A Tale of Travellers (IC)

[Townopolis]

Vance

Vance rises from his seat, moves the two wafers from his jacket to a less pickable pocket, and returns to the Sparrow. Once on board, he makes a quick check to see that everything is in order, before heading for his cabin.

"Thank you, Paol, dealing with armed men makes me nervous. Go ahead and see how you measure on the mountains, and don't forget to lock the hatch on your way out, will you?"

He waves to his bodyguard and enters his cabin. Once there, he sits down on his bunk and lets out a breath, then slides over to his desk, keys on his computer, and slides Mr. Treeson's wafer in first. Once he has gone over those business details thoroughly, he will slide in Mr. Lancock's wafer.

[Silent_Bish]

Varnaxx

Remaining seated as the meeting breaks up he watches the others start to leave the bar. Not having much planned for his leave, he decides to stay at the table for a while longer just to keep an eye on things. You are being paranoid. It is a good, legit deal. A slight frown touches the corners of his mouth, casting another glance towards Mr.Treeson's spot at the bar.

[roninkelt]

Paol

Vance
"Thank you, Paol, dealing with armed men makes me nervous. Go ahead and see how you measure on the mountains, and don't forget to lock the hatch on your way out, will you?"

"Thanks Sir, I'll see you in a few days. If you need anything, please call. Won't have time to take on the big peaks, so I'll be pretty local."

Paol closes the door behind him then slips on his data display glasses and starts booking a 4 day climbing trip.

OOC: for Stormbringer

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Unless I fall to my death or something equally exciting happens, just tell me how much it costs and I'll assume that I had a pretty good time. Would like to spend less than 1500Cr.

[Storm Bringer]

Treeson hangs around until his pint is finished, then leaves for his offices agian, followed short after by varnaxx, heading for some well earned RnR.

the next few days pass quickly. Paol's Climbing trip goes well, and he is rewarded with a frankly incredible view form the top of Mount Kulola down the lenght of the Kul valley. Vance clears his paperwork quickly, and spends a few days chilling in a nice safe bar. Jane, Doran and farra find a nice pub and kinda loses track of time for a while, but get back on time and none the worse. the crew gather at the docking bay 31 at the apointed time, and find the sparrow just as they left her, fueled up and ready to leave at short notice.

The fusion generators are due to arrive in the bay in about an hour, and the small arms about two hours later.

[Townopolis]

Vance

Vance is cheerful and ready to go. Dressed once again in his paranoia business suit, and literally bouncing on his heels as everyone arrives. He nods to Varnaxx once everyone's assembled.

"Looks like we're all accounted for. Your show, Captain."

[TwoCents]

Jane

Back in her normal comfortable clothes, Jane smiled thinly at the others. "Ain't a good lift if ya ain't hungover, and I've got a pisser of a headache. It's gonna be a good trip." She lounged in a chair, sipping some vile concoction. "Whenever you're ready, Cap'n, I'll go check the cargo bays and make sure everything's shipshape for the cargo. We get any passengers this time, or is it just us?"

[Silent_Bish]

Varnaxx

He gives the crew a quick look over, making sure no one is too hung over or worn out to start in on their duties. Finding everything in order he adresses those assembeled, "Thank you all for being on time, I hope you enjoyed your leave. Now, however, it is back to business. Assignments for this morning: Doran, I want you up in the cockpit running preflight diagnostics. If any light even takes time coming up green I want to hear about it. Jane and Paol, I want both of you to head down to the cargobay. Do a physical inspection of the cargo clamps and safety gear, if we are shipping arms I do not want to take any chances. Also, we are going to need to come up with a plan for placement of the cargo, high risk munitions or explosives as far from the fusion reactors we can get them. Paol, do your best. Without knowing exactly what we will be carrying, once the munitions show we will have a better idea but I would like an outline before the first delivery shows up. Jane, once the fusion reactors are on board and stowed I want you to join Doran in the cockpit and begin plotting our astrogation coordinates. I'd like to have the trip plotted out before we lift off from planet side. Dr.Farra, I'd like you to gather up whatever scanners you have and once the cargo is on board, give them a once over. I do not want someone else's carelessness, or possible complications, to trouble this crew or ship. You find any anomalies I want to know about it. Until the cargo starts to arrive, I'd like you down in med bay making sure we have everything we need and all your gear is in order. Sir Vance, I'd like you to go over our passenger quarters, make sure things are in order in case we have any surprise guests. Also, once the cargo starts to arrive I want you overseeing the delivery. No one picks up a crate or moves it from outside to inside without you watching. I am going to give the turrets a visual inspection then join Paol in the cargo hold. If noone has any questions lets get to it, we don't have a whole lot of time so step lively."

If no one has any questions he will turn on his heel and head towards the ventral gun turret.

[Townopolis]

Vance

"Right away, sir."

Vance nods and heads off to see to his duty, preparing the passengers quarters with all the amenities he can muster. First he will make sure that two cabins are in the best possible condition, and then he will move on to getting the others ready with whatever's left. He keeps his headcomm on and tuned in to keep an ear out for the arrival of either shipment.

[TwoCents]

Jane

"You got it, boss. Can I suggest I run a check of the engines 'fore I go to the bridge?" After waiting to see if Capt. Varnaxx added to her task list, the scout slouched to the cargo bay. On the way, she grabbed her scanners and mechanic's kit from the engineering spaces and began her assigned duties.

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Do you want us to roll for anything, o fearless GM?

[roninkelt]

Paol

"I heard some interesting scuttlebutt while on my climbing trip, it seems that the rebels on Byret have been getting better lately, they have the Mercurian and Byreti government on the ropes. There's a bit more, but we can discuss it over dinner. Doesn't directly affect us, unless the whole thing collapses before we get there."


To Varnaxx:
"Aye, aye Sir."

Paol will head off with Jane, discussing the merits of having munitions near the loading hatch, but closer to the engines, so they may be jettisoned or further from the drives. The fusion reactors are presumably inert unless powered up? However we don't want to damage them if there is some trouble with the other cargo. Hmmm interesting problems...

[Silent_Bish]

Jane

"You got it, boss. Can I suggest I run a check of the engines 'fore I go to the bridge?"

Varnaxx nods to Jane's response, "Of course, thank you for reminding me. Go ahead and add that to your list."

[Hesquidor]

Fara

"Understood."

The heels of Farra's boots clipped briskly as she walked. She had already done a brief inventory during her shore leave, but it never hurt to double check. Her bio and NAS scanners were both left exactly where she'd left them.

[Storm Bringer]

after a bit of discussion, Paol and jane hammer out a plan for the stowing of the cargo that keeps the munitions safe in a corner of the hold and stows the fusion parts in order to facilitate loading onto the pinnance for deliverary. Varnnaxx finds a few minor faults in the turrets but sorts them without hassle, then joins jane to help go over the engines. Doran flies though the checklists, finding everything working within operational peramiters. Jane likewise finishes the engine checks quickly, and starts hammering out a jump plot for Byreti's mainworld.

the frist cargo arrives on time, and Vance signs the goods in. most of the crew except Jane (still plotting the jump) muck in and get the parts stored under Paols direction. The last few crates are being moved as Mr. Lancock arrives with the weapons. the shuttle he arrives in is a custom desgin, well armoured and carryings a frighting amount of firepower for it's meagre size. the crew are likewise over-equipped, but they hand the cargo over (along with a manifest of it's contents and the the legal documents that cover the shipping taxes for arms sales)) without issue. it takes about an hour to stow the guns, as the plan has to worked out on the go, but you find that you can store it in the foreward segment of the cargo bay without issue, allowing you to seal that area off and pump the air out, leaving the goods in hard vacumn. Before that, however, Dr Farra goes over the crates with her scanning gear, and finds nothing that isn't already on the manifest.

With the cargo secure, you request and are granted clearence to leave. the landing bay is sealed and the air evacuated, and the great outer doors slide silently open. The ship hums slightly as Doran eases her out of the bay and into the holding pattern around Foesy's massive Highport. It's only a few minutes before your cleared to leave for the jump limit. Doran points the ship at the small point of light that is Byret's star, and opens the throttle on the engines to full. The next half an hour is spent burning steadily at 2g thrust towards the 100-diamiter jump limit, watching the ship's radar as the Fosey orbital traffic slowly recedes. at the 50-diamiter mark you begin to break, and half an hour later to pass the 100-diamiter line that marks the safe limit for jump transitions and the outer edge of Foseys territory. the Calulations for the jump have been finished and polished as much as possible, and down in engineering jane is waiting to begin the jump.

As varnaxx gives the order, several things happen at once. In engineering, large fuel lines leading into the jump drive open, pouring tons of refined liquid hyrogen into the drive as it springs into life. Within a minuite, nearly 80 tons of hydrogen fuel has been brunt in the drive, the massive amounts of power thus created being stored in a specialised crystal battery system. as the jump co-ordinates are fed into the navicom, this immense amount of power is dumped in one huge load into the lanthium hull grid. Form outside, a square grid of glowing blue lines suddenly appear on the ships hull, which then glow so brightly as to hide the ship for a split second. then the glow fades, and the ship is gone.

form inside, all that his seen is a brief blue flash, then the cockpit windows blank out. the ship is moving faster than light, in pocket dimension of boiling hydrogen, cut off form the rest of the universe for the nearly a week. nothing much can happen now, so the crew of the sparrow settle down for lunch.

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I could have RP'd that lot, but it really didh't need RP'in, honestly. nothing much of import happens and thiers no real need for the players input. Unless you guys have a complaint, we'll have a quickish RP section then skip over the week spent doing bugger all in jumpspace and cut to the reversion to realspace at byret

[roninkelt]

Paol

At a meal after Jump entry Paol will elaborate on what he heard

"Mora is losing patience with the Byreti governments resistance to ending the conflict. The Imperials have tried to arrange peace talks, but the Byreti government is apparently completely unwilling to accept anything other than total surrender by the rebels. Some of the rebels are agreeable to a settlement, but the insurgency is so lacking in cohesion that nothing has come of it.

Recently, the insurgents have gained much more cohesion, organization and tactical competence, with the result that the Mercurian army has had to deploy several new units to meet the improved threat. This has stretched the Mercurian logistics system and they won't be able to sustain for more than a few months.

Intelligence figures that some outside source must be training the insurgents. With the new situation, Imperial monitors have been pressuring Byret to negotiate, demands which Byret has completely ignored.

Keep in mind that this is all at least a couple of weeks out of date and the situation may be much worse by the time we arrive. We should be prepared to defend ourselves in case the government has collapsed. I'm not sure how much force the IN has in system, if any, to take up the slack for the locals."

[Silent_Bish]

Varnaxx

Rubs his chin as Paol talks about the situation on Byreti, eating in quiet contemplation. "Well, there is the possibility we will be arriving in a somewhat hostile environment. I'd prefer not to become an arms trafficker, willing or not, but we may need to be ready to deal with the insurgents if they try to steal our cargo. It is possible a crowd, that knows what we are hauling, will be waiting for us on the pad. Perhaps even try to pass themselves off as our contact." He pauses to take a sip of his drink, then continues "Of course, this could just be me being paranoid. What do the rest of you think?"

[roninkelt]

Paol

"Paranoid preparation is good. Put another way - Expect the worst and receive fewer suprises. Having a weapon or two handy probably would go a long way towards deterring any suprises."

[Townopolis]

Vance

Vance looks into his cup of coffee as the news comes that they may be entering a warzone. He mulls the ramifications over in his mind a while before speaking up.

"Well, Whatever you decide, we'll be prepared." He nods to the Captain. "I suppose I had better contact our contact as soon as we're within range and try to determine if we're talking to the right person."

He looks into his coffee cup once more, then drains it.

"Well, I'll be in my cabin going over our contact information, you'll find me there or on the bridge if you need me for anything."

Refilling his cup, he heads for his cabin, turning his headcomm on as he arrives. Once there, he combs his information for anything that might help him determine a possible imposter from their contact.

[roninkelt]

Paol

Wolfing down his dinner Paol asks "What needs to be done while we are in Jump? If you don't have anything, I'm going to take a look at the turret systems."

[Storm Bringer]

the week passes with the routine boredom of a ship in jumpspace, where the only entertainment is the fellow crew members. as the jump nears it's end, thoughts turn to the system and what lies ahead.

as last few hours tick by, the crew drift into the bridge, for lack of a better place to be.

The jump ends abruptly, as they often do. one moment, you're sailing along in the uniform gray of the jump field, the next, thier is their is a barely noticeable change in the engine hum and the viewports suddenly revert to a starfield.

Farra, sat by the sensor desk, quickly begins to determine thier location relative to Byret and Byret's sun. after a few moments filled with calculations, the computer reports that you are about 115 diamiters out form byret, and somewhat above the system's ecliptic. form this angle, you have a good view of the traffic around Byret, and can see several major ships in high obits on the radar screen. Parked in an unusually high orbit, you see a distinct cluster of ships, moving in formation. Varnaxx identifies it as a Imperial Navy carrier and it's escorts, presumeably on anti-pirate duties. closer inspection of the data reveals what look like fighter wings darting around all over the place. In fact, one wing of fighters is less than 15,000 km away, in close proximity to a cargo ship outbound on a vector for fosey.

as you begin to accellerate towards the planet, you recive a Radio message, and a destinctly Vilani voice crackles out of the speakers

++Free Trader Sparrow, this is Section leader Carmine, 417th fighter wing. Please transmit your cargo manifest And maintain your current course.++

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sorry I havn't been posting much on this these last few days. I've moved us on a little now.

I'm going to need a Admin roll off you guys to avoid doing something to annoy the imps (which would lead to hours of arsing about with with customs.), but with an additional +2 (for a routine task)

to confirm, the roll is 2d6+your skill+attribute (edu or Soc, in this case)+/- any modifers. anything over 8 is a pass

[Townopolis]

Vance

Vance sat down at a terminal beside Farra and began punching in keys to bring up the manifest. Giving it one more once-over, he nodded to Farra and let her carry on.

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Not exactly sure how this works, just rolling 2d6 plus my skill level and the +2
Admin - (2d6+3)[14]

[Storm Bringer]

Okay, sparrow, that checks out fine. I see you're carring goverment cargos. their's been upsurge in pirate attacks in the area over the last few months. I'll radio in and see if can sort out a prioirty landing clearence. Good day, and good trading++


a few minutes later the ships comm flashes up a message, containing both a immidate landing clearence and a message from the Local victory arms rep, a man called Jules Anderson, who indecates he will meet you at the landing bay.

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you forgot the +1 form your stat, but it hardly matters. you scorec as close to a natural 20 as this game lets, so have a freebie for good rolls.

[TwoCents]

Jane

Spotting the traffic in the system, and the IN convoy, Jane decided to visit "her" pinnace and check over its readiness status, just in case somebody needed to visit another ship for a face to face. Warming up the avionics and engines, she left the pinnace on standby status and went to confirm there were still no surprises in the the munitions cargo. No timers beeping, no transmitters pulsing, no systems activating by remote signals. If her paranoia proved unfounded, she moved to the engine room to hover over the Sparrows maneuver in case of trouble.

[Storm Bringer]

times passes switftly, and within a an hour you are making your way on a approach vector for Bryet Spaceport. as you slide past the parking obits of the ships lacking prioity clearence, you note a Zhodani freighter, an unuseual sight in these parts (or anywhere inside the imperium).

byret (as gleaned form the ships database):

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Byret: B485667-6
Star port: class B
Size: ~4,800 km (mars sized, surface gravity 0.3g)
Atmosphere: dense (over one atmosphere in pressure, but not enough to warrant any real action)
Water: ~50% covered
Population: -8 million
Government: Captive government/Balkanisation (formal government controlled form Mercury, but powerless beyond a few main citys. Countryside self-governing for all intents)
Law level: 7/1 (high law in theory, but only in city centres. Countryside is law level 1
Tech level: 6 (late industrial) roughly equivalent to 1950-1980. Nuclear power, early space flight, and assault rifles.

as you come into land, you get a fine view of the Bryeti countryside form several kilometers up. for the most part, it's low-lying plains, mostly covered in small-ish farming communites. The colonised area is roughly circluar and centered on the spaceport and capital, Johannersen. their is a notable change in the farming pattersn about 90-110 km form the port, where the small farmsteads beyound that line are replaced by bigger, centeralised farms.

Bryet Downport is located on top of a flat-topped mountian whoose name is lost to history, and is now called Heavens Fell. the facilties are extensive, but appear a little worn, a little old, as if their wasn't quite enough money to keep them in perfect shape.

Mr. Anderson meets you at the landing pad. Like mr Lancock on Fosey, he is another almost faceless suit. He is acommanied by two people, one in a suit of a local style and the other in an military uniform which rammage recognises as the Mercurians armys.

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right, the computer is fixed, and we are down on the ground.

[Silent_Bish]

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I am really sorry about my lack of recent posting. I was having a couple problems of my own, but everything is taken care of now. I will be back to regular posts.

[Hesquidor]

Farra

Farra gentley rolls her neck trying to work out the stiffness that set in her muscles. "I don't know about anybody else, but it sure is good to get some real air for a change."

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Sorry for the lack of post earlier. All my freetime just seems to get eaten up lately.

[roninkelt]

Paol

Runs the post flight checks from the bridge and scans around the facility with the external security cameras. When Vance is ready to meet the clients, he will shut the station and join him. In preparation for the meeting Paol secures his gauss rifle inside the airlock that leads from the cargo compartment to the crew section. Out of sight, but somewhat readily available.

[Storm Bringer]

Mr. anderson smiles at the comment, though it wasn't ment as a joke, and he seemed to far away to hear it.

"Indeed. after a month on shipboard air or fliter masks, a real atmosphere must be a welcome change. Now, allow me to introduce my companions, Colonel Levchenko of the Mercurian Army".

Levchenko is a classic product of army service: tall, slightly muscluar and tanned. He carries an autopistol in a holster, and his uniform is patterened in a abnormally yellowish camo pattern (Rammage explains later that most of the plants are more yellow than green on byret). He wears a Phrygian cap in a deep green, which looks rather stupid to your eyes, but then the hight of fashion on your own homeworlds would look just as stupid to him.

"and this is Secatary Jolan, form the Imperial Byreti delagation. He hear for the fusion reactor."

Jolan was a unremarkable man, with a cheap suit and a laptop bag. However, when he spots Vance, his eyes widen in shock.

"Sir Shotel?" he says in total astonishment, then his eyes light up with joy. "Sir Shotel, What a pleasant suprise! I had no idea you'd moved into the trading business. Oh, the duke will be pleased!"

Mr. anderson looked at Jolan in puzzlement. "you know this man?" he asked the Secatray.

"Err....kind of. Sir Vance Shotel, Baronet New Vegas, used to work for the Diplomatic service. The Duke met him a few times during court events on Mora. They worked togehter on the Transtellar Lines talks a few years ago. He managed to Impress the Duke most highly. Oh, I must go tell him. He Will be pleased"

Mr anderson stares blankly, then returns his gaze to Vance, looking on him in a new light.

"I had no idea of your status, Sir shotel. I can see why they trusted you with the cargo. At any rate, do you have the manifest for the colonel here?"

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what Jolan says is true, though it overstates your relationship with the Duke (you did work with him, but as a junior sectary on his staff. he would recognise you on sight, though).

The paperwork you had for the fusion deal didn't mention that it was for the system's Duke, just that it was to be delivered to a poetically named manor at a set of GPS coordinates.

Paol's scans with the cameras let him see what looks like a few Wheeled IFV's parked a few hundred meters away on a side road, with a a few dozen soldiers relaxing around it. they appear to be a 'fire-brigade', a rapid response team being held at the ready in case of trouble. The IFV's are not carring Imperial marks, and it is rather odd that local army is present on the starport porper, which is strictly speaking imperial territory. You know the Imperal Army maintains a sizeable force on the planet- Major Rammage has the scars to prove it- so it is decidedly odd that they are thier.

You also note a pair of military cargo planes parked on a hardstand between you and the IFV's.

[Townopolis]

Vance

Vance meets their contacts with a smile and, when when Jolan proclaims the Duke's supposed imminent delight, a broad grin, behind which he hid his consternation and increasing paranoia. The new information had been given freely, and wasn't incriminating at all, but any lapse in information was making him jumpy. Maybe it's all these military types around me, making me a spook too.

"Pleasure to see you again, Jolan," he gives the civil servant a nod and a shrug, "I'd say it's more of the "coming and going as I please" business, but running cargo's what keeps the ship running, so here I am with the Duke's reactor."

He taps out a few commands into the reader in his hands, locking out the fusion manifest and bringing up the weapons manifest for viewing, verification, and transfer. Then, he wordlessly hands the reader to the colonel, giving him a slight nod.

As the colonel looks over the manifest, Vance continues his conversation with Jolan.

"So, how's the Duke these days?"

OOC:

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Assuming we'd use something like a reader for manifests and other ephemera. Since we already have readers, such as the one Amazon's pushing, I figured having a fancier one with better internal security wouldn't be a stretch.

Actually, I suppose it would be equally likely that I'd hand each of them a data chit, and they'd each pop it into their own computers. In which case, that's what happens. Let me know and I'll edit this post.

Also assuming I've met Jolan before, seeing as he recognized me on sight.

[Storm Bringer]

"the duke is getting along fine. He's just returned form a trip to the court at Mora. Some gastly business about the sword worlds. Anyway, he's back now and enjoying a well earned rest out at his Lodge by Lake Jamaica. Oh, I must go tell him that you're here" with that, he rushes off, pulling a comm out of his pocket.

the colonel looks over the data, nods once, then speaks a few quiet words into a comm in a language your translator doesn't understand (but you guess is the native Mercurian tounge), then he turns to you again as one of the IFV's Paol spotted trundles over. It stopsa few meters behind the colonel, and a squad of soidlers piles out the back, two of whom are carrying a medium sized chest. the troopers lug the case over to the colonel, who fiddles with a lock for a few seconds standing up agian.

"Your payment" he Explains. "Now, If you would be so kind as to show the sargent here to the cargo, he and his men will get started on unloading and a sorting it for transport."

the squad pile thier weapons and equipment back onto thier IVF, and then are led by a sparrow crewmember to the cargo, where they begin the age-old task of loading it onto the anti-grav pallets and man-handling the crates out of the cargo doors. At this point, Jolan returns form his hasty mobile phone call.

"Well, it seems like the duke is very happy with the news. he has asked when you could deliver the reactor and if you and your crew would be willing to stay for a night at his lodge."

[roninkelt]

Paol

Keeps a few steps away from Vance during all the activity. He won't join in any of the work going on, but rather keeps the area under surveillance.