Interstellar Exports Game 7

Game Master: Andrew
Game Edition: Traveller (Mongoose Publishing)
Players: Jeff, Dave, Elijah
Ages: 114Yrs, 30Yrs, 380Yrs


Quote of the Evening:
"Shit... The weird little thing was telling the truth." -Dry.

Introduction.

Left to Right: Meatfoot Blargin (Jeff), Travis "Dry" Williams (Dave) and Krunt M'Quasood (Elijah

Interstellar Exports Game 6 was nothing short of a disaster. We lost a party member (Caesar The Robot: Jeff), and two hirelings. All in all an expensive set back.  To make things worse, Captain Dry was still bed ridden and delirious from his Space Brand Morphine drip.

Makers of fine products across the galaxy!

Having been bed ridden for the past two weeks Dry had no idea that his Robotic friend, and two crew members had died. All that was left was the strange Slugulon Krunt M'Quasood, and the hardened Droyne mercenary Skraw. Not much of a party, but it was all he had to help him find out what happened to the others.

Perhaps they were still on the surface, or perhaps they had returned to Mycra Station. Who knew.

Scene 1 Morphine, Bills and Nachos.

It had been 3 days since, Caesar, Henri and Zeila had been killed and Dry was only now ready to get out of bed. He had a hovering morphine drip still attached to his arm that he would require for another day, limiting his movement and making it look as though he was constantly carrying around a balloon. It was nuisance, but the pain relief was much appreciated.

Happy times.

After getting dressed, Dry had only one thing to asttend to before they could leave the hospital: paying the bill. After two weeks of treatment, and all the morphine he could inject, Dry had racked up quite a medical bill: 96,000cr. to be exact.
It was a lot of money, that Dry would have rather not paid. He funds were running a little short what with the cost of running a starship and, and constantly needing to hire new crew members. However, knowing that he would most likely be imprisoned for skipping out on the bill, he decided to pay it and leave the hospital behind, as an unpleasant memory.

Besides, who would want to spend that much time there?

It was good to be out of bed and on his feet again, but having lived off hospital food for the past two weeks, Dry was anxious to having something with flavour again.  The bitter taste of the nutritional paste he had been fed still lingered in his mouth, and there was only one thing that could get rid of it: Nachos.

Neither Skraw nor Krunt had ever eaten nachos before, so of course Dry had to introduce them to one of his favourites. The Starway Café was the only restaurant he knew on the station, and so the three caught the station tram stopping at the neon lights of the café.

Nacho Time.

Thankfully the café's replicators had nachos on file, and Dry ordered a big plate for all to enjoy. Krunt wasn't very interested in them, but Skraw really liked them, wolfing them back with military efficiency.

As the three ate, Dry grilled Krunt for information about Caesar Henri and Zeila. Unable to fully explain what had happened to Caesar, Skraw took over explaining that Krunt had thrown him into the sacrificial pit in the temple on the planet.

After yelling at Krunt for a bit, Dry calmed down and told Krunt to take him back to where he tossed Caesar in. Maybe they could fin him again.

Scene 2 Meatfoot Blargin. A Fight in the Starway Café.

The three stood to leave, but Dry stopped suddenly, looking around the bar. He had heard a voice calling to him. No one else had heard it, but it called again clear as day. Looking around, Dry saw a very strange creature starring back at him from the corner of the room.

This weird little thing.

The Creature calmly explained that it was communicating with Dry telepathically and that he had nothing to fear from him. He was however in great danger, and the fate of the galaxy may very well rest on his shoulders.


The Creature introduced itself as Meatfoot Blargin, and explained that he was a Tangulon. A race from a world known only to the Draco Syndicate. His people had been deployed through out the galaxy to use their telepathy to gather information on the syndicates behalf, But Meatfoot learned something that he could not keep to himself.

He claimed to know what the mysterious case, given to James Hornby and now watched over by Dry, contained! But it wasn't safe to talk here. The whole planet was controlled by the Draco Syndicate and they needed to leave as soon as possible.

He's so paranoid.

Not fully believing him, but concerned enough to hear this Meatfoot thing out, Dry agreed to speak with the Tangulon, but he had to find his crew mates first. Meatfoot was nervous at the delay, but knew there was no way to change the captains mind. He agreed to follow him on his adventure, so long as they could talk in private later.

The four set out to leave once again, only to be stopped this time by the entrance of angry looking Canines with pistols. They walked through the front door scanning the room. Dry knew who they were here for...

And it wasn't the nachos.

The group tried to slip out unnoticed, but the keen senses of the Canines spotted them quickly. One of them shouted for Dry to surrender from across the bar while his partner fired a few pot shots high of the crowd. Skraw wasn't having any of it. In a fluid motion, he unshouldered his laser rifle and fired, hitting one of the canines. The laser bolts ripped through the creatures body, killing him and one of the patrons who desperately tried to get out of the way of the gun fire.

Collateral Damage!

Dry finished off the second Canine with his gauss rifle, and as quickly as it had began the fight was over. Skraw and Dry stood ready to fight any new comers, but the bar returned to business as usual. The owner, getting up form his hiding place behind the bar, angrily shouted at Dry and Skraw, asking if they were going to "pick that up." And gestured towards the three bodies.

Surprised, but not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Skraw and Dry dragged the thre bodies out an stuffed them in a trash can. No one seemed to care, and that was the end of it. Perhaps Meatfoot was telling the truth, maybe this planet was controlled by the mob.

But Dry wasn't willing to trust him yet. For all he knew, Meatfoot had arranged for the thugs to come and get him.

Scene 3 Locking Up Meatfoot. The Plot Thickens.

Leaving the café Dry marched behind Meatfoot with a pistol casually hidden from view. Dry guided the creature with nudges towards his ship: the Hornby. Once on board, Dry asked Meatfoot if there was anyway to prevent his telepathy from functioning. He didn't want the creature reading his mind while he figured out what to do with him.

Revealing his vulnerabilities to complete strangers was not something Meatfoot, a former spy, was accustomed to, but knowing that he needed Dry's help to save the very Galaxy he told the truth. He explained that his species was able to detect the surface thoughts of any organic creature, so long as they could see them. It even worked across visual comms. However, Meatfoot desperately had to tell Dry about the case, and explained that he also needed to see someone communicate with them.

Trust is earned, not given.

Dry thought for a minute and then decided to lock Meatfoot in the unoccupied stateroom 7. At least that way he wouldn't be any threat, and he could interrogate him from the safety of another room. So that Skraw and Krunt could also hear, Dry went ot the bridge and opened a video comm to Meatfoot's room.

"Alright Meatfoot... What do you have to tell me?"

What came next was something Dry simply couldn't believe.

"Five years ago, while working for the Draco Syndicate's intelligence organization it became aware to me that the Syndicate was plotting to take over the Galactic Council, and seize control of the galaxy itself. With the help of Interstellar Exports (their partner in crime) they arranged to steal the command codes for the Galactic Fleet, let the failure be known, and use the already growing rift between all the species of the council and the inefficiency of the bureaucracy, to split any remaining military might they may have.

With the Galactic Council and their fleet useless, the Draco Syndicate and Interstellar Exports would use their sizeable (and increasingly militaristic) fleets to take power.

In order to get their hands on the Galactic Fleet command codes, Interstellar Exports had to take them while they were being shipped to the location of the new Galactic Fleet headquarters. The codes are moved from planet to planet each decade as part of the treaty, so it was a perfect time to strike. Interstellar Exports normally handles these things in secret, but this time they arranged for the codes to go missing.

Three cases where shipped out. Two contained the real codes, and one was a decoy, but rather than send them through their usual channels, private transportation was arranged on unarmed ships: like James Hornby and his Ship the S.S. Exodus. Since not even Interstellar Exports knew which case was real, they also leaked the classified military tracker frequencies on each case to the Draco Syndicate.

From there they would steal the codes from the  poorly armed vessels and deliver them into the hands of the syndicate. With the codes, they would finally be ready to make their move to take over the galaxy, they had to be stopped!"

Meatfoot had seen what happened to his own world when the Draco Syndicate took control, and feared for the wonders he had seen during his travels across the stars, if the same were to occur on a larger scale. They had to find out if Dry's case was one of the real ones or the decoy. They couldn't let the real codes fall into the Syndicate's or Interstellar Export's hands!

Those Bastards!

Dry couldn't believe it. Interstellar Exports working with the Draco Syndicate?! It seemed preposterous! They had operated as a shipping company for almost two millennia and were the largest organization in the galaxy. They had all the money they could dream of, why would they work with the Draco Syndicate? It was just too absurd.

But on the other hand, ever since James had been given that damn case -from Interstellar Exports- every crook and pirate in the galactic sub-sector had been trying to get their hands on it. And they all seemed to know exactly where it was. There was even that scanner that the original owners of the Hornby had used to search their ship for it. But he still couldn't quite buy it. It had to be a trick.

"Assuming I believe you." Dry said to Meatfoot over the comm. "What do you want to do about it?"

Meatfoot explained that during his days as a spy, he had a friend and contact who specialized in military tech. He was certain he could open the case. They just had to get to Chalandra II in System 0207."

Dry told Meatfoot that he would think about it, and closed the channel leaving him trapped in the room by himself. The story Meatfoot had told Dry was a fantastic one, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed at least possible. Either way, he couldn't leave Mycra until he had found out what happened to Caesar, Henri and Zeila.

Gathering Skraw and Krunt, he told them to take him back to the temple where they had last seen Caesar.

Lookin' badass!

They would leave Meatfoot locked in his room, and decide what to do with him when they got back.

Scene 4 The Temple of the Mob Boss.

Dry, Krunt and Skraw took a shuttle down to the surface, landing at a pad a mere 200 meters from the Temple. The square in front of them was covered in pilgrims, all celebrating the festival. Krunt stood in awe of the thousands of different species that intermingled together, until a rude shove from Skraw broke him from his thoughts to see Dry walking ahead towards the temple.

Something like that.

Inside the temple, the great pit of swirling blue energy stood before them. It was gorgeous and uplifting, and Krunt ruined it by explaining that it was a hologram.

But it was so beautiful!

Krunt explained that he had simply dropped Caesar into the pit, so with a heavy sigh, all three of them jumped in.

A net caught them as they fell, and almost immediately alarms sounded. Dry looked around the room and saw Draco Syndicate insignia banners on the walls, and Interstellar Exports shipping containers all around the ground. And this where our quote of the evening comes from as Dry uttered his disbelief.

"Shit... The weird little thing was telling the truth."

As the gravity of the situation sunk in, ten armed men appeared, and released them from the net at gun point. Holding their hands high, the three were escorted from the collection chamber, and deeper into the complex.

Start at the X to follow their path through the complex.

None of the guards would answer their questions, they only walked in silence casting mean glances at each of them. Quietly they travelled through the long corridors, and across a shuttle bay. It was indeed the same one that saw Caesar and Henri fall to their deaths in a fiery explosion, but only a dark oily smear that stained the shuttle bay floor gave tell of that tragedy.

The group stopped at a large metal blast door that opened slowly, revealing a sophisticated command centre. Computers and monitors lined the walls, and underlings scurried about tending to the terminals and exchanging data with one another. Shuttle launches were being coordinated, incoming was being tallied, and all of it seemed to revolve around a green creature on a hovering litter who had a commanding view of the room.

Oe of the bosses of the Draco Syndicate.

Two men continued with Dry, Krunt and Skraw as they were ushered into the command centre. Trained in the art of war from birth, Skraw gave the room a quick once over. Discounting the two men who had accompanied them inside, he counted no less than 8 guards, and 24 non-combatants, including the man on the litter. They were no more safe then they were before, and he gripped the strap of his laser rifle tighter.


Their escort stopped them just before Yarlac who lowered his hovering platform to speak with them face to face.

"You are Travis 'Dry' Williams, comrade of Captain James Hornby of the S.S..." Yarlac said before Dry interrupted him.

"James is dead, and I know about the case." Dry replied coldy.

He paused to let that sink in. The silence was palatable, for the first time in a long while, Yarlac was surprised.

"I like you Dry." Yarlac Smiled. "Straight to the point. Yes I want the case, where is it?"

With a look, several guards from around the room stepped forward and approached Dry and his crew mates, weapons drawn.

"You will find I can be quite persausive." Said Yarlac. "You had best cooperate."

Insert image of the Godfather

"I don't care what you do with the case, It has caused me nothing but trouble. It is hidden on board my ship, and I will take you there on one condition." Dry said, holding his hand up to stop Skraw from reacting to the armed men.

"The condition being?"

"You tell me what happened to Henri, Zeila, and the robot Caesar, and I will take you to the case."

Yarlac didn't understand what Dry was talking about, until he remembered the escapees from the days prior.

"I believe, your friends were killed in an escape attempt. The woman, was shot in the tunnels, the man killed in a shuttle crash as he attempted to leave the hangar, and I believe the robot was destroyed in the shuttle crash as well. Does that answer your question?"

Dry wanted more proof then just Yarlac's word, but the gangster explained that the bodies and wreckage had already been disposed off. All that was left was a dark stain on the shuttle bay floor. Dry still wasn't satisfied, but knowing it was unwise to push a man like Yarlac, he accepted the explanation. His comrades were dead.

"Now for your end of the bargain." Yarlac said snapping his fingers. Five well armed men came forward, and Yarlac told them to accompany Dry and his crew while they retrieved the case and to return with it.

"Goodbye Captain Dry." Yarlac said turning his back to. "I do not think we shall meet again."

The five men, weapons drawn, escorted Dry, Krunt and Skraw to the shuttle bay. Quickly they were cleared to launch and started the journey towards Mycra Station.

Things were moving fast, but Dry was already working on a plan. He had almost finished it by the time they mounted the station tram, however by the time they had reached the Hornby's hatch, he realized it was still a long shot.

Scene 5 Battle on the Hornby.

On board the Hornby, things went as expected. With gun raised, the five gangsters told Dry and his crew that they were taking the ship. Two men went with Krunt to the bridge, and three escorted Dry and Skraw while they showed them where the case was hidden.

Dry had no intention of telling the truth. He took the men to Stateroom 7, where he had imprisoned Meatfoot. His plan hinged on the hope that an extra man would level the playing field and that Meatfoot was actually on his side.

Living on a prayer

One of the guards held Skraw at gun point, while the other two stood behind Dry as he opened the Stateroom 7's lock. The door slid open and Dry stepped in and aside, showing the startled Meatfoot what was happening. Reacting fast, Meatfoot, revealed another power -telekinesis-, and pulled the lazer pistol from one of the gangsters hand sending it clattering to the floor. Dry took the chance and leapt at the disarmed gangster striking him with his fists, and wrestling him to the ground.

As soon as the commotion hit in the stateroom, Skraw sprung into action. With spin that corkscrewed him below the gangster's pistol, he swung his rifle into a practised grip and fired. The bolts ripped through the thug sending him crashing to the floor. Startled, the gangster watching Dry wrestle with his opponent turned, only to be shot in head by Skraw at point blank range.

Skraw never fails to kick ass.

After some wrestling, Dry was able to unsheathe the knife he had taken from the Canines all those weeks ago (Interstellar Exports Game 1), and shoved it into the thugs gut. With gurgle he went limp and Dry rolled him off, thanking Meatfoot for the assistance.

Meanwhile on the bridge, Krunt was showing the gangsters the controls. Neither of them were particularly threatened by the Slugulon, and busied themselves with the escort's layouts. As the two looked over at computer panel, Krunt quietly released his lazer pistol from one of his folds. With out a second thought, he put it against the head of one of the thugs and pulled the trigger. Effectivle executing him. Startled, the other dropped his pistol, and threw his hands in the air.

Krunt also kicks his fair share of ass.

"Please don't kill me!" The man begged.

"Do you know how to fly a starship?" Krunt asked, lording the pistol over him.

The man nodded yes.

"Then get us out of here." Krunt siad.

"But what about the docking bay? We need clearance to open the bay doors!"

"Get us out of here NOW!" Krunt said thrusting the pistol into the gangsters face.

Shaking, he got in the pilots seat, and started the departure procedure. Seeing what was happening, the station's personnel reacted as fast as it could; withdrawing fuel and power lines and desperately trying to get the hangar door open before this rogue ship decided to blast its way through.

The Hornby squeezed out of the Hangar, shaking the ship just as Dry, Skraw and Meatfoot walked onto the bridge.

"Status!?" Dry Shouted.

"This man is flying the ship." Krunt said pointing to the gangster.

"I can see that Krunt." Dry sighed. "Who are you?" he asked the pilot.

"Sanders MacMurphy sir. Everyone calls me Murphy."

"Alright Murphy, my name is Dry Captain of the S.S. Hornby." he said gesturing around the bridge. 

"I doubt you can go back to the Draco Syndicate after a failure like this, so you might as well stick with us. If you are willing to work for money, I am willing to let you continue as pilot." Dry said resting a hand on the man's shoulder.

Murphy was understandably nervous. He had just been violently captured, but Dry had a point. Hesitantly he agreed, but it would be a while before he could sleep easy.

Nervous looking fella.

Looking to the sensors, Dry could see that several smaller craft were in pursuit, they needed to get out of here now!


Dry ordered Murphy to increase to maximum thrust, and hope the engines on his Escort were better than the engines of his pursuers. Next he needed someone to plot a jump course.

Meatfoot had been insisting that he knew someone in system 0207 who could open the case and recommended they jump there. He also claimed to be an amateur astrogator and could probably plot a course if given enough time. Dry looked to the sensors and saw the smaller vessels falling behind them, and agreed to Meatfoot's proposal.

It took 20 minutes to calculate the course, but Meatfoot figure out a safe trajectory for them to travel. As soon they reached the edge of the system, Dry ordered the jump.

And that was where we left of for the evening.

Conclusion.

Another Great game of Interstellar Exports! We learned that the Criminal Draco Syndicate and the MEgaCrop intersteallar Exports are plotting together to take over the galaxy, and Dry's case may be one of the keys to their success!

We also introduced Jeff's new character Meatfoot Blargin to the team, and gained a new NPC! Leaving things better off then they were before. However on a sad note, Dry had to leave his former captain's ship the S.S. Exodus at Mycra station, in order to escape with his life. So that's 14,000,000cr. down the drain, but at least it is better than dying!

Next game the crew hopes to make it to system 0207 and figure out whether their case contains half of the command codes for the Galactic Fleet or if it just the decoy.

Find out what happens next time in Interstellar Exports game 8!

Written by: Andrew Gregory