Game Date

150-1105

Location

567-908

Deck Plan of the remains of the Vigilant Star (click on the plan for a larger version)

After boarding the launch and exiting Vagabonds Hope we make our way to the location of the Vigilant Star, and as we approach we see that the entire front section of the ship appears to have been sheared off and we can see into some of the staterooms on board. We hail the ship as SOP, but get no response. It appears that we will have to use our Vacc Suits to get to the other ship as there are no hatches for us to connect to. We get the launch into position and fire a magnetic grappler over to anchor the tether and then we make our way across, I communicate to Cyndariel to stay on standby whilst we make an initial re-con of the other ship. Cyndariel the relays our plan and current position to our own crew aboard the Vagabonds Hope.

I am first to attach my line and make my way across followed by Earl, we enter into a cabin. it is in reasonable condition, a piece of paper floats away from our passage so i grab it and it shows the flight plans of the Vigilant Star. We are in the cabin of Niamon Eirak and the paper has the Jump calculations the he has made. I take a copy of it and send it to Tharbin to see if he can give any more information on it.

In the cabin of Niamon Eirak can be found calculations for jumps:

In the meantime Earl has continued to explore and finds some cargo containers and I make my way along the outside of the ship to see if i can find any other access points we missed on our initial pass with the Launch. We get a call from Masuyo telling us to be exceedingly careful and stay in a group if at all possible so I make my way back into the ship to regroup with Earl and I also ask for Cyndariel and Junebug to join us at their earliest convenience. Cyndariel suits up and joins us right away but Junebug is tied up with something else and will join us as soon as she is free. We do have gravity on board with a vacuum but no power. With both Earl and I in the cargo area we can cover more space quickly and make short work of that exploration. The crates weigh a few hundred kilos each and most of them have a lot of stickers all over them with various destinations but the majority of them are destined for Flammarion. Thankfully the grav plates are still functioning but the Atmosphere has vented out into space. On her way to us Cyndariel has found an engineers cabin, determined by the debris floating around inside. Earl suddenly comes across another cargo container but this one is very different from the others, there is no location label and there is no obvious method to get into the crate. We spot some airlocks south of our position so we approach and find an iris lock, as there is no power Earl accesses the manual override to get it open, we find the engine room on the other side which has the dead engineer and a terminal which seems to have some power. I access the terminal and a name pops up CAPTAIN KEALIN VEXAR of the BLACK SWAN, I read it out and Earl instantly recognises the name.

We have all the information we can get from here for the time being so we continue to check the ship for possible survivors, Cyndariel has confirmed the cause of death was rapid decompression. The next alcove leads to a ladder to the next deck up and I make make my way up to the hatch and access the manual override to open it. in the corridor here we find sveral empty passenger cabins and Cyndariel finds the Captains cabin in which there is handwritten notes in a small notebook labelled "1105-".

Captain's Notes for 1105

The route from the Captain's Log plus the computed jump from Ator to Flammarion). Click on the map for a larger version

Stave (Spinward Marches 0710)

Date of Departure	010-1105
Duration	4 days in-system
Purpose	Stopover to celebrate Prime Day - even if we arrived on 006-1105!
Notes	Shame we're on this primitive world but at least the beach is a very pleasant stopover (and the locals do have some interesting alcoholic drinks).

Terra Nova (Spinward Marches 0511)

Date of Departure	019-1105
Duration	2 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	Our one stop in the Zhodani Consulate on this tour. Papers all in order and no problems negotiating for our new cargo.

Mizen-fel (Spinward Marches 0311)

Date of Departure	029-1105
Duration	3 days in-system
Purpose	Routine fuelling and maintenance stopover
Notes	A minor delay due to unforeseen cargo issues, but all cleared up while the fuel purifier did its work

Prinx (Spinward Marches 0212)

Date of Departure	038-1105
Duration	2 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	Smooth transactions with local merchant guilds; we took on a shipment of rare, high-quality minerals from the Prinxian mines.

Yiktor (Spinward Marches 0114)

Date of Departure	046-1105
Duration	1 day in-system
Purpose	Brief stopover for crew R&R
Notes	A group of our crew members took part in a popular underwater sports event, which was...illuminating, to say the least.

Rushu (Spinward Marches 0215)

Date of Departure	056-1105
Duration	3 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	A successful transaction with local merchant guilds; we took on a shipment of rare, exotic spices from the Rushuan plantations.

Attica (Spinward Marches 0414)

Date of Departure	064-1105
Duration	2 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	Local merchants quite cagey but we made a profit from the minerals and spices.

Retinae (Spinward Marches 0416)

Date of departure	072-1105
Duration	1 day in-system
Purpose	Delivery of supplies
Notes	While the research remains classified (and I "don't have the required security clearance") I was asked to carry a cargo all the way to Andor (and personally deliver it to the star port on the planet's surface!). The accompanying paperwork is in order (including authorisation from the 208th Imperial Fleet). I've agreed to take the cargo but to be on the safe side I'll route via Flammarion and consult with Mr. Casarii since the penalties for violating the Imperial Interdiction are quite severe.

Faisal (Spinward Marches 0518)

Date of departure	082-1105
Duration	3 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	Picked up unrefined ores for Dekalb. A vessel of a few thousand tons spotted leaving system but no record of it present in the star port’s (hand-written!) records.

Dekalb (Spinward Marches 0618)

Date of Departure	091-1105
Duration	2 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	A smooth cargo delivery - the local stevedores are very efficient!

Winston (Spinward Marches 0620)

Date of Departure	099-1105
Duration	1 day in-system
Purpose	Brief stopover for minor repairs
Notes	Jump Drive capacitors needed adjustment; Kaida reports the 'refined' fuel we bought on Dekalb had a very high concentration of Deuterium which affected the jump.

Terant 340 (Spinward Marches 0622)

Date of Departure	109-1105
Duration	3 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	A successful transaction with local merchant guilds; we took on a shipment of rare, exotic spices from the Terantian plantations.

Jacent (Spinward Marches 0624)

Date of Departure	118-1105
Duration	2 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	A smooth transaction with local merchant guilds; we took on a shipment of high-quality textiles from the Jacentian textile mills in exchange from the spices from Terant 340.

Rorre (Spinward Marches 0526)

Date of Departure	126-1105
Duration	1 day in-system
Purpose	Brief stopover for crew R&R
Notes	We allowed our crew members to take part in a popular recreational activity, which provided some much-needed relaxation.

Darrian (Spinward Marches 0627)

Date of Departure	136-1105
Duration	3 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	A successful transaction with local merchant guilds; we took on a shipment of rare, exotic minerals from the Darrian mines in exchange for the Jacent textiles (though the profit margin on the textiles was quite low).

Ator (Spinward Marches 0729)

Date of Departure	145-1105
Duration	2 days in-system
Purpose	Commercial trade exchange and cargo delivery
Notes	A smooth transaction with local merchant guilds; we took on a three ton shipment of redundant electronic components. They may be scrap but the shipyards at Flammarion's highport will pay enough for them for us to make a significant profit.

I open the iris valve to the common area which has another empty cabin, I come across another body which i search for ID and request Cyndariel have a look at the body, again cod is rapid decompression. She was Elara Aurora a courier from the Federation of Arden on her way to Iderate, there is no indication as to why she was aboard this ship. was she working to pay her passage, she is carrying encrypted documents on her which we decide to take with us. The Captains cabin also had an encrypted crystal which we also take with us. throughout our entire search we have not found a shipping manifest. Junebug has finally made it on board with us as as she approaches the strange create she has bad feeling about it. Having found no survivors we contact the Vagabonds Hope to request they put in a salvage claim for us so we can tow the wreckage back into the range of the plant and scavenge what we can from the derelict.

We get back aboard our Launch and set up the tow to get the Vigilant star onto orbit around 567-908, as we begin we get confirmation that our salvage claim is successful, it will take around one day for us the get it into a rough geosynchronous orbit over the settlement. Masuyo requests that we load the unmarked cargo crate onto the Launch and to take any and all suspicious materials down to surface with us. We get the Vigilant Star into a relatively stable orbit. Masuyo and Tharbin traced the route of the Star back to Zodani Space skirting Querion Darrian - it appears that a mis jump brought them to 567-908 and this is what caused the ship to be sheared apart. After landing Junebug tells us all about the bad feeling she has around the crate but cant explain why it make her feel this way so she asks those of us affected by the singers performance aboard the Liner to get close and see if we also get the same reaction and now that we have to time to focus on it we do in fact get the same strange feeling around it. What is inside? we need to get it open.

We drop off the cargo we picked up from Walston and Masuyo is offered a strange crystal for 2,750 from our cargo takings so she buys it. When she gets back she asks me to take a look at the maneuver drive to see if I can coax some more power out of it, i make moderately successful attempt it's not 100% but it is an improvement. Earl suggests the Junebug have Kimbley take a sniff at the strange container and she suspects that he is also having a strange reaction to it

Vagabonds Hope is refuelled and ready to go, all salvage has been recovers and loaded. we make our Jump successfully and continue our training from the previous jump.

Game Date

308-1105

Location

Elixabeth → Grote → Smoug

The Hope is orbiting Elixabeth, can we go to the surface to refuel from the sea​?

The Anya Vaska is heading to last known location of freighters along with the Zairlur. They have been warned by Masuyo not to trust them. Meanwhile Earl orders Chase to head for the surface, and the rest of the crew to carry out any and all repairs: I look into what needs to be done.

Why are the Imperial ships here? Reason is Viscount wanted more information and was doing a Tour of the area around edge of Third Imperium, which has been getting raided recently, but no raiders here now. He was given two ships as an escort, but everything seems too convenient about the whole situation as we don't have much information on the Viscount. We decide to put down on the surface of the water as it is tidally locked, we land closer to the desert edge of the water. We take on enough to refuel for a Jump 2: We are discussing our next move and where we are going. We think the best option is to head back into the Imperium, the only thing left to decide where we want to finish up?

The Anya Vaska is launching small ships towards the freighters and Zairlur is launching fighters to act as cover for them. The Anya Vaska has arrived in position and the freighters launch missiles, which is not unexpected by us. Most of the small craft are out of action, the Anya Vaska is badly damaged but fires one final shot and takes out one of the freighters. Jump points are forming, a number of ships are emerging from the Jump points, but the radio chatter suggests they are not friendly.

The Zairlur under attack

We have enough fuel on board for refining and we lift off and head off for the pole to put the planet between us and the ships coming into system. A 100,000 ton ship (which was at Iderati), two 20,000 ton ships and a host of smaller ships ranging in size, the ships are Zhodani. We launch on our planned course to leave system towards Grote. Active scans are being carried out over last half an hour before we Jump. No other Jump capable ships around Elixabeth. The Anya Vaska is a complete wreck. The 3,000 ton freighters no longer exist, One of the 20,000 ton ships is very badly damaged as is the Zairlur, the other 20,000 ton ships looks to carrying out a boarding action overlooked by the 100,000 ton ship¹.

Captain Earl receives a message from Vexar. We make a successful Jump. The Captain decides our final destination will depend on what happens when we arrive at Grote, then adjourns the meeting. We have an impromptu celebration for our escape.

A small amount of activity in the system as we arrive, a couple of 200 ton ships in system, one is about to leave and the other is in orbit around Grote. The decision is made to go to the Star Port to get refined fuel. Masuyo contacts SP control to request permission to land, which is given, There are several incoming messages offering us fuel, we choose the closest one to our landing pad. 20,000 credits for the fuel. A very gentle landing ensues. There seems to be no real organisation at the SP and it takes a while to get the fuel line connected. Masuyo and Tharbin arrange a meeting with SP manager to pass on the news of the conflict Masuyo stays behind but Junebug goes along for added security, Earl loans Junebug his slug pistol.

The air raft arrives to take them to their meeting, Tharbin asks Junebug to secure the area and keep an eye on things. Tharbin tells the SP manager about what happened at Elixabeth and we felt it was necessary to pass the information to at least alert them of the potential danger. He asks about the Viscount, a flicker of recognition at the name but denies any knowledge of him passing through. Is anyone heading to Marastan any time soon, so we can forward a message to them, but they only get things in regularly from Mithras, essential supplies. Can we send a data package? We can email a message using the automated messaging service installed at every SP. SP manager unaware of a war going on. Asking SP manager not to broadcast any messages until after we leave. He wishes us a pleasant onward journey. Tharbin leaves with Junebug. Tharbin comms the Hope that the people here have no idea what is going on.

Refuelling is complete team were reasonably efficient. Our next Jump destination is Smoug and we successfully make the Jump.

DJV's Traveller Message Tracker Plugin Version 3.380.0. For details on the assumptions made by the tracker see the description at Traveller News/Email tracker Plugin Details.

Game Date

299-1105

Location

Datrillian → Elixabeth

We have completed 8 weeks of education. I managed to level up my Engineer (Power) to 2. Two study periods completed. will need 3 training sessions for next level. My next study period will be in Gun Combat (slug) for level 1.

Cyn chats with his patient to try and get some more information, he is willing to share some information as recompense for the care she provided him.

We emerge into the Datrillian system and run a passive scan, there is the Gas Giant + 3 ships in system. We plot course for Gas Giant for refuelling and our sensors pick up nothing initially. We get into range for collecting our fuel and this time sensors pick up something else in the outer edge of the atmosphere, it is less than 100 tons but it is maneuvring. We have gone as deep into the atmosphere as we are prepared to go, Masuyo asks me to speed up the process, I am not successful this time. But I will continue to work on it. If I fail it will lengthen the refining time by number of dice roll x 1 hour. Scooping is going well with only 20 minutes left. Fuel collected.

Departing the gas giant

I finally manage to reduce our refining time to 18 hours. so we determine that we need 12 hours more in Gas Giant before leaving atmosphere to head for jump point. Some of us decide to rest while fuel is refining. The strange vessel is apparently shadowing us and is transmitting data, it managed to somewhat catch up to us but our pilot has managed to out maneuver it among the moons around Gas Giant. A faint dot remains behind us and I have a vague memory from my naval career that gas giants can be mined by mineboats, 50 ton ships which are armed with sensor suites, weapons and are unmanned, working in concert around Gas Giants. We can jam it's comms, but it will give away our position. What can we jettison to cause a sensor confusion to aid our escape if necessary? The Vodka & air raft scrap are prepared by the airlocks for potential jettisoning. All non required crew work on this.

Chase does appear to be keeping ahead of the object enough that it cannot get a targeting solution. How close does it have to be to get a lock on us? As we are most of the way to the jump point hopefully this precautionary measure will not be necessary. We are managing to keep ahead of it. We make it to the jump point and successfully Jump to Elixabeth. (Jump 2).

The Jump to Elixabeth and our exit for Jump are both smooth. Two Imperial ships are near High Port. We comm them re Invasion, but they inform us we are not able to land, but they do appear to be concerned about our report. The Anya Vaaska (3,000 ton) asks us to bear on a 260 heading. We are to be boarded. We need our passenger on bridge ASAP. We rendezvous with the shuttle which docks with us and we welcome crew aboard, we all take them to the common room while others search ship. They wish to verify our ID's which all marry up. Nothing flagging up wrongly. Navy guy is searching for contraband but they find none aboard.

We are ordered to pull up alongside the destroyer while inquiry carried out. Viscount Lim needs the information we have for him ASAP this matter needs dealt with now. Navy Lt comms the Cruiser Zairlur and lets us know that we will get him transferred. The inquiry will be carried out here also. We scrape some paint from the cruiser as we pull up alongside it, the Zairlur is 54,000 tons.

Game Date

283-1105

Location

567-908 → Bowman

Most of us continue with our studies while in jump space

Our paranoia is high throughout our jumps due to the nature of our departure from the invasion zone. We all take up appropriate stations as we approach our exit point. Masuyo hears comms from another scout ship the Ready Reckoner which is about to take off, she contacts them and asks for a meeting asking them to stay for a while and wait for us, but another ship enters system. A system wide announcement from the Zhodani ship, This is Fleet Courier Sovereign Sentinel, this system is now under the protection of the Zhodani protectorate, all vessels are to please land on the planet for inspection. or some such.

Long range view of the battle

We are too far away for them to wait so we tight beam a package to them as they take off and threaten the Zhodani ship, Tharbin surreptitiously asks if we should tell them where we are going? No. There are two ships on planet and the 400 ton ship that just entered behind us. The new arrival runs an active scan and we also run a scan back. The Ready Reckoner and the Zhodani ship begin to trade fire in an all out space battle.

Can we go under water, if so how far and for how long? We can but only but to about 6 feet or so, we debate our options. Hide in the ocean, pose as Merchants or hide in asteroids. We opt to skim the ocean then head for the asteroids to refine fuel then jump 1 for Bowman. We cut our skim time to 45 mins.

The fight between the Zhodani & Ready Reckoner continues and we make our way toward the asteroid belt. After a while the Ready Reckoner is disabled and lies dead in space.

Captain has been sent an email¹, x2 from Scout Service & Anders Casari, and an email to Junebug re Thaddeus Kessler:

The bowman system has five asteroid belts. This image shows one of them in the distance while the asteroid used as cover is visible nearby

Bowman is our destination We use the asteroid field to help disguise our departure, we wait 8 hours for star port to get around the terminator of the planets rotation then we make our escape. The passenger demands to know what is happening and is promptly told to sit down and shut up and not ask questions. He is not happy about it.

Junebug is composing emails, I would like to resume training.

Marines aware of a connection between Kessler & Vexar. Data Drive has a personal appeal recording from the Viscount. The other half of the data is about the state of Imperium of Spinward Marches & Darrian Confederation, Sword Worlds, 5 sisters & District 268.

Engines are in good condition. We approach our exit point, we emerge successfully, around 30 mins from gas giant Bowman Prime, passive scans, we tight beam the Scout base with our information on Zhodani Invasion and send them the info. No refined fuel available for us as the belters bought it all up. Masuyo warns them about possible Zhodani ships entering the systems due to what happened at 567-908. We plan to refuel at the Gas Giant and to Jump to Datrillian, then on to Elixabeth. Refuelling complete, we plot our course and enter Jump Space. We let our passenger know that we are now heading directly to Elixabeth as his info is now considered vital at this point.

Game Date

267-1105

Location

Iderati

Excerpt from Automated Security System - Docking Area 4 log

Game Date

267-1105

Location

Iderati

We are in a maintenance tunnel, heading for the transit tunnel. The floor trembles slightly, something hit the station? A door opens ahead of us. We hear 4 soft pops and the person in front of us slumps to the ground we then hear a door in action, Tharbin peeks to the right and sees a locked door. Tharbin can see some type of cycling lights green then back to red for locked. Tharbin opens the door in front of him with maintenance equipment inside. Earl talks to the injured man but he is struggling to speak. The door is still cycling . The door to the left is the maintenance area. Tharbin vaguely recognises the injured man, so he searches his pockets and finds data chip and a device for the door. He shouts "Viscount Lim of New Rome" when Tharbin picks up the data chip. Cyn patches up the injured man, he has some bullet wounds but it looks like something else may be at fault than just the bullet wounds. The gaps in the door lights is getting longer. Earl asks which direction to the docking area but no-one sees.

Someone is trying to get through the door. I can't reach the door to stop whomever may be trying to get through it. Tharbin and Cyn support the injured man to the West away from potential danger. The door to the East is now open. The injured man is searching for something so Tharbin gives him the device back and he opens a door. I move to cover their retreat into the open door. Inside the room there are racks of tools and power tools along with a powered trolley and Vacc suits, door to the North currently locked. Chase hears a bullet whizz passed him from the East, Tharbin asks the quickest way to our ship, he vaguely points to the North, Tharbin comms the location of the room with the Vacc suits and advises us to group up to put on the Vacc suits, we do so and close the door behind us.

(Body pistol) PM aiming down the corridor. Earl takes a shot at the Portside Manager and misses. Door closing (Masuyo only). Tharbin prepares to close the door and I plan to hit it to essentially lock it. Chase looks at the truck and sees that it can be driven and will automatically open doors in front of it as it moves, Cyn re-examines the unconscious man and determines that the bullets were laced with some kind of sedative. Masuyo pokes head around corner, the door closed and locked. There is atmo beyond North door. The team start putting on Vacc suits. I take out my biggest wrench and smash the control panel. We search the room for straps to secure the injured man on the flatbed. We also found an oxyacetylene torch, but only a small one.

Masuyo drives the buggy, there have been one or two more trembles indicating impacts. The door leads to a transit tunnel. 500 meters to docking pod. 100 meters ahead one of the doors does not open automatically, I check the door area is open to vacuum and there is debris inside. We close the bulkhead behind us and I override the bulkhead in front, thankfully we don't get an explosive decompression but not as controlled as I would have liked. We can take the buggy with us, but decide to leave it behind and carry the injured man by hand. This area has taken a hit. hence the debris, 360 meters to go. We move up to the next bulkhead which is also closed, again a vacuum beyond this one too. We get the doors open but there are more tremors as we proceed. We make good progress, next bulkhead has atmo so a little more troublesome to open. Everyone prepares just in case, I finesse the door open and we all move through move on, next one is pressurised but we decide to continue depressurising as we go, this continues until we reach Docking area 4, but we will enter another area we can use as an airlock, we depressurise, enter then repressurise so we can enter the Docking Bay. We keep on the Vacc suits just in case.

Docking Bay 4. Our heroes can (just) be seen at the top right of the image

The Hope is on pad 14, there is a lot of activity, ships preparing for launch and shots being fired in the area. We formulate a plan Cyn and myself will carry the injured man up between pads 9, 10, 11, 12 then head towards 19 before making our way to The Hope. The others will head for 8 and offer some assistance and provide us some cover. We also discuss taking some of the milling people aboard The Hope with us. We take off our Vacc suits while talking over the plan.