As the Infinity's Rainbow makes for Vember, the team passes their time improving skills, and talking to Orzo, who is apparently a bit of an outcast within the ship's ranks.  Eventually, the ship breaks jump in an outer gas giant orbit of Vember, and begins skimming operations with it's Fueling Cutters.  San, Catelyn, and Krau prepare for the X-Mail relay station mission to insert personell data into the X-Mail traffic bound for the Vember office.    The team of three is given an unmarked  20-ton gig to pilot to the X-Mail station, which is situated on a large airless moon of the gas giant.  San pilots the gig safely to a small landing pad at the base, and the team enters the small complex shortly thereafter.  The complex is empty, but there are several monitoring cameras situated at various points in and out of the building.  The team covers the cameras and avoids being seen without helmet shields as much as possible, and Catelyn proceeds to hack into the computer system.

After a few hours of work, she is able to get access to all systems at the base, and she discovers a way to encode a "Trojan Horse" packet into the test system that will let her piggyback the required data into the main X-Mail system.  With some work and help along the way from Krau, she is able to complete this programming task, along with a cleanup program to erase any traces of the hacking.  In the meantime, San has found that the cameras are connected into the computer system, and a quick check reveals that they are archiving images and sending them out in hourly packets to an undetermined location off the moon.

The team bypasses the image data once they discover the system, but not until after several transmissions have been sent out.  Review of these transmissions shows Vacc-suited figures, and the unmarked gig, but apparently no identifiable images.  Nevertheless, this makes everyone nervous enough to finish quickly, and San pilots the gig back to the Destroyer without incident.

Once back on the ship, a conversation with Orzo reveals that there is another Destroyer nearby, and that it is in fact the Sojourn, the 5000-ton Brildan class ship, under the command of Captain Greene, who some of the team had a previous encouter with [see The Bad Day, Exit Strategy]. Captain Denu invites Captain Greene over to the ship for a courtesy inspection.  News of this causes concern those who remember the last encounter, and the decision is made to keep a low profile during the visit.  Krau however is worried about monitoring for any response to the security camera transmissions, so he is permitted to hide out in a corner of the bridge in an ensign uniform during Greene's tour.

Krau manages to see Greene and Denu on the bridge during the tour, and it is obvious to all that while the two are friends, they are also professional rivals.  Eventually Greene leaves, and things return to normal.  The Infinity's Rainbow resumes course for the Vember asteroid belt, which is the designated drop point for the Fortuna Major, still sitting in the Rainbow's cargo hold.   Once in the slot, the team,( including the mysterious Mr. Brown)  boards their ship, and a Jump Decoy is deployed to simulate the Fortuna's Jump-in to the system.  San pilots the Fortuna out of the hold and into open space.

The crew begins a brief shakedown cruise of the asteroid belt, testing the ships weapons on hapless asteroids nearby.  Everyone settles in to their spots, and Dr. Watson requests everyone be given a physical so he can establish a baseline record of the crew.    Krau works to try to find Mr. Nibbles, the ship's mascot, who is loose somewhere below decks.  Krau does not succeed initially, but during the transit to the mainworld, he notices an electrical smell, and determines that the creature has begun to live up to his name by nibbling cables in the ship.  This distresses everone enough to accelerate the efforts to catch the beast, so Rath requests a tranquilizer dart geared toward the creatures physiology from the doctor, and proceeds to set up a sniper post in the lower deck, gun trained on a bowl of Grazaka Chow.  Eventually Nibbles appears, and is instantly taken down by Rath and returned to his cage.  Krau spends the rest of the trip trying to reestablish trust with the creature, a process helped greatly by the introduction of pancakes into the relationship.  Aside from the hunt, the crew busies themselves with studying the mining equipment in the cargo hold that was added to augment their cover for the mission.

The Fortuna Major reaches the orbital zone for Vember.  An SDB is sent to inspect the ship, and the inspection crew leaves without incident.  The ship is given clearance for orbit on Vember, and landing in Hzahm District.

[1 point awarded]

Player Notes

Add notes to this log

An initial landing party, consisting of San and Rath, lands at a site deep inside the Feldwood, a forested region north of Evalo and Minsk on Vember.  The Feldwood is largely undeveloped, and features thirty-foot tall flower-like trees that bioluminesce at night, and are sometimes harvested for the oily sap which is used as fuel.  There is also an abundance of other plants and wildlife in the region, including large flying insects known as Whisper Flies that feed off the pollen from the large Feld-Flower Trees, and a two-armed sloth-like creature known as a Breelat.

After determining the landing site is more or less clear, the entire party excepting KrauLi comes down, ferried by San in the ship's grav shuttle.  The group also activates a landing beacon and the mining equipment is sent down under it's own power. Catelyn shows off her proficiency with wheeled vehicles by taking the dozer for a spin.  And San attempts to run the drilling rig.  While testing the equipment, movement is spotted in the bushes, and glimpses of small furry creatures are seen, and show up on the neural activity sensor as well.  After conferring with Krau, the group determines that there are Gormelites in the area.  Catelyn later spots two Gorm children in the bushes, and chases them away with the dozer.

San attempts to run the drilling rig.  During the activation sequence however he inadvertently opens the hydrogen purge valve, which sparks a fire that quickly gets out of control.  The group frantically works to put out the fire.  San escapes with only minor damage, but the drilling rig is a total loss, and the fire scorches numerous trees and shrubs before it is brought under control.

Rath decides that the fire and resulting smoke could attract attention and may jeapordize the mission, so he decides to accelerate plans to insert Mr. Brown into the nearby town of Minsk.  He and Brown depart on foot to get out of the immediate area, taking his Grav-Belt with him.

Krau monitors the situation from orbit, checking communications channels and scanning for energy signatures near the campsite.  Although there is no authoritative response in terms of police, etc, he does spot energy signatures moving in nearby.  Eventually San gets that familiar, nausiating feeling of danger, and the group readies for an imminent attack.  Dr. Watson spots an open-top air raft headed inbound, with three Gormelites on it.    A firefight ensues, Catelyn and the Doctor trading laser fire with two armed Gorms on the raft.  San jumps in the shuttle and attempts to start it.  Catelyn and the Doctor are hit, but Catelyn manages to take out the Gorm raft's pilot, while Watson injures one of the shooters.

The raft crashes to the ground, the pilot dead.  The unwounded Gorm manages to jump free and heads for cover, while San finally guns the shuttle up to a higher position.  While the doctor adminsters first-aid to Catelyn, San circles around, trying to find the Gorm.  He is eventually found and shots are traded again, one penetrating the hull of the shuttle and slightly wounding Catelyn again.  Catelyn manages to get in another good shot in spite of this, and takes out the Gorm.  The shuttle lands, but the wounded Gorm is missing. Using the Neural Sensor, the group spots him hiding in bushes, not far away.  Catelyn sneaks up for the flank attack, San takes a blind shot through the bushes, using only the NAS as a guide.  He critically hits the wounded Gorm, who dies almost instantly.

The Gorms have nothing of value, apart from their weapons and air raft, which is found to be out of service due to the crash.  Catelyn decides to rig up a trap using the air raft and explosives, in case the Gorms come back for their friends.  She also decides to bury the remains of the drilling rig, and she uses explosives to blast a large pit, taking out several Feld-Flower trees in the process.  (The explosion is loud enough for Rath to hear it several miles away.)  Catelyn then uses the dozer to push whats left of the rig into the pit.

Night falls.  Rath straps on his Grav Belt and piggy-backs Mr. Brown, and the two go into Minsk.  While crossing the Feldwood, Rath spots old ruins among the eerie Feld-Flower glow.  On reaching the outskirts of Minsk, Rath surveys the area for a while to establish patrol patterns, etc.  He eventually chooses a time, and ferried Mr. Brown over the city walls without incident.  He returns to the Feldwood at dawn, and camps, awaiting the following night to fly back to camp.

Meanwhile, on the Fortuna Major, Krau receives an Xmail notice from The Feldwood Conservation Society (FCS) , an ecological watch group that has apparently obtained information about the "mining operation" in the Feldwood.  They request a meeting in Evalo at the earliest convenience.

When Rath returns, he is unhappy with the state of affairs in the camp, which now features scorched earth and shrubs, downed Feld-Flower trees oozing oil, a large crater with a broken drilling rig, and  booby-trapped, crashed air-raft with several dead Gormelites in it.   He removes the booby trap, and sends for Krau to come down and fix the air raft to fly it out of the camp.  He has Catelyn remove the drill rig from the crater, and tells everyone to start cleaning up.  Krau informs Rath about the Feldwood Conservation Society, which does not serve to make his day any better.

Rath calls the FCS and arranges a meeting for later that day.  Despite reassurances by Rath during the meeting, the FCS demands a site inspection, and one is scheduled for later that day.  The air raft is jury rigged by Krau to fly straight, and it is sent out to sea with the dead Gorms.  The inspection team arrives later that day and makes notes on the site, but the official report will not be available for several days.  After they leave, the group decides to call  their contact for the next stage of the mission - Tony Baka, owner of Higher Ground Construction, a contractor in Evalo.

That evening, the entire group meets with Tony, and his friend Enzo, a large burly man who is not very talkative.  After exchanging pass codes to identify themselves, Tony explains that he has done lots of work for Max Riven, who has helped him somehow in the past.  Tony says that originally, the contractor worked to put people into Streland Systems for Intrinsics, but Max also has had him keep an eye on the Vember office from time to time.  It is decided that Catelyn and Krau will be made electrical contractors so that they will have access to the Vember office.

[2 points awarded]

Player Notes

Add notes to this log

After dinner the group goes to a weapons shop recommended by Tony Baka, and shops for knives and guns.  Rath buys several composite knives, and two small pistols which can be easily hidden.  He has to pay the shopkeeper a little extra to "expedite" the paperwork to take the purchase home on the same day.  After the trip, San ferries the team back to the mining camp in the Feldwood.

Upon reaching the camp, the group discovers that it has been ransacked; the pressure tent largely destroyed, and important equipment missing, including their grav belts, food, and weapons -- including Rath's cherished laser rifle with scope.  The Neural Sensor is found, but has been dropped and is out of alignment.  Krau reviews the security camera logs he had set up earlier, and finds that two Gormelite youths, along with a female Gorm came to the camp on two seperate trips to ransack and loot.  A note was left behind as well, stating that the group should return  (what sounds like a Gorm's name) "if you want stuf back" (sic).

Rath is furious at this and storms off into the woods alone to hunt the Gorms down.  The rest of the group heads up to the ship to repair the NAS and check on things.  Although Rath begins by heading in the direction the Gorms went in the recording, he quickly loses the trail, then gets disoriented in the woods.  He decides to wait until the group returns from the ship, and contacts them to come rendezvous with him.   After the NAS is repaired, San takes the ship down and scans the area. He finds a large ruined stone structure rising out of the woods.  Krau and Catelyn research the site, and find it is in fact the ruins of an Vilani stadium used for Bloodsport Games, an ancient and cruel Vilani passtime.

Rath enters a small triangular outcropping which turns out to be an ancient subway entrance, followed by San and Dr. Watson as backup   Rath trips on a trap on the stairs, and rolls to the bottom, taking some minor damage.  He gets to his feet, but he finds he has set of some sort of audible alarm, which can be heard on the surface as well.  Rath ducks into an alcove quickly, and he spots one of the Gorm youths cautiously climbing the stairs to investigate.  He tries to snatch him but misses, and the youth heads down to the platform level.

Rath pursues, and eventually finds the youth hiding down on the track level.  He tackles the youth, and after a struggle, manages to subdue and kill him.  Watson and San have followed Rath down to the lower level for support, and Watson, using the NAS, spots several other figures down the tunnel.  The figures are approaching, apparently in response to the screams of the youth.  San opens fire with his ACR, taking out one.  Rath manages to shoot one hiding behind a barrel using the NAS readings.  The Doctor spots one hiding in a hidden alcove on the track, and Rath shoots a hole through the wall, and eventually finishes him with a pistol.  Rath approaches to take out another, but he is spotted, and a molotov cocktail is lobbed at him, setting him afire.  He rolls to put out the fire, but his Monocrys is burned, along with some skin for minor damage.  San finishes off the last one using the ACR.

After a quick search of the area, most of the missing equipment is found, excepting some (eaten) rations, and the proximity alert sensor.  The Grav-belts are found in a damaged state, since they were in the line of fire when Rath shot into the hidden alcove.  In additon to their own gear, the group finds a crude still being used to distill Feldwood Flower Oil, and several laser rifle clips.  The group leaves and heads back to the ship to regroup, rest, repair.  The next day is spent doing just that, along with some minor shopping in Evalo for new armor, and food for Mr. Nibbles.  Krau and Catelyn are inserted into their roles as contractors by dropping them off at the efficiency apartments recommended by Tony B.

The next day, Krau and Catelyn report for work at Tony's contracting office.  Rath and San go into town to fill out paperwork allowing them to carry firearms in the city.  San gets clearance for pistol weapons, while Rath's paperwork is held up.  Meanwhile, Krau and Catelyn are reviewed by a Vember office employee, which masquerades as Telco, some sort of communications company front.  They are given rules about working in the Vember office; no electronic communications devices, must be escorted in specific areas, night working hours, etc.

Rath goes to the Vember office to recon, looking for Curtis Rowley, the office head.  He finds the outer building and perimeter to be secure, and notes there is a rooftop grav-port.   He calls San, who takes him via the shuttle to the roof of a neighboring building.  Rath spends the night staking out the Vember office, looking for signs of Rowley and getting a sense for security, etc.

Krau and Catelyn go to work that night in the Vember office, accompanied by Sam and Dave, two contractors from Tony B.'s office.  They arrange to set up gear upstairs, but are warned by their "Telco" chaperrone that people are still in the building.  Near Rowley's office, they spot a door labelled "Gary Wilcox", with the light on.  After a few minutes, a man emerges.  The man is, by looks at least, Gary Wilcox, and he looks directly at Catelyn and Krau.  They attempt suppress their surprise at seeing Gary back from the dead [see "The Bad Day]  Gary doesnt appear to immediately recognize the two, and he leaves the office, but not before looking back a second time at them.

After Gary leaves, Catelyn uses her electronic lockpick to enter Gary's office, where she plants a bug.  Krau notices the top folder on Gary's desk reads "Everin Mission".  They have limited time, and so they have to leave.  During the rest of the night, they work on hacking into the video surveillance system to be able to redirect camera feeds to a remote location downstairs.

As dawn approaches, Krau and Catelyn leave.  A while later, traffic starts to arrive in the Vember parking lot.  Rath spots a luxury grav car pull up and enter an enclosed garage on the roof.

[2 points awarded]

Player Notes

Add notes to this log

The next day, Krau and Catelyn return to "work", and listen to the recorded conversations from Gary's office.  There are several interesting ones:
 

Krau and Catelyn break into Gary's office again, borrow the Foresquare pass, and make copies of the AGI report.  Using a friend of Tony Baka, they make a forged copy of the pass, and give it to Rath.

San and Rath do some recon work out at the ForeSquare. They determine that they can enter the development, operate inside it, and they locate Rowley's home; it is one of the more luxurious buildings on "The Hill".  San notices a large antenna on the roof of the building.    The group also makes a trip into The Circle, a public access network area in Evalo. Catelyn shops for components she needs to build an anonymous remailer she plans to implant in the Vember office.

The next day Rath and San stake out the Vember office in the afternoon, looking to follow Rowley when he leaves the building.  They manage to see him leaving early, and follow him to warehouse in an industrial district.  San and Rath make a note of the address, then leave.

In the evening, Krau and Catelyn head back to work.  Their initial plan is to enter Gary's office again, but Catelyn has difficulty getting past the electronic lock for some reason, so they opt for breaking into Rowley's office instead.  There, they find a series of interesting post-it style notes, and an email letter that Catelyn was able to recover from erasure on the system:

Rowley:

Nice to meet you.  I was expecting Wilcox, but he was nice enough to pass the gift along to his boss like a good company man.  So much the better.  The effect is such that you may not actually remember the transmission you sent, but I expect you are aware that I am the area coordinator, and thus you serve me now.

Immediately take the enclosed dose.  This will complete your instrumentation.  I have also enclosed five more doses for your immediate use with crucial support staff, until we can expand to include your office.  Use them sparingly.  We will send a C-sized medical shipping container with the production virus shortly.  There have been some delays...

Until then, you must establish an orbital meson channel on 3128.113 for further updates.  An agent will arrive at Vember shortly with further instructions on what the immediate team should do.

Destroy this message.  Minimize contact with other biologicals.  I look forward to meeting you.

Lo Jos

San takes Rath back to the wharehouse that night for recon.  They defeat the security lock on the back door, and Rath goes in.  Rath sneaks through a back room and enters the main part of the wharehouse, where he sees computers, medical equipment, and a series of cages.  One of the cages is occupied -- by a Brauletter.   There is a security guard in the building, and he is eventually alerted to Rath's presence in the building.  Rath pops up from behind a table and shoots the guard dead as he comes to investigate the noise.  Rath talks to the Brau, and asks why the Brau is there.   The Brau responds he is not sure.  He asks if he wants to get out.  The Brau says he does, but is worried about contaminating others because they have been subjecting him to medical experiments.  Rath decides to check the computer files to see if the experiments are contagious or have an antidote, but he is unable to get through the computer security, even with the Brau helping from his cage.  Rath calls in San, who is able, with help, to find the right files.  The information is passed up to Dr. Watson for analysis. He indicates that the toxin infecting the Brau is deadly, over a long period of time.  But not, amazingly, harmful to humans.

Rath decides to free the Brau, and San takes the computer as well.  The Brau is not healthy and moves slowly, but they are able to take him up to the ship.
 

[ 1 point awarded / 2 for Rath]

Player Notes

Add notes to this log

The next day,  team "A", (Krau, a.k.a. "Sonny" and Catelyn, a.k.a "Cher" ) goes back to their apartment to sleep, while Team "B" (Rath a.k.a. "John" and San, a.k.a.  "Han") do some shopping.  The doctor remains on the ship with the Brauletter, who is very ill.  Team "B" plans to wait until Rowley leaves the office and follow him home to verify that he is indeed taking a predefined route home each day.  At about 5pm, Rowley's car is seen leaving the Vember office.  Rath and San tail it back to the Foresquare, and it generally takes the same route as before.

As evening approaches, Team "A" heads to work.  They enter the first floor construction area as usual, and begin to analyze the recordings from bugs in Gary and Rowley's office.  The recording from Gary's office is blank - he apparently did not go into the office on the previous day.  The recording from Rowley's office however has a number of interesting conversations on it , including:
 

Krau and Catelyn decide that they must accelerate their plans for the mission to complete it tonight.  They inform Rath and San of the updates, and begin plans to finish their work in the Vember office. Catelyn arranges an ingenious excuse to be missing for some "period" of time.  She sneaks out of the Ladies room and enters what she thinks is the computer lab, except it turns out to be a bio lab.  There is various bio equipment there, including gene manipulation equipment, and small tanks with what look like gloves floating in them.

Catelyn leaves and enters the next lab.  This turns out to be the computer lab, and she hacks in, installing her anonymous emailer hardware and software while downloading the contents of many of the sensitive files stored there.  Later in the evening, another distraction is arranged so that Krau and Catelyn can go through Gary's office again.  They plan to use Gary's computer to plant framing evidence on Misaru (#2), and to steal the strange device seen previously in the office.

While rummaging through the office, they are surprised by a voice saying "Looking for anything?"  It is Gary Wilcox, standing at the threshold.  Krau tries to maintain cover by muttering about conduit work, while Catelyn decides to take a chance and mention that they know what Rowley is up to.  Gary is holding some sort of device, similar to the strange device, but without the protruding stalk - it is a simple rectangle with three black stripes.  He is pointing it at Krau.

Gary says in effect that he knows "Sonny and Cher" are actually Krau and Catelyn.  He mentions that he has bugged his own office, and seems to know, generally, what the two have been up to.  He also says he is aware of Rowley's activities, and has the same sense everyone else does that there is an imminent sense of something coming to Vember soon that he would rather avoid.  He proposes a deal - his safe passage to Terek, in exchange for information that Max and his employees most likely want.  He suggests meeting in two hours at The Circle, a local public access and shopping area in the city.  Krau and Catelyn agree, and are forced to leave Gary's office before stealing the strange device.  Catelyn does stall while Gary is there in order to plant the last evidence framing Misaru into the computer.  Gary mentions that after tomorrow, it doesn't matter what they have done to the computer.

Rath and San are informed of the events.  They decide to move quickly on the Rowley abduction and although they are uneasy about it, they are forced to let Catelyn and Krau meet with Gary alone.  San and Rath stake out the spot in the Feldwood looking for Rowley's car, but nothing comes.

In The Circle, Gary meets with Krau and Catelyn.  He says it is likely Rowley is not showing up to work today.  This info is relayed to Rath and San, who then head out for the Foresquare to see if he is still at home, or has somehow slipped away somewhere.   Gary comes to an agreement with the team; they will agree to his terms of "safe transport to Terek."  Gary says he will need three hours to prepare, and they arange a rendezvous spot to pick him up.

San and Rath head to the ForeSquare.  After hiding their arsenal while entering the Queuing Station, San and Rath loiter over Rowley's house.  A light is on on the third floor, and they detect meson transmissions coming from the rooftop antenna.   Rath does not like the idea of entering the house, since he has no intel on it, but cannot accept defeat of the primary mission objective.  He decides to take a risk and enter the house.  San is to stand-by as backup.

Rath goes in, equipped only with his body pistol and several speed-loaders of solid and tranq ammo.  There is a strange smell coming from the basement, and a large cable that goes from basement up the back stairs.  Rath follows the cable up to the third floor.  In a corner office room, Rath confronts Rowley.  Rowley looks pale, disheveled, and has bloodshot eyes.  Rath attempts to shoot Rowley in the leg, but misses.  There is a strange pull on his weapon.  Rath fires again and hits him in the leg.  Now a large computer monitor suddenly flies off the desk, narrowly missing Rath.  Rath quickly switches to tranq rounds, and pumps three of them into Rowley, who has fallen due to the leg injury.  As Rath shoots however, a large piece of computer equipment flies off the desk, hitting him squarely in the head.  All goes dark.

San is listening in on an open com channel.  He hears the melee, then nothing.  His team loyalty drives him to go in despite his better judgement, following the same route as Rath.  When he reaches the office, he finds Rath and Rowley out cold.  Rath is severely injured, but alive.  Rath manages to get out a weakly-spoken warning to San-- Rowley is a PSI.  San pumps another Tranq round into Rowley, then devises a plan to move both of them quickly to the shuttle.  San ties both of them together and uses Rath's grav-belt to glide them down the stairs to the car.   Then he talks to Krau and Catelyn, who are still with Gary.  San needs a way out of the Foresquare that doesn't involve going through security.

Gary suggests finding Rowley's orbital clearance; he is sure that Rowley has obtained such from Lo Jos.  San searches the office and sure enough, he finds a pass-code.  San uses the code to obtain permission to ascend, and he docks with the Fortuna Major.  The doctor is given hasty orders to put Rowley in deep freeze as quickly as possible, then to attend to Rath.  San goes back down to pick up Krau, Catelyn and Gary.

A world-wide news alert comes over the comm system - Minjini fleet has been detected in the outer system.  San picks up Krau, Catelyn, and Gary, and they race for the ship..

[ 2 points awarded / 3 for San ]

Player Notes

Add notes to this log

On the way up to the Fortuna Major, San, Catelyn, and Krau talk with Gary about recent events.  Gary seems a different man in some ways; less willing to follow company doctrine, especially with respect to security.  He says something to the effect of "he doesn't care anymore", and he appears to talk openly about previously secret information.  Interesting tidbits from his conversation include:
 

Once the team reaches the ship, things get interesting in a hurry.  Krau and San rush to get the ship ready to depart, leaving Catelyn to guard Gary.  Gary recognizes the ship as being the former Fin M'Coul but Catelyn denies knowledge of this.  Gary heads for the bridge, and offers to help.  He mans the comm station, and when he flicks on the receiver, there is an incoming message from Lo Jos.  It is a short exchange, but he says something to the effect of:
 

"Rowley you treacherous worm! Did you honestly think you could sneak off without my knowledge?  I made a mistake in choosing you as sub-coordinator. I can see that now.  That shall be corrected."

The sickbay is decompressed, and the Dr. Watson makes a heroic effort to save Rath by moving him to engineering.  Krau struggles to repair damage to the ship during the battle, keeping essential systems online.  The Fortuna Major scores a direct hit to the bridge, knocking out manuever control.  Eventually a small craft launches from the Yacht, heading out at 4G acceleration back to Vember.  San takes several shots but is unable to destroy it.

Meanwhile the Yacht has drifted out, no longer in the combat but still partially intact.  Comm traffic indicates that the Vember defense force has engaged the Minjini fleet.  The group debates going back after the yacht, but decides instead to leave.  They head out to the 100-diameter limit and complete repairs on the ship needed for jump.   A course for Agidda is plotted, and the ship enters hyperspace.

Five days later it re-emerges from Jump... In the Vember system...
 

[1 point awarded]

Player Notes

Add notes to this log

After a brief discussion of their options, the group decides to set course for the slot-5 Gas Giant and attempt to refuel.  The current state of Vember suggests that the Minjini are in full control of the system.  Catelyn attempts to decode the military comm traffic, with little success.  A general announcement is heard on the traffic control channels however:
 

Attention all incoming space vessels:  You have entered Minjini controlled space.  All vessels must make their identity known immediately to the Minjini Space Command on channel 16B.  All vessels must prepare to submit to boarding inspection upon arrival at the mainworld or any refueling point.  No landings to the mainworld are permitted.  Ships violating these orders will be fired upon without warning.

Running with passive scanners only, the Fortuna Major approaches the vicinity of the gas giant several days later.  Krau and San attempt to figure out what is in the immediate area in the way of spacecraft.  They detect several targets, including the dead hull of a Brildan class destroyer, and a large, unidentified 50,000 ton displacement vessel patrolling the gas giant.  There are several smaller contacts showing faint energy readings only.  There is also a Signal GK (distress signal), which cannot be immediately localized to a particular contact.   It is immediately agreed upon that the large ship is most likely a Minjini vessel, and the ship cannot refuel at the gas giant without being detected by the larger ship

The team considers their options, and tenatively decides to risk the boarding inspection and to pose as free traders.  In order to come up with a plausible excuse for why their transponder isn't on, and why they have not identified themselves yet.  San and Rath go outside the ship and burn out the ID transponders, embedded in the hull, to simulate battle damage.  They also take apart the transmitter/comm chassis to make it appear as if it is being worked on.

While preparations are going on, another idea surfaces; perhaps the Destroyer hulk still contains enough fuel in it's tanks to siphon off for the Fortuna Major's tanks.   The team decides that this option, while risky, is better than the boarding scenario, so they wait at a distance for the large ship to reach the far side of the gas giant orbit.   While they wait, another ship jumps into the system.  It is a 200-Ton Empress Marava class free trader, transponding as the SkipJacks Pride.  It is contacted by the large ship and told to prepare for boarding.  A small craft heads out from the large ship to the Skipjacks Pride, and several hours later, returns to the main ship.  The main ship turns on the Skipjacks Pride, and fires it's Meson spinal mounted weapon at the ship, completely destroying it.  The vessel then heads back on patrol to the far side of the gas giant.

Running at full throttle, San manuevers the Fortuna Major to the hulk of the destroyer wreck, while Krau struggles to keep the engines online.  A passive scan of the hull shows that the destroyer has apparent meson gun damage throughout, leaving large holes in it's starboard side.  One of the holes is large enough for the Fortuna Major to fit into, and San makes a dangerous approach and landing inside the wreck.  Once inside, Rath and San go out to investigate, maintaining radio silence.

Several bodies are discovered, disfigured from the effects of exposure to a hard vacuum.  Rath reads their insignia, and finds out that the ship is the Sojourn, the vessel piloted by Capt. Greene that the group had encountered twice before.  Further into the ship, they discover the ship's Frozen Watch; a cluster of ten low-birth pods.  Six of the ten pods are found to still be in operation, running on emergency backup power.  They have the name tags:
 

PFC Francis Monk

PFC Benj Cortes

LT Sarah Mills

PFC Richard Fitton

LT Brian LeDuc

PFC Christine Pelling

After some work, they get through the door.  Through the cluttered hall on the other side, they discover more bodies, and then a locker area adjacent to a fighter bay.  The fighter bay is in bad shape, mangled wreckage of the bay and several small craft inside.  In the lockers, Rath finds an intact  type 29-L Colom Light Duty Battledress suit.   In the fighter bays, they eventually find a fueling outlet, and enough piping to lay a run back down the hall to the Fortuna Major.  The fuel port needs electronics work to be able to get a reading on the tanks, so San and Rath go back to the ship a second time, Rath taking the suit back with him, where he checks it out, then puts it on.

San does some electronics work and they are able to determine there is sufficient fuel in the tanks to fuel the ship.  Work begins on connecting up the fuel line.  Krau works on fittings for the connection while Catelyn monitors the sensors.  Outside, the large patrol ship is passing by on one of it's rounds.  For a brief instant, the scans show a small object leaving the patrol ship, but it can later not be picked up.   Once the connections are complete, fueling begins.  Rath and San are near the fueling bay when they notice a monitor in the flight crew area blip on for an instant.  Later, they notice lights go on in the corridor, and then, a closed Iris valve to an adjacent hallway opens.

The group decides to increase the fuel flow in order to get out quicker, in light of the strange developments on the ship.  When they bump up the flow rate, disaster strikes as the hand-made adapter on the ship blows out, spewing liquid hydrogen.  Meanwhile, Rath has gone to investigate the strange activity.  Down the newly opened corridor he spots movement in the corridor.  San goes back to the ship to prep for takeoff, even though they have not fueled the tanks enough for jump.  Rath spots a militarized robot in the hallway, which heads toward him.

Rath and the Robot engage in combat.  The robot fires some sort of gravitic beam at him, unbalancing him.  Rath fires his laser rifle and hits, but it is too weak to penetrate the robots considerable armor.  The robot switches weapons and opens up with an energy beam as Rath closes the hallway hatch.  Rath is hit by glowing metal blobs as he retreats, but his suit protects him.  Another shot narrowly misses as Rath dodges.  Rath retreats out of the ship and across open space to the waiting Fortuna Major.  The robot closes in on Rath, but San is waiting in the gun turret and blasts the robot into oblivion with a direct hit from the laser turrets.

After the destruction of the robot, the group debates leaving for an outer gas giant, but then decides to reenter the wreck to finish fueling.  San makes another dangerous rendezvous, and the rest of the fueling proceeds without incident.  They time their exit for when the patrol ship is on the back side, and then head out to 100 diameters as fast as possible, where they jump for Agidda.

After arriving in Agidda, they decide not to refuel at the gas giant because of possible danger to the hull patch work, and instead head inbound to the mainworld.  Agidda is awash in traffic, including military and commercial ships rerouted from Vember.  Eventually they obtain landing permission, and begin repair and refueling operations on the ship (after San kisses the hot dusty ground of the starport).  In the meantime, Catelyn goes off shopping for "interesting" software, and San calls around for food for Mr. Nibbles, eventually contacting a company called Jek's Exotics in a small town outside the starport.  The proprietor is interested in Mr. Nibbles, and informs San that he thinks Nibbles is in fact a Darrian Flaatu, a species of semi-intelligent animals from worlds in the Darrian Confederation.  San asks the man for advice on food, and invites the man to meet them at Brubecks , where they check out what he has brought.  Satisfied, they bring him to the ship.  Several samples are tried, but Mr. Nibbles shows a clear preference for Luskapedo Meal.   The man also informs them that the creature could become quite intelligent as it ages, and also that it responds to certain frequency light, indicative of solar flares from it's homeworld.

San searches Harry Sault's cabin as they bid a hasty goodbye to the store owner.  The group is anxious to leave for Terek as soon as possible.  Before long, the Fortuna Major, now with new hull plating and realigned and repaired engines, heads out and jumps for Terek.  They arrive a week later in the Terek system, home at last.
 

[1 point awarded]

Player Notes

Add notes to this log

For the cause that lacks assistance,
For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance.

What I Live for - George Linnaeus Banks

Meanwhile, San and Catelyn are being (seperately) detained at the RSF headqaurters.  Catelyn does not get a lot of questioning, but her holdout pistol is taken.  San on the other hand is extensively interrogated.  The agents want to know about his connection with a man named Sabar Vitriski.  He is an old aquaintence of San's, who has apparently been killed, execution style.  A note on his body says:
 

To San Holo:
Your Friend Wouldn't tell us
what we want to know.
Maybe you should.

Standing beside the limo is Sinjon Meadows, the Loss Limitations adminsitrative assistant.  Meadows opens the door, and Catelyn and San cautiously get in.  They ask where they are going, and Meadows replies, "To the Maximum Security Penitentiary at Haramu."  This does not fill either of them with relief, so they decide to break into the limo's bar and tip a few back.  Meadows also announces that they will stop to pick up the rest of the crew, and ask San to call ahead.  San contacts Rath, and after more reluctant debate, the group heads out to the prison.

Once inside the prison complex, the group is ushered into an underground level of the prison hospital.  They enter an unmarked room.  Inside, Max Riven is in a hospital bed.  He is recovering from  burns, and his legs are missing.  Despite his injuries however he is in good spirits and glad to see the group.  Also in the room is a nurese (who is dismissed), and a tall, thin attractive woman who is introduced as Aline.   Max vouches for her clearance and does not ask her to leave.

The group begins to relay the status of their mission.  Max nods, and at times says "I Know" at unexpected places, such as the mentioning of the fact that Gary is alive.  This is puzzling, but Max promises to explain why he knows tomorrow on a trip.  Max also brings the group up to date on developments at DKI and Terek.  These include:
 

It is agreed that everyone will meet at 10am next morning at the DKI starport.  The group is wary of going back to their apartments, so they decide to stay over in the prison hospital.  San, Catelyn, and Krau decide to make a trip into Haramu first to meet up with Orzo, who had replied to San's email earlier in the day indicating he was in the area.  The three go into the city to a club called "The Mountain Hopper", which turns out to be an adult entertainment complex.   Inside they find Orzo, sitting close to the stage.  San thanks him again for the laser turret installation, and everyone (except possibly Catelyn) has a good time, until Orzo picks a fight with a group of Vargr sitting nearby.

A brawl ensues, but Krau and San grab Orzo and pull him out of the bar before anything irreversible happens.  Orzo complains but quickly reverts back to his jovial self.  He beckons them on to the next bar, but the trio decides to "get lost" on the way and get rooms for the night at the local hotel.  Catelyn takes a long, hot bath.

The next morning, everyone meets at the starport.  Rath, Max, the Doctor, and Aline all come by limo, along with Skinner from Loss Limitations.  In the hangar, a familiar Stealth Shuttle awaits, prepared for takeoff.  San is given a set of navigation coordinates, and pilots the craft out.  The destination turns out to be the Luna, Terek's sole moon.  Luna is an airless satellite, criss-crossed with networks of Industrial Manufacturing complexes, Research stations, and other corporate concerns.  Upon landing, the group is brought below the surface, past security and into a lab filled with exotic equipment.

At the center of the room is a bed of sorts, and in the center, connected to various equipment, is Feno.   Before too many questions are asked, Max directs the attendants to start a holoprojection screen high on the wall above.  The image that springs to life is an orbital view of Terek, which is soon obscured by the arrival of several large capital ships of Solomani design.  A battle with system defense forces ensues, but some ships make it through far enough to bombard the planet.   The image fades, and the date Trinity 3 3123 is displayed.    The group quickly grasps the significance of the images, and they are brought to a nearby conference room for further discussion.

Max explains that Feno's psionic power of precognition has been greatly amplified, and she can now see events far away in distance or time.  Despite this, she only sees a limited number of visions, and they occur according to no known criteria.  She did not for example predict the bombing of the DKI offices.  It is relatively certain that DKI will come under attack by Solomoni forces on Trinity 3, and there is reasonable certainty that the attack will be repulsed, perhaps due in part to foreknowledge of the event.  Max explains that they have been shown this to impress upon them the significance of the new Intrinsics missions.

There is an undiscussed but yet unanimous decision to stay with the company.  Max lets the group know that since they are now in some respects Field Operations veterans, they will have their choice of the immediate upcoming missions.  These include:
 

The group considers their options, and eventually decides that their next assignment will be the mission to Ys  to recover Farnsworth's team.

[1 point awarded]

Player Notes

Add notes to this log