Into the Void

IY 6027.008

Before leaving Listo the members of SAFCO take one last opportunity to buy a few things, like more slow drug, slow antidote, and truth drug. Lucky buys a skull and crossbones belt buckle with a secret compartment for doses of these drugs. Barney sends the authorities on Listo an anonymous message describing the surveillance cameras watching Jinx’s grandma’s house. He makes a computer roll on the tablet they took from the thug to “hack” the cameras via their control app, causing them to show a constant loop of “nothing going on” at the house.

The next morning the huge starliner Jumps. They spend a week in Jump Space. Barney recovers from his gunshot wound. Caliban uses the time to properly organize the package of information on the Pachyderms he plans to give to Office of Sophont Relations director Sir Walot DeMaris, and old colleague in the Imperial bureaucracy. Barney and Lucky cobble together a working laser drone from the parts they took from the goon on Listo. Flint treats Caliban to some tasty Garblag Haggis chips he makes in the ship’s kitchen.

The ship arrives in the Prometheus system, the subsector capital. Prometheus is a high tech-level world of massive cities and commerce. As they cruise to orbit, SAFCO is relaxing in the High Passage lounge and dining room. Lucky notices the Uetonah rebel they  encountered on Listo, Syla, dressed as a ship’s steward, heading toward the front of the passenger deck. This seems odd. He quickly alerts the rest of the team via their coms. They find her in the corridor, looking suspicious. They have a conversation…

Syla tells them she is giving them a tip because she owes them her life — get off the ship at first opportunity. She and her team have infiltrated the crew, and plan to hold the ship and its hundreds of passengers hostage unless the Imperial authorities investigate the plight of the Pachyderms on Uetonah. They are tired of waiting, and have broken off from the main rebel group to take this direct action.

SAFCO manages to convince her to talk. They go to a stateroom and explain that they are on the same mission, that they have all the necessary research, and Caliban knows the director of the OSR. They explain why her plan will never work.  Flint, who she knows from the battle on Uetonah the previous year, makes an Leadership roll and succeed in influencing her. She radios her team to “stand down.” They will wait to see if SAFCO is successful.

SAFCO takes the shuttle down to the capital city. Barney looks for outgoing ships for their trip back to Listo, or for a fast getaway should they need one. Caliban gets an appointment with Demaris. Flint goes with him. They have a long discussion. The give Demaris the package. After serious questioning by DeMaris, he agrees to look more closely at the info. He clears his schedule for the day.

The next day Caliban receives word that DeMaris will send an Imperial ship and crew to Uetonah to determine the truth. Using forensic accounting his staff quickly finds a mole within their ranks — a young officer who’s been preventing the information from Uetonah from reaching DeMaris. He had gambling debts, and Samson has been paying him.

The team spends another two days on Prometheus.

End of session
IY 6027.026
Elapsed time: 476 game days (1 year 119 days)

IY 6027.008

We begin where we left off. SAFCO is (mostly) in the underground hydro pump station where they have just shot one laser drone and apparently killed the person who was controlling them.

Barney, Jinx, and Fardt are still in the building where they dragged the 2 unconscious goons and their dead friend. Barney is wounded and avoiding action, but maintaining communication with the rest of the team.

Below in the pump station, Caliban has the one remaining laser drone in a sack he has thrown over it. It is moving erratically and is hard to control. Lucky and Roger are by the door to the control room. Flint see that a single data stick is in the “loot box” meant for the goons. He grabs it. Caliban is going to try to sling the drone into the tough plastic box, but it’s clear that is doing to be difficult. Roger runs over and jumps on the drone to try to control it!  It fires its laser but misses everyone. Together Roger and Caliban try to get it into the box but fail. Flint picks up the box and “pac mans” the drone into it, slams the lid shut and locks it. He slides it way across the room. While this has been happening Lucky has been trying to “pick” the electronic lock to the control room. He is close, but so far no success.  As he tries, the drone is still moving around in the box, which is jumping all over the place. The drone fires its laser, cutting the box open and freeing itself.  Roger draws his auto pistol and fires, hitting it for enough damage to put it down!

On the surface, Barney, Fardt, and Jinx make their way to the MagLev station. They are going to go back to the ship. As they wait in hiding, Barney sees an air raft heading their way. They take cover and watch. The raft lands near a “Utilities” building behind the small access building the other SAFCO members used to descend to the pump station. A large door opens and the air raft flies in. Barney notifies his colleagues.

Underground, Lucky bypasses the electronic lock and opens the door to the control room. SAFCO goes up. They find the dead man. On his body they find a laser carbine and a hand-computer. The computer is locked, and will require Barney’s computer skill to get in.

They hear machines start operating and realize that the industrial elevator down in the station has been activated. Likely the air raft Barney told them about.

Barney, Jinx, and Fardt board a Mag Lev transport and leave the station.

The team below decide to avoid another fight. On the way out the grab the remains of both laser drones. They get back to the Mag Lev station, catch the next transport, and leave.

Back onboard the star liner Barney gets proper medical attention from the ship’s doctor. Later, he and Caliban hack into the hand-computer. They find programs controlling surveillance cameras at Jinx’s grandmother’s house, a control app for the drones, and communications with someone simply called “H” about kidnapping Jinx. They find a 12 digit code that Flint uses to unlock the data stick at the onboard casino bank – 20,000cr.

The ship leaves for Prometheus tomorrow. Jinx expresses his wish to stay with the crew…

End of sesssion
IY 6027.008
Elapsed time: 476 game days (1 year 101 days)

IY 6027.008

Recap of previous session:

After arriving at Listo, visiting Jinx’s grandmother’s house and then spending the day in the Central Market, SAFCO spent some time relaxing in a bar, where they saw and spoke with some disillusioned rebels they fought with on Uetonah. The Rebels have quit, and are on their way to Prometheus, to work in a family business. Upon leaving the tavern to go hear some music, some ruffians pull Jinx on to a single-car Mag-Lev transport what is leaving. As it is leaving Roger leaps for it, managing to hang on to the outside as it gains speed, moving over open air on its track, heading for the inner surface of the asteroid. Barney follows on a quickly purchased grav bike, and with Roger he saves Jinx. The team reassembles at the next Mag-Lev stop, in the now slumbering industrial sector. They drag the 3 unconscious thugs, the unconscious Barney and the grav bike off the Mag-Lev before it leaves. Flint is formulating a plan…

With the team all still at the Mag-Lev stop Roger uses his Medic skill to attend to Barney, who regains consciousness in 10 minutes. The 3 tied-up enemies also wake up and begin grumbling. Barney’s first words are “Is the kid OK?”, to which Jinx replies that he is fine, and thanks Barney and Roger for their amazing heroics.

Flint wants to find out what these guys were up to. Why were they trying to abduct Jinx. He picks one of the thugs and holds them out over the Mag-Lev line – not a great place to be. The guy says “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Just don’t throw me in front of the train.”

Flint pulls him back. Before the guy can talk a bright red laser beam burns a hole in his cranium from the upper right side of his head and exiting down through the left jaw. His brains superheat and vaporize, and his body drops to the floor of the station.

Making an INT roll, Lucky saw that the beam likely came from a 2-story manufacturing building across the street and a short distance away. He tells the team.

Roger, Fardt, Lucky, Barney, Caliban, and Jinx all run for cover (while using the Evade combat action).

Flint jumps on Barney’s grav bike. Barney yells “You break it, you pay for it!”. Flint takes off.

While all of this is happening there is another laser shot at one of the 2 remaining thugs, but incredibly it misses.

Flint takes the bike above the manufacturing building and sees a man with a laser carbine on the roof. Lucky, seeing that Flint is providing distraction, runs over to the building and flattens himself against the wall.

Flint blasts the assassin with submachine gun fire, hitting twice and knocking him out. The assassin simultaneously shoots the laser, but doesn’t have good shot at Flint, aiming instead at the grav bike! He hits. Using Omer Golan Joel’s “Quick and Dirty Vehicle Combat for Classic Traveller” we determine that there is minor damage to the bike’s antenna, but it is not badly damaged.

Flint lands and secures the roof. He takes the laser carbine and finds an employee badge in the assassin’s pocket. The badge has someone else’s picture on it.

Caliban moves over to the building next to Lucky. Flint flies the bike down and joins them. Roger joins them as well. Jinx, Fardt, and Barney carefully move over too. The group drags the 2 remaining thugs and their dead friend over as well. They enter the building using the key card, and find the rightful owner of the key card with a laser wound to the noggin. Dead.

Flint and Caliban play good cop/bad cop with the 2 live thugs. The goons, having seen their friend killed to shut him up, are in no mood to stick around and begin talking. They were simply hired to abduct the kid and deliver him to a hydraulics utility substation nearby. Their employer is anonymous.

The thugs tell them where the entry to the substation is. Jinx and Fardt will remain in the current building with the wounded Barney while the others investigate, knowing that they need to find out who is after Jinx and why. They don’t want to leave Listo with Jinx in trouble.

Caliban is the shortest of the group. They put a bag over his head, prisoner/hostage-style, and find the entry. It’s in a small building a couple of blocks way — a hatch in the floor leading to a ladder. They go down the ladder and find themselves in a concrete hallway with stairs. It is dimly lit with safety lights. They go down the stairs and find themselves in a large chamber carved out to the rock of the asteroid. While they are actually moving toward the surface of the asteroid, artificial gravity is still providing the same direction of pull.

The roof of the chamber is 40′ high. There’s a lot of big pump machinery in there and massive hyrdo pipes from floor to ceiling. It is dimly lit, and the group hears the constant drone of the pumps and pipes and machinery. Across the chamber, 30′ up, is an observation window. A bald-headed man can be seen in the window. He leans forward to a microphone and says “It took you a long time. Bring the boy over here in front of the door. Your payment is over here too.”

The group moves over there, where they find a door, a box with the thugs’ payment, and two 1′ diameter metal spheres floating 5′ off the floor. The spheres each have on red eye, and they are watching the PCs.

Flint moves over the the box with the loot. Roger takes the disguised Caliban over to the door with Lucky. Suddently Caliban begins running toward one of the drones, as if he is Jinx trying to escape his captors. He rips off the sack over his head, makes a good roll, and captures the floating drown inside the sack!

Roger pulls his auto pistol and fires at the other drone. He hits easily, and shoots it in the red laser eye, and the drone drops to the floor, dead.

Flint turns, pulls out the laser carbine they took from the assassin, and fires at the guy up in the window. Taking into account the effects of the glass, he hits, burning a hole in the guy’s shoulder and dropping him!

We end the session with Lucky still having an action to take and with Caliban holding a sack with an anti-grav drone floating inside it!

End of sesssion
IY 6027.008
Elapsed time: 476 game days (1 year 101 days)

IY6027.008

SAFCO has arrived at Listo. The starliner moves inside the giant hollowed-out asteroid through a huge entrance. They have 2 full days there before the liner continues on for their destination, Prometheus. Jinx is excited to be home, and anxious to go see his grandmother, to give her some of the money he’s made.

As the group exits the ship the are immediately impressed by the disorienting nature of the environment. Walking on the street on the interior surface of the asteroid, if they look up they can see the tops of buildings on the other side. There are grav vehicles going every which way. Flint and Roger realize (make an INT roll) that piloting any sort of ship or grav vehicles in this place, for a non-native, would be challenging and reduce their effectiveness as pilot.

The group follows Jinx to his grandma’s house/store, which is located in the ultra-chaotic Central Market. Listo, being fairly low law-level, has become a destination for merchants of all sorts. The market is on a massive skyway that crosses the interior of the asteroid and has it’s own artificial gravity. They enter, and find a shop of various curiosities and oddities. Jinx introduces them. Caliban buys a fine made from the silk of Pelucidarian spiders. Lucky, Roger, and Flint each by nice leather belts with fancy silver buckles. Grandma demonstrates that the buckles open up, concealing a cutting blade.

Being flush with cash now, the group roams the market. Lucky manages to buy doses of Fast, Slow, Combat, and Medical Slow drugs. They also find a weapons dealer and each purchase a targeting attachment and ocular overlay that can be fitted to any gun. Effectively giving a +1 to hit. NOT a laser sight.  Barney visits a books store, and buys the owner’s robot companion, a 2″ long metal robot bird that flies via anti-grav and responds to whistle commands. He makes an engineering roll realizes it is more than the toy the store owner thinks it is — it is at least a TL12 device. He will have to explore it’s abilities. The bird hovers in front of his face, “bonds” with him, and he leaves with it on his shoulder.

Jinx suggests that they go to a tavern called Spuurie’s. It’s a larger tavern, right in front of a Mag-Lev train station. There are a lot of grav bikes parked in front. Inside they enjoy some drinks. A woman walks by their table. Flint and Barney make their INT rolls and each recognize her. She continues through the crowd, out of site. They both realize she was on of the rebels they fought with on their first trip to Uetonah. They find her sitting at a table with 3 men – also rebels. What are they doing here? As they approach, she make her INT roll and recognizes them as the people who got their laser turret working and helped them defeat the Samson security forces. She waves them over to have a seat.

End of Session
IY6027.008
Elapsed time: 476game days (1 year 101 days)