Tripwire, the Adventure ***contains spoilers***

M

mancerbear

Mongoose
Not sure if anyone would be interested, but I used to do this on the old Mutants and Masterminds Think Tank; post write-ups of the adventures my travellers go on. Hope you enjoy them, and please don't hesitate to comment (but not on computer sizes and why they're too big).
 
Session Synopsis
Played 21/05/2016

147/1105 the Travellers met at Liberty Station, the high port in orbit around Flammarion in the Sword Worlds sector. Mikael and Werry had an appointment at the IISS Detached Duty Office. They are offered a job to retrieve an abandoned scout/courier, named HighnDry from Walston, four parsecs away in District 268. They are offered Cr1000 per person plus a one year lease of the scout/courier on detached duty. They are to repair her electronics and load a new operating system then return her to Liberty Station for an overhaul before she is assigned to them. The equipment and software (with an operating period of 30 days) required for her repair will be provided as well as vouchers for refueling and life support resupply at Asteltine and Bowman. They accept and bring the offer to Nyla's and Corvus's attention. They agree to join them.

148/1105 The Travellers board the far trader Autumn Gold under Captain Michelle Corelli and jump for 567-908 in District 268.

Seven days spent in jump. Most of the crew spend their time studying. Corvus does little.

153/1105 The Travellers arrive at 567-908, a dry, hot world with an itinerant population of just over a dozen people. The Autumn Gold lands to offload cargo. The Travellers spend some time looking around and discover that 567-908 is a rather boring place. Werry looks around the the star port and associated buildings but finds nothing of interest. Corvus suspicious of what the crew could be unloading. Nyla's speaks to the medic of the Autumn Gold and accepts a dinner date with him after discovering that the cargo being offloaded is just resupplies. Mikael takes a walk to a building some 3km away and speaks to a technician who reveal that the observatory studies exotic energies, in particular the gravitic waves emanated from a starship as it leaves jump space. The Travellers conclude that he observatory must be a forward observation post for early warning of any Sword World activities.

154/1105 The Autumn Gold lifts off without taking cargo and jumps for Walston.

Seven days spent in jump. Most of the crew spend their time studying. Corvus does little. Nyla's has her date with the Trahvis the medic.

161/1105 The Travellers arrive at Walston and the Autumn Gold lands just long enough for them to disembark and take on fuel before leaving again. After going through customs and storing any contraband, the Travellers find themselves in the small startown of Settlement. The temperature is cold and the air thin. After a bit of shopping for suitable attire, the Travellers hit the two bars in town to try and discover the whereabouts of the scout/courier. They learn that the previous crew where loud, obnoxious, and generally disliked. The only advice they received about locating the ship was with the Port Authority. Visiting the Authority, they learn that the ship had visited Walston several times in the last few year or had been listed as "in-system" for the last 3 months, charted to the World Government. The Travellers concluded that they had to approach the World Government for more information, though Corvus was reluctant to do so, wanting to approach the Scout Base first. A little investigation revealed that the scout base had been abandoned 20 years previously and was a significant distance away. The Travellers hit the streets seeking transport, but quickly learned that Walston possessed only a limited train system, several submarines, a three air/rafts belonging to the Government. Asking about riding animals, they learned that there were indeed draft animal but they were not for lease. The Travellers concluded they had no option but to catch a train to Central, the town where the World Government was based. The train service ran only once a day, so they booked tickets online for the next day and signed themselves into a hotel for the evening. After their day in town they learn that humans seem to occupy all the more prestigious positions while Vagr seem relegated to menial positions.

162/1105 After several hours on the electric train travelling through tundra-like scenery, the Travellers arrive at the small town of Central. They easily find the World Government Building, known as The Palace, and make their way there on foot. There they have a meeting with Alan Greener, Minister for Off-World Affairs, Public Relations, and Fisheries. He explains that the scout/courier was indeed in-system and would be happy to reveal its location if the Travellers would only complete the charter given to the previous crew of the vessel. Corvus was immediately suspicious and Werry asked for more information. The previous crew had been charged to perform a geological/seismic/tectonic survey of region not far from Central. All the equipment required for the survey was on the scout/courier and he was also willing to offer Cr3000 for their trouble. Mikael asked for Cr6000, but Greener explained that Walston was already out of pocket, that they were only a small community, and Cr3000 was all he was able to offer. Werry asked if the Travellers could have some time to discuss the offer. Greener suggested 20 minutes and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Corvus expressed his suspicions of the room being bugged, so Werry suggested they speak carefully. He outlined that they seemed to have no option but to accept the charter. Corvus said there was nothing stopping them getting to the ship, dumping the equipment and taking off. Nyla's expressed exasperation at Corvus' suggestion. The Travellers discussed their options and then agreed to take on the charter.

When Greener returned, Werry advised him they would accept the charter. Greener was pleased with the acceptance and provided further details. The area to be surveyed was Mount Salbarii, a previously assumed extinct volcano. Approximately a year ago the volcano was the epicentre of a tremor, and then settled down again. A passing geologist performed a brief survey of the area and concluded that the tremor was 99% just an anomaly, but the Government wants a more detailed survey of the mountain, the plates, and area below. The scout would have all the sensory equipment to perform the survey in 1-3 days, and seismic charges had been provided to the previous crew and had been left with the ship. Greener would also provide the use of a tracked ATV that could take the crew some way up the mountain, which would be ready to leave the following morning. Greener also added that he had no way of ensuring that the crew wouldn't just make their way to the ship and then leave, but he was relying on their integrity. Werry asked where the scout/courier was, and Greener admitted that was part of the problem. The scout was in the caldera of Mt Salbarii.
 
Traveller: Have Starship, Will Travel
High and Dry: Session 002
Session Synopsis
Played 11/06/2016

162/1105 Walston/District 268
Once the travellers learnt of the location of the scout/courier in the caldera of Mount Salbarii, most retired to the hotel that had been provided by the Waston Government. Nyla Brown, at the behest of Werry, hit the streets in search of vargr to speak to in an attempt to discover if they were happy with their second-class status on the planet. Nyla met with a young female vargr who was collecting rubbish outside of the planetary government building. She learned that the vargr’s name was Ael Sophie Ghaez, who seemed quite fine with her position in society. Nyla noticed that the young vargr would not look her directly in the eye and that she was a touch deferential towards her. The discussion led to Mount Salbarii and why would anyone want to climb it. Learning all that she wanted, Nyla bid farewell to Sophie and told her to seek shelter if Mount Salbarii erupts, something that Sophie seemed to take lightly at best.

The travellers enjoyed a meal at the Water Front restaurant, where they couldn’t help but notice that all the serving staff where vargr, yet the maître d’ was human. They decided to retire early for the day, planning an early start in the morning.

163/1105 Walston/District 268
The travellers were met at their hotel by a 4-wheel drive vehicle, driven by none other than Sophie, the young vargr that Nyla had spoken to the previous evening. Sophie explained that not only was she a street cleaner and a maid, but she was also the Dictator’s personal chauffeur. Sophie was to drive them to the mountain, but asked if they wanted to stop at the town of Salbarii to purchase any supplies. The travellers decided that stopping would be a good idea, and after buying what they could, they were delivered to the mountain at approximately 500 meters above sea level, where the terrain become too difficult for the vehicle to handle. The travellers asked Sophie if she would like to join them, but she laughed, saying that she would was expected to return the vehicle to Central.

The day was already half gone by the time the travellers began their climb, which was surprisingly easy and little more than a walk up a very steep incline. Fortunately they all wore environment suits and breather masks, so neither the cold temperature nor the thin air bothered them.

Just over 3 hours up the mountain, the travellers found their way blocked by a 10 meter vertical rise. A brief examination of the area revealed a possible way around the rise, but there was no way of telling how much time the detour would take. As a group, they decided to brave the vertical rise. Werry was to make the climb, taking rope and a metal spike with him. Once he had made it to the top, he would secure the rope and lower it down so the other could use it to climb up.

Completing his climb, Werry was greeted by the skeletons of two humanoids. It was obvious that thye had suffered some accident, with one of the skeletons having suffered a broken leg at some point. Ignoring them for the moment, Werry assisted the others with their climb, and together they examined the bodies. Little was left on them bar some identification dog tags and an old Travellers Aid card. Likewise, most for the equipment had perished, but the travellers were able to find some pitons and a piton hammer that would no doubt come to good use. They also took the dog-tags and TAS card to report their find to officials when they had finished their mission.

Determining that they wouldn’t have much light left, the travellers set up camp on the level ground they found themselves on. They had purchased pressurised tents which they raised, and building a small fire they made the best of the trial rations they brought with them. While there was still some light, Werry set some simple rock-fall alarms around the camp, not in the case of any animals, as Walston had no large predators to speak of, but in the case of any human interlopers.

164/1105 Walston/District 268
The night passed without incident, and the travellers awoke to a chilly morning with the ground covered in thick frost, but the sky was clear. They enjoyed a quick breakfast and hot drinks be resuming their climb. The going became steadily worse. Vegetation which had covered the lower slopes had become scares, and now was gone all together. The travellers tied themselves together for additional safety. No major incidents occurred to slow them down except of the occasion missed footing a short slide down loose shale. The climb became gruelling, but by late afternoon, the travellers were in site of their goal, but decided that the last stretch would be the hardest and they would make the attempt the following day.

165/1105 Walston/District 268
The last leg of the climb started early, yet took them longer than the travellers expected. They chose their route cautiously, but by the middle of the day they had achieved the lip of the volcano and could see into the caldera. Spanning 1-2 km across, the inner area was covered with low growing bushy vegetation. In the middle of the caldera was a small lake, and in the lake was an island. Parked on the island was their scout/courier, the HighnDry. From what they could see from that distance, the ship seemed undamaged, but there appeared to be a lot of detritus around it. Determining that there was enough light left to make their way down the caldera and across the basin, the travellers would stop for the night at the edge of the lake.

Approaching the lake, the treavllers could easily see the mountain of refuse discarded outside of the scout/courier. With sinking hearts, they concluded that the previous crew must have stripped the ship before they left, obviously looking for valuable items to take them.

As they set up camp, Werry discussed how they would cross the lake in the morning. Discussing their options, they decided to use what vegetation they could to make a raft, and use the ponchos in their survival packs as air bladders to assist flotation. Their plans made, they travellers retired for the evening after eating and light conversation.

166/1105 Walston/District 268
Arising early, found that the night had been another cold one, with ice having formed on portions of the lake. They gathered what they needed to make their raft, and in little over an hour they had completed their task and made their way across the lake to the island, little worse for wear thanks to their environment suits protecting them from the freezing cold of the water.

Approaching the HighnDry, they learned that their suppositions were correct; the huge pile of refuse included air scrubbers, circuit boards, memory wafers, locker covers, along with untold other items. With even a cursory search, they soon discovered that there were also ration packs that had been discarded, but they had been opened and consumed by some animal. In fact the entire pile had been rummaged through repeatedly by its appearance.

The access codes provided to them by the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service unlocked thier ship, but with virtually no power left in the batteries, the travellers had to manually crank open the airlock. Once inside, they learnt that the situation was even worse than they had imagined; every access panel, every hatch, every inspection port had been opened and the contents rummaged through and discarded either in the corridors, or outside the ship. Getting the ship up and running was going to take about a day, but getting the ship in a liveable condition was going to take a week at least.

Resigned to some serious work ahead of them, the travellers divided up the work that needed to be done amongst themselves. It was decided that the power plant and basic ship electronics had to be restored first, if for nothing else but to give them somewhere where warm to sleep and the ability to cook a hot meal.

Corvas and Nyla began general shipboard electrical system while Werry and Mikael talked the harder job of getting the power plant back up. Once Corvas and Nyla finished with their task, they began sifting through the reuse pile outside to retrieve and restore essential items to the rightful place. During their search, they found a ceramic bowl with the name “Kimberly” on it. They spent no real time pondering what it meant, and continued on with their task. By mid-afternoon, Mikael and Terry fired up the power plant. With the plant working as expected, they fed the power through the distributer unit and into the ship. The lights came on, followed by showers of sparks and the pop of burning out electronics. Quickly shutting off the distributor, the crew assessed the damage. The rewiring of the general shipboard systems did not go as planned. Fortunately, the travellers had enough spares to make repairs and try again. Fortunately, the second attempt was successful, and they had power going to the rest of the ship.

Werry and Corvas then began work ship’s computer, purging the old system and uploading the new, while Nyla and Mikael worked on the bridge systems. Late into the night, the computer was initialized and came online, running an immediate diagnostic on itself and the entire ship, providing the crew with a list of what was offline and what wasn’t.

The only system left to was the drive system, but the travellers decided that it was late, they were tired, and they had done enough, planning on completing the repairs and the site survey of the volcano the next day.
 
Excellent stuff, keep it up - this is a great little adventure, and I am looking to see how many people your Travellers manage to save/kill at the end!Q
 
Nest Session is scheduled for July 2, Matthew. I'll have the synopsis up a day or so after that.

What I'm finding is that this adventure is encouraging some decent player emersion. I have two newbie players and two experienced players, and they all seem to be finding emersion quite easy. Little things like, when they were halfway up the volcano, and woke to a cold frosty morning, one of the newbie players insisted that they brew a hot cup of tea before heading out :)

I also included the vargr Sophie as a foil to encourage the players to rescue her when the brown stuff hits the air con vents. She's the Dictator's chauffer, so it will be her taking the air/raft to save her family during the eruption. I believe that players are more likely to act heroically if they have a vested interest in who they are saving. One player in particular has developed a liking for her. Hopefully that will pan out. I may even have Sophie sign onto the ship as an NPC crewmember.
 
The third and final session for High and Dry. I found this a satisfying module to run, and my players truly surprised me with their role playing and heroism. My little group of Travellers are really coming along.

Traveller: Have Starship, Will Travel
High and Dry: Session 003
Session Synopsis
Played 02/07/2016

167/1105 Walston/District 268
Waking early, the Travellers returned to the big job of getting the HighnDry in working order. Mikael and Werry began work on the drive systems while Nyla and Corvus started working their way through the components that had been discarded on the ground outside of the ship. The work on the drive systems went well, and after three hours had been completed. Mikael and Werry then decided to run a few simulations to see how the repairs had gone and if all systems were working as expected.

While alone outside sorting through the air filters that were still in some reasonably functional condition, Nyla was startled by the sound a snapping twig. Without looking up, she slowly moved to activate her commdot, but her actions was greeted by a deep growl. Again moving slowly, she tried to draw her snub pistol, but stopped when her movement attracted a warning bark. Looking up slowly, she saw a wolf-like predator moving warily out of the scrub towards her. The creature appeared emaciated and was poised to spring; obvious that it viewed Nyla as prey. Before it could pounce, Corvus stepped out of the ship and noticed the situation. Quickly drawing his own gun, he fired into the ground. Startled, the creature ran back into the scrub and disappeared.

Hearing the gun report, both Werry and Mikael requested an update. After being informed what had occurred, Werry wondered if perhaps the bowl they had found in the refuse pile belonged to the predator that had threatened Nyhla, as there were no predators that fit its description native to Walston. Nyla asked if they had enough food to give to the creature. Werry said that they did, and stepped outside with food, collected the bowl with the name “Kimberly” on it, and placed it near the scrub where the creature had appeared. He also suggested that they shouldn’t be outside the ship alone until they could ascertain exactly how dangerous “Kimberly” was. Nyla asked that if they could befriend the creature, could she keep it. Werry just smiled and returned to his flight simulations.

By mid-afternoon, the HighnDry was ready for a test flight. All the simulations indicated that the systems were working adequately, but an actual flight would assist with calibrating the controls and ironing out any further bugs. Mikael and Werry performed the flight, just a few quick circuits around the caldera of Mount Salbarii. The ship handled better than they expected, though she was a little slow when turning to port, and hesitated when acceleration was applied. Landing back on the island in the caldera, Mikael and Werry pitched in with sorting through the remains of the refuse pile.

The Travellers worked through to evening, but the job that they had on hand was bigger than they thought. While they had finally gotten the ship to the point of being somewhat serviceable, it was still a mess. Her condition really was bad. Not a single corner hadn’t been knocked off, dented, or damaged. The carpet was worn out or just plain missing in areas. The deck plates in the cargo holds were loose, and the air scrubbers just weren’t working properly. Corvus suggested that they just forget about the surveying the volcano and leave. Mikael explained that they couldn’t. Firstly, the jump drive wasn’t working, and they needed the heavy lifting equipment found in a star port to lift the entire assembly up and out to get at the dysfunctional components. Secondly, they didn’t have the fuel to make any jumps even if they could. Furthermore, there was still work to be done to make the HighnDry safe, and whilst they could certainly fly the vessel in an atmosphere, it would be too risky to take her out into space. Werry suggested that they call it a night and that they could work through the next day sorting through the refuse pile and making any other repairs that needed doing, then they could use the following two days to complete a thorough survey of the volcano. Corvus again stated that they should just leave, but Mikael countered that he wasn’t going to go back on his word, and that he said he would do the survey. Outnumbered, Corvus agreed to complete the survey, but he added that he wasn’t happy about it.

168/1105 Walston/District 268
The Travellers awoke to another frosty morning. Werry immediately went out and checked Kimberley’s bowl and found that it was empty and quite obviously licked clean with gusto. He filled it with food again, placed it on the ground a short distance away from the scrub and then returned to the ship to help the others with the final sorting and clean-up of the refuse pile. The more the Travellers sorted through, the more they found they had to replace. By the middle of the day, Werry thought to go check Kimberley’s bowl again. He found the bowl empty, and refilled it. As he was placing it on the ground, he heard a quite growl coming from the scrub. As he watched, the predator warily emerged, moving towards the bowl but also watching Werry intently. Werry gently called out Kimberly’s name in a calm and soothing fashion, telling her not to be silly. The creature reacted immediately, as if it recognized its name but became skittish and ran back into the scrub. Satisfied that he had made some progress, Werry returned to the work at hand.

As evening approached, what appeared to be a momentous task was complete. The Travellers had sorted through the refuse pile and pulled out what they needed and returned it all to the ship. The inside of the ship was still a mess, but it was at least liveable again, even if the air did smell of must and grease. Satisfied with their work, the Travellers retired for the night, but not before Werry checked Kimberly’s bowl and refilled it once again.

169/1105 Walston/District 268
Waking early again, the Travellers made their preparations to begin the survey of the mountain. As they pulled out the survey charges and checked them, Corvus voiced his concern on using explosives on a potentially active volcano. Mikael explained that the survey charges were only used to create vibrations thought the structure of the volcano so the scout’s sensors could read them and create 3D representation of what was going on below. Werry added that the charges were little more than what you would expect from a high calibre bullet. Corvus still thought it was a stupid idea, but once again he would go along with the majority. It was decided that Mikael and Corvus would perform the survey on the North and East of the Caldera while Werry would take the South and West. Nyla would remain on the scout to co-ordinate and take the readings.

On the North rim, Mikael and Curvus discovered several lava tubes. Mikael suggested it would be a good idea to set off at least one charge in the tubes, but Corvus wasn’t happy with the idea. Reporting their find to the others, Werry suggested that there may be some valuables in the tube, as gems are often found in such places. This piqued Corvus’s curiosity, with Mikael entering the tube to place a charge and Corvus hoping to find something worth selling. Placing the charge and retreating a short distance, Mikael detonated it.

Back on the ship, Nyla watched as the sensors and computers built up an image of the area when the readings began to spike. A tremor had started, and while it wasn’t a bad one, it went on for minutes. When it had settled, Corvus reminded that others he said is wasn’t a good idea to set off the charges. At the scout, Nyla looked out of the bridge viewport and noticed huge bubbles popping on the surface of the lake. Going back to the sensors, she reported to the others that the water level of the lake was slowly receding. She added that the tremor should have given the computer all the reading it needed, several hours to come to some sort of conclusion and that they had better return while she does all the preflight checks in case they needed to leave in a hurry. The Travellers agreed, but as he was about to start his hike back, Werry noticed that there was thick black smoke rising from beyond the crater coming from the South-West side of the mountain.

By the time Werry had returned to the lake, most of the water had drained out of it except for a few puddles here and there, making it an easy matter to just walk to the island. As he approached the opposite bank, he notice paw prints in the mud that ventured some way out into the lakebed before turning and running back towards the island scrub. Suspecting that it was Kimberly, Werry made his way to her food bowl and found it was empty. He filled it again and waited. In just a few moments, Kimberly warily made her way out of the scrub. She moved slowly towards Werry. When she got closer, he spoke quietly to her in a comforting voice. At that point, Mikael and Corvus returned. Startled, Kimbery ran back into the scrub. The three men then entered the ship to see what conclusions the computer had processed.

The computer had finished its processing and produced a 3D image of the upper areas of the volcano. Charts, graphs and reading all indicated that there was a very strong likelihood that the volcano would indeed erupt sometime in the next few months, but there was no immediate cause for alarm. Corvus stated that they had their readings and that they should now leave. The others agreed when they were interrupted by the sensor panel pinging. Nyla checked the panel and was shocked to find the sensors reporting a massive lava flow pushing violently upwards towards them. Looking at their remaining time, Nyla reported that the volcano was about to blow, and they had no time to get clear. Shocked at her report, the others asked for clarification. Nyla exclaimed that they were all going to die when the sensor console pinged again. This time the readings showed that the lava flow had slowed down significantly and was now going to just seep to the surface slowly, giving them plenty of time to leave. Werry went to double check the results when the Travellers were startled by the missile alarm sounding. Werry stated that it seemed that the ships sensors were obviously not operating within normal parameters, but as he looked up through the ships viewport he saw blazing rocks falling from the sky towards them.

The Travellers scrambled to their consoles to perform an emergency lift-off. Another tremor shook the mountain, and on their screens the Travellers could see Kimberly burst from the scrub and come running towards the ship. Yelling at Corvus to wait, Werry leapt from his seat and ran to the ramp, but Corvus had already begun retracting it. Calling Kimberly to him, Werry encouraged her to run. Dodging and weaving around the falling rocks, the air becoming hot and difficult to breath, Kimberly redoubled her efforts, made it to the ship and leapt for the ramp. She only just made it, supported by only her chest and forelegs. Werry grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her aboard as the ramp shut behind him and the ship banked away from the caldera as lava bubbled up from the lake bed and the scrub caught fire.

Almost immediately the communications console came to life with multiple calls demanding what was happening. The Mayor of Salbarii, Minister Greener, and the leader of the planet, Dictator Masterson, were all demanding explanations. Mikael provided them with the information they needed. Dictator Masterson informed them that a train carrying emergency services was being dispatched and that a fishing submarine was offering assistance. He asked if the Travellers would mind doing a flyby of the mountain to advise him of what was happening. Corvus stated that they had done enough and that they should just leave, but Werry overrode the helm console and took control. Mikael stated that they would do the flyby and advise Masterson of their findings. Once off the air, Mikael added that they would get a better idea of the situation if they planted sensors on the mountain side, but he was overruled by the rest of the group. Nyla used her holorecorder to get footage and pipe it directly to the Dictator. After thirty minutes of circling the volcano though thick ash, smoke, and unpredictable thermals, the Travellers advised Masterson that the volcano had erupted out of the south-west side and a flow of lava was heading south-west towards the sea. Masterson advised them that there were several settlements in that area, and could they please determine the speed of the lava flow and determine if a dirt road leading to the town had been cut off? The Travellers agreed, and from a safe distance kept pace with the lava.

After taking several readings, the Travellers concluded that the lava was slowing down. Werry suggested that due to the cold the lava was cooling and slowing, probably giving the towns folk a lot more time to escape. Mikael though, was concerned that a lava plug could have formed, blocking the flow, but underneath it, pressure would build. Nyla finished his explanation, stating that the volcano would explode, in all likelihood taking a good chunk of itself along with it.

Mikael imparted their theories to the Dictator. For a moment the comms became silent. For what seemed like minutes no communication was forthcoming. Corvus said that they should just get out of there. Suddenly Masterson came back on the comm, telling the Travellers that there were two groups of people that were not going to make it to safety. The first group was a collection of eleven humans and vargr, including elderly and children, in two pickup trucks. They were heading towards the town but were not going to arrive before the train left. Could the Travellers assist them? The Travellers asked about the other group. Masterson advised that they were an elderly pair of stubborn old vargr farmsteaders that were unlikely to listen to anyone.

The Travellers realized that they had a hard choice to make. They most likely would be able to help the group of eleven, then head out to sea, submerge the HighnDry and wait until the eruption blew over. The elderly pair of vargr were harder to deal with, as they were unlikely to listen to them. Corvus added another suggestion; that they just take the scout straight up and away from any danger. Just as he said that, a vargr voice came over the comm, a voice they recognized as Sophie, the Dictator’s personal chauffer. She said that she was in a grav vehicle and would fetch the elderly vargr who where her parents; the Travellers should see to the others.

Werry immediately aimed the scout towards the small town as Nyla bid Sophie to take care. As they arrived, they saw that the two pickups had arrived and the occupants had scattered. Some were pointing out to sea where a submarine was sailing away, some were yelling at others to get back in the cars, others were trying to break into what few buildings there were, and one seemed to be desperately looking for something.

Werry carefully guided the scout down, avoiding the vehicles and landing safety. Some of the people began moving towards the scout, but others just continued what they were doing. Mikael and Nyla exited the ship to help gather the stragglers while Corvus waited at the ramp with his gun drawn in case it was needed. Nyla helped the vargr, speaking in Gvegh to keep them calm while Mikael moved to help the elderly left in the vehicles. One of the vargr explained that she couldn’t find her children. Nyla yelled out to Mikael and asked if he had seen any vargr young. Mikael noted that there were two huddled in the back of a pickup with an elderly couple elderly. Just as he was pointing that out, the ground shook and the volcano exploded, spewing a massive black pyroclastic could into the air and down the mountainside.

Panic ensued, but Mikael remained calm and gave clear directions to the survivors and herded them onto the scout. Corvus waited until Mikael had boarded and yelled at Werry to take off. Werry complied, banking out towards the ocean.

Just then, Sophie’s voice cam over the comm. The grav vehicle was damaged, the windscreen broken and she couldn’t see. They were losing power and weren’t going to make it. On the RADAR, Mikael saw that the grav car was indeed losing altitude and was able to calculate the point of impact. They would able to save them, but the pyroclastic cloud would only be a minute behind them and they would be caught.

Werry piloted the ship back towards the volcano. It would only take a few minutes to get to the grounded grav car. The ash and smoke from the volcano was now being hurled horizontally, causing Werry had to fight to keep control of the scout. After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived at the crash site, and as the scout landed, they saw the three vargr. They also noticed that Sophie’s face was covered in blood, blinding her. They quickly boarded the ship with Nyla and Mikael’s help, and the scout took off again.

Thinking quickly. Werry, drove the scout at the pyroclastic cloud, hoping that hitting the cloud with the ship’s strongest axis would increase their chances of survival. He yelled at the Travellers to strap in. Nyla used the intercom to tell their passengers the same thing while Mikael ran to Engineering where additional crash seating and emergency helm was located. Just as he strapped himself in, the scout hit the pyroclastic cloud like a brick wall. The HighnDry was flung, spinning and tumbling, up and out of the cloud. The artificial gravity disengaged, and after a high-pitched whine, the powerplant died. The lights cut out and somebody screamed. The HighnDry was dead in the air.

Within moments, the emergency batteries kicked in. Immediately Mikael reached for the powerplant and rebooted it. With another whine and a spluttering cough, it came online and the lights turned back on. On the bridge, Werry and Corvus worked to reboot the control systems. As if they had worked together for years, they got the control systems back online and Werry re-engaged the helm. Struggling, he battled the turbulence and the scout itself to regain control. Finally, the helm responded, but too late they were heading down on a collision course with the ocean. Using a supreme effort, Werry fought the helm and slowly, oh so slowly, brought the nose of the scout up, but too late to avoid crashing. The HighnDry bellyflopped onto the water, the impact violently jerking everyone in their seats. The scout skipped twice, three times, then lifted up triumphantly into the air, trailing a curtain of sea spray behind her. Climbing up into the air, Werry piloted the ship out over the ocean and away from the vicinity of danger.

Eventually, the scout arrived at the starport in Settlement. Having radioed ahead, they advised that they would need medical help as they had injured aboard the ship. Luckily, there were no casualties, but many wounded. Some concussed, others with broken bones. Once all the survivors had been taken off the ship, Werry went looking for Kimberly. He found her cowering in the cargo bay and holding her front paw up off the ground. He approached her carefully and offered his hand. She sniffed it and then licked it before allowing him to pat her. An examination revealed that she had fractured her leg, but it was nothing that couldn’t be repaired.

176/1105 Walston/District 268
Over the course of a week, the jump drive was repaired, and the Travellers made ready to leave. The Travellers were lorded as heroes, and they were invited to a function at the Dictator’s Palace. Werry found an excuse not to attend, but the others did where again they were hailed as heroes and paid the credits they had been offered to survey the volcano.. An atmosphere of celebration filled the air around Settlement.

Some brief enquiries revealed that there was no cargo that they could purchase, but they received something surprisingly more valuable. They were showered with gifts of gratitude; handmade sweaters, home cooked meals, thankyou cards, and hugs. Surprised at the warmth of their farewell, they were further surprised when Dictator Masterson himself came onto the comm to wish them a safe journey and say that they would always be welcome at Walston.

Lifting off, Mikael plotted a jump course for the Bowman system. Unfortunately, Walstons primary cast a jump shadow across their path, so they had to travel 29 hours to a free jump point. Finally, arriving at their plotted point, Mikael powered up the jump drive, and diverted power to the jump capacitors. The powerplant whined as, through the closing jump shields on the bridge view port, the Travellers could see the jump grid begin to light up with a ghostly blue glow. Finally, the capacitors full, Werry activated the Jump Drive and the HighnDry tumbled smoothly into Jump Space.
 
I just wanted to add that there were some amazing dice rolls in this session, exactly when they were needed too. This session really got the players fired up, and some real emeotion was shown throughout. It was a lot of fun.

Now, I need to come up with a short adventure for Bowman :)
 
Traveller: Have Starship, Will Travel
Session 004: The Bronze Case
Session Synopsis
Played 30/07/2016

183/1105 Bowman/District 268
After 6 days and 19 hours in jump, the HighnDry precipitated out of jump 100 diameters from Bowman Prime and 13 hours from the moon Alpha and Garrison Station starport. The moon, Alpha, has no atmosphere and the starport is only class-D, meaning that the landing bays, such as they were, could not be pressurized and were exposed to vacuum. Even the refuelling and any loading of cargo would have to be done by themselves. Whilst the unrefined fuel was being processed by the on-board processors, Corvas set about organizing cargo and passengers. He was lucky enough to find enough cargo to fill the holds and 4 middle passengers. Twenty six hours later, the HighnDry left orbit and headed out towards the jump point for Asteltine and jumped. It didn’t take the crew very long to learn that one of their passengers, apparently a minor noble, had something to complain about everything. Unfortunately he would not be disembarking at Asteltine but staying with the ship until they arrive at Flammarion. Corvas briefly entertained the idea of spacing the troublesome noble, wondering out load who would know. Both Mikael and Nyla, stated that his travel plans would have been recorded, and his presence on the ship was already in the logs. It wouldn’t take the authorities long to figure out exactly what happened.

192/1105 Asteltine/District 268
After 6 days and 22 hours in jump, the HighnDry precipitated out of jump 31 hours from Asteltine. Contacted by traffic control, they are advised to proceed to 100 diameters from the planet and await escort to the highport. Several hours later a patrol cruiser rendezvoused with the HighnDry and escorted them to the highport. Docking in one of the highport’s bays, the crew and passengers disembarked and the port crew unloaded the cargo. Corvas again searched for cargo and passengers, and while he was able to find cargo to fill the holds, there were no passengers bound for Flammarion except for the noble who they had taken on at Bowman. Nyla managed to find a publisher who would buy her report on the situation on Walston for Cr300. Corvas tried his luck at locating black market cargo, but was unsuccessful in the time it took for the ship to be refuelled and the hydrogen processed. Twenty six hours later the HighnDry left Asteltine High under the escort of a patrol cruiser. Reaching the jump point, the HighnDry jumped for Flammarion.

201/1105 Flammarion/ Sword Words
After 7 days and 5 hours in jump, the HighnDry precipitated out of jump space 3 hours 46 minutes from Flammarion. They are immediately greeted by traffic control and placed in a parking orbit to await a vector to the Liberty Station. A short time later, the HighnDry was contacted by the scout base on the large moon orbiting Flammarion and given a vector to berth there instead. Arriving at the scout base, they are greeted by Anders Casarii who congratulated them on successfully locating the HighnDry and bringing her home. He advised the crew that the scout base would ensure that the ship was given an overhaul and brought up to specifications for them within a week. He further advised that the IISS was more than happy to provide them with passage to Liberty Station while they await the completion of the works on the ship. Corvas asked if the scout could be fitted out with weapons while she was being overhauled, but Casarii advised him that scout ships on detached duty were routinely divested of their weapons, but if the crew wished to purchase weapons and arm the vessel themselves they were completely within their rights. Nyla asked if the crew could perhaps be given quarters on the base, but Casarii advised that while he would be able to provide bunks for Mikael and Werry who were ex-scouts, he was unable to offer the same to Nyla and Corvas, who were civilians. The crew briefly discussed splitting up, with Werry and Mikael remaining at the scout base and Nyla and Corvas going to Liberty Station and looking for cargo and passengers, but they quickly decided that they would do better to stay together. Collecting Kimberly, the Tensor’s wolf, they took the proffered passage to Flammarion High. During their flight, Corvas again raised the possibility of arming the scout, but the others reminded him that they didn’t have that sort of money. Corvas then suggested that they try to salvage some weapons. The other’s thought that plan had possibilities, but they first needed to find cargo, as their fuel and life support needs would no longer be provided for by the IISS.

Once they arrived at the highport, the crew quickly found a hotel that would accept pets and then proceeded to look for cargo and passengers. It didn’t take Corvas long to find a cargo of water distillers bound for Enos, and supplies bound for Mithral, both members of the Sword Worlds Confederation. The rest of the crew were a little concerned about taking the ship into the Sword Worlds, but the fee offered for the cargo was too great for them to resist, so they accepted the charter. Corvas also managed to find a single passenger bound for Enos. Corvas once again tried his luck with obtaining illicit cargo and raised the possibility of installing a hidden hold on the ship. Werry and Nyla were not adverse to the idea, but Mikael protested. He wasn’t happy with the idea of taking on illegal cargo, largely as he was the official master of the HighnDry and it would be he that would be charged if they were caught. Nyla explained that maybe it would be a good idea to have somewhere that they could hide in case they were boarded by pirates, like a panic room. Mikael acknowledged that that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Werry also said that the hidden hold could be used for ethical cargos as well, such as fleeing refugees, or medical supplies, or such. Mikael, still wary, could see that the others liked the idea, but he said he would only agree if he had final veto on the cargo they carried. The others agreed.

On their second night at Liberty Station, the crew were leaving their hotel room to get dinner when they bumped into a professionally dressed couple in the hallway. The couple, a beautiful woman and a well-built man, moved one way, then another to let the crew pass. After a brief apology and a wan smile from the woman, the crew managed to get by the couple who entered the room next to theirs.

When the crew were again alone, Werry advised them that he had noticed a few interesting things about the couple. The woman was indeed incredibly beautiful, but she was a natural beauty, not one enhanced by surgery. The man made a great effort to keep himself between the crew and a bronze briefcase he was carrying, and the case was handcuffed to his wrist. He also noted that the clothes the couple were wearing, while indeed of a very professional cut, were in fact cloth armour. Their curiosity aroused, but not overly so, the crew enjoyed their evening meal before returning to their room.

Later that night, the crew were awoken by a commotion outside their room. Werry and Nyla looked out the door, and discovered that the door to the room next door was open. Werry quietly walked to the door and looked in to find that the man who had previously entered the room was on the floor, shirtless. A pair of paramedics were attending him. The woman, his companion, was standing nearby wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt. The paramedics were using a defibrillator device on the man with no real luck. They quickly placed him on a grav-stretcher and raised him up. Werry withdrew from the door and stood halfway back towards the crew’s room. The paramedics exited the room with the man, quickly followed by the woman hurriedly pulling on a long coat and carrying her shoes and the bronze briefcase. Werry asked if there was anything he could do to help. The woman stopped and thanked him, but said everything was under control. Werry offered his assistance if needed in the future, and woman smiled in gratitude before hurrying after the paramedics to the lift. The crew returned to their room and beds, hoping that there would be no more disturbances that night.

In the early hours of the morning, the crew were startled awake by something hitting the wall of the room next door. Hurrying out, they again found the door to the room next door ajar. Suspecting foul play, the crew grabbed their weapons and moved to investigate. When they looked inside the room they saw the woman, again dressed only in an oversized t-shirt facing off against three opponents bearing stun batons. Before the crew could react, the woman performed a roundhouse kick and sent one of her opponents flying into the wall to collapse next to an already unconscious assailant. Werry, Corvas, and Nyla moved inot the room, with Mikael holding back. One of the assailants, a woman, turned and brandished her stun baton at the crew, telling them to go back to their rooms and they wouldn’t be hurt. Werry stepped forward and punched her in the mouth with the basket of his cutlass, knocking a tooth loose and rendering her unconscious. Corvas fired his snub pistol at the remaining assailant, hitting him in the shoulder, but it was obvious by what little damage that was done that the man was wearing cloth armour. The man struck at Corvas with his stun baton, but missed, allowing Werry to step forward and run his cutlass through the weakened armour at the shoulder, penetrating muscle and bone and rendering the man unconscious.

The woman in the t-shirt moved quickly, she reached for a bedside bureau and pulled out the bronze suitcase. Grabbing her coat off the bed, she knelt down beside one of the fallen men and pulled open his jacket to reveal a pistol, which she also took. Looking at the crew she said that they had to move. She got up and ran towards the door. Corvas said that he wasn’t going anywhere, that he was instead going to question the people in the room. The woman turned on her heel and said that he had fired a gun. The hotel alarm systems would have been activated, and there would be more people coming. With no other apparent option available to them, the crew quickly grabbed their clothes and Kimberly from their room and hurriedly followed the woman down the corridor.
 
Rikki Tikki Traveller said:
As the author of the Bronze Case adventure I am very interested in seeing how this group plays it out... :)
Click to expand...

I hope you enjoy it. I've made a few changes to the adventure so it can fit in with where the characters are, but I'm sure it's going to be fun. The players are already taken in by the intrigue :)
 
A long time between sessions, but we all managed to get together to play another chapter of The Bronz Case.

Traveller: Have Starship, Will Travel
Session 005: The Bronze Case, pt. 2
Session Synopsis
Played 14/01/2017

202/1105 Flammarion/Sword Worlds
The crew made a hasty retreat from the woman’s room, grabbed their belongings and Kimberly from their own room, and followed the woman down the corridor away from the main elevator. As they rounded a corner, the elevator pinged, and two men exited. They noticed the travellers and hastened after them, reaching in to their jackets for something. The Travellers broke into a run, following the woman who led them to a service elevator. She pressed the down button and then went through the door marked “stairs”. They had a brief discussion about laying an ambush for their pursuers but decided to follow the woman instead.

As they moved quickly down the stairs, the Travellers heard the door above them eventually open and footsteps moving towards them. Moving faster, they exited on the ground floor, ran across the foyer, causing people to stop and stare, and then out the doors into the promenade. Making their way to the other side, they ducked and hid behind a large planter.

They waited patiently until three men come out of the hotel. Looking both left and right, they separated. One heading to the left while one headed to the right. The third remained in the doorway for a short while, pulled out a comm unit and spoke into it before returning back into the hotel.

The Travellers made their way to a local café to plan their next move. The woman revealed that she needed to get to the surface and then to a location 1000km west of the starport. She offered the Travellers Cr10000 each if they would escort her, no questions asked.

Corvus cracked a joke, where upon the woman added that she didn’t like smartarses either. She then excused herself to use the rest room. Nyla noted that she needed to go to and accompanied her.

In the rest room, the woman entered a cubicle and then introduced herself to Nyla through the door as “Amy”. She apologised for getting the Travellers involved and added that Conrad and she had organised a hire car to take them to their destination, but after his heart attack and the attack at the hotel by Blake and his men, there would be no doubt that their pursuers would be aware of the car. Nyla asked who Conrad was. Amy said that he was her partner. Amy came out of the cubicle wearing an immaculate business jacket and skirt, high heels, and her hair in a different style. She checked the gun holster under her jacket, and exited the rest room and returned to the other Travellers with Nyla behind her.

The group discussed their options. The first thing they did was organise shuttle tickets to Liberty Down. The shuttle next would leave in 50 minutes, and another in two hours. They booked tickets for the flight in 50 minutes. They then discussed their options to get to where Amy was going; Anatoli Bay. They some brief research revealed that there was a maglev service, and air-tram service, and rental cars. While the group preferred to use either the maglev or air-tram as they were public and they were less likely to be attacked in a public location. Amy was concerned that those options would restrict their options if they were confronted. After a short discussion it was decided that they use a rental car, which they also booked online. With their preparations made, they group made their way to the shuttle port, and checked in. They were directed to the cargo area to check in Kimberly, and then proceeded to the departure lounge and boarded the shuttle.
The shuttle undocked from Liberty High and orbited the station. Its orbit brought the passengers within site of the orbital shipyard where sever ships of a military nature where in various stages of completion. Neither Werry nor Nyla could identify the class of ship, but they did note that it was unusual considering the location.

The rest trip to Liberty Down was uneventful. The shuttle was only half full, and Travellers enjoyed the trip. The sky was overcast, and when the shuttle dropped below the clouds, the passengers could see it was storming. As they approached the downport, they were able to observe the star town closely. It was constructed in a roughly circular pattern, with a huge ziggurat-shaped building towering over the city. Over the apex of the ziggurat rotated an enormous holographic Ling Standard Products logo.

Landing at the Liberty Down, the Travellers couldn’t help but notice the large shipyards attached to the downport. A short discussion ensued about the method of ship construction. Mention was made that ship components where probably constructed downside then transported to the orbital yard for fitting. The Travellers also concluded that they majority of Flammarion’s population were somehow involved in the ship building industry.

Disembarking from the shuttle, the Travellers spent time purchasing equipment for their time on Flammarion: combination masks, cold weather gear, and weapons. Finally happy that they had everything they needed, they headed towards customs where they discovered that one of the customs officers was a Newt. Hoping against hope that they would be called by a human officer, their hopes were dashed when the Newt motioned them forward. Deciding to play by the book, the Travellers patiently waited while the Newt customs officer checked every detail on their documentation.

Almost two hours later the Newt waved the Travellers through, wishing them a happy stay at Flammarion. They then fetched Kimberly from pick-up bay, collected their two hire cars, and began their trip to Anatoli Bay with Werry, Mikael, Kimberly, and Amy in one care and Nyla and Corvus in the other car.

The Travellers couldn’t help but notice how drab the star town was. Rain pelted from the sky and LSP logos were everywhere. Even the people seemed to be a depressed lot, wearing dark covers and their faces covered in breathing masks. The pelting rain kept their speed down to 100km/h on the open freeway, and the traffic was light. After 2 hours driving, one of the tyres on Nyla’s car blew. The two cars pulled up and Corvus changed the tyre while Werry kept watch. Because of the weather, it took almost an hour to change complete the task, leaving both of the men drenched.

Getting back in their cars, they travelled another 90 minutes when the same tyre on Nyla’s car blew again. This time she lost control of the car which aquaplaned and side-swiped Werry’s car. Both cars pulled up safely some 15 metres apart.
As the Travellers were about to exit their vehicles to examine the damage, two vehicles pulled up behind them, leaned out their side windows and opened fire. Werry moved onto the verge but was hit but a bullet, giving him only a minor injury.

Corvis, Mikael, and Amy also opened fire. Nyla put her car in reverse and rammed the vehicle behind her.

Werry continued his charge towards one of the cars, brandishing his weapons and crying out in anger in an attempt to spook his opponents. Corvus shot out the rear window of the car he was in and sprayed a hail of bullets through the front windscreen of the car that Nyla had backed into. Mikael and Amy continued to fire. Amy took out one opponent with a single bullet to the head. Werry yelled out to keep someone alive for questioning.

More fire was exchanged. Amy was hit in the shoulder. Mikael did his best to stem the blood flow while Amy continued shooting. The driver of the other car panicked and put his foot on the accelerator, sending his car careening down the road. A shot was fired that took out the driver, causing the car to crash into the concrete barrier dividing the road.

Curvus approached the crashed vehicle and opened the door to pull out any survivors. As he did, Amy fired off another shot, hitting the passenger in the neck and killing him. With the fire fight now over, the Travellers converged on the car where Amy was being tended to. Nyla took over from Mikael while Corvus told Amy that they wanted one of their opponents alive for questioning. Amy growled back through teeth clenched in pain that there would be no questions answered.

Nyla and Werry exchanged concerned looks, wondering if perhaps they had chosen the wrong side to assist.
 
Very Nice!

Looks like your team is packing a bit more firepower than the original adventure envisioned, but that is fine - just make the enemy tougher too.

The next section should be interesting - HOPEFULLY, the characters will discover that they are on the right side (if they are ... ) - I like the details you have added.
 
It was a fun session. The players were lucky and fought strategically, using their vehicles as cover. The NPCs were packing for bear but made made some unlucky roles while the PCs made great roles. Hopefully we can finish the session this weekend (one of the players is a voluntary firefighter and we have a high risk day predicted for our gaming day).
 
Traveller: Have Starship, Will Travel
Session 006: The Bronze Case, pt. 3
Session Synopsis
Played 4/03/2017

202/1105 Flammarion/Sword Worlds
The Travellers drove away from the scene of the firefight in the only vehicle that remained somewhat functional. They all had to wear their rebreather masks, as the car was no longer airtight. Nyla nursed the vehicle carefully down the freeway, sounds of grinding become more and more pronounced as they drew closer to the town of Amoncar.

As the arrived in town, smoke starting billowing out of the boot of the car. The Travellers vacated the vehicle as its electric battery burst into flame, drawing to its attention several security drones that were floating nearby. The Travellers quickly found somewhere to hide and discuss their options.

While discussing their plans, Mikael noticed an unmarked drone hovering above them. They weren’t quite sure how to proceed, weighing up the pros and cons of splitting up to see who the drone followed or just shooting it. Corvus took out his combat rifle and took aim. The drone starting retreating upward and Corvus took the shot, clipping the drone and sending it careening down among some buildings. The Travellers split into two groups, deciding to converge on the location of the drone crash, but as they made their way towards their target, they noticed that security drones were also converging on the sight, and sirens could be heard approaching them. They altered their plans and decided to take the maglev to Antoli Bay.

Arriving at the terminal, they bought their tickets and learned that the next train would leave in 6 hours. They decided they would spend the time at a nearby bar to relax and take toke stock of their situation. While sitting down at a table, a news broadcast announced the details of a shoot out on the freeway with several causalities and fatalities, also that there were suspects but LSP Security was not releasing any details at the present time.

Corvus got involved in a game of cards while the others relaxed. Approximately an hour later a news broadcast announced that LSP Security had released images of the suspects involved in the shootout on the freeway, and that the individuals were also wanted by Imperial security for a shooting on Liberty High. The news broadcast further noted that the suspects heavily armed and concerned extremely dangerous and not to be approached. As the images of the Travellers where displayed on the screen they made another hasty retreat. Fortunately nobody noticed them.

Although Mikael was not happy with the idea, the Travellers decided to steal a car to make the rest of their journey to Antoli Bay. Locating an out of the way carpark, they found a suitable vehicle. Under the cover of darkness, Corvus broke into and hotwired the car, and the Nyla drove the Travellers towards the freeway, trying not to attract any attention to themselves. Once on the freeway, Amy told the others to turn on the radio and disable the satnav. Corvus did both while Werry told Amy she had better start giving them some answers. Amy said that if she did, their pay would have to be forfeit. Werry argued that there would be no point in being paid if they’re all in gaol. Amy assured the Travellers that she would ensure that all the charges are dropped once they help her deliver the briefcase.

The drive towards Antoli continued without incident. The occasional news broadcast gave updates on the investigation of the shootings, but security forces were no closer to finding the culprits. As the light from Antoli Bay appeared on the horizon, the road in front of the Travellers exploded in a hail of rocks and debris. Nyla expertly steered the car around the blast as the other Travellers looked back and saw an air raft with two occupants speeding towards them.

Donning their rebreathers, the Travellers wound down the windows on the car and took aim at the approaching air raft. The vehicle was too far away for everyone’s weapons except for Corvus’ combat rifle. He took quick aim and fired, catching the pilot of the air raft. Losing control of the air raft, the vehicle listed and then careened away from the road, disappearing behind a rise. Corvus argued that the Travellers should loop back and see if there were any survivors, stating that he wanted to question them. Werry reminded him that the last time they tried that Amy executed them. Corvus looked darkly at Amy but took the matter no further.

Arriving in Antoli Bay just before midnight, Amy directed the Travellers through the city to an industrial area on the outskirts near the bay. Pulling up outside an unmarked 3 story building she got out of the car and tole the Travellers to wait there until she returned. She walked towards the building, waited a door that quickly opened, bathing the ground in front of it with light. Amy passed through the door and it closed behind her. Corvus got out of the car and held his combat rifle ready. Werry did the same but remained in the vehicle. Corvus suggested that he should take a look around the building but the others stated that Amy had told them to wait at the car. Obviously frustrated with the whole situation, Corvus considered going ahead anyway when the door opened again revealing the silhouette of a woman. As she walked towards them, Corvus trained his gun on her but it was quickly revealed that the woman was Amy without the briefcase. She arrived at the car and climbed back in. She handed Mickael for cards, informing the Travellers that their credits were on the cards. Mikael looked at the cards suspiciously, wondering if they were indeed valid.

Nyla asked Amy if she could now tell them who she was. Amy introduced herself as Kalina Baker, and that she was employed by AmalCorp, a subsidiary of Ling Stand Products. Werry asked who had been chasing her, and Kalina stated that it was suffice to say that they were some very bad people who had done some very bad things. Werry asked how the Travellers were going to know if they had been cleared of any charges, and Kalina said that all they had to do was listen to the radio. Kalina got out of the car but before leaving she said that if the Travellers were in the area and needed her help, they knew where to find her.

The Travellers decided that they would take the maglev back to the downport. On the train they heard news broadcasts that the culprits involved in the shootout had been apprehended, and the suspect previously identified were not involved. The Travellers were able to relax, and snoozed the rest of the journey back to the downport. They experienced no trouble when they arrived at the Liberty Down, and quickly passed through customs and avoided the newt customs officer and took the first shuttle back to Liberty High.

203/1105 Flammarion/Sword Worlds
The Travellers still had a few days to kill before the High’n’Dry would be ready. Corvus decided to try his luck at some speculating. At first he thought about takin on contraband, but decided that legal trade would be best. It took him two days to find a supplier who could provide raw consumables that he should be able to offload at Enos at a tidy profit. Both he and Werry bought enough cargo to fill the remaining space in the ship’s cargo bays. The Travellers also discussed the option of purchasing weapons for the scout. They discussed their option, deciding that they would arm the scout with a beam laser and a sand caster, figuring that the best offence was a strong defence. Unfortunately they didn’t have enough credits to cover the purchase, so the Travellers decided to try and save the required amount rather than take a loan.

206/1105 Flammarion/Sword Worlds
The High’n’Dry is finally delivered to the Travellers, overhauled and space worthy. They noticed that most of the rough edges in the interior had been smoothed out, but the tatty upholstery and carpets were still the same. Fortunately, the air scrubbers had been replaced, but how long the air would remain fresh was uncertain, as the Suliman-Class Scout/Courier was well known for dodgy atmosphere support.

With the cargo loaded on board, the High’n’Dry made vector towards the jump point for Enos some forty hours away due to Flammarion’s sun causing a jump shadow.

208/1105 Flammarion System
As the High’n’Dry was still several hours away from the jump point, the vessel was approached by a patrol corvette identifying itself as the ISS Furious and requesting that the scout ship transmit it’s cargo manifest. Nyla and Corvus obliged. After several moments, the Furious advised the Travellers to heave to and prepare for boarding. The crew did as they were asked, and small squad of marines and an officer boarded. They were shown to the cargo bays by Mikael where customs inspectors found nothing out of the ordinary. Thanking Mikael for is trouble, the boarding party left and the Furious advised that the scout ship was free to continue on her way.

The High’n’Dry approached the jump point and tumbled a little roughly into jumpspace.
 
Traveller: Have Starship, Will Travel
Session 007: Prelude to Tripwire
Session Synopsis
Played 25/03/2017

Jumpspace 210/1105
The crew of the Highn’Dry discussed their finances after realising that they hadn’t been putting away anything for the upkeep of the ship. They quickly concluded that they needed to create a fund specifically for the ship, placing into it the maximum they would require to keep the ships finances in the black and only then drawing a profit for themselves. Nyla opted to maintain the ships accounts, to which the rest of the travellers eagerly agreed.

As the expected emergence time came and passed, the travellers began to grow nervous. Their entry into jump had not been as smooth as usual, and while none of them had experienced any jump sickness, they feared that they something had gone wrong. It was with great relief when the tell-tale signs (slight pressure headache and tingling of the fingertips) of imminent emergence began to manifest 7 days and 14 hours from when the jump began.

215/1105 Enos/Swordworlds
The HighnDry emerged a little roughly after almost 8 days in jump and .84AU from Enos, twice as far away as Mikael had plotted. Fearing that the ship had a fault, the travellers interrogated the ships systems and eventually discovered that the error was a slight miscalculation in astrogation. Relieved it was nothing worse, the travellers headed towards Enos, which would take 43 hours to arrive in orbit.

The travellers grew concerned when they had not been contacted by the starport at the 100 diameter mark, and more so when they couldn’t detect the starport beacon. Opening up the radio band on the ship revealed no other system traffic. Corvus decided to check the library data for the planet and learned that Enos was only supported by a Class E starport and was hardly populated.

217/1105 Enos/Swordworlds
At the 10 diameter mark the ship was contacted by the port authority. The travellers were interrogated with questions asking their point of origin, if they had anything to declare, and to transmit their manifest. They complied and were shortly given permission to land but not leave their ship until a customs inspection was completed. On landing, two armed men approached the ship. The travellers were uncertain about letting them on board and insisted that they show their authorisation, which they did. Nyla and Mikael met the men at the cargo bay hatch, with Corvus remaining behind some distance to keep an eye on the proceedings. The customs officials thoroughly investigated the ship and questioned the crew. They were ultimately satisfied that there was no contraband on the ship and told the travellers they were free to disembark but were not permitted to leave the confines of the starport. When asked what would happen if they tried, the customs officials told them they would be shot.

The travellers unloaded their cargo into the indicated warehouse and then went about their own business. Mikael performed the routine post jump maintenance on the ship while Corvus and Nyla sought a buyer for the cargo of raw consumables he and Werry had funded. After several frustrating days, Corvus was finally able to contact a buyer by the name of Bjorn Flokison, a rough, straight forward man who offered to buy the cargo at 85% the going rate, which would have meant a loss for the travellers. Corvus declined the offer and decided to try and find another buyer. After several more days, no other buyer could be found. Frustrated and eager to depart, Corvus contacted Bjorn once more to see if he was still interested in purchasing the goods. Bjorn was, and after some tense haggling, agreed to buy the cargo at 95% the going rate; not a loss for the travellers but hardly a large profit. They also purchased unrefined fuel from Bjorn at the standard rate.

Nyla managed to locate some cargo bound for their next port of call. Once the cargo was secured and the fuel refined, the HighnDry boosted towards the jump point to Caladbolg.

237/1105 Caladbolg/Swordworlds
The HighnDry emerged from jump 17 1/2 hours from the planet. Their radio and sensors immediately picked up multiple signals from the busy system. Upon reaching the 100 diameter mark from Caladbolg, the port authority welcomed the ship and provided a vector for the HighnDry to take to the highport. As they approached the highport, they were again contacted by the port authority and placed in a holding pattern as a subsidised liner departed from the highport and a 5,000ton passenger liner docked. With the approach and departure lanes clear the HighnDry was given permission to approach and dock.

After a routine customs inspection the crew once again went about their own business as dockhands unloaded their cargo. Mikael performed his routine maintenance while Nyla and and Corvus looked for cargo and passengers. Werry elected to remain in the ship to clean the staterooms in anticipation of passengers as crowds made him uncomfortable.

Corvus and Nyla swiftly found cargo to take to their next port of call, which Corvus found amazing considering that Steel had an unmanned starport. Mikael, having completed his maintenance, decided to try and find a bookshop on the starport. His browsing on the promenade brought him face to face with a group of missionaries of the Archdiocese of Ram. Hoping to pass by them without being harassed, he was startled when he heared his name being called out. His best attempts to ignore the person proved futile as she chased him down. When she caught up with him he recognised her as Kyra Shukugaa. They had grown up together in a commune on Jokotre and had in fact been betrothed as children to marry. Kyra was legitimately surprised to see Mikael and he suggested that they catch up later at a coffee shop. Kyra agreed, and gave him her comm-code to contact her.

With time left for the HighnDry to process fuel and cargo to be loaded, Nyla took herself about the highport with her holo-camera and Mickael organised to meet Kyra at Celestial Bucks later that afternoon. He was not eager for the meeting, but felt obliged as he was not one to go back on his word. Kyra was overjoyed to see Mikael again. Mikael’s first question to her was if she was married, which Kyra confirmed that she was. She also voiced her surprise at seeing Mikael, as the commune had been informed that he had died. Mikael was not surprised at that revelation and was even even more surprised when Kyra stated that everyone at the commune would be so pleased to hear that he was still alive. Mikael voiced his doubts at that, and while Kyra was eager to learn what Mikael had been doing, his replies to her were flippant and rude. Eventually he revealed that he no longer followed the precepts of Ram. This came as quite a shock to Kyra, who quickly excused herself and left.

The crew returned to their ship shortly after their cargo was loaded and the fuel processed. They departed the highport, boosting quickly to the jump point for Steel but arrived before the jump course could be plotted. They waited another hour as Mikael completed his calculations and activated the jumpdrive, tumbling smoothly into jumpspace.

246/1105 Steel/Sworlworlds
The High’n’Dry emerges from jump 25 hours from Steel and boosts towards the planet. When they arrive, the travellers unload the cargo into the warehouse indicated on the cargo manifest. Once finish the take the ship out and onto the ocean where they refuel her. During the 12 hours it takes for the fuel to process they relax and enjoy the pleasant weather. Mikael again performs what maintenance needs doing. Corvus takes his fishing rod and throws in a line while Nyla uses the opportunity to take more holos. Werry enjoyed the fresh, taking the opportunity to play with Kimberly in the warm sun.

With the ship refuelled, the travellers take her back into orbit and towards the jump point. Mikael began plotting the jump when Werry noticed another ship on the sensors. After a short time the other ship was not vectoring towards the planet but towards the HighnDry. He alerted the crew, warning them that they may be being pursued by Corsairs. It was obvious by the sensor reading that the other ship would get within firing range before they reached the jump point. Throwing caution to the wind, the Travellers decided to continue thrusting all the way to the jump point and jump while under acceleration instead of a dead stop. Mikael voiced his concern, stating the danger of the manoeuvre and the difficulty of plotting a jump under such acceleration. And still, the other other ship gained on them.
 
So, the name of the last sesion says it all. I'm taking the characters through the Tripwire adventure which will then lead directly into the Fifth Frontier War.
 
Traveller: Have Starship, Will Travel
Session 008: Tripwire, pt. 1
Session Synopsis
Played 22/04/2017


249/1105 Steel/Sword Worlds
The High’nDry sped towards the jump point with the unidentified vessel in hot pursuit. It was still beyond firing range, but was closing the distance fast. The High’nDry was still many hours from the jump point, but there was no way it would get there before the aggressor would be able to fire on them.

The cry argued about their course of action. Corvus insisted they turn and face their foes, even if they didn’t have weapons. He opted into bluffing them and hopefull escaping that way. Werry argued that they would be able to tell that the scoutship was unarmed and that they had nothing to bluff with. Mikael considered overstressing the engines to get more thrust out of them, but on further thought that the risk of damaging the manoeuvre drive and putting them into a worse situation was too great. Nyla remained on the comms, trying to contact the pursuing vessel.

Suddenly Nyla’s board lit up and warning claxons sounded. Misslies had been fired and locked onto the High’nDry. They had less than 20 minutes to come up with some sort of plan. Werry placed the ship on autopilot and said he was getting into his vaccsuit, and the others followed his lead.

While in his stateroom, Werry could hear Kimberly barking and growling at something at the rear of the ship. Following the sound, he found her in the engine room, trying to get between the jump drive and the floor clearance. She sniffed, barked, and dug at the area. Werry pushed her away and squatted down to look for himself, but couldn’t see anything while Kimberly worried at him to get back to her position. Worried that there may have been a bug planted on the ship, Werry called Corvus to help him look for anything unusual.

In their vaccsuits, Nyla and Mikael returned to the bridge. Mikael feared that they may have to perform an emergency jump, but didn’t want to do it until the last instant possible to give them as much opportunity to get as far out of the gravity well as they could. He plotted new jump co-ordinates for Mitral using his best estimate of where they would initiate the jump.

Werry and Corvus continued to search the jump drive for anything unusual, but they could find nothing despite Kimberly continuing to growl and worry at the site. Having almost completed their search, they heard the powerplant suddenly power up to full throttle, rapidly absorbing fuel and converting it into energy to dump into the zushi crystals. Corvus turned tail and headed out of engineering but Werry remained to continue his search.

On the bridge, Nyla warned Mikael that the missiles were about to hit. Mikael forced the power plant to hurry the fuel conversion and just as the first missile found it’s mark, he hit the jump button.

Corvus woke to find himself lying on the deck. He felt nauseous and dizzy, but what was worse was that he and voided himself. His vaccsuit contained most of the waste, but he lay in a pool of his own vomit. He tried to open his eyes, but the searing light from the overhead panel caused his head to explode in a thumping migraine. He cried out, but the sound of his own voice reverberated in his skull making his head and nausea worse. He waited till his protesting body calmed slightly, then attempted to reach for his commdots. The slight movement caused his head to spin again and he only just contained what little remained in his stomach. Again he waited until the world settled around him, and he tried again, attempted to call for a head count, but all he could manage was a dull pain-ridden moan.

On the bridge, the moan roused Mikael, who was also lying on the deck. His condition was no better than Corvus’s. He too struggled to open his eyes, but the severe pain in his head forced him to shut them again. Forcing them open again, he noted the Nyla was also lying on the floor near her own bridge console. Girding himself for another bout of nausea, Mikael lifted himself to his knees and crawled towards Nyla to ascertain her condition.

Corvus had managed to crawl his way to the lunge, where he used the door frame to lever himself up to a standing position. He ordered the computer to lower the lighting, which helped ease the thumping in his head. Slowly he was feeling better, but still in no condition to make any sudden moves. Again he called out for a head count.

Mikael responded, confirming that he was conscious but Nyla was not. Werry was still silent. Corvus informed Mikael that he would go back to engineering to check on Werry.

Mikael remained on the bridge. Fetching a medical kit, he ran a check on Nyla and confirmed that she was unconscious but otherwise unhurt. Corvus called from engineering to say that Werry and Kimberly were there, but in the midst of seizures and that they needed medical help. Mikael had no choice but to rouse Nyla with a stimulant, and then eased her nausea with another shot. Quickly he explained to Nyla that Werry needed her, and they made their way back to engineering as well as they could.

When they arrived Kimberly had ceased seizing and Werry’s was beginning to subside. Nyla could see that he had broken his arm, so she set it and then had him taken to the lunge to be placed somewhere comfortable. She checked Kimberly and discovered that she was unharmed.

With the crew feeling marginally better, Corvus and Mikael returned to the bridge to ascertain what condition the ship was in. They saw that the jump shields over the forward view ports were shut, suggesting that they were in jump. A keep check of the instruments confirmed that they were in jump, but they only had approximately three days of manoeuvre fuel left. It was easy to see by their physical reactions, and the amount of fuel used that they had misjumped.

After several hours Werry woke to feel a wet tongue licking his face. Kimberly whined when she saw him and wagged her tail. Nyla brought him up to date with his and ship’s condition, and what they suspected.

Werry was determined to find out what had got Kimberly so worked up. So he returned to engineering to try and get to the bottom of the mystery. Mikael ran several diagnostics on the ship to ascertain if there was any damage. After several hours all the diagnostics came back clear except for two; there was some superficial damage on the aft hull, presumably where the missile had exploded, and two of the zuchai crystals had cracked, indicative of some sort of energy feedback.

Corvus decided to go back over the computer records to see if there had been any outside interference with the ship, but while his search took quite some time, it produced no results.

Werry finally discovered, using a camera probe, that there was a large amount of cable insulation on the deck under the jump drive. Further investigation revealed an alien creature, scorched and dead, under the drive. Using Corvus’s help to construct a pair of waldos, they retrieved the creature, which looked like a cross between a crab and a lobster with huge mandibles and too many legs. Both Nyla and Werry racn library checks to try and discover what the creature was. Werry was still deep in research in the lunge when the huge shudder wracked the ship, causing all the crew to lose their footing and het the deck. Running to the bridge, they found that the jump shields were receeding from the forward view ports and they were in normal space.

256/1105 Farreach/Jewell
Both Mikael and Nyla began sensor scans to ascertain where they were. Very quickly they discovered that they were within the gravity well of a ringed super gas giant. Fortunately they had precipitated out of jump somewhere where they could refuel, but they were still unsure of where they were. Considering they had not decelerated before entering jump, they were still travelling and some significant speed. Werry calculated a course a course that would reduce their vector slowly so as to use as little fuel as possible while still placing them near enough to the gas giant so they could refuel.

The sensors continued to process the system data, revealing ten worlds, 5 gas giants, and 1 planetoid. They had precipitated in the outer reaching to a binary star system.

Suddenly, the sensors indicated a large vessel coming approaching them from the gas giant accompanied two destroyer escorts and several system defence boats. The large ship hailed the High’nDry, identifying itself as the Zhodani Consulate Battleship Yansiedlapr and requesting an explanation for why they were in the outer system of Farreanch. Nyla explained that they had suffered a misjump, that they were low on fuel, and needed assistance. The battleship requested flight data, crew and cargo manifests, which the travellers quickly provided. After some time, the travellers where contacted again and informed that the System Defence Boat Faliejstal would rendezvous with them, transfer fuel, and then escort them to the starport on Farreach. A course was proved for them and they were warned that if they deviated from the course they would be fired upon.

266/1105 Farreach/Jewell
It took ten days for the High’nDry to make the journey from the out system to Farreach. During that time, the crew studied and researched their location, discovering that they were in the Jewell subsector and that they had misjumped coreward by 26 parsecs. They also discovered some curios facts about Farreach, such as it’s small population yet large starport and military base. The travellers questioned why they would need such a starpot on such an outlying outpost. They also learned that there was a significant amount of system defence craft in the insystem, more than they thought would be necessary. Finally, while the starport was rated as an A class, it had no highport, which was extremely unusual if no unheard of. With no answers readily available the travellers followed instructions to a landing pad and allowed their ship to be inspected for contraband by starport officials. The travellers thought it prudent to inform the customs officials of the dead creature they had on board. They customs officials placed the High’nDry in quarantine until a decontamination team could go over the ship. The travellers had to wait several hours until the ship was declared clean and they could disembark. They were warned that they were only permitted into Sector 1 of the starport, while Sector Two was restricted only to Zhodani and that Sector Three only to military personnel.

As soon as he could, Corvus began searching for a supplier of the items they needed to repair the jump drive. He was quickly able to find a supplier for the damaged zuchai crystals and obtained them at a highly inflated price. Mikael, Werry, and Corvus then set about repairing the drive, which took them two days as not only where the crystals damaged, but also the cradle that held them. With the repairs complete and recalibrations completed, the ship was ready to leave in two days.

As the Travellers where finishing up their inspection of the hull, a lone zhodani male approached them and asked to speak to the master of the ship. Mikael asked what he could do for him, and the man introduced himself as Forbes and that he needed to get to Esalin urgently. He would pay Cr50k for the journey, of Cr100k if they left immediately. Mikael, asked Forbes several questions, such as if he was being pursued by the law, or if taking him aboard would have them shot at. Forbes reiterated that the needed to be at a corporate meeting on Esalin in 4 weeks, but if the travellers weren’t interested he would find another vessel. Nyla told Mikael they needed the money, as the ship’s funds were close to being depleted due to the repairs. Mikael agreed to take on the passage.

The High’nDry lodged their flight plan with Farreach Tower and proceeded the 2 hours to the jump point. Researching their next stop, Ao-dai, Mikael noticed that there was not much on the main world for them. He asked Forbes if he needed to go planetside for anything. Forbes advised that he had no need, so Mikael plotted their course for the gas giant.

275 Ao-dai/Jewell
After 7 days and 4 hours in jump space, the High’nDry precipitated 16 hours from the gas giant where they would scoop for fuel. Approaching the giant, Forbes asked if he could observe the fuel skimming from the bridge. The travellers had no objection and allowed permitted the request. The refuelling would take approximately 12 hours, and the crew settled into the routine when they were contacting by a Zhodani scout ship ordering them to heave to and prepare for boarding.

Forbes expelled an expletive and asked to speak to Mikael alone. Corvus said that Forbes can talk to everyone. Forbes again reiterated that he would only take to the captain when Corvus drew his pistol and said that he would be talking to everyone. Obviously not happy but with no other choice, Forbes explained that he was an Imperial agent and that the scout ship was no doubt looking for him. Corvus asked why, and Forbes stated that he had information vital for the safety of the Imperium that he had to get to Esalin.

Again the scout ship contacted the High’nDry, ordering them to stand down and prepare to be boarded.

Forbes continued to say that he doubted that the zhodani knew what he looked like, but it was imperative that he was not captured.

Corvus stated flat out that they should just turn him over. Werry told Corvus to wait a moment and was about to ask Forbes a question when Nyla said that they would protect him for an addition Mcr0.5. Corvus smiled and supported Nyla’s offer. Forbes said that he obviously had no choice and agreed. Nyla demanded the credits immediately, Forbes stated that he didn’t have that sort of money on him and that they would have to wait until they had arrived on Esalin for him to pay him.

Suddenly the sensors panel lit up; the scout ship had fired across the bow of the High’nDry. Once more they demanded that the travellers prepare to be boarded or they would be fired upon.

The traveller agreed to the demands, and while the scout ship approached Werry asked how they were going to fool the zhodani. Forbes explained that they most likely would have a telepath with them, and he would be probing the crew for any lies, which is why he didn’t want to tell the entire crew his story. He went on to suggest that perhaps they should tell the zhodani that he is a member of the crew. When Werry asked how they were going to stop the telepath from reading their minds, Forbes said to simply not think of a cow. As he spoke, Forbes pulled out two parts of a laser pistol and connected them, suggesting that the crew be prepared. While they waited for the zhodani scout ship to dock, the travellers retrieved their hand weapons and hid them, except for Werry, who wore his sword and stun-fist openly.

When the zhodani scout ship docked, three armed zhodani crewmembers boarded the High’nDry, ordering the crew to assemble in a large open space. Mikael suggested the lounge, where the zhodani had them line up in a single file. One of the zhodani who had a red dot on his forehead questioned the crew while the two other zhodani stood guard at the door. Mickael was asked repeatedly if there were any passengers aboard, which he denied, but each time it was obvious the zhodani was reading his mind. Finally, he asked which of the crewmembers the passenger was, and Mikael pointed to Corvus. The zhodani smiled, walked passed Corvus, and approached Forbes. Standing in front of him he asked Forbes who he was and what he was doing on the ship. Forbes said that he was the broker, and then a shot was heard and the zhodani telepath fell backwards.

Surprised, the other two zhodani hesitated, allowing both Werry and Mikael to act. Werry leapt forward and punched one of the zhodani with his stun-fist, stunning him. Mikael fired on the other and landed a solid hit. Werry then drew his sword and dispatched his zhodani while Corvus, Nyla, and Mikael fired on the other, all missing. The zhodani fired on Forbes, hitting him and sending him down. Forbes fired back but missed. Werry leapt up and attacked the still standing zhodani, but missed. Corvus fired and hit him, but the zhodani still stood. Nyla went to aid Forbes while Mikael fired again and missed. The zhodani backed away out the door then turned and ran. Werry chased after him and tackled him to the ground. Before the zhodani could react, Mikael approached and shot him point blank in the head.

Nyla ensured that Forbes was fine, and then she, Werry, and Mikael boarded the scout ship to find any other crewmembers. While they were gone, Corvus spoke to Forbes, then punched him the jaw, knocking him out. He carried him to a stateroom and locked him inside before joining the others on the scout ship.

The travellers decided that the needed to ascertain if the zhodani scouts had contacting anyone before boarding the High’n’Dry, but all the bridge controls were in zhodani. Nyla managed to download the ship logs to the High’nDry. The Travellers then decided to gut the scout ship, strip her turret of the dual lasers, place the zhodani back in their ship, and then vector it into the gas giant to be destroyed. The only problem they had was that everything was in zhodani and the only person who would be able to decipher it was unconscious and locked up, and not likely to be too willing to lend assistance.
 
Made a few minor edits to the write-up as I forgot a couple of things. Fortunately my players read the write-ups and remind if I've left something out.
 
Traveller: Have Starship, Will Travel
Session 009: Tripwire pt. 2
Session Synopsis
Played: 21/06/2017

276/1105 Ao-dai/Jewell
After subjecting Forbes to some rather unpleasant treatment at the hands of Corvus, the travellers asked him to assist them in translating the Zhodani language on the scout ship. Forbes noted that he really had no choice if he needed to get to Esalin. Forbes produced a data stick that he plugged into the one of the Zhodani scouts bridge panels and downloaded a translation program. While Nyla worked with Forbes, Corvus and Werry refuelled the High’n’Dry fuel from the Zhodani scout, and Mikael worked at removing the weapons from the Zhodani scout’s turret to install in their own scout’s turret. After 10 hours, the travellers had succeeded in their tasks (some with help) and had programed the Zhodani scout to fly into the gas giant. They decided to store the turret weapons in their cargo hold to prevent any questions being asked at Clan, then piloted their ship to the jump point, 16 hours away.

277/1105 Ao-dai/Jewell
The High’n’Dry tumbled into jump space heading towards Clan/Jewel. Whilst in jump space, Werry called the crew together and expressed his disgust in the way Forbes had been treated. Corvus rebuffed Werry’s comments, saying that Forbes had put the travellers in danger and hadn’t alerted them. Werry retorted that Forbes had paid Cr100,000 to get him to Esalin quickly. The huge fee offered was more than enough to alert Corvus and the rest of the travellers that there would no doubt be danger involved. To make matters worse, Forbes was then extorted of Mcr0.5 or be handed over to the Zhodani. Nyla stated that she felt bad that she had been part of extorting Forbes, and wanted to retract the demand for extra payment. Mikael agreed. Corvus, on the other hand, insisted that the travellers had done nothing wrong and he was unhappy with not taking the extra payment. Forbes was advised of the travellers’ decision, even though Corvus maintained his stance even as the rest of the travellers apologised for his mistreatment.

283/1105 Clan/Jewell
After 6 days and 13 hours, the High’n’Dry precipitates out of jump space 20 hours from the super gas giant in the Clan system. As they approach they are contacted by a zhodani naval task force asking them to identify themselves. The travellers do as asked, stating that they only wish to refuel at the gas giant and then leave the system. The task force confirms their intentions and a fleet escort and two fighters leave the tasks force and escort the High’n’Dry during refuelling. After 8 hours, the High’n’Dry proceeds to the jump point for Esalin, escorted the entire way.

285/1105 Clan/Jewel
The High’n’Dry tumbles into jump space towards Esalin/Jewell

292/1105 Esalin/Jewell
After 7 days and 3 hours in jump space, the High’n’Dry precipitates out of jump space 3.5 hours away from Esalin. Arriving at the starport, the travellers birth their ship and prepare to leave. Forbes leaves the ship with Werry accompanying him. As they leave, Forbes appears to trip and fall. Werry goes to him and roles him onto his back to reveal a cauterised laser wound in his chest. Werry calls for Nyla who runs to Forbes aid. Forbes, gasping for breath grabs Werry’s arm and implores him to get him to “Redway” and passes out.
While Nyla stabalises Forbes, Mikael logs onto the public computer network and discovers a Redway Hotel some 60 minute drive outside of town. The travellers debate how to get Forbes out of the starport and to the hotel without being questioned. They decide to tell Starport Authority that Forbes had been the victim of an engineering accident, then when Forbes was at the hospital they would smuggle him out. Starport Authority acknowledge the report and state that an ambulance would be on the way. While waiting for ambulance, Corvus organises a hire car. When the ambulaice arrived, Werry went with Forbes to radio to the others which hospital he was taken to.

The gambit paid off, and Forbes was taken to a hospital and stabilised, the travellers managed to smuggle him out in a wheelchair with no trouble and take him to Redway Hotel. The hotel is a simple, two story affair. Nyla booked two adjoining rooms and asked if the elevator works. The hostess advised that the elevator works occasionally and if that would be a problem. Nyla advised that one of her friends was in a wheel chair, but they would manage somehow. When the travellers wheel Forbes in, the woman behind the desk called out his name and ran to him. Kneeling beside his chair, she asked the travellers what happed to him while she checked him. The travellers explain what had happened and the woman said she will help them get him upstairs.

Once upstairs the women introduced herself as Martha Redway. Once she was sure that Forbes wass stable, Martha searched his clothes for something and found a data-stick. She explained that she knew that Forbes is an Imperial Agent and he always had a data-stick on him that he gave her to pass onto a courier. Mikael and Corvus seemed suspicious of Martha as she pocketed the data-stick, saying she will pass it on. She thanked the travellers for bringing Forbes to her and offers to cook them dinner. Again, the travellers appeared suspicious, but agreed. Martha appeared to be quite taken with Werry, and flirted with him openly.

At dinner, Martha set the dinner table and served the traveller before serving herself. All the travellers were present except for Nyla. When asked, the travellers tell Martha that Nyla had remained with Forbes to ensure that he didn’t deteriorate. Martha admitted that it’s was good idea and she should take a plate up to Nyla. Mikael says that they will take a plate up for Nyla themselves after they have finished, if that was alright with her. It’s obvious that the travellers are still very suspicious of Martha, and wait until she started eating before they began. During the meal Martha explained that all the food was locally sourced. She continued to flirt with Werry, who was quite happy to flirt back.

When dinner was over, Martha got up and said that she would warm a plate for Nyla. As she goes to the kitchen, Mikael called Nyla on his commdots, but got no response. As the travellers stand up to investigate, Martha returned from the kitchen with the food and asked what the problem was. When the travellers report that Nyla was not answering her commdot Martha dropped the plate and ran for the stairs, the travellers right on her heels.

They find the door to Forbes room open and the room ransacked, Nyla was lying across Forbes’ bed and Forbes dead where they had left him in the bed with a laser wound to his head. Checking Nyla they discovered that she was alive and had just been knocked unconscious. Mikael wondered what the assassins could have been looking for, and Martha replied that it would be the data-stick as she pulled it out of her pocket. Mikael asked what they could do to help and Martha pressed the data-stick into his hand and implored him to take it to the planet Ruby where a contact of Forbes named Daniel would know what to do with it. Mikael asked if she just can’t give it to the courier, but Martha advised that she had no idea when the courier would arrive again, but it would now doubt be a while, and the assassins would come looking for the data-stick in the meantime. The travellers agreed reluctantly to take the data-stick to Ruby, and left the hotel.

On the way back to the starport, Mikael mused that the travellers should just dump the data-stick and forget that anything had happened. While Corvus agreed, Werry was obviously disappointed that Mikael would make such a suggestion. Nyla regained consciousness on the ride back and was appraised of the situation. She was asked if she remembered anything but she admitted that she had no idea what hit her.

Arriving at the starport, the crew boarded the High’n’Dry and departed Esalin, vectoring for the jump point to Ruby.

293/1105 Esalin/Jewell
After 15 hours flight time, the High’n’Dry arrived at the jump point and tumbled safely into jump space, designing for Ruby/Jewell.
 
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