Game Date

267-1105

Location

Iderati

The layout of the area in front of the transit tube entrance. This image doesn't show the explosion which has just occured in front of the red tape that is in front of transit tube entrance itself (middle left of this image) nor the profusion of prone and staggering people scattered around the scene of the explosion. Our heroes have just arrived on the moving walkway at the top of this image.

Junebug spots what she believes is a terrorist & throws her dagger at him & he slumps to the ground as Junebug shouts for all the civilians to stay away Earl shot at terrorist & missed, I move but decide not to take a shot as there a couple of civilians in the way. Security shout for everyone to get down. Chase moves into range and also just holds position as too many civilians - Junebug is shot by someone in a security uniform but it disintegrates on her Vacc suit: Cyn moves into cover and ducks down. A shout of You Bastard & a shot at Junebug which misses, but hits the civilian next to her. Another shot misses Junebug & hits civilian who drops to the ground. Cyn moves to assess the situation ready to jump in and offer medical aid. More shots come Junebug's way from the security team. Chase tells the civilian near him to get down behind him. I move into a position where I can shoot & take my shot & terrorist 1 & kill him - Masuyo shouts telling security here to help then moves & points weapon at Terrorist 2 & says drop the weapon or next shot is through your brain. Earl also tells security we are engaging the enemy as detached scouts.

Security reiterates Everybody get down. Earl tries to get security to stand down but they reply You stand down. I move closer to cover my crew mates. Security shoots the 2nd Terrorist & he falls unconscious - Junebug asks for her blades ack, but security refuse. Medical teams arrive, Earl presents ID to Security to prove our authenticity, Cyn checks on passenger & helps stabilises them, then revives to Terrorist to ask a few questions The Tactical team arrive & take the body & now conscious Terrorist into custody while giving sly glances at Junebug. Cyn makes note that the quality of the weapon is somewhat shabby & has potentially been smuggled aboard. Masuyo is people watching to see if anyone is acting suspiciously or trying to assess the damage, there are a couple but not sure if there are co-conspirators or not. They could just be curious. No one in or out through the docking area. The ship crews are arguing with Security about getting back to their ships, there are other ways to get through to docking via maintenance shafts.

Security eventually approach us, Chase is asked for his ID which he provides, Earl provides his ID, a less friendly security guy approaches me: Oh one sec I've got them here somewhere, I frantically pat my pockets & then search my backpack then give them over. Can you explain your actions, please. I explain, but get arrested anyway. Junebug is arrested too. asking for someone to look after Kimbley. Earl requests to know where the holding area is, but is ignored Masuyo cites Imperial law & they reluctantly provide the info & then she asks to accompany us as the ships Lawyer. Earl tries to somewhat diffuse the situation asking what there to do for fun around here and asks about nearest drinking establishment is but it is closed. The holo screens change to a news report: Many Jump emergences near Gas Giant & a fleet is amassing. Earl is not sure which ships they are, Cyn thinks they may be Imperial, but not sure. Masuyo tells them to keep studying the ships. Chase asks security about the news report & should he be worried. Yes you should is the response. The rest of the crew decides to head back to the ship. Masuyo speaks to senior officer with us. He threatens to throw us in the big until the new threat is dealt with Masuyo drops Mamon Wakisha name & tells them to contact him directly again citing Imp law about illegal arrest & imprisonment.

Still from a video news report claiming that it has been taken from on board a Imperial Starship moving to defend Iderati

Ships are not Imperial they are in fact Zhodani. Earl asks if they should return to ship or join us in Security centre, Masuyo tells them to join us over open comms - warning security not to take it as a threat & to expedite our trip to security centre D2. He goes into back office to make the call. then he comes back after a few minutes, How was the call? He was a little surprised to hear us involved in Terrorist activity, but not totally surprised. Security let us go - Masuyo asks me to call Mamon to see if he has any suggestions on how we may be able to help: We can see flashes in the window hear the Naval Base outside. Masuyo needs to send an urgent message to Glisten via X-boat and visits the X-boat office and is told No X-boat is here just now Anything leaving for next system with X-boat availability that you trust. None of them is the vehement reply. Masuyo calls Earl & asks him to come to the office that he would trust to take a comms packet. He prepares it for us to take to next X-boat point (Flammarion) ASAP, he provides orders to such.

Leave Message with Mamon's secretary that we are acting as an X- boat to Flammarion & will be back ASAP.

Can't get through, gate is jammed but explain to the security team that we need to get to ship ASAP as under orders he asks us to follow him & takes us to a maintenance area & gives us directions back to our ship.

Game Date

249-1105

Location

Bularia → Ucella → Iderati

Earl is keeping watch, Tharbin makes another attempt to submerge the ship but alas it fails, but we are far enough away to be out of any immediate visual range. We may be spotted if they send any more cutters out. Chase breaks radio silence with a request for help. A ship, the Darrian Conveyor responds asking the nature of the request and Chase explains our predicament and gives them his position. We run a search on them but have limited information. Chase explains that we have not been offered any assistance from the Star port staff. The Darrian Conveyor all seems to be above board. It is a bulk freighter of 3,000 tons so they can't offer any real assistance. Earl has more knowledge about our suspected pirate and he tells us he is exceedingly ruthless. Taking out the freighter would not turn a hair on his head. We decide to send a tight-beam comm to the freighter. We give them as much information as we have for the time being to warn them about the potential pirates at the Star port. The Darrian freighter needs to refuel and can only do so at the Star port as they can't refine their own fuel. We offer to hook them up and feed them the fuel they need. They want some kind of verification and we offer Chase as a form of security, which they accept.

A view of the 800 ton starship as it left Bularia

We bring the Hope to a stop & successfully submerge the ship to 60 feet beneath the surface. Chase lands the air-raft and tries to camouflage it somewhat. He can hear a smallish vessel coming using his bins he identifies a cutter & takes cover. The cutter fires its laser in his direction & some small fires erupt around him & he moves, but it comes around for another pass firing again getting very close to the air-raft, he continues to move away from it, the cutter breaks off and heads back to Star port. Chase gets back to air-raft to see if he can perform emergency repairs. It is flyable barely. He checks for any more cutters in the vicinity but thankfully sees none. It seems to have been a setup, proving that whoever is at the Star port is definitely trying to kill us. After looking around whilst moving, a large ship enters the atmosphere. Chase contacts the ship with a warning, but it turns out that this is the 3,000 ton Darrian Bulk Freighter Chase was supposed to meet, he gives them new co-ordinates for landing. He informs them about the attack on him & states air-raft is damaged and he needs to make emergency landing. He is told to land 1 mile south of Freighter. Turrets are pointed in his direction and several heavily armed men head towards Chase. He gets everything from raft & holds his hands up. He hands over all transcripts & recordings and all relevant info to prove we are not pirates. Going over all our info very thoroughly, but they are unable to verify our Scout status as they're not from the Imperium, they inform us a ship is taking off from the Star port. What size ship is 800 ton heading out of system? Not attacking. Pirate ship was 800 tons. The decision is made to head back to the Star port. We contact the Darrian ship, to let them know we are heading back to Star port, if you pick up a ship it is us. We will investigate & let you know, did you happen to catch an IFF on ship leaving? No IFF & not Darrian. At Star port a couple of 200 ton ships no cutters, in space an 800 ton ship close to Jump point, 3,000 ton in ship low orbit. Message transmitting from Pirate captain to Earl, threatening him & telling us he knows it was Earls' ship and implying that he may have left some friends behind to deal with us.

We land as close as we can to the Control centre facing the building so we can disembark under cover. Several civilians head towards our ship, we leave armed and demand names etc. They are the Star port staff, no casualties but they do inform us that the pirates wanted star port comms and were looking for the freighter we stopped from landing. They recognise the picture Earl shows them & he was in charge, they believe all 20 left. No security force, but may now get some. Darrian Confederacy would normally provide such. Junebug & Kimbley move through the buildings to check for any stragglers. Thankfully they don't seem to have left anyone behind. Darrian freighter informed and notified that they were the pirates target. They seemed surprised. Junebug checks for any booby traps Kimbley is distracted by an interesting smell, but no traps. 15 mins later the Darrian freighter lands safely. Trade goods incoming & taking back grain to Darrian, advise checking the cargo before loading. Potential hijacking is believed as reason for targeting the freighter. Chase is returned to us minus the air-raft which he tells us is damaged. Chase tells Earl of a strange sensation whilst out with the raft, so we go out armed to collect it. I have my tools for repairs complaining under my breath about the carelessness of my fellow crew mates. We find the air-raft, absent of its canopy & two seats damaged. We remove the seats, engine is fine. keep the canopy for now as I need the framework and will try to jury rig a new canopy back on the Hope. Thankfully there are no more funny feelings whilst recovering the air-raft. Tharbin negotiates some compensation & we offer to carry something that they may not be able to easily get off world. They can provide 20,000 litres of Vodka at 20 creds per unit giving us a good profit.

Which direction of Pirates ship. > Dorrania.

A selection of the new cargo

Happy to sell us grain on any future trips. Will pass on at Merchant's Hall on Iderati. Depart Bularia with no problems - Jump smooth. Air-raft is airtight but would not want to put it under undue stress. Emerge at Ucella and run a scan, no 800 ton ships in system, but a few Scouts one of which is scanning us. No transponder signal it is the only one not giving off a signal. Contact star port we need to refuel request landing - Welcome us back, we request ocean refuel or we can land in field and use river again ask about ship with no signal they are curious as well. We land at same site as before - keep sensor lock on scout ship not in geo synchronous. Scanning every 43 mins. 24 hours to refine fuel. We gather our fuel & refine it all the while keeping an eye on the Scout ship to make sure the ship is on the other side the planet. Jumped in 5 days ago not answering hails & no-one has been willing to investigate. We will report this at Iderati & get them to send a patrol ship. Day passes uneventfully. Scan for suspicious ship, we calculate the timing and lift off & get to 100 diameters all within our 3 hour window.

We continue training during Jump & arrive at Iderati.- Contact star port control requesting direct line to Navy who tells us we can land at Star port and make an appointment, Masuyo not impressed & gets name to report him. We contact Mamons' office & make an appointment to see him. We try to get him on comms but too busy at the moment - 3 hours to land appointment set for 1 hour after landing.

In regards to the Letter Junebug receives: Ask for a list of names if possible as long as it doesn’t put them in any danger.

Game Date

240-1105

Location

886-945 → Bularia

View of 886-945 when landing half a planet away from the encounter.

Earl is trying to research the creature he assures us he saw and has asked the computer to try and scan the photo he took and the computer does appear to be doing something but to the rest of us there is something wrong with it. There is no indication that anyone is tracking any specific keywords during this search.

While this search is taking place we search for a water source to gather for fuel and somewhere we can also land to gather all the relevant samples we need for the survey. We find a fairly large lake and set down on its shoreline and there are several types of terrain for the samples we need. Cyn lifts the quarantine of the other crew members, and Earl's initial searches done turn up anything useful, but over time the results throw up a lot of references leading to conspiracy theories around Aliens that can make themselves invisible and can alter memories and perception. Cyn runs some tests on the blood sample that was gathered from the ground after the creature was injured, it is contaminated with sand and soil but still viable for some tests, the results are that it is indeed some form of blood mixed with soil, but it not Human, Vargr or Aslan, it in fact shows no terrestrial markers at all.

Junebug reports that the communications blackout has been lifted. (familiar somehow?)

Masuyo wonders about the age of the two ships we encountered wondering how long they have been here. The smaller scout ship appeared to have more dust gathered around and on it showing it may have been here for some time, a few months maybe?² The other larger ship seemed to be on the surface for less time, perhaps it was here to investigate the Scout ship? Is it worth us heading back for another look? I enquire if it would be possible to remotely access the ships logs to download them for further study and request a flyby but it is decided that we should probably just focus on our survey.

We have almost gathered enough water to purify for our refuel when an active scan of our ship is detected from a ship in a transfer orbit, heading out to the jump point. We are unsure who is scanning us , possibly one of the two ships we already found? The comms activate and a female voice is heard asking What are you doing here? Earl responds with We are surveying the plant at the request of the Scout service, who are you? The voice is familiar somehow. You don't recognise me, well that is disappointing. Then Earl makes the connection this is the same female we helped on one of our previous missions, dealing with the contraband we had unwittingly picked up. She seems to be under the impression that we are in fact following her, but Earl assures her that it is merely a coincidence that we happen to be here on the same planet as she is at this time. They continue their conversation for a while the creature is mentioned and Psionic abilities etc. and she asks a few questions which are answered but by this point I have tuned out of their talk, focusing on my task of refuelling. She expresses some concern over what we have found and experienced on the plant but Tharbin assures here that none of it will go into the official report only the relevant survey report will be submitted she seems the be happy with this and tells us not to be concerned over the creature as it has been handled and advises us not to do anything Stupid and takes her leave wishing us a cheery goodbye and we may meet again.

Throughout this entire process Masuyo has been diligently gathering all of our samples and has now completed this task and has brought them back to the ship for testing and storage, after Masuyo has been briefed on the events whilst she was away from the ship we discuss what to do with all of the evidence gathered and the internet searches on the creature and any other odd findings, and it would be best for the to be deleted so that there is no trace of what we encountered here for anyone to find and we do not want it to be shared or downloaded in our information transfers. I, as an amateur artist, however have made several sketches of different creatures form the planets we have previously visited and like to sketch random thing as well have made a few discreet sketches of the creature mixed in with my other drawings so they could be seen as the figment of some ones imagination, but still serve as some kind of record of what we encountered. Cyn manages to purge the medical records of the blood tests and the psionic testing she carried out and then incinerates the samples.

We look through all of the samples Masuyo gathered and check all of our scans and photos of the planets surface and decide that we have what we need to make the official survey report. Would we recommend colonisation? Although colonisation is a viable option, the costs would exceed the overall rewards of doing so, the return is not worth the effort. and as there have been signifiant reports of Pirates in the area this would pose a considerable risk to the colony.

Chase purges the computer system of any remaining information on the strange creature.

We plot our course back to Bularia and make a smooth Jump, we continue our training/studying whilst in Jump space and one uneventful week later arrive at our destination.

View on approach to Bularia Town

Masuyo contacts Star port Control announcing our arrival and requests permission to land, refuel and pick up cargo, this is given at landing pad 6. The crew on the bridge however pick up that the voice on the other end of comms is less friendly than from our last visit.

As we make our approach, Cyn advises caution. There are two Cutters (50 tons, short range vessels) on pads adjacent to ours. Masuyo acting upon the advise of Cyn asks our pilot (Chase) to make our approach flight a bit off and to only let some of our landing gear deploy to show we cannot land at this time, she then contacts SP control again We are having trouble landing need to pull up, standby It is very strange as they do not give any of the usual responses for this situation and respond very slowly Vagabonds Hope is there a problem?

We have a problem with our landing gear we will need to come around again or land on water

We keep a close watch on the Cutters as we move away from the Star port, and still there are no comms asking if we need to declare an emergency they have not initiated any emergency procedures at all, we find this highly suspicious as this is the first place we have attempted to land after our survey was completed. We find a large body of water approximately 50 miles South of the Star port and make our flight towards it a bit more erratic playing into the 'we have an emergency situation on our hands' to help allay any suspicions and make our landing there as this will give us plenty of time to see anything coming our way. Tharbin sets up the passive scans to help detect any active scans directed at us and we begin scooping the water we need for fuel. SP control are not really showing any concern about our apparent situation which is very odd, not the reaction that would be expected under normal circumstances.

All available crew are sent topside with bins to keep watch and assess any damage to the ship. Masuyo asks if i can make something on the ship smoke without actually causing any damage and being the engineer it goes against everything I believe in but yes I can make one of the thrusters emit smoke without any damage. A small dot is eventually spotted coming from the North, the direction of the Star port, Masuyo asks us all to discreetly arm up, An active scan is detected and it is coming from the Cutter that is making an overflight, Junebug watches the Cutter and determines that it is making a tactical surveillance flight not a rescue flight. we currently have enough fuel to take off but not enough to make a Jump flight, The Cutter makes a second overflight and we keep the scoop going. Strangely the Cutter is making no attempt at communicating with us and makes a third pass over us, so Masuyo makes contact: Orbiting Cutter are you going to help us or not? there is no response and it heads back to the Star port. We cruise away from our current location to make it harder for them to pinpoint our exact location if they return.

We finally collect enough fuel to make our Jump 2 but it still needs to be refined and we need 22 hours for that so we decide to attempt to submerge the ship and make it look like it sank, while Chase takes the Air/Raft away from the ship to appear that we have abandoned the sinking ship, the attempt to submerge fails but we continue South while Chase pilots the Air/Raft around the lake back to us.

Game Date

237-1105

Location

886-945

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.

Game Date

211-1105

Location

Iderati → Ucella → Bularia → 886-945

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.

Game Date

177-1105

Location

Flammarion, then Debarre

Vessel spotted over Flammarion. Probably some noble's overengineered streamlined fighter (it certainly doesn't look all that practical!)

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.

A Debarrean Bear

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.

DJV's Mongoose Traveller V2 Trade Plugin Version 3.380.0. View the Change History.

Game Date

185-1105

Location

Debarre

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.