The Future Wake emerges in the Uvaia System on the 25th, and begins fueling at the gas giant.  The sensor masking system is tried out for the first time, and although there is no clear way to determine it's effectiveness, the ship is not tracked or bothered during the refueling operations at a known pirate hot-spot.   The ship then heads in to the mainworld, and is boarded for a (very brief) customs inspection.  Once in orbit, Krau contacts his ally, Erica Edson, a Prefect in the Solarist Church.  They arrange a meeting at Edson's home in the Canyonlands near Solaria.

San pilots the the Future Wake to a smooth landing at the downport, and everyone goes about their usual business.  San searches around for a mechanic that can perform some of the needed maintenance on the ship, eventually contacting a small two-man shop called Charlie's, run by a man named Charles Nadeau.  Charlie and his assistant Dan show up in a mobile mechanic's station, and begin working on the engines. Rath makes some calls in an attempt to find Meshan-bound cargo, using the group's Pharmeceutical license obtained on Barnard.  Dr. Watson requests vacation leave, as he has done previously on Uvaia, and heads out with a communicator, and shopping list for medical supplies to pick up on the way back.   Catlyn goes out to Fusion Shack to pick up hacking hardware. Gaiden calls up the woman he had met previously on Uvaia, Miracal.  She is a member of the Flare Devils grav-bike gang, and the gang is apparently still on the beach, camping and partying.

Gaiden arranges public transportation to a spot close to the beach, then hikes in the mile or two to the shore to meet up with the gang, and begins partying. He learns that the gang is low on funds, and may soon have to break up the party and go look for work, or at least sources of money.  The gang leader, Vegan, is contemplating ways to raise cash, when Gaiden volunteers to go break into a liquor store.  Vegan offers that the stores tend to be high security, and that perhaps one of the coastal houses a few miles down the beach would be better.  Gaiden agrees, and then heads out on his own to see what he can find, armed with a pistol given to him by Vegan for good luck.

Krau meanwhile meets up with Erica (shadowed by Rath for protection), and gives her an account of recent events.  Erica does the same, and mentions that she has come across sensor data obtained from Solarist chapters on Bastil and Vember relating to the previous sphere encounters there.  She gives Krau what she has, but says that further work on this has been blocked by Prefect Gibson, Krau's old church rival from his Uvaian days.   She says that Luminary Shoko, head of the Chancel of Philisophical Sciences, has been ill, and has given at least temporary control of that organization to Gibson.   Gibson, a conservative traditionalist, has made it clear that he feels research into "unnatural phenomenon" such as Spheres, Reft Sector, and the like has no place in church doctrine.. or funding, and that Gibson was taking the Chancel down a track whereby such research would be eliminated.   This would but both Krau and Edson in a precarious position within the church, since both have made this the focus of their contributions to the church.  The development would also put Gibson in line to be promoted to Lucentor, or perhaps even Primate.

Erica says that she has been keeping the debate alive, but that the lack of any new data or samples of sphere or other artifacts, coupled with the loss of one of the Shards of Casumel, would make it difficult to bolster the case against Gibson's plan.   Krau says he would like to visit the Luminary, and Erica arranges a visit at the hospital that evening.  When they arrive, they find Shoko in bed and on various life support.  He is able to talk, and is interested in Krau's findings.  He also mentions Gibson, and how he has put him in charge of the Chancel.  He wants some of Krau's advice on Gibson, relating to possible promotion.  Krau cleverly brings up several projects that Gibson was involved with that did not go over well, as examples of Gibson's "good work".   These reminders trouble Shoko, but he gives no immediate indication of how it will affect Gibson's chances.  He also tells Krau to return the remaining Shards to Eparch Harris.  After taking leave of the Luminary, Krau makes a late-night call on the Eparch, and fills him in on the developments.  Harris is generally sympathetic to Krau's work, or at least neutral, but he has no real technical background, and has been passed over for consideration to lead the Chancel.  He tells Krau however that he will convene a meeting tomorrow to discuss Krau's findings and how it may relate to the Chancel's work.  Krau agrees, and then heads back to the ship.

Gaiden sneaks down the dark shorline until he reaches a cluster of houses, perched on rocky outcroppings above the Uvaian ocean.  These are fairly expensive houses, and soon he is able to find one that he is fairly certain is unoccupied.  After a quick recon of the property, he determines that the house is protected by a security system, with a wireless, silent transmitter on the roof.  He scales the side of the house, and disables the transmitter.  After a futile attempt to break open a skylight, he returns to the deck, and picks the lock on the back door.  Once inside, he gathers various valuables, including laptop computers, silverware, small silver statues, liquour, and some "performance enhancing" drugs found in the bathroom.   As he leaves the house however he is spotted by a couple, down on the beach in front of the neighboring house.  The man challenges him and approaches.  Gaiden attempts to bluff his way out, claiming that he is "the caretaker", and is here to check on the house.  When the man sends his wife to the house to check on his story, Gaiden attempts to leave.  The man grabs him to keep him from leaving, and Gaiden pulls the gun, instructing the man to stay put and not to call the cops, since Gaiden "knows where he lives".  Gaiden then sprints down the beach back to the gang with his booty.

When he arrives, the party has begun winding down for the night, with several members already passed out next to the roaring bonfire.  Gaiden gives the booty to Vegan, who is suitably impressed.  So to is Miracal, who takes Gaiden up to the dunes for a private celebration, made even more climatic by the introduction of the "performance enhancers".  Later the two pass out back at her tent, and sleep in until late morning.    After another go-round, Miracal gives Gaiden a ride back to the ship on her bike, but Gaiden loses his grip as they fly over the sandy dune region, and Gaiden falls a  considerable distance onto the sand below.   He awakes later in the day, in the hospital with a broken back, and a somewhat irritated Dr. Watson (paged away from his vacation early) standing over him.

Krau heads to the church for the meeting, again shadowed by Rath. Attending are Eparch Harris and several assisting Rectors, Primate Lemviti, Prefects Gibson and Edson. Shoko is of course absent but will be informed of the proceedings.   After introductions and preliminaries by Harris, a detailed account of Krau's mission is given.  With Shoko out of the loop, the secret of the Shards of Casumel, and the church goals of obtaining a sphere or possibly the Artifact of the Palm are now known to the group.  Gibson uses the fact that Krau has not returned with any of these as an exuse to grandstand, making the case that the Bertranites are religious zealots who's information cannot be trusted, and that the Sphere information the church has so far is anecdotal at best, and not trustworthy.  He restates his position that the church should focus it's resources to internal affairs, such as helping the refugees from affected Repubic worlds.   Harris shows no real preference towards Gibson's views, but Lemviti nods frequently during Gibson's speech.   No real conclusion or decision is reached at the meeting, since such matters are really settled at the Convening of the Luminaries, but it is known that the Luminary Council often takes the decision of smaller comittees on many matters.   The meeting moves on to discuss church funding, and Krau is invited to stay and listen if he wishes, which he does.

After the meeting, Krau calls out for Rath, who emerges from the bushes.  Rath has already reached the conclusion that Gibson probably needs to be dealt with, and the inquiry to Krau gets a knowing nod.  When they return to the ship, a quick decision is reached to remove Gibson from the political equation on Uvaia.. San, Catlyn, and Rath begin working on a plan.  Blackmail is considered and rejected, and the solution is escalated to full-scale elimination.  Rath goes out to recon Gibson's house, but is unable to find any convenient "home accident" waiting to happen.  He instead focuses on Gibson's car, a JKI Model 76 Mini-Weasel.  It is a small, 2-seater electric affair, with open top.  Tracing the route between Gibson's house and the Church, he finds it passes through fairly rugged terrain as it borders Bridal Falls Canyon, a deep gorge carved by the Koman River over centuries gone by.   Noting GPS coordinates of some of the more dangerous curves on the canyon road, Rath goes back to the ship and discusses options.  Krau and Catlyn retrieve plans for the Mini-Weasel, and find that it has an onboard computer that controls basic functions.

Hacking is done. Programs are written.  The group actually test-drives, then purchases an identical Mini-Weasel car to test their code.  They have set up a simple program that will put the car to full throttle and disable steering and braking when the vehicle reaches the GPS coordinate of choice.  The program is set not to take effect until six days from now, giving the group time to leave the planet.  A reprogrammed chip is taken from the reference mini-weasel, then Rath sneaks back to Gibson's house, and stealthily swaps in the new chip.

Back at the starport, Gaiden is wheeled onto the ship, under the doctor's care.  Cargo is taken on, as well as ten middle passengers, including of a family of four, a young couple,  some women pilgrims, and an old man.  Clearance is given, and the Future Wake dusts-off of Uvaia and heads out to 100D, ready to jump to Meshan.

[ 1 point awarded ]

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The jump to Meshan starts out poorly, as Krau again has difficulty getting the engines started on the new ship. San helps him out however, and after a bit of a delay the Future Wake is en route.   The passengers on the ship are a bit disgruntled about leaving late, but are used to delays and showing their identifications a lot; the latter habit is taken advantage of by the crew to make copies of IDs for possible forgery use later.  (The older gentlemen on the ship is of particular interest, since his ID appears to be a government official ID).   Gaiden does his best to cook for the passengers, but his back injury makes this difficult, and the meals come out mediocre at best.  Rath for his part does his best not to kill anyone.

The ship arrives in Meshan six days later, and the passengers and cargo are unloaded without incident at the downport.  Work begins on finding Douglas Meeko, father of Susa Meeko and reported posessor of arcane Vilani knowledge and technology.  San goes to an "Immigration Counseling Center", a freelance business at the starport that specializes in point removal.  Meshanites are given demerits based on crimes or actions they conduct that are considered to be against the state, or the greater good.  The more points one has, the more trouble they are in with the Gold Council (the governing body of Meshan).

The team hires an investigator, Colin Hayter,  to find out the status of Meeko. It will take a day or so to determine, so in the meantime, Rath and San shop for outgoing cargo.  San has an interesting stroke of luck while working his merchant contacts, and manages to come across a cargo of Nightwing Ultralights, small stealth aircraft that can evade radar and sensors.  The cargo contract requires a million credit bond but pays CR250K if delivered on time.  They take the contract, and then discuss possible options for using the craft as part of an operation to rescue Meeko and his wife.

The next day Hayter returns with bad news on Meeko. He has accumulated 8 points, and has been sent to a re-education center for a six month stay.  He is currently serving his last month at the center.   Now the group has a major dilemma, since the Nightwings must be delivered in the next two weeks to their destination.  San cannot expertly pilot the craft, and there is no time to train on it.  Also, Meeko being separated from his wife adds to the complexity of the situation.  Various plans are discussed, but in the end the rescue attempt is nixed after being judged to be too risky.   The group finalizes the cargo and flight plan, and heads to jump for Terek.

The jump to Terek is uneventful.   Upon arrival however, San's Danger Sense goes off, and he immediately switches off the transponder and starts up the stealth countermeasures.  Within minutes the ship's position is under attack by three merchant vessels, which appear to blindly be firing missiles at their location.  San takes evasive action while Gaiden and Rath man the turrets, but the ship is able to slip away without being tracked.  The group puzzles over how they could have been detected so soon, and who their assailants are.  They head out to the gas giant and refuel, avoiding all contact. There is dicussion on where to go next, and it is decided to try to get to Nowhere, the secret DKI facility.  Aline has knowledge of it's location, and says the ship will have to go back to the mainworld.

San plots a course back to the mainworld.  The plan is to contact orbital control for inspection, but be ready to jump in case anything looks dangerous.  When they approach Terek, they are contacted by customs inspection, and a routine (but nervously watched)  boarding ensues.  They are cleared for landing, so the ship lands at the downport.  San contacts the cargo recipients, and the cargo is offloaded.   Aline is sent out to contact Nowhere.  While they are waiting however, a package shows up.  It is a "Welcome Wagon" type affair, with brochures of Terek, and some sweets.  The package is thoroughly inspected for traps, bombs etc.   Then the brochures are inspected.  One starts with "Is Life Hectic?"...
 
 

[ 1 point awarded ]

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Sensing imminent danger, San and Krau prepare the ship for takeoff.  Aline calls in, and says she has been unable to contact Nowhere, but instead got a callback from Gary Wilcox, who says he wishes to talk to San and Rath.   Aline also says that she is being followed.   A short discussion ensues and Aline is told not to put Gary through to the ship.  She is told to return to the ship immediately if possible.  Gaiden begins sweeping the ship, looking for intruders or something wrong.  As preparations are being made to leave, Rath starts acting strangely, shaking and muttering to himself.  Krau notices it first, and then alerts the rest of the crew.  Rath meanwhile is in the Morgue, and has begun putting on his armored Vacc suit and is getting his weapon out.  San notices a strange figure on an external monitor cam, off to the side of the ship, standing around.

It doesn't take long for the group to realize that they are under some sort of Psionic attack or influence.  The Doctor enters the morgue with a Tranq hypo.  Rath notices, and takes a swing at the doctor, but fortunately misses.  The doctor then injects Rath, just as Gaiden hits him with the sonic stinger.  Rath goes down and is taken to sick bay to be restrained and watched.  Krau now starts to get strange, destructive impulses.  San in the meantime has boosted the ship up on grav thrusters and swings around, hitting the stranger with the gravitic backwash.  He goes tumbling, and everyone begins thinking clearly again.  A quick decision to leave immediately is reached, and San and Krau cook up an excuse for departing to orbit immediately, based on some sort of Reactor problem.  When they reach orbit, they are able to declare all-clear, and after a brief boarding inspection, are also cleared for system exit.

As they depart, San's danger sense once again goes off, and a sensor scan reveals several small ships approaching at high acceleration.  The Future Wake's stealth systems are activated, and the transponder switched off.  The ship is taken through evasive manuevers, and manages to evade the incoming ships.  Course is then set to Verdania / Slot 5, (via a round-about route).  Two days later, the Wake arrives at Verdania.  This planet is arid but has a near standard atmosphere, and underground aquifers.  It is a minor trade port and also a hydroponics/agro-farming community.   Krau gets a nagging sense he knows where to go, but his intuition fails him until the ship is brought into close orbit, at which point specific coordinates "pop into his head".  The area is scanned and found to be in a remote area, but has a minor agro-farm dome complex.   The ship is set down at that location.

Krau gets out,  and is greeted by Tyrone Briggs, a member of the Halo Foundation who the group has previously dealt with. Tyrone assues Krau that everyone is safe, and they are invited inside.    In the domed complex, there is a small village of sorts amongst the lush vegetation.  They are taken past a chamber with a large crystal column, and several people floating in the air in a ring above it.  People start to experience headaches here, so Tyrone sends for PSI shields for people.  He explains that these people are part of a Gestalt, a Psionic linking that enables them to use their collective power.   The group meets some of the Halo Foundation members, including:
 

Celine - Head of the Halo Foundation. (Her thoughts are heard or projected, but she is not seen by the group.)

Anton - Study leader; appears to be the practical leader of the organization.

Cora - Female Religious Leader of the group

Secorn - Minjini male, apparently with Psionic attack/battle skills

Morica - Telepath (aka Sniffer)

Nadine - In charge of the farming operations, envoy to other parts of the committee.

Armando - Envoy to the Republic Navy, somewhat outspoken on rules regarding Normals.

JohnHayes - No info, seems to be low level

Kevin - No Info

Derek - Anti-PSI (aka Screamer). Unliked by most of the Foundation, apparently.

The group gives the Halo Foundation details/information on their mission to Akhamin, including the activities of the Bertranites.  They are asked if they are willing to help with the situation. Anton also says the Foundation has a need for a Starship and crew for an immediate mission, but cannot give any advance details of what that mission would be.  The group agrees to help out, even after being repeatedly told of the inherent danger that will be involved...

After some time, Rath awakes in his stateroom.  San also wakes up, disoriented.  The Doctor comes on the intercom and says that the chronometers must be malfunctioning, because the date reads June 22.   San finds the ship in jump, and a stranger on the bridge.  He eventually recognizes it to be the Minjini male Secorn, who also appears somewhat disoriented.   Also onboard are Morica, the Telepath, and Derek, the Anti-PSI.  Krau is eventually awakened also.  Nobody seems to have a clear idea of what has happened in the past, except Gaiden, who informs them that they have been in a trance-like state for a journey which has included at least three jumps.  He also (privately) shows Rath a strange bomb-like device in the cargo hold.    San checks the astrogation computer, and finds that they are about to emerge from Jump in the Averon system.

Secorn calls the group to the Morgue for a meeting.   He apparently remembers enough information to tell the group that they are on a mission to rescue Feno, and to destroy the facility she is being held at.  Although tranced, he apparently had some amount of selective memory, for he solicited Gaiden's opinion on items to buy for the trip.  Hanging on a rack in the Morgue is a Commando Battle Suit, tailored for Rath's size.  Several other goodies are stashed on the ship as well, including Psychotronic equipment.  Also, San and Krau have been given PSI drugs of some sort to help boost their powers.

The ship emerges from jump in Averon.  It is fully fueled, apparently due to the use of jump tanks going into the system from points unknown.   Hasty research on the system finds it is a devastated world from the war, with a post-holocaust society living there.  There is also an interplanetary war going on between the mainworld and it's moon, Kinas.  The Kinasians have a fleet of spacecraft and there is considerable risk of detection, even using Stealth.  The ship is brought to low orbit on the Mainworld, and Krau uses his research and then intuition to choose a landing spot, near one of three functioning Fusion plants on the surface.  It is a rough ride down due to extreme wind conditions in the upper atmosphere, but Krau does a good job piloting as San works the stealth systems.  The ship sets down on the side of a giant pyramid, one of several in the region.   Rath goes out to camoflauge the ship, and Gaiden sets up a Watchdog perimeter alarm.

[ 2 points awarded ]

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Rath dons his Battlesuit and flight pack, and goes out of the ship to recon the area.  It has turned foggy, and he is able to fly low without much chance of visual detection.  Using sensors, he is able to determine that there is a Fusion signature near the Pagur Salt Mines in the Northwest quadrant of the Rovvalla area map.  Morica, meanwhile is passively scanning for the presence of other Psionic activity, and reports that there is a small pinpoint in town, and a much larger concentration near the salt mine area.  It doesn't take much intuition on Krau's part to determine that this is the likely spot where Feno is being held.

Rath follows the river up through the mountains, and then flies low through hilly terrain to the area of the Salt Mines.  He is suddenly painted by an enemy radar, and when he drops low he discovers that he has tripped a perimeter defense line.   His sensors tell him that a small craft of some sort is on an intercept course at high speed.  He attempts to hide, but the enemy radar has locked on, and Rath decides to retreat.  He is chased by what turns out to be a robot of some sort, equipped with a laser cannon.  The laser scores a hit on him but is ineffective against Rath's armor.   Rath has the speed advantage and manages to lose the robot in the rugged terrain through evasive manuevers.

Rath heads back and alerts the others that their presence has been detected.  It is decided to let the Psis go "active" and to try to find out more about the psionic forces in the area.  Morica is taken away from the ship by Rath, where she performs an active scan.  The psionic activity in the town appears to be coming from a woman named Clara, who lives with her husband in the town of Rovvala.   Morica cannot tell if she is infected with Eristicon, but does not sense any unusual patterns from her.  Morica reads her thoughts, and finds that she is upset at her husband, because he is spending too much time on his projects and not enough time with her.  She wonders if he married her just for her abilities, which seem to include some kind of Psychokinesis power.   Morica then scans in the direction of the Salt Mines and is immediately attacked Psionically.  Morica is essentially unhurt (but drained) from the experience, and says she contacted what she thinks is infected psionic minds.   Rath races back to the ship, and everyone agrees that they have been spotted and have only a limited time window to attack before they are forced onto the defensive.

The plan is a frontal assault on the robots using the ship's weapons, while Rath and Secorn fly into the area separately for a possible secondary or flank attack. San pilots the Future Wake off of the great pyramid they are set down on, and takes the ship in.  Gaiden mans the fusion guns as they approach, and are met by several more warbots.  Gaiden quickly dispatches two of the warbots in a blinding beam of fusion from the ship's guns, but the weapons are slow to recharge, and soon more bots are in the area.  As Rath battles a few and makes his way closer to the mine entrance, another warbot comes in under the Future wake, and begins cutting away at the articulation point for the ship's cargo ramp.  San tries several evasive manuevers and even tries bumping the ship against the cliff wall in an attempt to shake the bot, but with little effect.   Gaiden sets the gun recharge to auto and leaves the gunnery station, grabbing the RPG with strange grenades that are reportedly "good against robots".  Aiming at the breach point, Gaiden waits until the robot emerges into the hold and squeezes the trigger.  The grenade hits the bot squarely and explodes into a fine, gaseous mist, covering the bot and most of the cargo bay in the process.

At first there appears to be no effect, but soon sparks and fire can be seen erupting from the robot, and a gooey substance oozes from it as it falls to the cargo deck, jittering.   Gaiden has only a moment to enjoy the victory however when he realizes that other things on the deck are beginning to disintegrate, including life support systems, electronics, cargo, his own personal effects, and clothes.   On the bridge, multiple electrical fault lights are showing up, and circuit breakers to most of the third deck have tripped.  San and Krau try cycling the atmosphere out from the deck , but get failure readings on the fans for the ventilation there.  Gaiden races upstairs and informs the crew of what has happened, and San uses a rapid reverse manuever to ram fresh air into the (now open) lower deck.  Gaiden visits the doctor, but his clothing burns a hole through the plastic cover on the sick-bay bed.  The Doctor decides to take him down to the showers for decontamination.  Gaiden nixes the idea and heads to the bridge to assist though when he hears about the second bot attack.

Meanwhile, a second robot has shown up, and has begun cutting into the airlock on deck one.  San calls for Rath to come back to help deal with the problem.  Rath and Secorn have entered the salt mine complex, and have discovered a branching system of tunnels.  They have a brief debate/discussion about what to do;  Rath really would prefer to continue, but knows the ship is in trouble.  Secorn is in favor of continuing on and leaving the ship to fend for itself.   As they debate, the robot manages to cut through the upper airlock door and has entered the chamber.   San hands control of the ship over to Krau, instructing him to head up, and then grabs two satchel charges and heads up through the one of the two launch tubes to the top of the ship.   As he prepares to drop both of them into the airlock, Rath approaches and cautions him to only use one.  San sets the delay timer for five seconds and then hurls the satchel in.  Rath and Secorn fly away from the ship, and San slides down the tube and then leaps out of the Morgue to the lower hatch tube, passing the warbot, which has breached the inner lock and is now in the ship.  San does not notice, but he also passes Morica, who has entered the Morgue at just the wrong time.

The Satchel charge falls to the floor of the morgue, several feet away from the warbot, and from the weapons locker containing most of the ship's armarment.  The charge goes off, followed almost instantly by a secondary explosion as other explosives in the lockers are ignited.  Morica is killed instantly, along with the warbot.   The explosion blows out both of the launch tube covers, sending them sailing in the air.  A jet of fire plumes out of the airlock as Rath and Secorn look on helplessly.   Inside the force of the explosion manages to buckle the reinforced bulkhead around the bridge, sending debris flying.  Krau is knocked out during the blast, and the ship begins to plummet.  Gaiden seizes the controls, but only makes the situation worse by sending the ship into a power dive.

San races to the bridge, busting through the remnants of the bulkhead door, which is barely attached.  He grabs the stick and attempts to regain controlled flight.  The ship is badly damaged however and most linkages to the engineering from the bridge have been severed.  The controls are operating only on a backup RF linkage, and the gravitics are operating on emergency  local power.  Despite the challenges, San is able to pull the ship out of the dive and into a controlled, but emergency landing.  The ship dives into an area of deep vegetation, cracking through trees and brush before plowing into a rocky landing on the ship's belly.  Derek is hit by a section of an interior wall and sustains a nasty gash to the head, but for the most part everyone else manages to avoid significant injury.

San then has a vision of the ship exploding, and everyone dying.  He tells everyone to abandon ship, and then he remembers the antimatter bomb in the cargo bay.   Part of the bay is crumpled from the landing, but he is able to inspect the contents.  The air raft and mini-weasel are both covered in plastic goo from the previous RPG incident.  The AM bomb, fortunately, is encased in a metal box.  San picks up the device and heads out of the ship, handing it over to Rath.  Rath flies safely away, and stashes the bomb in the woods above the mine pit.  Everyone else runs for it.  Not long after, they are nearly knocked to the ground by a giant explosive blast.  A huge fireball is seen behind them, which ignites several secondary forest fires.

After running some distance, everybody stops for a moment to regroup and catch their breath.  The Doctor gives the injured Quickheal, and pumps Krau full of drugs that will keep him going for several more hours.  Rath is given Dexie, a dexterity adder to h elp his combat skills.   Despite the circumstances the group agrees that their only real chance is to continue their assault and head into the mining complex.   Rath begins the attack by fusioning the reactor site, causing internal explosions and taking most of the power in the area out.  He also sweeps the top of the cliff, destroying several large antenna arrays.

The group then  enters the mine, and soon they come to a branch.  Gaiden and Secorn are paired up and head one way, and San, Rath, Derek go the other, with Krau and the Doctor bringing up the rear.  Rath's team immediately encounters a barracks of some sort, full of mutant psionics who begin attacking with various Psi attacks, including physical /TK.  Derek does his best to suppress them but is overhwhelmed at points, and Rath finds his suit being manipulated at one point by someone with ElectroKinesis.  Derek gives Rath enough time though to open up with his fusion gun, killing most of them and causing the rest to flee.

On the other end of the tunnel, Gaiden and Secorn enter a food locker, which has a back passage to another room that is full of recharging warbots.  He calls for San, who comes in and looks for an "off" switch.  Finding none, he comes up with the idea of reversing the charging power, presumably coming from emergency sources now, so as to drain the bots instead of charging them.

The tunnels continue in multiple directions. Krau intuitively feels that Max is here, somewhere...
 

[ 2 points awarded for extreme peril ]

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Gaiden and Secorn continue down their tunnel, and encounter a room with unarmed people, apparently monitoring computer equipment.  The two are able to make short work of the three or four in the room, and enter.  They find it full of security monitoring equipment, most of which is not functioning due to the power failure.  A backup system is running, and they are able to see monitors of several halls and rooms, including very large room labelled "Temple", where they see warbots, machines, and perhaps Feno.

On the other side of the complex, Rath, San, Krau, Derrick, and the Doctor enter the adjoining room to the barracks.  Inside, they find a room full of mutant creatures, in various stages of bio-experimentation.  Some have metallic armor, others have multiple limbs and are much larger than humans.  Rath begins to sweep the area with fusion, but one manages to dodge and roll into the room where everyone is.  As it thrashes with it's claws, a noxious cloud of gas is released into the area, choking Derrick and sending the group into retreat.  They close the door and head down the hall to join up with Gaiden and Secorn.

After meeting up, San gets the sense that they are being chased.  On the monitor, Gaiden can see some of the creatures approaching.  Rath turns and fires back down the hall into the Warbot charging room, hitting a large creature and also the inanimate warbot behind it.  There is a large explosion, and part of the room collapses, blocking the passage out and sending dust and debris flying.  The combined group heads deeper into the complex, with Derrick strapped to Rath for safety.  Krau has intuitively sought out the route to Feno, and the group is following the path he suggests.

Down a back hall in the complex, they come across a side room off the hallway that is apparently a factory of sorts, producing more warbots.  Rath attacks and in short order, the room and it's contents are reduced to smoking rubble.  Inside, they find a door to an adjoining room.  This appears to be a stockroom of sorts, and is full of parts for making warbots.  The group considers using the parts to make new weapons, but abandons the idea due to the time involved.   Also inside this room, they find a functioning utlity robot, quietly moving parts around on shelves, oblivious to the action.  Rath queries the robot and discovers it has a limited set of functions, including running the stockroom, acting as a guard, and doing courier duty. The robot is able to provide maps to the complex, and the group discovers the location of elevators,  and a large chamber on the third floor below.  As they consider using the machine for their own purposes, San has another vision of warbots approaching via an elevator.

Gaiden goes out into the hall and spots several approaching from the unexplored branch of the hall.  He takes out the RPG loaded with plastic-eating viral solvent, and fires it down the hall at the approaching bots.  Soon there is a cloud, followed by sparks and fire as the warbots fall to the ground.  The group discusses how to get past the area of the RPG explosion without incurring damage to their equipment, especially Rath's suit.  San has a vision of PSIs holding hands in a Gestalt; the group has to hurry.  They consult the floorplan and find a down stairway, and decide to use that instead.

The stair takes them to the second level, where they explore a room that is full of discarded personal effects, including weapons.  Most of the items are the low-tech variety, but they do find some high-tech weapons including a laser rifle.  They also find Max Riven's DKI ID, and his clothing in a pile there.  After equipping with what they can find, they head down the hall to a second elevator.  The power is out on the unit, so Rath uses his enhanced strength to lift the elevator car, exposing the shaft.  Everyone scrambles down after some initial mishaps.    Rath mangles the track so that the car cannot descend on top of them, and jumps down.

Beyond the door in the adjoining anteroom, they discover a large salt cavern, roughly squared and flattened into a rectangular room.  Inside this room, a ring of people stand around a round table, on which a small figure is laying.  In between massive pillars, the group can spot warbots.  And along a wall, there are a series of cages.   Gaiden opens up with a volley from an auto-shotgun, straight across the room and into the ring of psionics, taking a good number of them out.  Rath exchanges fire with the warbots, as they leave their stations and move to attack.  As the warbots approach, Gaiden switches to the RPG, and fires a round into the oncoming bots.  The gas explosion coats everything in the room, and soon bots begin to spark and fall, along with other machinery in the room.  Rath works on shooting out other mutants in the cells, but accidentally takes out a pillar, causing a small collapse in the ceiling and filling the room debris.  He is forced out however because of damage from the RPG gas.  He heads up to the surface to wash his suit in the spill pit outside the mine.

Gaiden meanwhile has tried to make his way down through the temple on the cell/cage side.  He comes across a cell with a familiar figure - it is Max.  He appears unharmed, but in the other cells, various people appear to be in a worse state, connected to machines leading to Feno.  As Gaiden shoots them, he suddenly has a fearful vision of being chased by a horrible monster, and begins to run away.

San and the Doctor enter and try to make their way to Feno.  San spots a figure hiding behind a machine in the back of the room, and shoots him.  They approach the large round table and find Feno, strapped in and connected to a variety of machines.   The doctor ponders removal, as Gaiden slowly comes to his senses.  Most of the smoke and debris has cleared, and several fires burn in the area.   Rath returns.   After the doctor finishes unhooking Feno, he is asked to tranq Max for safety, and then Rath takes the two out of the complex.

The group heads back to the remains of the Future Wake.   Krau's drugs wear off, and he collapses into a heavy, dreamless sleep...

[ 2 points awarded ]

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Night falls, after a very long day.  The Doctor tends to Gaiden, San, and Krau from the damaged but still serviceable remains of sick-bay.  Krau's drugs wear off, and he crashes into a fitful sleep.  A watch is set up between San and Rath. During Rath's shift, strange radar targets are observed floating over Rovvala that he cannot precisely identify.  The next morning, Krau gets to work on power to the Medical Diagnostic Imager in sick-bay, by cannibalizing the power cell from the mini-weasel.  After some good electrical work by Krau, they restore power to sick bay, and the doctor scans Feno and Max.  Max is found to be clear of any foreign intrusion, but Feno still has signs of connection ports for life support on various points of her body.  She also tests postive for radio transmissions indicative of Eristicon infection.  The doctor is ordered to keep her sedated, and she is put into a shielded tent in sick-bay.

Rath, Gaiden, and San head out to the salt mine to finish exploring and clearing it of inhabitants.  The mine is thoroughly explored.  Much of the unexplored sections turn out to be empty, but in a set of chambers on the first level, they find a medical lab, full of dead bioexperimentation subjects.  Also in this lab, they find a medical robot that is intact, and a series of medical and psi drugs.  Some of the drugs are raided.   Among the other finds in the mines, a small portable laptop, gravitic controls from the factory area, a large supply of life support chemicals and machinery, and cables and wiring.

After exploring the mines, Rath enters the destroyed Fusion plant, and discovers some needed power regulation equipment.  The area is bathed in substantial radiation, so Rath is the only one capable of staying there for any extended period of time.  Krau attempts to talk him through removal of the equipment, but the regulator is damaged during the removal process and is useless.

The next night, Rath gets a better sensor reading of the strange objects while on watch.  It turns out they are large Zeppelins that have come up from the south.  Rath flies over to an area of town to the north where the zeppelins are landing.  It is a large field beside a cemetery.  There is a single, large house there, and two figures waiting for the zeppelins to land.  Rath listens in to their conversations, finding it to be a man and woman.  The woman's name is Clara, and he quickly deduces her to be the Psionic that Morica had previously found when they landed.  The couple apparently welcomes the several of the crew of the first zeppelin into their home, while the rest of the crew assists with securing the craft, and landing the second one.  Rath also overhears talk of an approaching storm, which he makes note of.  Rath also notes that there are two children associated with this family, a boy and a girl, both about age 7-9.

Rath returns to the ship and the group has a discussion on how to proceed.  It is decided that the couple (The Browns) are to be approached directly to see if they might be able to aid the group in finding a power regulator or otherwise helping them.  In the morning, Krau and Rath fly back to the cemetery, and stash the battle suit.  The Zeppelins have left during the night, and the outside area is clear of any people.  They approach the home, and knock on the door.   A woman answers, takes a quick look at the two, (who appear out of place considering they have made no attempt to disguise themselves in local garb).  She appears unflustered however, and after muttering an oath, she says something under her breath like "not again..", and turns back into the house, yelling "Emmett!!  It's for you!".

A voice yells back "I'm busy, woman!"  and verbal combat ensues, with Emmett yelling for Clara to leave him alone, and not to enter "The Area", while she yells about how he better come, and that she is not going to put out any fires this time, etc.  Emmett eventually comes to the door, with some random electronics component in his hand.  He blurts out something like "What do you want?  Are you from the Assesors office?  I have a stay of assessment for 3 years!", as he pulls down a small piece of paper tacked to the inside wall with an ice pick.

Rath and Krau assure Emmett that they are not from the Assessors office, and that they are not from around here.  The fact that they are not locals seems to satisfy Emmett a great deal, and he lets them in the house.   The interior of the building appears to be a battle between folk art and sci tech, with small, tastefully arranged displays of china and small figurines interrupted by the presence of wires and cabling running in back of them, with occasional batteries or other pieces of equipment haphazardly stacked amongst the otherwise simple furnishings.    Krau and Rath let Emmett know they are from off-world, and that they need help in repairing their ship.  Emmett is excited by this, and Clara for her part seems more annoyed than surprised or scared at the prospect of alien visitors arriving from another planet.   As they talk, Emmet realizes he "left something on", and runs into an area in the center of the house, behind a screened in wall panel.  He warns Clara "not to follow him", and runs in there, but completely ignores Krau, who follows him into the lab.

Inside the room, Krau sees a fairly impressive assortment of electronics equipment, from various technology levels.  The most impressive thing in the room however is a small, black, smimmering spot floating in the center of the room.  Emmett claims it is a singularity, and that it was an accident that he's now trying to figure out how to undo.  Clara later confirms that Emmett seems to always be around for various "accidents", including a meteor strike on the house that took out the entire back porch.  The more Krau talks to Emmett however, the more he realizes that Emmett has unwittingly stumbled into a branch of physics that has had little exploration, and possibly some previously unrecognized benefits.  Rath gets a weird vibe in this place, and decides it will be safer if he waits outside while Krau negotiates.  He returns to the field and puts on the Battle Suit.  Krau begins subtle negotiations, where he floats the idea of enlisting their aid, and possibly giving the family transportation off the planet.

Outside meanwhile, Rath has accidentally activated the PA system/alarm on the suit, and sent a series of whooping alarms out.  This attracts the attention of the two children, who, upon spotting the large mechanical figure, go running into the house, screaming about "Gobbler Fairies" coming to get them.  Emmett yells to calm down, that there is no such thing as Gobbler Fairies, but Clara looks worried, and mentions the "recent kidnappings, and the salt mines".  This sparks a debate again between the two, and Krau eventually intercedes by informing them that the phenomenon in question is actually, Rath, in a battle suit.

Emmet wants to go see, so he and the kids go out and meet Rath, who looks suitably impressive (no pun intended.)  Krau and Rath invite Emmett to the ship to see it, and he accepts.  Before they leave however, Emmett has a bit of work to do and he asks Krau and Rath to come help.  They drive into town in a rickety old car, and Emmett opens a back door to a building there.  He and the others load up a bunch of boxes, and then take them to the town square, where he uncermoniously dumps them in the center, covers them in accelerant, and lights them afire.  The crowd that has been waitring there cheers, and he makes a brief announcement to the effect of "The sins of our Fathers be purged!" and then he jumps back in the car, leaving the crowd do dance riotously around the raging bonfire.

On the way back, he explains that the "idiot townfolk" still follow the Luddite ritual, and that he has taken it upon himself to help in the effort to save what few books and documents remain.  He and a group of other activists, known as the Bookleggers, store and distribute the written word.  Emmett has used trickery such as substitution of Luddite books in favor of old texts to preserve the books, and has managed to be appointed to the post of Fireman by the local Church of the Black Sky.  His other official duties consist of local Cemetery keeper, and he and his wife act as Tenders for the Kinasian trader Zeppelins that ply the skies in the area during calm weather.  All of these duties are apparently considered less than savory by the rest of the townfolk, and the Brown family is more or less considered to be outcasts.

Emmett then heads out with Rath to the ship, but the previously predicted storm has moved in to the salt mine area, and the two are pinned down before they can approach the ship.  San and Gaiden do their best to baton down the gaping holes in the ship, but water and hail invade to various degrees.   After the storm passes Rath continues on, with Emmett on his back.  Once at the ship, he is introduced to the rest of the crew, and filled in on the situation.  Emmett is asked if he knows of some place to find Grav thruster plates.  Emmett thinks for a while, and then suggests Carson's Barge, a trade ship that has a route between Kinass and Rovvala.  Emmett says that when he was a boy, Carson's ship used to fly in the air.  When Carson died, his son took over, and he gradually began increasing the cargo capacity of the ship until it could do little more than briefly rise above sections of rapids on the river.   This was still enough of a technological advantage, apparently to give it a near monopoly on the river trade route to Rovvalla, so it's arrival has become a weekly fixture in the town.

Emmett has no love lost for Carson's son, since the two had a falling out twenty years ago over a bad deal of some sort.  Emmett effectively says that while he does not wish the man dead, he certainly would not mind if his business were to take a turn for the worse.  Emmett also responds to inquiries about a heavy-duty plasma torch.  He says that while he does not have one, he knows where one can be found.  A short distance  south down the river, past the rapids, there are a series of camps run by Scrappers.  These people collect salvage metal from ruins nearby, cut it into manageable sections, then ship it down-river to smelting plants in Kinass.  They are a rough crowd that usually keep to themselves, although various trouble in town has been associated to them as well.

[ 1 point awarded ]

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Session synopsis:
 

Rath, San, and Gaiden plot an ambush for Carson's Barge, a river boat with gravitic assist, in order to steal parts for their ship.  They kill the crew, dump most of the cargo, and fly the now considerably lighter craft to the Future Wake.  Gaiden kills a few curious river rafters who come in to see what's going on.  The ship is searched and some LR communicators, food, and some coins are found.

Krau and San manage to get the Future Wake flying again using the parts.  San pilots the shaky craft with Emmett onboard after a few false starts.  San is warned of possible impending disaster from his danger sense which leads to a few last minute repairs before takeoff.  The Wake is set down atop one of the pyramids near Rovvalla.

Once the ship is clear of the salt mine area, Rath sets and detonates the anti-matter bomb, causing a large explosion in the salt mine area.

The group decides that their best chance for leaving the planet is to find some ride off the world, likely from Kinass, the town to the south.  Negotiations with the Zeppelin crew are made for transporting everyone south.

Emmett is told to pack up his family.  He collects various things he wants to keep, some are taken and stashed onboard the Wake.  Things are expedited by the arrival of an orbital craft that Krau intuitively feels are Kinasians, who presumably come down to investigate the salt mine explosion.

San and Krau get the air raft working, and San pilots it at a safe distance behind the Zeppelin, carrying essentials from the Wake.

The group arrives safely at Kinass.  Krau goes to "Truck Town" to get a room and almost gets rolled by a local, until Secorn intervenes.

Gaiden goes to a local army base with the hopes of being recruited, but instead his weapons are confiscated, and he is questioned about the Salt Mines.  He is handcuffed and put aboard a modular cutter.

San goes to a local bar and tries to make arrangements for transport off the planet.  A skeptical Army guy agrees to arrange transport for him for 2000 lanthium coins. They agree to meet the next evening to finalize arrangements.

[ 1 point awarded ]

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Gaiden watches as the modular cutter lifts off of the base on Kinass, and heads towards the Kinasian moon.  Onboard are several other "detainees", and several armed guards.  The other detainees appear to be locals, and they all show obvious signs of being terrified out of their wits.  The cutter lands at a base on the moon, and Gaiden is led through a series of tubular hallways, and then down into a detention center.  Gaiden loses his temper during a strip-search, and battles the guards to little success, and is eventually thrown into a cell, beaten and bloody.  He is kept there a while, and asked to fill out a form stating his name and reason for being in Kinass (to which he obviously supplies false information.) Gaiden tries and fails to pick the lock on his cell. A set of very cautious armed guards come and take him out some time later, and he is led handcuffed through a series of corridors to the office of General Gallus, who is apparently in command of the base.

The General begins asking him questions about his background, and Gaiden gives him the "Farmer-From-Rovvala" story.  The General responds by mentioning that he's never seen a farmer who didn't wet his pants when taken up into space, and when Gaiden shrugs, he goes on to add that he's never seen one that can read and write either, throwing the paper Gaiden just filled out back in front of him.  For the final nail in the coffin of Gaiden's story, he adds that he's also never seen a Farmer with two Magnum Revolvers of Republic manufacture.   When asked to revise his story, Gaiden tells another tale about being sent to blow up the salt mines by an unknown party.  This story interests the General much more, but Gaiden is evasive when questioned about the origins of his patron, or the fate of his other crew members.  Eventually the General gets frustrated enough that he blurts out something about "his lordship being displeased that his outpost was destroyed", and that "he will not be the only one who will be made to pay for this".  Things proceed rather quickly from this point to a torture session, where Gaiden is assaulted by an interrogator weilding a cattle prod.  Gaiden tries to slip his cuffs several times, and fails.  During a subsequent interrogation, Gaiden is given truth serum.  In these sessions, Gaiden resists interrogation but eventually lets some facts slip out, including that some of his team mates are in Kinass.

Meanwhile back on Averon, Krau and San have rigged up a laptop to the PsiBorg, and begin using it to check out Max and Feno for signs of Eristicon infection.  Max is cleared of infection, but is harboring psychological trauma and guilt from his ordeal.  Feno is shown to be somewhat infected, but the extent of her "conversion" seems limited, perhaps due to a desire by her captors not to interfere with her powers, or perhaps due to some resistance she is offering to conversion.
 

San also succeeds in tapping into the military data channel, and they learn of Gaiden's capture and the search for others.   In time, they learn that a search of Rovvala is underway, and that the Future Wake has been discovered atop the pyramid near the city.  The group considers various plans for escape, including persuing San's contact from the previous evening.  Security has stepped up since then however due to the raised level of security.  The idea of using the army contact is abandoned for fear of being turned in for reward.  Routes out of the city also appear blocked as part of the security measures.  This leaves the possibility of going out in a steel shipment, or going out in a slave shipment, as these appear to be the two major exports from Kinass.    The plan eventually converges on hiding in a steel shipment aboard one of the cutters.  They learn that a large 20,000-ton cargo ship, the Lost Lenore, is currently in orbit and has begun a two-day loading cycle.

Krau notices that a trailer-to-trailer search has begun in Truck Town, where the group has rented a trailer.  The group  (excluding Rath who is still outside of Kinass) makes a quick decision to move to the scrap yard near the smelting plant, and to contact Rath via meson communicator for a rendezvous.    Krau climbs a large scrap pile and spots a line of trucks, carrying finished steel out of the smelting plant in cutter modules.  They devise a plan to steal one of the parked trucks, take on a load, and then hide the group inside the cutter module.  Rath attempts to sneak into the city near the plant, but activates a perimeter defense alarm, summoning several grav-APCs and raising the alert level further.   Rath is chased down by the APCs, but manages to evade his pursuers.

While this is happening, Max makes his move and jumps in a truck, taking it around for loading.  He soon emerges from the plant, and comes into the yard.  Everyone in the group struggles to remove some of the large steel rods packing the cutter, but they only manage to get a few out before a flurry of security vehicles arrive in response to Rath's intrusion.  They scramble into the crawlspace at the top of the container, and Max seals them in, and takes the truck out, following the other trucks to the space port.    Rath doubles back to the city, and chances it by flying in stealth mode high above the city, waiting for a signal from the group so he can identify the proper cutter.  He is not detected, and eventually he gets the "click-click" signal that the cutter has lifted off.

Rath follows the Cutter up.  Inside the cargo module, Krau uses his plasma torch to cut a hole in the forward end of the module, and San, the Doctor, and Secorn quietly climb out and activate the airlock to the cabin area.  San charges forward and grabs the surprised pilot, Judo-throwing him out of his seat and into the small common area.  The pilot scrambles to his feet and puts up a good fight, but is eventually thrown again into the bathroom, where he is locked in until Rath can get into the cutter through the outer airlock.  San takes control of the cutter while Rath "negotiates" with the pilot, who opens the door only to come face-to-battlesuit-clad-face with Rath.  The pilot is offered a small fortune Lanthium for his cooperation, which includes keeping quiet about seeing the group.  Krau uses the PsiBorg to confirm that the pilot intends to follow through with his promise.  The group goes back into the module, and Krau seals them in.  Rath then follows the module into the hold of the Lost Lenore.

A day has past and Gaiden continues to have little luck attempting to escape.  He does manage to convince a neighboring cell-mate to provide a distraction for him the next time the guards come.  As one enters his cell and begins to cuff him, the neighboring prisoner howls in pain about his leg being hurt.  Both guards turn to look and Gaiden grabs the gaurd's gun, and fast-draws the weapon.  Before he has a chance to react, Gaiden pumps lead into both guards, and seizes a second pistol, and the keys, which he tosses to his accomplice.  He then makes a break for it, running into what turns out to be the barracks area, surprising a number of off-duty army personell.  Shooting with both hands, Gaiden takes out a room full of people in a few short seconds.  The alarms have gone off in the base however, and more pursuers come flooding out of an ajoining hall.   Realizing he is outnumbered, he turns and heads directly for the General's office.

Running past surprised aides and workers in the area, Gaiden bursts into the office.  Inside, he sees the General, and a visitor.  It is Lo Jos.  He is accompanied by several people, including two large Gormelites in powered armor.   They raise their weapons at Gaiden as Lo Jos stands in surprise.   For a brief moment nothing happens, as Gaiden considers the situation.  The Gaiden fires, unloading three rounds from each weapon directly into Lo Jos.  The bullets impact squarely, one set peppering his torso, while the others destroy his left leg.   Lo Jos is thrown back across the room from the impact in a shower of blood.  Then the Gormelites open up with Plasma Rifles.  Gaiden miraculously dodges one beam, but the other scores a direct hit.  Gaiden's midsection is instantly vaporized, but not before he gets off a final set of shots.  The last thing he sees before the blinding light envelops him is the surprised face of the General, as he is knocked back across the room from the impact.
 

[ 1 point awarded / 25 for Gaiden (but he's dead.) ]

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After the cargo workers load all the modules into the cargo bay, the bay is pressurized for inspection purposes.  As inspectors come in to check on things, Rath sneaks over to the cargo containers and gives Krau the signal.  Krau cuts open the container and he and Rath sneak out to the hatchway of the Lost Lenore.  They pass through the door into the spinal corridor.  Back in the cargo container, Feno whispers to San that "we are all going to die... again.".  San is also having visions of being consumed by a white light, which makes him very uneasy. He relays the info to Rath and the others.

Out in the hall, Krau and Rath are eventually spotted by workers, who sound the security alarm.  Rath holds one and instructs him to bring forward his captain.  Soon a man emerges from the forward airlock into the hall.  He is a short, overweight, balding and generally unattractive man with a slight limp.  The man also has an antenna stub protruding from his skull.  The man identifies himself as Captain Ferrer, and states clearly that he and he alone is in charge of the ship, and that no one, not even someone with a fusion gun and powered armor, will change that.   Rath tries to bargain with the man by offering him Lanthium to transport he and the other stowaways (which are subsequently routed out of the cargo container.)  Ferrer offers no promises and says that Rath must get out of the armor.  Rath mentions that if necessary, he and his group could pilot the ship.  Ferrer's response is along the lines of "not if it's gone you can't."

Rath thinks about it and is worried about the visions from Feno and San, so he decides to back down, and take off the suit.  He locks it down and gives himself and the group up.  They are led away at laser-rifle point.   Ferrer takes them to a man named Dr. Casper for physical inspection, then into an empty room.  He comes in and explains that there are three possibilities for the group:  First, to serve as crew on the ship.  Second, to be sold along with the other slaves onboard to the Belters on Mukhaldim.  The last possibility is a visit to the airlock.

The group unanimously votes in favor of choice one.  The captain agrees, but says that if anything strange or unusual happens during the voyage, the entire group will proceed directly to choice three.  The group is split in half, with one part assigned to feed and clean up after the slave cargo, which occupies one of the cavernous holds on the ship.  The other group is assigned to maintenance work, consisting largely of painting.  Rath tells the others that they should make no attempt to revolt or do anything risky until the end of the voyage.

The Lost Lenore is eventually cleared for breaking orbit, after a delay imposed by the Kinasians as they attempt to sort out the assassination of Genral Gallus and an "Important Visitor", and the identity of the intruder/assassin killed on the moon base.  The ship heads out on an eight-day journey to the Gas Giant to fuel.  Four days into the trip, all engines come to a stop.  The captain sounds a security alert.  Eventually there is a "thud", apparently the sound of another ship hard-docking.  Krau and Rath glance down the hall in time to see a large form moving onto the ship.  Secorn is asked to scan for minds, but cannot pick up any new presence for some reason.  They wait to see what happens.

Eventually, there is a great white light, and everybody dies.

Krau and San open their eyes, and it is dark.  The air is muffled.  They turn on a light.  They are inside a cargo container.  Outside, Rath finds himself in the cargo bay, hiding as containers are loaded onto the ship.  They do not really remember anything unusual happening, but Emmett seems to be aware of the bizarre events from their non-past.  He mentions the strange, six-legged creatures that came onboard, and how nobody was moving or talking to him.  Krau questions Emmett and begins to realize that the creature descriptions match what he thinks could be Hivers.  Emmett remembers hearing one say that it was an "unsatisfactory result", and that there would need to be "another iteration". Some in the group have a very strong feeling of Deja Vu, and although they do not remember the events Emmett describes, they decide to make less obvious choices for their plans in the event they have somehow done this all before.

Krau and Rath exit the cargo container.  The plan is to rig the cargo hold to look as if there is no pressure in the bay when in fact there is.  Krau sneaks out past three workers in the bay, into the hall to override the airlock controls. Krau is again spotted by a worker in the hall, but when he approaches, Rath grabs him and smashes him into a wall, killing him.  Krau then depressurizes the bay, sweeping the three cargo workers out into space.  Another worker discovers the body of the smashed man, and calls a security alert.  The captain eventually comes, and everyone speculates as to what happened.  Then, they notice the cargo bay has been depressurized, and that three men are missing.  The captain orders the bay repressurized, and a search to begin for intruders.

Rath is hiding up on the ceiling of the hallway, watching the scene.  He realizes that this will likely lead to a scenario similar to the one described by Emmett, so he decides to take a risk.  He reaches down, grabs the antenna on Captain Ferrer's head, and yanks firmly.

There is a great white light, and everybody dies.

This time, Krau, Rath and San sneak out, and they go directly to a crawlspace under the long spinal hallway.  They crawl the length of the ship, down into engineering.  The plan is to attempt to fake out the sensors from the cargo bay so that the bay appears pressurized, so the group can stay during the week in that bay.  They distract several engineers by meddling with equipment that causes failures, and subsequent investigation.  But Krau is unable to reprogram the computer to do what he wants.  So they all crawl back to the cargo bay, and find a spot below where the sensor feeds come out of the bay, and cross-wire this to a depressurized bay.    Rath then sneaks into the slave pen area and steals some "food", and they spend the next four days camped out in the cargo bay. During their camping, Emmett relays all the information from the previous iterations, and Krau at one point asks if Emmett has anything special with him, and he says not much, just this lucky silver cube he found when a squirrel dropped it on his head during a river trip six years ago.  Krau makes a note of this.

Eventually though the ships engines stop again, and the security alert sounds.  There is a boarding "thunk".  On a whim, Krau asks Emmett if his cube is doing anything special.  Emmett replies that it is glowing.   Krau is reasonably sure that their fate somehow hinges on the next few moments, so he goes out to see what is going on.  Krau sees a Hiver board the ship, and get into an argument with the captain.  The Hiver wants the Captain to come with him to his ship, and the captain flat out refuses, threatening to blow up the ship instead.   As the argument reaches a peak, Krau is spotted by a worker and grabbed.  The captain, now close to the breaking point, accuses the Hiver of sending infiltrators aboard the ship.  The Hiver denies this and says he simply wishes to see the owner of "The Nexus".  The captain denies knowing anything about it, but Krau volunteers that he knows the owner, and that he will introduce the Hiver to him, if the Hiver will take him and his group in the Hiver ship.    The Captain demands to know the location of the other stowaways, and they are brought out.

The Captain and other crew are freaked out about the large number of stowaways, the one in Powered Armor, and the whole Hiver thing.  The small cube is shown to the Hiver, who is excited to see a "Nexus".   The Hiver agrees to take the group in exchange for the Nexus, and Emmett is willing to give it up, having no strong sentimental attachment to it.  The captain, for his part, would be very happy to let everyone off his ship.  He wastes no time in slamming the door behind the group as he barks orders about stepping up security to his unfortunate crew.

The group is taken through the Hiver ship, which is apparently huge.  San estimates it to be at least 500K tons, perhaps a million.  They are told that 20,000 Hivers occupy the ship.  Krau hits it off with a group that is interested in Emmett and the Nexus, and they go off to discuss Probability Physics.  The Hivers remark on how they had to employ the Fugue Apparatus to iterate in order to obtain the Nexus, but it was worth it.   Rath asks where they are headed, expecting it to be to some bizarre Hiver location, but is pleased to find out that they are headed to the Republic to meet with the leaders on Terek.  The Hivers however seem somewhat outdated in their information, and do not seem to know about the recent developments with the government.  Krau and Rath fill them in.

San meanwhile hits it off with one of the friendlier Hivers, (perhaps a little too well...)

[ 2 points awarded (even San, despite extreme indiscretion) ]

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For all the weirdness, the group has a more or less uneventful trip to Ghourxa aboard the Hiver ship.  San learns some Hiver computer skills, while Krau spends time with Emmett and other Hivers that are part of the Physics Advancement Topical Club, an organization that specializes in advanced topics such as Probability Physics.  Rath meets the Ithklur, a war-loving, humanoid-like race that is part of the Hiver Federation.  He trains with some of their crew, learning Judo.  He learns that the Ithklur seem to hold the Hiver in contempt most of the time, but seem to follow them anyway.  The Hiver appear to have a methodical but gentle approach to ruling that has sucessfully integrated a number of disparate cultures into their Federation.   Also learned:  The Brauletter have been all but wiped out by the viral plague, with a near 90% fatality rate that has all but ended their culture.  The remaining 10% however appear to show the Brauletter equivalent of Eristicon infection, and have become hostile/uncooperative to their fellow Hiver neighbors.  The group also gets a chance to meet the Hiver Captain, who appears interested yet uninformed on recent history of the Republic.

One sour note spoils the otherwise peaceful trip, as Derek and Secorn get into a tiff, apparently sparked by Secorn's frustration due to the Psionic damping he has had to endure, first by Derek, and now by the Hiver Ship.   A crowd gathers to watch as they duke it out after Derek makes a comment about Secorn being a "baby killer".  When questioned later by Rath, Derek shrugs and says he didn't mean it, only offering an obscure comment that Secorn has been asked to do things for the Foundation that are very difficult to explain.

The Hiver ship arrives on Ghourxa in deep space.  The Hivers plan to use a direct-approach method, reserving the possibility to use the Fugue Apparatus to reshape undesirable events if neccessary.   Krau, San and Rath go with the Hivers in a Hiver SDB equivalent to meet the Republic. The ship meets the System Defense Forces and the group is surprised to find that the boarding party is unarmed and appears to be acting very diplomatically.   Everyone uses their communicators to scan for signs of E, but are even more surprised not find any signs, the boarding party is apparently tightly connected in with The Committee.  The three introduce themselves using their real names, as escorts for the Hivers.  The Navy captain recognizes San as being the captain of the Fortuna Major at the Trinity-3 battle for Terek.    The Hivers go off to meet with officials, and San, Krau, and Rath are taken down to the surface to the former DKI Intrinsics headquarters, now a Comittee Field Office.

At the office, they meet the mysterious Mr. Brown, last seen on Vember after the original Biological Eristicon incident.  Brown is apparently finishing up on field work on Ghourxa and has been recalled to Comittee Central on Ishimshulgi, along with most other field agents.  He coordinates with the rest of the group to come along.  Since Max has not yet been cleared of Psionic or other tampering, Brown cannot fill him in on details of his mission yet.   After some monkey business between Brown, San, and anything with a skirt on Ghourxa, arrangements are made to jump to Ishimshulgi via a Navy Kuru Class Patrol Frigate.   Emmett and family decide they would rather go to Verdania (Terek Slot 5) with the Hivers than to Ishimshulgi, so they say their goodbyes, at least for now.  Per directive, Feno is to be taken to Ishimshulgi, against the original instructions of the Halo Foundation.  Derek and Secorn dislike the change in plans but come along as well.

Two weeks later the ship arrives at Ishimshulgi, and the crew is met by a cheering crowd, all elated that Max has been rescued, and that the group has returned.  Among the greeters are Chixonna Bunn and her coworkers from the Ys team, Skinner, Sinjon Meadows, Susa Meeko and the Barnard DKI team, the Vishminu and the original Ishimshulgi Bio team, Armando and Tyrone Briggs from the Halo Foundation, and the marines rescued by the group from the Sojourn.  There is much rejoicing, and celebrating.  Max and Feno are checked out by PSI / Medical / etc / etc teams.  Max is given a clean bill of health, excepting psychological damage. Feno has problems but they cannot be classified strictly as E infection.  She is taken off to Terek/Verdania with Derek and Secorn for treatment.   Once Max is cleared, he is brought up to date on events.  Some of these are shared with the group:
 

The construction of a massive Sphere Shield has been completed and is ready for launch.  The device is known as The Shield Star, it is an 800-ton starship, capable of Jump-4 and 1G manuever.  It has a crew of twenty, and has defensive weapons only - point-defense lasers and sandcasters.  It is capable of forming a defensive field big enough to shield a 5000 ton vessel.

Max has been nominated to lead The Committee by some; a meeting will take place shortly to confirm the decision.  Max is reluctant to accept based on recent experiences, but most agree he is the logical choice for the job.

The Republic is in danger of losing a three-front war between the Minjini, Eristicon, and Solomani.  The RRO reports that a Solomani invasion will be a certainty unless the rimward border can be reinforced with ships now occupied with system defense and the Minjini campaign.

The Infinity's Rainbow has been attacked at Bastil while returning from a mission, and Captain Denu and ten of the crew, including the doctor were killed.  The ship limped back to Vember and is undergoing repairs.  The crew has been grounded for the past month.

 

Max tells the group that the Committee has signs that the Minjini do not all support the war.  The Committe plans to embark on a secret, diplomatic mission to the Minjini Homeworld, but the Navy is unwilling to support such a mission using it's forces alone.  A plan has evolved to use the Shield Star and a warship small enough to fit inside it's field as a contact team.   The Infinity's Rainbow is the logical choice for the mission, but lacks a Captain....

[ no points awarded ]

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