Interstellar Exports Game 4

Game Master: Andrew
Game Edition: Traveller (Mongoose Publishing)
Players: Jeff, Dave
Ages: 28Dy, 30Yrs


Quote of the evening:
"Where are you going and for how long?" -Ziela Dakdon (the Referee)

"As far as you want, for as long as you like." -Dry (Dave)

"So you're a traveller?"

Introduction

Separated by Light Years: Dry (Dave) and Caesar (Jeff)

When we last left our adventurers, James Hornby (Elijah) was dead, and Dry (Dave) and Caesar (Jeff) had gotten lost in space; separated from each other by more than 8 parsecs. It was a dire situtation, and neither Dry nor Caesar knew if they would see each other again.

We pick after Dry's new vessel the S.S. Hornby, had just fallen into a mis-jump. He had one week to explore his vessel and get used to the new systems. He also had to decide what to do with his three prisoners: The unconscious man in Stateroom 3, and the two wounded pirates he had locked in the storage locker.

He also needed to begin his search for Caesar, who was stranded without fuel. However, in need of more fuel himself, and a more trustworthy crew then a handful of wounded pirates, Dry was in no position to begin the search. He had to return to the Trans-Galactic Highway and get more supplies. Only then could he begin his search.

In the mean time, he would have to wait in hyperspace, and see where his mis-jump landed him.

Scene 1 Securing the S.S. Hornby

During the first day of his voyage, Dry explored his new ship. He walked the bridge and got a better sense of its layout. It was a larger area then the previous vessel he had severed aboard, with a prominent captains chair stood in the centre.

Yeah... not that nice.

Dry sat in the chair for a moment, and revelled in his new ship. But there was much to be done before it could be considered secure. First he went to the command console. He found all the access codes open to anyone who asked for them. Shaking his head, he gave himself, and only himself access to the command codes effectively taking full ownership of the escort.

With the ships computers secured, Dry set out to explore the vessel. It had eight staterooms, each of which recently unlocked with the change in command codes.

Stateroom 1 was clearly the previous captain's room. It had a large bed, and a box of cigars on a table along the wall. Under that table there was also quite a large safe.

It also looked a lot cooler than that.

Dry tried a few combinations, but nothing worked. Figuring he would look at it later, he continued down the hall to search the rest of the staterooms. Other than some petty cash, and a few weapons, Dry only found a few peculiar items.

In stateroom 3 he found the seriously injured Pirate still unconscious in his bed. His breath was slow and shallow, and his blood slowly soaking his bandages.

In stateroom 4 he found a valuable antique tea set.

Stateroom 5 was a strange room, full of different knives and other vicious looking melee weapons. A little unnerved, Dry left the room and continued his exploration.

Dry's greatest find however was the locking picking device in stateroom 7: a locktopus.

Like the one in Perfect Dark Zero!

Locktopus in hand, Dry went straight towards to stateroom 1 and set it against the safes access panel. Within seconds, the locktopus cracked the combination on the safe (6655339) and door slowly swung open under its own weight. Inside, Dry found dozens of credit cards totally 1,000,000cr.

Just the kind of cash he needed to assemble his new crew. But what to do with the pirates?

Scene 2 The New Crew.

Dry continued his search of the ship, finding the common area complete with kitchen, dining area, and a chess board.

What space ship would be complete without one?

Down the hall the cargo bay they had fought their way in from, was still in disarray from the battle, but still had its misbegotten cargo. On top of the 300 self sealing stem blots Dry had moved over from the Exodus, the bay also had 16 barrels of star ship coolant, and 24 cases each containing 12 carbon wrenches. It was a strange load, but it might be worth something at a space port. 

Behind the cargo bay was the engineering section. The ship's engines seemed fine, and though the fuel and coolant system could use a tune up it would certainly last a few more jumps before any serious malfunction.

The last place on the ship Dry had left to explore was the ship's storage room, which he was currently using as a brig. A little nervous around the pirates, and wanting to seem more intimidating, Dry grabbed every weapon he could find, slinging them around himself, so that he was loaded with weapons. Then he went to the storage room.

Called the "Ivan" manoeuvre.

The two pirates had hardly moved from their place. They were both almost too injured to get up, much less put up a fight and in his superior state, Dry found them easy to command.

Slowly, and with many groans and cries of pain, Dry ordered both of the pirates to stand and walk into the airlock. He would keep them there while he explored the storage room and decided what to do with them.

The storage room had a box of 25 Future Brand Bandages, 32 litres of water and 100 ration packs. It was a good amount of supplies, and he hungrily consumed one of the dehydrated curried chicken and rice packs.

Yum?

While he was eating, Dry considered what to do with the Pirates. His first thought was to blow them out the airlock and be done with them, but he simply couldn't bring himself to do that. He may be willing to kill a man in a fight, but cold blooded murder was a different matter. But he couldn't stop thinking about how he couldn't trust the pirates, as they had tried to rob him only two days ago. Then a thought crossed his mind: how had the pirates even known where to find them in the first place? Sure they had communicated with them, but wasn't it awfully convenient they were so close by and willing to assist?

Further more, One of the men who had come on board the S.S. Exodus had had a scanning device that he used to pin point the location of the case from Interstellar Exports exactly. Clearly the case emitting some sort of traceable signal. Perhaps the pirates could tell him more. Looking over to the shelf holding the Future Brand Bandages, he had an idea.

He grabbed the box, and brandishing all of his weapons once more, he went over the the air lock and offered the pirates a deal. He would give them one bandage for each question they answered.

Imagine the two pirates on the floor... And injured.

The younger pirate snapped at his comrade to not tell him anything, but the older pirate, the same French Terran who had pleaded for his crewman's life in Stateroom 3 only two days before, was more willing to talk. 

"What were you guys looking for?" Dry asked.

"We came looking for a brief case. We were never told what is in it." The French pirate responded.

Dry threw the man a bandage which he gave to his injured friend.

"How did you know where the case was on the ship?" Dry asked.

Again the French man responded. "Our captain bought a code from one of his sources and was told that the case would be worth millions to the right people."

Dry was about to throw him another bandage, but before he did so he said, "This one is for you."

The Frenchman took the bandage and wrapped it around himself. His face relaxed slightly as the drugs worked their way through his system.

"That scanner you guys had," Dry continued. "I assume it is is locked to that frequency?"

"Our captain also bought that from his contact." The French man nodded.

Dry threw him another bandage, again with the instructions that only he use it.

Out of questions, Dry was about to shut the airlock again with the French pirate pleaded with Dry to let them out. He explained they were but humble pirates whose loyalty was towards money not men. They held him no ill will towards the death of their captain and were eager to resume their positions. Dry said he would think about it and shut the door.

Since this show, I can't imagine Airlocks any other way.

Dry considered the Pirate's proposal for an hour before he went to get fetch him, leaving his comrade in the airlock. Dry escorted the French pirate down the hall towards the common room and decided to test the man's mind as well as loyalty. Setting up a game of chess, he invited him to play a game with him.

Dry learned that the Man's name was Henri DuValle and that he was the ship's navigator. He had been a pirate for more than 10 years, and was more than willing to serve under Dry. He was also a good chess player who impressed Dry enough that he was willing to let Henri out of the airlock, on the condition that he remain locked in his room: Stateroom 6.

Presenting the navigator Henri DuValle.

Henri agreed, but again pleaded on behalf of his comrades. He asked that the other Pirate in the airlock, named Seeto Rin, be released to his quarters, and that their injured crew mate Charlie Watt, have his bandages changed. Dry agreed to help the injured man, and said he would speak with Seeto.

First Dry checked on Charlie in Stateroom 3, and found him in rough shape. He changed the man's dressing with a new batch of Future Brand Bandages, but he didn't think it would be enough. Charlie was in desperate need of medical attention.

Leaving Stateroom 3, Dry then spoke with Seeto Rin in the Airlock. He found him a troubled man, and perhaps a bit psychotic. However, not wanting to kill him, Dry gave Seeto some bandages and escorted him to his stateroom. As it turned out, Seeto's room was Stateroom 5, the room full of knives, and wanting to avoid an incident, Dry decided to lock Seeto in Stateroom 4. He did however make sure to move the antique tea set into his own Stateroom 1.

With the ship secured and pirates interrogated, (and perhaps in one case befriended) Dry could finally relax.

Scene 3 End of the First Jump. The Beginning of the Next.

For the rest of the week in Hyperspace Dry occupied himself by playing chess against the computer, and chatting with both Henri and occasionally Seeto Rin over the comm.

Over time he came to know and trust Henri. He seemed like a good fellow, and Dry was seriously considering keeping him on as the ship's navigator. Seeto Rin on the other hand had left Dry unsettled. He had been polite enough, but his occasional outburst of desperation to leave his room, made Dry uncomfortable. He would have to go.

Thankfully the dull grey wash of hyperspace soon melted away revealing the stars once more. Dry quickly calculated his position: System 0310. There wasn't a solar system in site. Thankfully he had enough fuel to get him back to the Trans-Galactic Highway (TGH) but it would be at least another week in Hyperspace, and knowing his luck he would mis-jump again. It was time to recruit a navigator.

Yeah... I was thinking French the guy in Stateroom 6.

Dry released Henri from his room, and asked him to join the crew. Henri gladly accepted the position and was soon off to the bridge to preform the necessary calculations.

While Henri worked, Dry used the Hornby's sensors to scan the system for any sign of the S.S. Exodus. It was a long shot, and yielded no results, but at least he felt like has doing something.

Twenty minutes later, Henri informed Dry he had the calculation ready, and Dry ordered the jump to Hyper Space.

Scene 4 Meanwhile on Board the Exodus.

While Dry was travelling through his first mis-jump on board the Hornby, Caesar who had been given control of the Exodus, was hurtled in almost the exact opposite direction.

He had spent most of his journey through Hyperspace in a state hibernation, hoping it would save his battery for when he could be useful again. But, as the grey wash of Hyperspace faded, Caesars sensors activated his battery awakening him from his slumber.

He proceed to the bridge and attempted to scan the area, but without any fuel powering the ships reactors they were useless. All he could do was gaze out the view ports. A few stray bands of light from a distant star reflected off a dark and lonely asteroid that floated several thousand kilometres from his position.

A bleak view for any stranded vessel.

Having nothing else to do, Caesar activated the emergency beacon (3 year battery life), and searched the ship for anything that could help him.

Dry had been quite thorough in moving the equipment from the Exodus to the Hornby, and Caesar found little of anything he could use. However, there was one strange item. It seemed the scanner the pirates had used in the search was left behind in the ships airlock during the fight, and Caesar activated it to see what it did.

It looked something like that.

The scanner worked for a a few minutes and then displayed the coordinates of galactic system 0310. Caesar assumed that was the location of Dry's vessel, or at least the case, but without any means of contacting or reaching him, Caesar decided to return to the bridge and reactivate his hibernation program.

With that he shut down and Caesar waited in the cold depths of space for someone to find him.

Scene 5 Landing on Vandoor III

Back on the Hornby, Dry's second jump to hyperspace, had proven much more interesting then his first. Henri had proven a kind and trustworthy person during week's travel and Dry had come to consider him a friend.

In fact, the two had enjoyed each other's company so much that they almost didn't notice when the ship came out of hyperspace. Using ship's sensor, Dry confirmed their coordinates, system 0708: the Vandoor System.

As several other ships pulled in from Hyperspace within scanning distance, Dry realised he had returned to the TGH.

Scanning the system revealed four planets. One of them was Class M and contained multiple signatures indicative of large, technologically advanced settlements. Setting a course, Dry piloted his vessel towards those signals, the planet Vandoor III.

Vandoor III was recently coming out of a prolonged Ice Age.

The glaciers of Vandoor III glistened as the Hornby burned through the atmosphere. Dry planned on landing his ship at one of the landing ports around the second largest settlement. There he could refuel and perhaps find a few more crewmen.

He had made it about half way when his ship's sensor picked up two objects approaching him quickly. Henri identified them as police cutters when the comm light began flashing. Dry answered it and the voice of a police officer came over the comm.

"Welcome to Vandoor III." The officer said, sending only an audio message. "Do you wish to land?"

Dry confirmed that he did, and the police gave him a landing code and a set of coordinates. They lead towards a landing pad at the huge Mega-Space Port that surrounded the largest city on the planet. It was not where had wanted to go, but Dry wasn't going to argue.

He thanked the police ships, and then piloted his vessel towards his allocated landing pad. As he sped away from the cutters, the voice over the comm reminded them to have their passports ready.

Eruvian Moon Spaceport by RubenDrakkar

The Mega-Port sprawled out before them as Dry piloted the ship into view. He found the landing pad he was supposed to land, and easily landed his craft. The groan of an old and well used gear sputtered as the landing pad was lowered down and the S.S. Hornby was sorted into the vast honeycomb of Angelica City Mega-Port.

Dry's next task was to heal his injured passengers, and given that he would rather not explain to the authorities what happened, Dry radio Space Port Operations and made an emergency request for medical aid under IU law. Being a wealthy and law abiding area, the station dispatched medical personnel to the Hornby who arrived in 20 minutes.

Henri and Seeto Rin's wounds were easy enough to heal, but Charlie Watt was in worse shape. He would need to be taken to a hospital in Angelica City. Knowing he would have to file a police report at the hospital, Dry agreed and asked the paramedics to prepare Charlie to be taken to the hospital. They would accompany him in a moment.

Hold on Charlie!

While the paramedics prepared to move Charlie, Dry assembled Henri and Seeto Rin in the hall, telling both of them to get their passports ready. For Henri this wasn't problem, but Seeto Rin didn't have a passport and asked to be left behind on the ship. Dry agreed, but told him he had to stay in Stateroom 4 again.

Seeto started to complain, when Dry threatened to turn him off the ship. Seeto's eyes went wide and then he sheepishly agreed to return to Stateroom 4. Dry locked him in the room and then he, Henri, the paramedics and Charlie left the station and set foot on Vandoor III.

Marking the First Time a JADE gamer set foot on another planet in game.

Dry and Henri had no trouble going through customs, and Followed the paramedics into Angelica's Mega-Space Port. There they agreed to part ways.

Henri's job was to find more crew members, particularly a gunner. Dry gave him two snub pistols for protection, and 10,000cr. to accomplish that task. They would meet up later in the ship at 1800hrs.

With the plan laid, Dry chased after the paramedics and Henri disappeared into the crowd.

Scene 6 The Hospital. Arresting Seeto Rin.

At the hospital, Charlie was admitted to emergency, and a security guard asked Dry to wait for the police: which was the law involving all gun shot victims admitted to hospitals in Angelica. It took almost an hour for two detectives from the Angelica Police department to arrive, and they immediately began grilling Dry; testing every part of his story.

Briscoe didn't believe a word.

Dry spun a tale that his Gazelle Class Escort the S.S Honrby had been attacked by pirates. He said they had boarded his vessel, and killed most of his crew. He also claimed that Charlie had been injured in the fight. The story of course wasn't true... But it wasn't that far off.

Thinking quickly, Dry went on to claim that he had also managed to subdue one of his attackers and had him locked in his ship's Stateroom 4. The two detectives felt there were a lot of holes in the story, but agreed to see the pirate he claimed to have locked up. All Dry needed now was for Seeto Rin to panic and do something stupid while the detectives were there and he would be home free.

Leaving the hospital, Dry guided the police to his ship, passing through customs and then on board. He took them to Stateroom four, where they got into position. Using his command codes, Dry opened the door lock, and the first detective stepped into the room.

Seeto Rin was sitting on the bed, but jumped up as soon as the detective entered the room. He grabbed a piece of piping he had taken from the bed frame and swung it at the police officer, smashing his helmet.

The life of a Street Judge.

Only slightly jarred by the blow, the detective pulled his stun stick from his belt while his partner did the same. Within two blows Seeto Rin was unconscious, and being dragged out of the room. The two detectives thanked Dry for his assistance as they left his ship. They also informing him that they would be filing their report right away, and that there was a chance he would be summoned as a material witness.

Dry laughed a little inside.

Scene 7 Painting the Ship. The Navigator Pub. A New Pilot.

Henri had told Dry that Seeto Rin used to be the ship's gunner, and now that he was gone, Dry would definitely be needing a new one, and hoped that Henri was having at least some success. His task now was to find a pilot, but there was something that he wanted to do first.

Grabbing some credit cards before he left, Dry went through customs again and entered the space port. It was a vast and confusing place but thankfully careful planning had placed information kiosks and terminals through out the area. Dry accessed one of these and found want he was looking for: Some one to paint his ship. He found a place nearby that was willing to paint his ship for 50,000cr. but it would take them two days. Dry explained that he intended to leave this planet by the evening, and would need the work done now. He would pay any price.

It took an exorbitant fee of 200,000cr. but the painter finally agreed to reshuffle his busy schedule, and agreed to have the Hornby ready by 1800hrs.

I believe this was part of the paint scheme

With the paint job arranged, Dry set out to find a pilot for his ship. He searched around for a good place to go, but being totally unfamiliar with Angelica's Mega-Port he was at loss.

After asking a few passers-by for directions, he was told to go to The Navigator; a bar on the third floor. The alien he spoke with claimed it was the best place in the port to find a pilot. Thanking the man, Dry took one of the large elevators to the third floor and the location of The Navigator.

Inside, a band was playing an uplifting tune in a corner, and Dry saw the place was full of so many colourful characters that he hardly knew where to begin.

Feeling to thirsty to decide what to do right way, Dry approached the bar and ordered a Noidulan Ale in honour of his recently passed friend James. After finishing half the bottle, Dry turned to the bar tender, and slipped him a couple 100cr. in exchange for the names and faces of the best pilots.

The bar tender pointed out four potentials. A Grubby looking man sitting alone in the corner, a Arrogant looking young man telling a tale to a crowd of onlookers, a Droyne eating a plate of worms, and woman enjoying a glass of wine by herself.

The Droyne was out. Despite how bigoted it was, Dry found their whole species totally boring. They rarely knew or wished to discuss things outside their own Caste labourings, and the thought of spending a week in hyperspace with one sounded awful.

The grubby fellow in the corner looked in really rough shape. The bartender mentioned he was a good pilot, but a little down on his luck. Dry didn't want a dark cloud following him around on his trip, so the Grubby Guy was out.

The young man telling stories around the table might be interesting, but Dry also didn't want somebody who was more charismatic out shining him on his recently acquired ship.

Out of the four, the woman drinking wine was clearly the best option. So Dry approached her, and quickly got to the point.

"I have been told you are good pilot." He Said. "I am looking to hire one."

"You have a ship?" She asked.

"Yes." Dry Replied, "The S.S. Hornby." And he gave her its coordinators in the Mega-Port.

She checked them over, and then began our quote of the evening.

"Where are you going and for how long?" She asked.

"As far as you want, for as long as you like." Dry replied with a grin.

"So you're a traveller?"

Cough, Cough.

Dry introduced himself and learned that the pilot's name was Zeila Dakdon. She had travelled all over the system in her 12 years as a starship pilot and had done everything from cargo hauling to smuggling. She even claimed to have won the Clystron III Solar Derby in Galactic Sub-Sector L back in 3995. She thought Dry's proposal for an adventure through the stars intriguing, and accepted the job as ship's Pilot.

Zeila Dakdon Everybody!

Dry joined Zeila for a drink, and the two wiled away the afternoon, swapping stories until it was almost 1700hrs. After pointing out that he would be leaving soon, Zeila asked Dry to wait a moment as she ran up to her room at the Navigator to grab her things.

She travelled light only carrying duffel bag over her shoulder, and laser pistol on her hip. Ready for adventure, she followed Dry out of the bar and towards his vessel.

Scene 8 Routine Maintenance. The Pilgrims.

Before Dry and Zeila returned to the ship, Dry stopped by one of the many maintenance facilities he had seen along the strip. He refuelled his star drive for 80,000cr., and spent another 50,000cr. or so getting the engines tuned up.

Dry watched on the screen as swarm of robots were dispatched in the hangar. They worked as a team, refuelling the ship and cleaning out the engines. Pleased with the job, Dry and Zeila continued back to Hornby, but found group of four aliens dressed in robes waiting around in the corridor. They stopped Dry and asked for his assistance.

Seem harmless enough.

The aliens were travelling to the planet Mycra in System 0505, on a holy pilgrimage. They needed to arrive in time for the festival that was 12 standard days away, and since the festival only came around once every 15 standard years, they were willing to pay handsomely for the trip. They offered 240,000cr. up front and another 240,000cr. upon arrival.

Dry agreed, offering them each a stateroom, but they declined asking if it was possible to stay in the cargo bay. They explained that their beliefs required them to make their own camp each night, and would appreciate being accommodated. Seeing no reason to do otherwise, Dry agreed and the pilgrims joined them on board; setting up a camp on the left hand side of the cargo bay. Dry gave Zeila Stateroom 6, which she settled into nicely, and then reported to the bridge to wait for Henri with Dry.

10 minutes later Henri returned, but sadly he had been unable to find any other crewmen interested in joining. Disappointed, Dry ordered Zeila to take the ship up and out of the system, While Henri introduced himself to his new crew mate and began the calculations for the next jump.

Scene 9 To the Stars.

With Zeila at the helm, Henri working away on his calculations, and the four pilgrims camping in his cargo bay, Dry was feeling pretty good about his situation. He still had no idea where Caesar was, but with a pilot, a competent navigator and the Hornby's Jump 4 Engines, he was confident that he would find his robotic companion and the S.S. Exodus soon.

After 20 minutes flight, Henri reported that he had finished the calculations for the Jump to system 0505. His accuracy was impressive and Dry was pleased to have kept him on board.

Is that a friendship blossoming I see?

 Waiting until they were safely outside of the the Vandoor system, Dry Ordered Henri to feed his coordinates to the Helm, and Zeila took it it from there. Henri's calculations were spot on, and Zeila's skill with the helm made for a smooth transition into the jump.

The stars melted away, replaced by the dull grey hue. Dry had another week to wait, but at least he had company.

And that was where we left off for the evening.

Conclusion

Not the most action packed game, but Dave managed to knock just about every task from his character Dry's List.  Jeff's character Caesar is still lost in space, but he has some time to make up for while Dry went on this adventure

Next time we will be following Caesar as he floats helplessly in space, and introduce Elijah's new character.

Will Dry find ever find Caesar? Will the S.S. Exodus be taken for salvage before Dry gets to it? And what is Elijah's new character going to be? Find out next time in Interstellar Exports Game 5!

Written by: Andrew Gregory