TOPIC: R3 2015 - Traveller - The Pirates of Drinax

I have created an abridged version of the original writeup using Microsoft Sway.
Visit this link to view the shortened story so far:

sway.com/DyoooasWA3wUEQrE

Players, as a reminder, have a look at the shortened (TL:DR) version of the story above.

The full recap is here , but reading the shortened version is sufficient!

I will be trialing an advantage and disadvantage system. (I'll monitor how it affects the game over the first couple of weeks) Basically if you have an advantage, you will roll 3D6 instead of 2D6 and you pick the two highest rolls. If you have a disadvantage, you pick the two lowest. Advantage and disadvantage can be gaining in many ways. E.g. Advantage: Forum story writeup, funny ingame moments, being heroic etc. Disadvantage: Doing something silly, stupid, talking over the referee etc. You know how it goes!

2nd play rotation

Hugh: Captain Oberon De Winter
Mel: Kane
Stew: Bovine Cresta
Paddy: Lance Strong
Scott: Roarhead Rex

WEEK ONE


PALINDROME

Shortly after dispensing with the unpredictable Schoultz through the airlock, the crew of the Harbinger decide on their options. They could return to DRINAX with their prisoner ‘Ferrik Redthane’. However they would likely be forced to pay a percentage of their pirating profits to the King, who loaned them the Harrier-class spaceship in the first place. Or they could go back to THEEV with the Mercifuge and try to return it to it’s rightful owner and curry favour with the Admiral. A risky idea indeed considering the Admiral’s pirate fleet strength in the area. The Mercifuge was stolen from Admiral Darokyn and it’s realised that it’s going to be very difficult to dispose of the (red hot) ship. They don’t want to leave it behind though.

The crew decide to hop back to DRINAX (about 6-8 weeks away by JUMP2 engines). Lance Strong, first officer on the Mercifuge, volunteers to provide assistance and Rex and Lance stay on-board the Mercifuge during the long trip back to DRINAX.
Both ships manage to make it to the secret refuelling bay in deep space and then proceed to jump via BORITE.

The Harbinger suffers a misjump, but very very fortunately this results in them proceeding straight to TORPOL. They’ve effectively carried out a JUMP4 with the JUMP2 engine.

DRINAX

The Harbinger arrives at DRINAX, whilst the Mercifuge has no idea what has happened to the sister ship. Oberon, Bovine and Kane brief the King with the adventure so far and give him his share of the spoils so far (just over 3MCr). A huge party is held in the floating palace that night.

Pirate Ferrik Redthane is sent to CLARKE and placed in a Carbon tomb. This is then placed in orbit of TORPOL as an eternal warning to other pirates who dare offend against the unwritten law of the Trojan Reach. The players receive their share of the bounty for capturing Redthane (2.25MCr) whilst the King takes his 10% cut. CLARKE and TORPOL both indicate they would welcome the Harbinger in the future.

After a week, the Mercifuge finally jumps in and a collective sigh of relief is released by all concerned. Whilst away, an arrangement has been made with Sal Dancet, a trader resident on DRINAX to dispose of the Mercifuge via scrap. As soon as the Mercifuge arrives, sensor jammers are activated to flood the spectrum with interference. It is whisked into a starship bay and hidden from prying eyes (and spies!). A deal is done with Sal Dancet. He thinks he can raise about 25MCr for the ship, (approx 10% of the value) and both he and the King want a 10% cut. He also agrees to fit radiation shielding salvaged from the ship to the Harbinger and also a double Sandcaster turret to be fitted to the vacant hardpoint. It will take a few months for Dancet to liquidise the scrap assets though and the crew should return to see him later.

During the crew’s time on DRINAX, they spend some time all learning the skill of Zero G and a Grav Belt is bought by each member (TL15 version with 12hr battery life). They also recruit some crewmembers to assist them on future travels: Orlando Muritz (sensor specialist), Spunkmeyer (Comms) and Dustin Crops (Astrogation)

As they are enjoying themselves on DRINAX, several rumours of a Treasure Ship are heard from passing traders and travellers. The 1600 ton Treasure ship Martin II was supposed to cross the reach as part of a convoy of Imperial Megafreighters and their escorts, but she suffered a critical failure of her jump drive and has had to land on the backwater world of ARUNISIIR for repairs. The Martin II is rumoured to carry an ancient artefact on-board and another rumour says that the Martin II was sabotaged!

TO BE CONTINUED.

Week 2

A trader visiting DRINAX brings news of another rumour of the Martin II – that all the engineering staff on-board were killed.
The king requests a meeting with the crew. He’s also heard the incoming rumours of the plight of the ship and wants to know what their intentions are. Initially it seems that they are hesitant, as the treasure ship is heavily guarded – this isn't a ship that you can take down just by jumping into the system, executing a smash and grab and jumping out again. It might be possible to take the ship down with some planned assault – but more information is going to need to be gathered first.

The crew decide to pay a reconnaissance visit to ARUNISIIR. Before leaving, some supplies are bought, including a TL14 Vac Suit (1), a flash grenade, some pistols (as only side-arms are permitted in the spaceport at ARUNISSIR) and a couple of Medikits.

The Harbinger jumps for ARUNISIIR via CLARKE and TORPOL, a journey taking three weeks. An arrival in the system, Capt De Winter brings the ship in around on the opposite side of the planet to the spaceport. Sensor communications are jammed to evade any detection or scanning by anyone in another ship or on the planet. If anything was detected, it would have been quickly dismissed as a lump of space junk or a piece of rock.

De Winter brings the ship down on the planet surface, about 300km away from the spaceport. A landing spot is identified in the swamps, and the Harbinger is brought to rest on some bouncy swamp vegetation, that gently dips because of the 300tons resting on it. As the crew are preparing their equipment to make the journey to the starport, a grav raft is spotted heading in their direction. Binoculars show one Aslan male incoming. The raft pulls nearby and an Aslan male named Ekaft speaks to Roarhead Rex and tells them that their ship has landed in his territory and they must pay a fee. There’s a bit of discussion, as the crew want to stay for a few days. They aren't happy about the fee, but unless they want their position and ship to be known to the authorities, then they will have to pay. A fee of 40,000cr (Steve: was it this amount, think it was) is agreed.

The crew take one grav raft captained by De Winter and several grav belts. De Winter’s driving isn’t the best, and the occupants of the grav raft need to hold on for dear life – they are nearly bounced out of the raft one occasion.
As they approach the downport, it isn’t difficult to see the huge hulk of the Martin II. It occupies a pad on the edge of the port. She obviously landed badly – her stern is supported by grav platforms and her impact cracked the granite pad underneath. Scaffolding surrounds the damaged ship. There’s not much activity around the ship, just the odd patrol from well-armed guards.
The party stow their rifles and other restricted equipment in the grav raft just outside the spaceport and head in. In total there are six other ships docked. The Martin II, a far trader named ‘Fafnir’, and Imperial Scout Type S, named ‘Whistlestop’, a far trader named ‘Hopeful Wanderer’ and two of ARUNISIIR’s defence force ships – ‘Tiger’ and ‘Lion’.

Lance Strong heads off to a cargo brokers whilst the others head to the downport bar to see who’s around. Lance manages to arrange a deal to transport some telecommunications equipment to TECH-WORLD. 50tonnes @ 5000cr per ton. He arranges to return with a ship in a couple of days to take the equipment to TECH-WORLD.

The bar isn’t that big, but all but one of the tables are taken. De Winter speaks to the bartender, who expresses his pleasure at the fact that the Martin II is here. A lot of the crew regularly visit his establishment – so profits are up and long may it continue he says. The rest of the party present head over to a table where three people are sitting. It quickly becomes apparent that one of them is an eccentric Scout called Yan, whose Type S Scout service ship it is outside. When the Martin II suffered Jump drive failure, Yan jumped back to the Imperium, informed the naval office at FIST then returned to ARUNISIIR. He see's himself as a bit of a hero, and will gladly re-tell the story to anyone that will listen.

Next door are a couple of rough looking guys who turn out to be gunners from the Martin II. Their names are O'Leary and Illin, a hard-drinking pair. They are enjoying the shore leave by maximising the amount of time spent in the pub. They talk a little about life on the ship, but they don't know how the accident happened. They talk about how it was the first officer that saved the ship by opening an airlock to flush the engineering department and extinguish the first - at the same time extinguishing the life of all on that deck. Hence the ship is looking for some temporary workers that have skills in engineering, mechanic to help get her back in the air.

As you are talking all of a sudden, starship laser beam fills the air and ears and you rush to the window. You see a scout ship buzz the starport, dodging past the vigilant escort 'Harshad' at the highport. The ship makes a fast pass of the Martin II and then immediately turns on it's heels and heads skyward. It's so nimble and quick and happens so fast. A few minutes after the episode, your realise that you've seen that ship before at Theev - it's one of Hroal Irontooth's scout ships - probably the Dancing Spider. What's that doing out here? What was it looking for? No-one else in the bar has any idea and they all say that's the first time something like that has happened since the Martin II has been on the planet.

Captain Bel is sat on her own and when asked, she tells you that the Far Trader 'Hopeful Wanderer' is her ship and she's in the business of shipping and trade. After chatting to her she lets you know that she's seen Hroal Irontooth's battleship quite recently - hiding in an Asteroid belt in the EXE system.

You also get speaking to Polo, the now head of engineering on the Martin II. He got promoted to the position after everyone else died. He confirms that they are looking for people with skills and can arrange some work for you - ranging between 100-300credits pay per day.

Kane is approached by someone who introduces himself as Aparo, a spare parts broker. He is travelling on the Hopeful Wanderer and wonders if the crew had any intention of trying for work on the Martin II? He’s looking for and engineer to carry out some reconnaissance work for him. Aparo has some replacement engine parts on the Hopeful Wanderer but wants to get an idea of how damaged the Martin II’s engines actually are. This will allow him to find out how extortionate a margin he can charge. He is willing to pay 1000cr bonus for the information. Kane agrees and will meet up again with Aparo over the next couple of days.

The next day, the crew return and head towards the security checkpoint at the entrance to the Martin II’s pad. They leave their side-arms and associated equipment in the lockers provided and pass through the security check. Inspecting the engineers coming aboard, the Captain, Captain Torsa is there, stood looking snooty and superior. He speaks in a clipped tone and has a nervous twitch. You also determine that the woman standing next to him is the First Officer.

You are ushered towards the big open metal doors at the bottom of the ship. Looking inside you can see the ship is in a pretty bad way. It’s dark, the lights are constantly flickering and there are electrical cables swinging around in the breeze. Occasionally a huge shower of sparks is produced as the cables arc, couple with the unmistakable buzzing sound and smell of burnt plastic.
You step inside…

To be continued……

Any errors or inaccuracies in this, let me know! 
Week 3

Lance Strong – organised a deal to transport someone to Techworld whilst in the downport bar – what they don’t know is that Lance meant by low-berth!

Kane, Bovine, Rex head onboard the Martin II and are assigned various work on the engineering deck, right at the lower-back of the space ship. Rex impressed the officers with his handy work, whilst Kane and Bovine’s skills were a little rough round the edges. They get chatting to various members of the crew. There’s a feeling amongst some of the crew that the first officer is to blame for the loss of so many of their crew. Some others however see the first officer as the one that saved the ship.

Rex finds a credit chit in one of the turrets, which looks like it’s used as a bit of a dirty couple’s hideaway. The chit belongs to Talis, and upon talking to Talis it becomes apparent that he and Felmar were romantically involved (Felmar was the one who caused the catastrophe in the first place. Apparently Felmar kept talking about a ‘new beginning’ for both of them where they would be ‘rich and free’. She also spent a lot of time talking to Launch Pilot Hanshaw and the Marine: Salvesdes.

Rex also has a look at the jump drive and his skills in Engineering-J Drive really shine through. He determines that the cause of the disaster: From the looks of it, the safety interlocks were disabled and the jump sequence halted at the last second. Instead of pumping nearly 500 tons of hydrogen into the singularity, the hydrogen vented into the engineering compartment. Anyone standing near the jump engine was must have been killed instantly. It looks like someone tampered with the navigation data. It’s impossible to tell exactly what the changes were, but someone tried to manually change the ship’s destination by altering the jump solution – which is like trying to change a plane’s destination by hammering its rudder out of shape while it’s accelerating down the runway.
Someone who introduces themselves as Hanshaw starts talking to Kane, wanted to know more about Kane and his colleagues who have just come aboard the ship. Hanshaw is the Launch Pilot and it seems that she is looking for someone to talk to. Something triggered Hanshaw to break down in tears and she gives some details that will cause a revelation: Hroal Irontooth’s agents tracked Hanshaw’s daughter to her school on CYAN and told the child to pass on a message to her mother. ‘Do what we tell you’, they said, ‘or the child suffers.’ As Hanshaw was an offworlder, going to the notoriously insular Cyanese authorities was pointless. She agreed to help Hroal and his gang.
She hoped that it would all end without bloodshed, that the conservative Captain Torsa would surrender when his ship misjumped into an ambush. That hope ended when the jump drive exploded. Hanshaw was in her shuttle adjacent to engineering section when the explosion happened, and saw everything through the thick viewport. She watched as her co-conspirator Felmar tried to insert a new jump solution into the drive, watched when Chief Engineer Eco noticed Felmar’s fumblings... and watched in horror as Felmar panicked and blew up the engineering section.
Now, she’s trapped. If she doesn’t complete her mission for Hroal Irontooth, they’ll kill her daughter. If she tries to alert the captain, then Salvesdes’ programming will kick in and he’ll kill her... but there’s so much blood on her hands now that she can’t bring herself to go through with the crime. She wants to find a way out – preferably, a way that doesn’t send her to a military prison or an airlock.

Mulling over this bombshell, the trio get back to work, luckily when the officers come round in the afternoon, their work is deemed to be of good quality. They are asked if they want some work on the cargo decks tomorrow.

In the evening, Kane met up with Aparo who had requested info on the Martin II. Aparo wants to try and sell parts at an extortionate price to the Imperium. Kane gives him the lowdown and he gets paid 1000credits for his trouble. Kane senses something a little unusual from Aparo but can’t put his finger on it.

Next day Kane, Bovine and Rex are given some work on the lower cargo decks. Having a hunt around the cargo Kane identifies some Aslan Dust Space and some Advanced Electronics and Manufactured Goods as the cargo. Rex has a surreptitious look at the Vault, and notices something a little strange: a microscopic data tap attached to the connection between the vault and the ship’s navigation computer. Further investigation turns up a mysterious black box attached to the inside of the navigation computer.

Kane has a rummage in the ships locker and manages to gain access. He tries to sneak some of the equipment out, but is noticed. Somehow he spins a really loose story about the box being broken – but the Marine believes him. The equipment is quickly taken from him and presumably made even more secure.

Lance & De Winter jumped to EXE to arrange a meeting with Hroal Irontooth. Hroal is not interested in the vault contents. He plans to attack the Martin II once it reaches the Exe system. If you can help Hroal gain the contents of the main storage areas, he’ll give you a 5% split. They jump back to ARUNISIIR to give the others the news.

It’s announced by the Captain that the Martin II will be ready to go over the next few days. Kane, Bovine and Rex have been offered temporary places as members of staff on the journey. The captain also mentions that even though the Martin II has JUMP4 capability, because of the damage to the engines and the ship the journey will be made at JUMP2, as to not push the engines. This news is met by grumbling by the crew of the Martin II, as it adds several weeks on to the journey.

A picture or Rex