bart is tearing up fencing and running down any Brotherhood members that get in his way.
Hard sneaks up right behind Brother Mora and blows his brains out with his laser pistol. Ben is free from control when Mora dies and Bart brings the ATV to a screeching hault knocking down more of the perimeter fence.
The group realizes there has been a lot more killing then originally intended. Hard is unapologetic about killing Brother Mora, muttering something about "Zhodani scum" under his breath. The Doctor is obviously distressed by the harm his actions caused and moves to stablilize the wounded Brotherhood members.
The rest of the crew loads the K'ree artwork on the ATV along with a crate containing a Darrian Meditation set and some nice looking Vargr prayer beads. They begin cleaning up the crime scene and try to make it look as if Vargr raiders were responsible for the attack.
After the Doctor is done treating the Brotherhood wounded, everyone climbs onboard their respective vehicles and head back to the ship by circuitous routes.
Late the next day there is a news report about the Brotherhood compound. Apparently some of the Brothers from the house in the city went to the compound and found the destruction. They gathered up the bodies and burned them in some sort of ceremony at the standing stones. Someone spotted the smoke and called the authorities. The authorities arrested the Brothers at the site and are investigating.
That is pretty much where we ended. The Captain has a meeting scheduled with Sir Evan Stirling of Stirling Shipping to try and get some cargo/contracts for the Swords Worlds region. Hard is working on getting certified to carry mail in the Arden Federation.
The Captain is contacted by Sir Evan Stirling who sets up a clandestine meeting at a bar in a less-desirable section of town.
The Captain attends the meeting with Hard as her shadow. Sir Evan is there as expected. Hard spots an armed gentleman drinking at the bar and has the Captain confirm that it is Sir Evan's bodyguard.
Sir Evan Explains to the Captain his situation: "My ships and cargo on Narsil have been impounded due to unpaid port fees and outstanding debts. I have plenty of Credits with which to pay, but the local port authorities and my trading partners are unwilling to release them based on either Arden or Imperial credit vouchers - they claim that I am a bad risk. It is nearly impossible to do business in the Sword Worlds unless you are allowed to calim good credit. I believe that Oberlindes (a larger imperial based shipping company) has been sabotaging my credit and bribing offices to hold my ships."
"I need to deposit a large amount of 'real wealth' in banks on Narsil. I know that pirates (also possible financed by Oberlindes) are watching my ships leaving from Arden. The last two ships that have left have been hit by pirates - the ships and cargo were taken and I had to ransom the crews. I hope your ship, which as no association with Stirling Shipping, can deliver the cargo and not be harassed"
"You may also be harassed by Sword World/Narsil officials in the pay of Oberlindes of your association with me is known."
"I believe your ship has ways of carrying a high-value small volume cargo that won't easily be discovered or detected by pirates or Sword World officials."
Captain Rafik agrees that Lady Macbeth can handle the cargo. Sir Evan explains that once the ship arrives on Narsil they are to contact Sam Murthos who will arrange for the cargo to be taken off the ship and deposited securely to a local finance companies vault.
"Time is money, but to avoid attracting attention you should get other cargo and perahps not make direct jumps to Narsil. I will be sending 150,000,000 credits in gold and platinum bars - taking up less than 1 ton of cargo space. If you pull this off, Murthos will pay you 1.5 million credits, in the form of your choice. If you rip me off, I will not rest until I have my vengeance..."
Captain Rafik agrees to the terms. Sir Evan tells her that a third party cargo company will deliver the cargo the following day. He politely excuses himself and leaves along with his bodyguard.
Hard sees a Grav-bike follow Sir Evan's vehicle and follows, letting the Captain know she will need to get back to the Lady MacBeth on her own.
The Grav Bike follows Sir Evan's vehicle back to his offices and then looks like he is radioing someone. Hard quickly calls the Lady MacBeth and gets Schmee to try and jam the call. The Grav Bike then heads back to the port and Hard follows at a discreet distance and sees the bike land at the up-gunned scout ship Falchion (sword worlds registered).
The next day Hard makes contact with a friend, Colin Meaney. Meaney is a retired Imperial naval officer who now works as a port official in Arden. Hard, for a fee, arranges to have Meaney cause a Department of Health inspection of the Falchion at a time chosen by Hard.
Captain Rafik contacts another Sword World merchant vessel that is in port and discusses good cargos for the Sword Worlds in general and Narsil in particular. The Sword World Captain is polite and helpful. Her recommends fine Arden Wines and martial oriented artworks - old Solomani art is especially sought after currently on some Sword Worlds planets.
Schmee goes off looking for art that may fetch a good price and buys some, reputed, solomani military antiques. Dr. Caliban contacts a wine-seller he has dealt with in the past and arranges to buy good quantities of fine wines to sell. Hard finishes the process of certifying the Lady MacBeth to carry Arden Federation mail as well as Imperial mail.
Caine advertises for passengers is able to get 7 cryo passengers, a vacationing family of four, and two sword worlders returning home. The Captain OKs all the passengers and instructs Cain and Ben to keep a close eye on the two Sword Worlders.
Just before the Lady MacBeth lifts, several Haz-Mat teams descend on the Falchion and declare a quarantine. As the Lady MacBeth is leaving Hard sends his regards to the Falchion.
The ship then travels to Quare, where it unloads some cryo passengers and picks up 7 more.
The ship then goes on to Frenzie. At Frenzie the vacationing family departs as well as all the cryo passengers. The Captain sets up a mailbox for her personal use here. Hard is contacted by friends in the local Imperial Naval contingent and they warn him that an alert has been put out to inform Section Sigma (an imperial black-ops group rumored to be involved with psionics) whenever the Lady Macbeth stops at an imperial station. The Lady Macbeth buys fuel, picks up some mail, and then lifts for Vilis.
On Vilis the Captain arranges to buy some military hardware and ships weapons that might sell well in the Sword Worlds. They also report to the local Imperial Naval detachment that they are heading towards the Aslan Border worlds - in an attempt to throw off Section Sigma. The ship then lifts and jumps to Mjolnir, the first Sword World they will lnad on.
Ben recommends locking the two Sword World passengers in their cabins when coming out of jump. This is done and everyone is in their action stations when the Lady MacBeth comes out of jump. Hard picks up a ship on sensors and shortly after Lady MacBeth is hailed by the Falchion. Captain Varangian of the Falchion request that the Lady MacBeth hold her position and submit to boarding. There is some back and forth and ultimately Captain Rafik refuses. A battle ensues.
The Lady MacBeth is able to get some early good hits on the Falchion with both beams and a missile. Hard is able to dodge most of the incoming fire with the rest absorbed by sand or the hull. The damaged Falchion runs for it, easily able to get away from the slower Lady Macbeth.
Lady MacBeth reports the attack to the authorities at Mjolnir and turns over sensor logs of the incident. After opening the cabin containing the Sword Worlders, it is obvious that they were trying to force the doors during the battle. They are let off the ship on Mjolnir.
Lady Macbeth jumps to Joyeuse from Mjolnir and parks it for a week while Bart repairs the hull damage. Dr Caliban does some sight seeing and Schmee and the Captain do some gambling. Hard, Ben, and Caine stick with the ship as security. The Captain gets some food as a cargo and the ship then jumps to Orcrist.
At Orcrist the food from Joyeuse is sold, no new cargo picked up. The ship then jumps to Narsil.
Upon coming out of jump in Narsil, the ship is hailed by thge SDB Katar which tells the ship to prepar to be boarded for a customs inspection. The Lady MacBeth takes an orbit around the gas giant and the SDB comes near and send over a launch containing Ensign Johan Steuben, Chief Gustav Goop and an inspection team.
The team does a thorough job searching the ship and finds nothing to report. Schmee makes arrangements to meet Ensigh Stuben on Narsil later to give him a deal on an old Solomani Sword Schmee has. The Lady MacBeth then skims fuel and lands on Narsil.
This is where the session ended.
Schmee goes to an off-port tavern and sets up an email account and emails Sam Murthos. He gets an out-of-office reply instructing him to contact Antoine Figg, the Assistand Director of Stirling Shipping on Narsil.
The Captain decides to make contact with the Captain of one of the impounded Stirling Shipping starships. She goes to the port-exchange area and strikes up a conversation with Captain Victor of the Freya. Hard follows Captain Rafik and spots someone tailing Captain Victor. He is able to delay the person tailing them long enough for Captain Rafik to speak privately with Captain Victor.
Captain Victor explains that Murthos has been away for at leasts a week. Murthos was scheduled to meet with all the Stirling Shipping Captains a week ago and never showed. The Assistant Director, Antoine Figg, told the Captains that Murthos had been unexpectedly called away and that they should sit tight until he returns. Victor says that he dislikes Figg, who is just a bean-counter, but likes Murthos who spent time serving on merchant ships before taking his present job.
Captain Rafik arranges to have Captain Victor contact Figg and arrange a meeting for a meal at an upscale restaurant off starport called Roland's Rest.
The Captain, with Dr. Caliban as her escort (and Hard once again shadowing them), arrive at Roland's Rest before Figg and get a table. Shortly a limo arrives and Figg and a pretty young lady get out. Figg and his date are shown to the table and makes his introductions.
The Captain talks with Figg about possibly shipping some of the cargo they can't move on the company ships, while the Dr. strikes up a conversation with Figg's assistant, Rosali Canfor. The Dr. quickly determines that Rosali is an airhead.
While they are talking the Captain "reads" Figg and gets images of a man tied up to a chair in a basement. She continues the conversation, stirring it to talking more about Murthos, and "reads" Figg again. This time she sees the basement and then it pulls back to a building with a sign that reads "True Steel Brotherhood".
The meal ends and Figg leaves asking that they maybe meet again for a private dinner to discuss future business. The Captain, Dr., and Hard all return to the ship.
At the ship Schmee does some research on the "True Steel Brotherhood". He finds that is a dueling society, but is really little more than a jumped up street gang and small time criminal group. They have a Sallet in one of the seedier sections of the city.
The crew decides to try and smuggle some weapons off-port in the air-raft and Schmee and Ben work on breaking down some guns and hiding them. Ben is able to hide is own weapon in a special compartment built into his prosthetic leg. It is decided to have Schmee go through security by himself before the air-raft so that the guards will maybe not be so interested in searching the air-raft. Schmee is "thoroughly" searched, and the Captain is able to use her fast-talk and pretty smile to get the air-raft through with barely a glance by port-security.
The group meets up outside the port and the weapons are handed out. They decide to drive by the Sallet and scope it out before coming up with a plan. Hard is dropped off a block away so he can check it out on foot. The rest of team drives by and parks in a nearby ally. There are two toughs standing watch in front of the building. The spot hard sneaking into the alley and move to follow. Ben, the Doctor, and the Captain sieze the initiative and decide to move into the building while the guards are checking out the alley. Schmee waits by the air-raft until he sees the others start to actually move through the doors, then he runs over to join them.
Hard hides in the alley and the two toughs give up looking for him after a few minutes. The others move into the building and once past the not-so-effective climate sealed doors they here the sounds of both wooden and steel practice swords banging against each other down one hall. They decide to move down another hall towards a sign that says exit. They pass a men's room and an open office door. Schmee moves into the office and searches. He tries to log onto the computer on the desk, but it is such an old-model he has trouble. He sees a flash in the alley and looks out the window.
Meanwhile hard has found the padlocked doors to a freight elevator in the alley. He shoots the lock off with his las-pistol, blocking the light from the shot as well as possible.
Schmee signals to Hard that they are going downstairs and Hard nods and points to the elevator shaft. The inside team then makes there ways to the stairwell past the door with the exit sign. They stop to unlock an outside exit door and then move on down the stairs. They come to another set of doors and can hear quite voices behind it making small talk.
Hard climbs to the bottom of the shaft and begins to slowly open the elevator doors a crack to see into the basement. He sees two guards sitting around bullshitting and Murthos tied and gag in a chair nearby. One of the guards sees the motion of the elevator doors and moves to investigate. The rest of the team burst into the room. Ben is the first one in, he rushes a guard and tells them to drop their weapons. One of them lowers his sword the other takes a swing at Ben, but his sword bounces off Ben's tactical vest's ceramic plates. Hard then rushes in and the sight of his las-pistol takes the fight out of the thug who hit Ben. He puts his sword down. The Doctor moves to check out Murthos as everyone else ties up the two guards.
The group then sneaks out of the building and takes a round-about way back to the air-raft. They then cleanup Murthos and conceal their weapons again. They make it through port-security and back to the Lady MacBeth with no problems.
Murthos thanks them and is very pleased with the rescue. The Captain calls up Figg and invites him to ship for a "private dinner", an invitation Figg eagerly accepts. Caine sets up a nice dinner, and the Doctor puts a mickey in Figgs drink. Figg is completely fooled and easily knocked unconscious.
Hard and Ben escort Murthos back to his office where he makes arrangements for armored cars from a local finance company to come and pick up the cargo in the morning. He then returns to the Lady MacBeth with Hard and Ben and spends the night. He pays the Captain with 3 gold bars from the cargo (approx value 1.8 million). He thanks everyone and lets them know he is personally in their debt if they ever need anything.
The next week the crew takes care of various personal business. The Doctor trains at an exclusive rapier sallet that his Grandfather had recommended. Schmee buys some good knives.
Meanwhile Hard sends his encrypted sensor logs from the Sword Worlds they've stopped at to the message drop he was given to him by Captain Severin. He gets a reply and he and Ben go to meet with Larson, the Imperial Scout Service contact on Narsil. Larson thanks him for the intel he has already provided and asks if he could persuade the Captain to take the ship to Ator next to check for Sword Worlder activity there. Hard assures him that he can. Larson provides updated encryption keys and gives him a mail-drop contact on Darrian.
Hard brings up going to Ator and it seems like a good idea to everyone. The Doctor looks over the starcharts and says that would be a good stop before going to the Darrian homeworld. The crew finishes up their activities on Narsil and then lifts off and jumps to Ator.
Upon coming out of jump in Ator Hard begins passive scans of the system and starts recording all radio traffic he can detect. The ship skims fuel and then lands at the starport on Ator. This is where the session ended.
Back to Top‘What a blasted cold world.’ Nadina thought to herself. She could understand why the population of this world was only 800 and something. She shivered in her parka. The sooner they got this interview over with the high muckity muck sheriff, the sooner she could get to the bar. She really wanted a drink right now.
The Sheriff gave them the low down. He was obviously linked to a ruling family or someone of great power, considering his last name was the same as the planet. The crew all headed towards Miss Kitties. No doubt the Sheriff got some sort of kickbacks for recommending her establishment over the others in the area.
It was a nice enough place. There was a high percentage of what looked like mercenaries. They must be linked to those shuttles at the port. Nadina knew that Hard and Ben were doing some work on the side for the Imperium. She didn’t ask too many questions about what they did, just enough to know that they were doing something. Besides, she had a growing dislike for the Sword Worlders in general, and if gathering information could thwart the spreading of there kind of rhetoric she was all for it.
The crew split up and mingled with the crowd. Several Mercs made there way to her. She let them buy her drinks and began to enjoy the light bantering. She was slightly annoyed when Hard buzzed her mentioning a trade possibility. Hadn’t he told her earlier to unwind and leave the business for the morning? She begged off for a few moments and talked to the bartender regarding an appointment for off loading food and entertainment supplies in the morning.
She glanced around. Schmee was sitting peacefully with two Darrian traders. Ben and Hard were gathered around the pool table talking to some of the mercs. Holly and the Doc were sitting at a table.
Everything seemed quite, too quite. She suddenly got the impulse to see what would happen if she stirred the pot on the mercs just a bit. Were they a cohesive unit, or was there a bit of a rivalry? She sidled up to one of the guys she had talked to earlier. With a word here, and glance there, she soon had two men from different units competing for her attentions. If she pushed just right, they would come to blows.
Suddenly a huge behemoth of a female sergeant type came barreling in. “I know your type missy, and I’m asking real nice for you to knock it off. We are all here for a nice time. We don’t need any of your type making trouble.”
“My type?” Nadina said demurely. “I’m sure I don’t understand what you are talking about.” She looked the big burley sergeant over. This monster towered over her by almost a foot. Nadina knew this lady would not hesitate to lay her out flat and roll her up into a nice little package with a sweet pink bow. “My crew and I just landed and were taking some R&R.” She noticed Hard looking in her direction. He was babysitting her again. She could take care of herself…sometimes. Looking levelly at the sergeant she spoke in a sweet tone. “I find it amazing you could have risen to rank in the society you come from. The Sword Worlds are so oppressive”
The sergeant returned her look. “I have dealt with your kind before. I have gotten were I am through work and ability. Not just on looks alone.” The sergeant looked at her pointedly insinuating that Nadina had no skills what so ever and only got where she was on her back. This mountain of a woman was trying to bait her?
Nadina shrugged. “Can I help it that no matter where I go, men follow me around?” She asked rhetorically in a light airy tone not expecting an answer. “Did they not come to me first?” She purposefully looked over the sergeant and let her eyes slide away as if she saw nothing worth looking at. If the woman had no self-control, she would be in big trouble. Nadina was betting that the woman prided herself on discipline. “I am the captain of a merchant vessel. I know my business and know it well. I handle cargo and all business negotiations. That takes brains not brawn.” Her dark eyes turned to ice. It was not a look she had ever leveled at the crew, and hinted at steel hidden within. She didn’t know how she was going to get out of this gracefully, but knew she didn’t want to end up some space flotsam either. It was time for a tactical retreat. This gorilla wasn’t letting herself get fast-talked. “I just came in for a drink and to wind down.”
“You just leave my boys alone.” The large woman warned. Nadina was slightly surprised that the woman didn’t crack her knuckles. She nodded noncommittally. She thought it stragitically wise to let the woman have the last word.
This did not put her in a great frame of mind, nor did it help that the behemoth female sergeant kept eyeing her, taking all pleasure out of her relaxation. She was relieved when it was decided to go to another bar. Schmee declined and continued his visit with the Darrians.
The new bar did not help her ruffled feathers any. Hard and Ben were busy talking to a Vargr officer with one of the Merch groups. She didn’t feel like eating and picked at her food. Once Hard and Ben came back over to the table, she mentioned that perhaps she would go to another bar. Hard jumped in and said in an almost aggravated tone of voice. “Okay, which one you want to go to now? Not back to Miss Kitties and that bruiser you were talking to earlier?”
“No,” She said rubbing her head. “Just forget it okay?” Hard was trying to baby-sit her again. What was supposed to be a pleasant evening was turning out less than enjoyable. Eventually she excused herself from the table for the ladies room. On the way back to the table, her legs changed directions for the door. She just needed some time to herself. She had to figure out why Hard’s watch dogging her annoyed her so much.
The air outside was more than crisp. She ducked into the nearest bar and entered a game of poker. After the third hand, she just about jumped out of her skin when Hard stepped up behind her. She swore.
“Hey Captain, just wanted you to know I’m heading back to the ship.” This was Hard’s way to let her know he knew she had snuck out and he was still watching her back. She sighed in resignation. It wasn’t a bad thing he was watching out for her. Heaven’s knew they had enough different enemies. It was the necessity of it that gulled. While on planet it felt that she had no privacy and every move she did was watched. She thought wryly to herself. With Hard and Ben around, she was better protected than many heads of state.
Soon she folded and left the game. She was alone now. She wandered around the town for a while. She soon realized what she was looking for and highly doubted she would find a place on this small rock that had that kind of shop. It was a whim born of habit anyway. She found a small bench in a park and sat and considered the stars. The bitter wind soon drove her back to the ship.
The Doctor and Hard were near the entrance. Hard no doubt, was making sure she got home safely. She stalked to her cabin. If she had been a cat her tail would have been lashing madly about.
She grabbed her teddy bear and eventually calmed down enough to sleep.
The next day she was out and about. After dealing with Miss Kitty, she headed back to the ship. She was suddenly surrounded by intrigue as Schmee, Ben and Hard filled her in on what they had been up to and all the information they had gleaned. They wanted more. Schmee thought if the right information were given to the right people, it would make dealing with the Darrian’s less expensive when it came to upgrading the ship. Nadina knew what Schmee wanted her to do. It was becoming easier to read peoples minds, not that she liked it, but is was becoming almost second nature, as much a part of her as her hand. It was always risky. Most people had a great aversion to having their minds read. It was an invasion of privacy, and Nadina could appreciate that.
She almost didn’t want to become involved. Who was she to decide who was right or wrong? She didn’t care for the Sword Worlders, but were the Darrians any better?
It came down to the matter of taking care of herself, her ship and her crew. She had already decided that she would do what ever necessary to protect her crew and her ship. If they helped the Darrians, there was a possibility of getting higher tech than was generally allowed. In order to stay one jump ahead of the pirates, sections sigma, the Zhodoni and who ever else had a beef against them, they needed an element of surprise. They needed some sort of edge. If they could get better sensors, or weapons or even an engine, that might tip the balance in their favor. She leaned against the ship. She was a good ol’ girl. Nadina would take care of her.
She put her parka back on and went to where a few officers were eating lunch. There was a lieutenant who seemed unsure socially. If he was as inexperienced as she thought, she might be able to get some information from him. He was flattered by the attention she showed him and soon was telling her just about all she wanted to know. However the vital piece was missing. She needed to know where. In between talking about his home world and family, she began to dig into his mind. She once the right question was asked; a flood of information was hers to access. Most of it meant nothing; it was mostly diagrams of a space station. However one name came to mind. It was what she had been seeking.
She left his mind, feeling slightly dirty. It had been too easy. If he ever realized the breach of information had come from him, and if his friends and workmates died because of him, he would never let himself forget or forgive himself. It would scar him for the rest of his life. This person was basically good and honorable. Those were rare enough in the business dealing she had. He was mostly just wet behind the ears and wanting to make an impression with a nice looking woman. With a feeling of empathy, she let herself get more carried away than usual and finally had to stop his guy before things went further than she was willin