I'm running a new traveller campaign - pages about it can be found here:
The approach to the two vessels
Masuyo attempts to cycle the airlock but alas nothing, she does however discover that it is not a standard issue Imperial airlock, it has been significantly upgraded. She turns and asks me to have a look to see if I have any more luck but it seems to be beyond us for the time being. Tharbin runs a scan using the ships systems and it does not show anything unusual in the immediate area, Earl continues eastwards and rediscovers the creature at approximately 25 meters East of him which he relays to us despite the fact we cannot see it, He also takes a picture of it with Cyn's PC. Junebug tells us that Kimbley can see something as well and is quite agitated by it, so they both head towards it as well to give Earl some back up. As there is no way for us to access the ship we quickly discuss our options on what to do, meanwhile Junebug throws some chem lights towards the creatures position to see if it casts a shadow so we at least have something to target, she does catch a glimpse of it but nothing more. We remember the body lying at the base of a ladder from the ship across the canyon and decide it might be best for us to return to the ship and carry on with our mission rather than risk further injuries fighting whatever this creature is as we also don't know if there are more of them. Kimbley is straining at her collar as Junebug holds her back, it seems she is trying to defend Junebug implying the creature is indeed hostile.
Cyn gives Masuyo a hypo designed to help against Psionic powers to see if that helps her to see the creature, but it has no immediate effect, she shouts to Earl to throw some dirt over the creature to see if that helps us to see it and Junebug takes a blind shot at it letting Kimbley go in the process. Kimbley takes off towards the creature and bites it causing injury to it and Junebug chases her taking another shot at it and hitting it. Earl however misses again (methinks he needs to target practice 😉 ). Tharbin turns on the manoeuvring thruster jets to kick up dust in an effort to help but we still cant see it.
Earl yells that it is retreating again and it does appear to be injured and it has apparently left some blood behind on the ground. Masuyo lets Tharbin know we have all made it back to the ship so he opens the airlock for us and we all scramble onboard. Once inside and safe we have Tharbin take some images of the canyon and the ships and immediate surrounding area for later study. Cyn takes the injured team members and Junebug to the Med bay to document their wounds and get DNA samples and treat them. We run an Anti Hijack search for any unauthorised entries to the ship just in case any more of theses strange invisible creatures have come onboard without our knowledge. Cyn decides it is best to quarantine herself, Earl, Junebug and Kimbley in the Med bay for the time being.
We take the ship to 500 meters above the surface to carry out our survey, it is an Earth equivalent sized planet, we take all the usual samples soil, air, water for testing. We run the mapping program and continue with the full survey.
Earl searches the computer for any reports or legends and myths for indigenous lifeforms on the planet but comes up blank on all counts, nothing to be found no strange reports or occurrences. We change the planets classification to E833, 0 Population, 0 Law, 0 Tech2 there is no sentient life on the planet (at least as far as we can tell from the scans etc. our experience is quite another thing) there is some plant life.
We check the photo Earl took of the creature and distance does not change our perception of the creature, we still can't see it even in the photo.
Masuyo asks for some clarification on some points, The Imperial ship is it Standard? From a distance yes, but up close it has been significantly modified with advanced tech, the engines are also uprated.
The other ship is 200 tons, streamlined needle formation, possibly a courier vessel, she asks again if any of us have every see a ship of the configuration before, we agree that we are not certain at this time, but it does appear to be more Zhodani than Darrian based upon Masyo's knowledge.
Masuyo speculates that there may be some connection with the 3rd Imperium worlds Goethe, Emape, Mirriam, Jone and Karin, which are all Amber worlds.
Warning: Information regarding an individual's psionic ability is confidential, and may not be released without consent.
Warning: Use of this test is NOT conclusive proof of psionic ability, skills or use.
Warning: Use of psionic abilities is illegal anywhere within Imperial Space unless sanctioned by §SO1.6.112
Replacement test kits can be requested using form IISS952432
Warning text on the Psionic test kits3
Cyn runs tests while in quarantine and there are unfortunately inconclusive, but show them all to physically fit, I am not so sure about their mental health however. Psionic testing may be required, but this will need to be kept off the records as great efforts have been made to suppress Psionics within the Imperium. Cyn tells us what she is planning and we all agree to the tests, these are just basic tests, Earl and myself both show a similar levels of genetic traces of psionic abilities, but only potential at the moment as neither of us has had any training, Cyn and Junebug both have slight indications of potential psionic abilities, Masuyo and Tharbin do not show any signs of potential and finally Chase is somewhere in between.
View of 886-945 from space (with cartographic information added). Source of the radio jamming is shown as a pink ≏ at roughly the seven o'clock position about half way from the centre of the circle of the globe (and in a mountainous hex)
We use the asteroid belt around the Gas Giant as our launch point and set our trajectory towards the planet. We all man our own stations and are equipped with all our weapons, Cyn has medical supplies in a pack for emergencies, Junebug and Kimbley are in her quarters for safety. Masuyo has set up the recording device, and is on the bridge along with Cyn, Tharbin and Chase are in the pilot seats, Earl is in the Gunner seat and monitoring sensors and finally I am in engineering. Our pilot makes a perfect trajectory plan and pulls it off flawlessly.
The planetary maps we got from the previous surveys the first of which shows no water and the second one shows around 20 % water on the surface, but we estimate around 30%, we approach from the North and ship is holding up well, no active scans as far as we can tell as we make our approach. Respirators are required as the atmosphere in very thin (again!).
The site of the radio interference. The left hand ship looks like a standard Type S scout ship. The right ship is larger and has two decks. The ships are separated by a shallow canyon (easy to climb from the lighter colour base of the canyon to the darker colour of where the ships have landed (taking, say, only one combat round to do). The site is overlooked by a much taller and larger rock/cliff made of a much darker brown than the rest of the scene.
Tharbin stays with the Hope and the rest of us except Junebug and Kimbley head out. We are around 11km away from the installation which will take us a day or so to reach on foot. After we several hours of walking we begin to see a narrow ravine in the distance, with two ships on either side of it. Neither of them are Imperial ships but one is a Scout ship at around 100 tons the other ship is of unknown origin and is around 300 tons, we don’t see any signs of movement around either of them but they do have running lights on. we approach from the North and pick out a discreet campsite to watch the ships overnight and forming a plan to get to them unseen. Watches are set and the night passes uneventfully, no signs of movement and no other signs of change overnight except for one cabin light that came on towards to front of one of the ships for about an hour before it was turned off. I have been asked to have another look at the unidentified ship to see if my time in the Navy jogs my memory for its configuration but nothing comes to mind, but I can confirm that it is not Imperial. The scout ship is armed as is the unfamiliar ship. Earls time with the Scout Service allows him to guess at it possibly being Darrian or Zhodani.
Artist's impression using the description of the creature as described by Earl.
A hatch opens and someone climbs out and then disappears as if they have fallen to the ground, we are in pretty open ground with very little ground cover for us to take shelter behind. Earl tells us of a humanoid approaching us but he is the only one who can see it???? He thinks it might be a Vargr, which is a humanoid canine, bipedal and sentient.
Why is Earl the only one who can see it?
As it gets closer it becomes obvious to Earl that it is not in fact a Vargr as it does not have any fur or the distinctive long snout and it does not appear to be wearing any clothing. Earl tries to communicate with it but gets no response and it attacks Earl with long claws but misses. He jumps back away from it, putting Chase in its path for the next attack and Chase feels a breeze pass his face. Masuyo radios for Tharbin to bring the ship to us and gives him our position, Cyn is next and her Armour seems to somehow fail and she is in a lot of pain but has no idea why. After several shots from all of us Earl informs us that it appears to be retreating and that it seems to be glowing. After having a careful look around Earl confirms that it has completely retreated and it appears safe for us to proceed. We head for the airlock on the Scout ship.
Again the question that most bothers me is why was Earl the only one able to see that creature? I ask him but he has no idea himself but Cyn decides she wants to runs some tests when we get back aboard the Hope.
| STR | DEX | END | INT | EDU | SOC | PSI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Bonus |
Preparations for departure have gone smoothly and you've completed the small amount of maintenance needed between jumps (The annual maintenance covers the major overhauls and servicing, but there is always some inexpensive checks that must be made between jumps).
Chase and Earl hear that Captain Vexar's activities have picked up lately.
Permission for take-off is denied as we await agents, four of them arrive at our dock with a warrant to search our vessel based on reports of us carrying Imperial contraband. We are only carrying standard cargo, so permission for them to board is given as we have nothing to hide. They will not provide us with any information on our accuser. Masuyo however accompanies them and makes sure they make quick work of their search, they are thorough and make a general search, the only information we get from them is that it came from an anonymous tip off... Masuyo asks Chase to check on all recently departed and currently departing ships. The Customs agents do not find anything, all the paperwork has been thoroughly checked and signed by Captain Earl. Only two ships have left within the past hour, a Far Trader and a Bulk Cargo Freighter. Junebug is suspicious in regards to our delayed departure. Launch clearance is finally given and our jump plot is successful.
Masuyo asks me to look through all the engine and power systems and to keep an eye on things just in case of sabotage. As far as I can tell everything is running fine. The standard Jump nausea has passed so it should all be fine, but I will keep a watch on everything anyway.
The view of Ucella Town as seen during the approach.
We reach our destination without incident and plan to land at the D-class star port, as we radio for landing permission, we are instead directed to land in a nearby playing field next to the river, we request authorisation to refuel from the river which is granted. LSP have had an accident of some kind is what we have been told. The star port will send trucks to us for unloading our cargo. Junebug decides to stand guard on-board for this as she is again suspicious. As we come in for our landing Chase makes a flyby the Star port which is no longer there, (smog causes visibility issues) but what we can see is a 10,000 ton freighter lying in what was the star port. We land and set up our hoses for the water refuel transfer.
I make quick check on all our power systems and all is good.
According to the star port staff LSP are crap, they have been planet-side for twenty years and own the star port for their freighters, but sometime within the last week one of them took off then crashed a few minutes later taking out the star port as well as the freighter. They are not overly forthcoming with information on repair times etc. The Merchants Hall is open for us to be able to acquire more standard cargo for our next stop.
There is nothing of note happening (aside form the crashed freighter) for the day that we are on the planet surface, no strange incidents, we do have Kimbley sniff at the cargo as it is loaded to check for anything untoward which is great practice for her.
We request launch approval and offer to pass on the information regarding the star port to Bularia which is our next stop. Our Jump this time was slightly more turbulent than usual and the nausea lasted a bit longer than normal as a result. I need another 8 week study period to up my Engineer(Power) to 2.
View on approach to Bularia Town
We reach 110 diameters from Bularia (due to Jump), and contact star port control for landing permission and are assigned docking pad 7. We are informed that refuelling is 100 credits per tone of unrefined fuel. We pass on the news about the star port on Ucella, and we are thanked for the news and told an advisory note would be issued. We land and offload our cargo and pay for some fuel. We don’t take any cargo from Bularia as our next stop does not have a star port but they seem very keen to sell us their grain, we ask if they can keep 20 tons of it for our return trip. Bularia is an agricultural world.
We all decide that this is a great opportunity to have some down time, 2-3 days, Chase heads to the pub to glean some information/gossip, and finds that a fair amount of non Imperial traffic comes through here from the Sword Worlds, Zodani and Darrians. Chase is approached by a journalist about the LSP freighter on Ucella but declines to give any information. He does ask about entertainment in the area and is told that there are dances and radio stations available and there is gambling as well (music and dancing is 1930's style). Chase tries out the gambling with a few bets and breaks even, while doing this he hears that pirate activity has increased which is unusual for Bularia. Traders have seen some action with laser scoring on the hulls. There is no specific route which stands out as being targetted. Masuyo and I offer to keep watch on the ship so Junebug can Get Kimbley out for some much needed fresh air and exercise and longer walks. Our downtime winds down and we plan for our next Jump.
Launch clearance is given and we perfectly plot and execute our Jump. The trip is smooth and we all continue with our training/education. We emerge from Jump and a familiar level of static comes across on comms. We head for the systems gas giant as fast as possible, as the jamming affects the sensors too. We all dash for the windows to see if we can visually see anything unexpected, Cyn tries the sensors again but we are sitting in a ball of static and it's no use. Possible pirate activity, there are no active scans only passive ones. The jamming does appear to be coming from the plant we have been sent to survey, which seem to have a frontier style installation. We put the gas giant between us and the planet and any further scans do not net us and further information. The jamming does not appear to be affecting any of the other plants in the system, so we discuss our options for approaching the plant. We talk about trying to approach when the installation is on the dark side of the plant but as it is tidally locked to the gas giant this is not an option. we decide to approach with minimal systems online to leave as little signature as possible for any scans, which will essentially make us appear as a falling rock. as we will be running with very minimal life support we all put on our Vacc suits and put Kimbley into an emergency Vacc ball, then we turn off all no essential systems and head for the planet. We aim for a near miss by the installation so we can try and land on the backside of the planet as fast as possible.
We plot a course for Iderati and we aim to drop out of Jump close to the gas giant to scoop some fuel before making our landing on the planet.
203-1195 - The engines(Jump, maneuver and power) are all operating smoothly. In fact they are running slightly better than on the Jump between Flammarion and Debarre.
Our present Jump is progressing smoothly and during the Jump we decide to land at the low star port to offload the Debarren Bear. Our exit from Jump close to the gas giant puts us around three days out from Iderati, Masuyo contacts Star port control to alert them to our presence and our intention to gather fuel from their gas giant before requesting a berth in the low star port and giving them a quick report. Tharbin successfully scoops some unrefined fuel for processing.
While we are travelling towards Iderati we find out that they have and A class star port, a dense atmosphere so masks may be required and a lot of oceans, we are not allowed to carry weapons or armour as they have a Law level of 8. We are assigned berth 36 after letting them know that we have the Bear on board which is tranquillised. We have a good landing and an official is heading towards us with all of the relevant paperwork of customs etc., Masuyo pays the docking fees from her own personal funds on this occasion. we have 20 tonnes of standard cargo to be offloaded to the Merchants Hall and the Brokerage may be the best place for us to sell the Bear. The official asks if we need any supplies and she replies with a not right now we are here for about one week.
We get 18,000 credits for the cargo we brought, and we split up to do our own thing. I receive an email:
To: Fiorana
From: Sir Mamon Wakisha, Head of Imperial Naval Liaison Iderati
Re: A proposal
In appreciation of your significant actions in support of the Imperium (in particular your efforts on board on the Nicholas de Nicolay), I'd like to invite you and your crewmates to an informal dinner to reminisce and discuss an opportunity.
Sir Mamon Wakisha
We get an offer of 4,000 credits for the Bear, we know we can get more for it but that will take longer and we may have to transport it elsewhere so for the sake of convenience to us we sell it but tell the buyer they have to collect it or pay us more for delivery. the buyer opts to collect it but tells us it may take a few days to organise transport for it.
I tell the rest of the crew about the email I received and Masuyo is instantly suspicious why I am I getting this email and not the Captain of the The Hope? Who is the person sending it? She then does some research and it seems that the email is in fact legitimate, she also finds out that he is quite high in the Chain of Command for the sub-sector, he is in fact the Knight in charge, I find out when and where this dinner is to be held, and what kind of dress code is required, We need to be clean neat and tidy, smart clothing but not dress uniform. The dinner is to be held two days hence at his personal estate.
Earl heads to the market to mosey around, whilst Cyn heads out to the pub, they both kind of get similar information, we are near the edge of The Imperium, no trouble is expected in the area, there are the occasional Sword World travellers for trade but nothing more dramatic and there are no reports of Zhodani ships.
We decide who is attending the dinner with me and Earl decides to stay behind while the rest of us go, we call for a taxi to take us. We arrive at the estate and are greeted by Mamon Wakisha, he takes us inside and makes sure we all have a drink, then he asks us about our recent adventures and talks about the events on the Nicholas de Nicola, it turns out that he chose to crew rosters for the trip out to Leviathan. Masuyo notes that I am being treated as nobility by him even though I am not. We openly tell him about what we have been up to since we became a detached scout unit and he seems to be very impressed about our rescue of the town in danger from the volcano. he then moves on to tell us that he is not impressed with the Nobility and Navy on Iderati, but he has no real clout to make any real changes in the sub-sector. We finally get to the reason he invited us and it seems he has recently come across some conflicting reports on the planet 886-945 one report E800000-0 states that there is an atmosphere and water but no people and E833000-0 states that there is no atmosphere and water, he offers us 250000 credits to investigate and carry out a more thorough survey of the planet for him. we discuss potential travel routes one of which would take us to Gothe which has a Law level of 11 and we are vert reluctant to take this route so we check for alternatives. I negotiate with Mamon and he agrees to 300000 credits or he can arrange for a weapon for the ship. We agree to take the job but ask him for some time so we can discuss which reparation option we want to choose, this seems to impress him.
After quite a bit of discussion we opt to take the money, and as for the question on Annual or Monthly maintenance for the Hop we opt for the yearly maintenance and aim to get her in at around 50 weeks.
A view of 886-945 from the first scout report
A view of 886-945 from the second scout report
We have a few questions for Mamon:
The reason he has asked us to investigate is that he would like to know if the planet is habitable, he has only recently found to two conflicting reports which is why we are being asked to carry out this task now. From the reports he has it seems there are no people, infrastructure or Government etc. We make the final agreement and officially accept the mission. We take on some standard cargo for our next stop.
Jump route Iderati → Ucella → Bularia → 886-945.
Vessel spotted over Flammarion. Probably some noble's overengineered streamlined fighter (it certainly doesn't look all that practical!)
176-1105, (Preparations to depart): I have been given a post-refit report on the Vagabonds Hope. While the navy didn't have time to do much with the decor they did renew all the engineering electronics and computer systems (including the military sensor package). These *should* all be in tip-top condition but the report does warn me that the Vagabonds Hope's first flight after refit should be treated as a shake-down cruise to identify any remaining (or new) problems.
Extra information gleaned from the drinks shared with the Naval grunts on Flammarion, they were surprised that their training regimen has remained the same for the past several years, despite the slow and steady increase in sightings of both Zhodani and Sword World vessels in local group of non aligned systems.
Masuyo graciously purchases me an auto-pistol as I only have my static blade, Cyndariel buys some psionic inhibiting drug for the crew and is testing it in her Lab to see if it can be replicated, Junebug and Tharbin both purchase a hunting rifle each so we can hunt the bears on Debarre. The bears are armoured and we want to try and capture one alive
We prepare to depart after loading the mails and cargo for Debarre, we successfully take off, and Tharbin successfully plots our jump co-ordinates for when we reach 100 diameters to perform the jump. I ask Junebug to give me some lessons in using my new my new auto-pistol, she agrees and we set up a practice range in the common area.
Six days into the Jump and I am carrying out a routine check on our power systems, all is fine except for a marginally higher than normal reading, but as we are on our shake-down cruise this may be the new normal for our renewed systems. I decide to monitor it just to be sure.
In your dream you’re desperately trying to fiddle with the sensor controls – the results are all off the scale. Insight the sensor readings upon entering the Debarre System align with the dream scenario.
A Debarrean Bear
In your dream tonight you're in a forest, feeling worried – Is that a bear? Or worse?
Both Chase and Earl tell us they have experienced strange dreams again and I exclaim "Is this another one of your prophetic dreams?"
We plan to land and take some time away from the ship and the damn white box!
Our last day in Jump is uneventful and proceeding normally until...
The sensors (civilian) are overwhelmed with an unusually high amount of static, comms are out and we cannot contact any other ships in the system nor the Star port. The guys in the cockpit try and use the new military sensors to try and pick the origin of the sensory overload, Tharbin finally succeeds in getting the location, it is coming from an island to the north of the Star port. There are a couple of other ships in the system and at the Star port according to our sensors, one of the ships at 100 diameters out is currently stationary, we have also established that this does not appear to a normal type of static. We decide to go ahead and make for the Star port and land in an empty bay, Tharbin and Masuyo prepare to disembark and talk to Star port officials to find out what the hell is going on, the rest stay aboard for the time being.
There is a Star port official waiting impatiently outside our ship and he does not appear to be happy by our sudden appearance, "What the hell is going on?" Masuyo explains what happened as we exited our Jump in system and asks if there is a problem from the surface, "I was hoping you could tell us, it only happened when you guys showed up."... "We thought it was you that was causing it and would ask you turn it off but you seem to be as in the dark as us." They both then explain that we have managed to locate the source of the static and he seems very surprised, we can't get any signals out or in all of our comms are currently jammed, our sensors cant pick anything up because they are not working, everything is offline for the moment. Masuyo and Tharbin threaten to leave with the intended mails and cargo for the planet as they are not happy with the Star port officials attitude, "NO, no that won't be necessary," as his demeanour changes to a more friendly one, he explains that it has been some time since they have had any mail or fresh cargo delivered (we get paid 60,000 credits). As the signal is new and not natural, but only seems to have started literally seconds after we entered the system it may have something to do with the white box aboard our ship??? They ask after the stationary ship we passed on the way in and it is a Safari class ship of hunters who are on their way out of system on the way to Iderate after hunting bears planet side.
Tharbin and Masuyo offer to investigate the strange signal in return the Star port will refuel our ship as payment, it is agreed but the official persists in stating that the island is just that a forested and uninhabited (except for the wildlife) island why would any kind of signal be coming from it? Earl heads down to prepare the launch for the trip.
We all get ready to depart after a sharing of the conversation and the plan of action, we equip armour and weapons as well as our breathing masks and any other relevant equipment needed, for me this is my Laptop and toolkit, We fly north toward the island and fly around a couple of times to take readings and take note of any visual anomalies. We find a suitable landing site in the south west corner of the island. Our flyover reveal some kind of ruin and only helps to confirm that this is location of the strange signal. We set the ship down at the chosen landing site.
The current location's name, UWP and the current game date are used to initialise the psuedo-random number generator
These details are used to determine what is available and its price
These details are used to determine the number of passengers, the amount of standard freight and mail, and the estimated price at the destination
There are no passengers waiting to travel.There is a passenger waiting to travel:There are some passengers waiting to travel:
There is no freight waiting to be transported.There is some freight waiting to be transported. The following lots are available:
You have not been selected to transport any mail.
You failed to find a supplier or broker for speculative trade
You have found a Black Market supplier. The available goods and prices are:
DJV's Mongoose Traveller V2 Trade Plugin Version 3.324.0. View the Change History.
In preparation for running a new Traveller Campaign, The GK Strategem, I've created a Mongoose Traveller V2 Character Creator and a Trade Calculator. This new campaign will be in an alternate universe to that described below (mostly because my memory of those campaigns has faded to the level of mostly gone!)
I have, on and off, over the last couple of decades run a traveller campaign. Some players have expressed an interest in the timeline, so let's see if I can reproduce it from my limited memory.
As should be noted I run with a different universe to that of either Traveller or MegaTraveller. In my universe the Zhodani won the fifth frontier war and the Civil War never happened (and neither did the virus). I have used the virus as an alternative universe (unsurprisingly the players had needed some encouragement to do the 'right' thing!)
At the time of my latest campaign (dated 1150), the Zhodani/Imperial cold war was just beginning to end. Some more normal contact was being resumed between the Zhodani and the Imperium and there were those considering resuming a 'normal' postal service.
The Vargr were being their usual nuisance to all concerned.
The Sword worlds were worried that they were about to be abandoned by the Zhodani.
The Darrians have had a problem for the last thirty years. How do you convince someone that you didn't blow up twelve stars when your entire defence strategy depends on your enemies knowing that you can!
More and more Aslan have begun to be seen in the Spinward Marches after decades of absence. They pointedly kept out of the fifth frontier war and appear to want to take advantage of the trade possibilities of being a neutral player between the Zhodani and the Imperium.
An important element in at least two or more of my campaign has been (and may be still is!) the fred computer system. Fred comes in a 20-ton cargo package. Intelligence reports that it contains a TL20 sentient computer system and packs some pretty impressive systems:
Last updated: September 8, 2025 at 14:02 pm
Once all are aboard & the cargo secured, the launch returns to spaceport taking approximately 8 hrs for the return, Tharbin keeps a watch full eye on the bear for the duration of the trip back. Earl makes a rough landing next to the Vagabond, scraping the perimeter fence.
On arrival at the space port, Cyndariel briefs Earl as captain, that an irate captain Grimstone, whose ship was attempting to jump out of system, is claiming compensation as he blames the issues on us, as all the troubles coincided with our arrival. On cue the captain returns and engages in a heated argument with Earl, who stands his ground and points out that the phenonium was not caused by us and in fact we are currently engaged in trying to sort it out.
Tharbin & Earl return to the launch and head back to the site, after loading the white box discreetly. Whilst Chase is checked over by Cyndariel and administered pain killers then instructed to rest in quarters.
Cyndariel tends to the bear's nourishment over the coming weeks as we wait for something to happen, as well as feeding Kimbley using the ship rations.
Kalinda
Kalinda (human) an agent of the sentinel’s arrives a few weeks later and is confronted by Masuyo, who insists on a briefing on what the cargo / box is. The agent eventually discloses her patron is an Ancient and the box is from another ancient, and in fact the war is not over between the ancients, just gone quiet. The agent & Masuyo oversee the destruction of the box which lifts the communications blockade. After the completion of this task a discussion takes place as Kalinda’s patrons would like to keep this event quiet and out of the imperium’s spotlight.
A plan is hatched and agreed by all present, which involves some diversion tactics and cover story. A location with a hunting lodge has been chosen to be set up as the dummy location of the signal origins, before it is conveniently destroyed by rock/meteor, which will be arranged by Kalinda’s ship.
