Prison Pit

Mission to the Sunless World

Shelnat Island, Inversar/Menkor, 221-253/1106

DM Note: No Allan or Derek this week, so a bijou Alice and Manx adventure..

The days passed pleasantly enough on Shelnat Island. While the hotel facilities weren't all back in action, some were, and with the influx of new staff to replace the casualties suffered in the dinosaur outbreak there was no shortage of drinking companions for those so minded. 

Alice had taken up fishing off the island. Inversar wasn't massively provided with aquatic life but there was enough for some diverting sport, and some of the catch proved edible. She also started teaching Manx how to fight with a knife, starting with smaller blades than her terrifying kukris. In the evenings, she pulled books on melee weapon design from the base's library, looking for ways to improve the kukri as a combat weapon.

Three days after the Vanguard's return, Manx looked up from his breakfast coffee to see Arba Choix walking towards him. "When did you get back?" she asked him, settling next to him. She'd been assigned to one of the outer labs, and this was her first visit to the complex since the cons had returned. Alice grinned at her. "He's been moving his balls without touching them," she joked, and Manx spluttered into his coffee. Arba raised an eyebrow, then took gentle but irresistible hold of  Manx's lapel. "Well, we can't have that, can we?" she said sweetly, pulling him towards her. After a long moment, the pair linked arms and headed off towards the stairs. Alice chuckled and went back to her bacon sandwich. 

It turned out, however, that Manx wasn't going to be alone engaging in the world's oldest form of recreation. Rosalie Wallis, it emerged, rather liked stroppy blondes, and Alice's approach was met with passionate enthusiasm. So the days passed pleasantly and everyone rested and recuperated. 

There's only so much R&R anyone can do, however, and everyone was beginning to feel a little restless by the time the first month was up...

Shelnat Island, Inversar/Menkor, 22:01 local time, 253/1106

DM Note: Much laughter when Gord tried to join the conversation, creating the concept of Manx scubadiving in the hot tub with the laydeez!.

Lying back against the rim of the hot tub, Wallis looked sleepily at Alice. "Something's come up," she said. Alice glanced down at the water, and Wallis laughed. "A possible job for you and your companions," she clarifed. Alice settled back to listen. 

The scientists assigned to analyzing the alien relics returned from the Snow Goose had strong hopes of being able to derive something useful from them. They were ready to set up labs and facilities to work on this, but a potential problem had arisen. According to the expert sophontologist assigned to the project, the video footage from the Snow Goose suggested that the alien creatures might conceivably be sub-sentient or even more. This was a difficulty, because one of the tenets of the Imperium was the rights of sentient beings not to be exploited or experimented upon without their permission - genetic meddling with a sub-sentient race was a High Justice crime which would be pursued up the corporation involved. 

This was not an uncommon feature of corporate life, and various workarounds existed, one of which was offshoring. A research station set up outside the Imperial border was out of jurisdiction, preventing prosecution of those involved. Wallis' second piece of news slotted neatly into this. 

Among the data crystals recovered from the Snow Goose were some records connected with the crate containing the aliens. These listed, among other things, the location where the samples had been acquired. In a darkly ironic parallel with the fate of the ship, this was recorded as a sunless world - a loose planet in deep space belonging to no solar system. This one, interestingly, was located in deep space on the spinward edge of the Imperium, just over the Imperial border. Astrogation experts had plotted its' likely location after three thousand years' drift to somewhere within a cone of probabilities centered on the location 1008 in the Spinward Marches, in the Jewell subsector. 

"Your team has the nearest we have to personal experience with these creatures," she finished. "Make no mistake, if we jump in and find a planet infested with the things, we jump straight bloody back again. This time it's not war," she added for no apparent reason. "But you know what scientists are like; if you're there to balance them, they may make fewer mistakes. That said, we're not going to be unprepared. The Darmagan is fitting out at Lyrrath to carry this expedition. It's a ten kiloton hull, pretty well armed, and we're sending 150 Tallis corptroopers as security."

She splashed Alice playfully. "She also carries two scout/couriers for recon work; we can ship the Vanguard in one of those hangars, so you get to take your special ship with you. You'll be brevetted to Commander rank - Lt Colonel for you ex-Marines - and paid double rates. Ten thou a month, pocket money really. As consultants, you'll have a seat on the command team and a say in what happens, though obviously the final decisions rest with the Director, the Overcaptain and the Brigadier."

"Probably a milk run, drop the scientists off, come back, see some new places a very long way from your criminal records, come back richer. Let me know what your friends say in the morning...."

Shelnat Island, Inversar/Menkor, 09:18 local time, 254/1106

DM Note: Players not present this week who want to add equipment please let me know!.

The next day, Alice spread the proposal before the rest of the cons. All were nervous of the idea of actually encountering the aliens they'd so far only seen in footage, but otherwise most were up for the job. Removing themselves from any possibility of pursuit by Maximilian and the local Imperial forces for a year was also attractive. They communicated their acceptance to Wallis and scattered to prepare equipment and shopping lists. 

Shelnat Island, Inversar/Menkor, 12:37 local time, 262/1106

Two weeks later, the cons boarded the Vanguard for the first leg of their odyssey. Arba was already gone, shipped out on a Tallis transport to join the Darmagan as part of the genetics team. Wallis was not to be going, and she and Alice had said their farewells the night before; Alice was still yawning as she watched the crates of new equipment loaded aboard. Two hours later saw them to the jump point, and they were off to Lyrrath.

High Orbit, Lyrrath/Menkor, 06:44 shipboard time, 269/1106

Docking

Emerging from jumpspace, the crew of the Vanguard were given an object lesson as to the power and resources of their corporate patron. The Damagan was vast, a whale to their craft's minnow, and surrounded by cutters and lighters as she fitted out. Their computer flickered to life as a flight path was transmitted to take them to one of the two hundred dton hangars. As she settled in and was secured, a purser's assistant robot appeared to show them to their quarters. Walking through the hangar deck among hurrying busy crewers, they passed stowed G-Carriers, speeders, cutters and a rack of planetary survey robots. 

TSS Darmagan

Normal accommodation for flight crew was dual-occupancy, but on the edge of Officer Country the cons found themselves assigned to the small but well-appointed single staterooms similar to those provided for the command crew. On Alice's bed was a folded piece of paper. A farewell gift - strings pulled for your own rooms. Take care of yourself and come back. R.

Over the next few days, the cons were introduced to the Darmagan's command crew, the people with whom they'd be dealing as the mission unfolded.

• Project Director Bryce Davis - Tallis' senior executive aboard and the Man in Charge. A very smartly-dressed suit with polished corporate manners, but a competent air and willing to hear all sides before deciding things. Once he did decide, everyone accepted his rulings.
• Overcaptain Prentice Brown - exNavy without a doubt, with a calm, steady presence and vast experience within his field, he stayed out of debates on other topics.
• Science Chief Victor Ransome -  In overall charge of all the many disciplines of science collected for the project, custodian of the master plan for research and development. His mind was more than half occupied with thoughts of the science, making him sometimes miss mundane points in the other planning. 
• Chief Ground Engineer Charles Lackshaw - Responsible for establishing the base and building its structures as well as ground liaison with local authorities if required, unlikely on this trip. A dour and quiet man, immensely practical and with no time for politics or accountants.
• Brigadier Colin Farquarson - Commander of the Tallis corptroopers and responsible for security. Completely confident in the firepower of the ship and his troops. A classic CO, he respected the opinions of specialists in their own fields but was not inclined to take advice from 'civilians' about military matters.

One of the initial disagreements was over how much of a briefing to give the troops. Alice and Manx pressed to tell them as much as possible about the aliens; after all, that was why they were there. Farquarson and Lackshaw disagreed, feeling there might be unnecessary panic and that 'Need to Know' was the way, whereas Ransome agreed with Alice that everyone needed to know. Davis listened to both sides, but finally ruled in favour of a trimmed briefing for just the officers, leaving out the worst bits. Alice was the only woman in the room, and it was pretty plain Farquarson regarded her as doubly unimportant; female and no uniform. As she rose to leave, she looked him steadily in the eye. "You're a fool," she said coldly.

In Transit, Lyrrath/Menkor - Emerald/Spinward, 276/1106 - 201/1107

DM Note: Rather than do an agonizingly long road-trip, we have engaged 'you travel and you're there' mode. A year has elapsed and the Darmagan has arrived. Given the hobbying, training and occasional adventuring that will have happened as this progressed, rather than bugger around with ticks I've awarded each character 1 skill level per month, total of 12. These can be take on any skill that can reasonably be practiced or taught aboard ship; a maximum of 2 points may be added to core attributes..

For the next 12 months, the Darmagan voyaged across the Imperium in four-parsec hops. Their cover story - that of dry-running a plan to build a research base in the Great Rift - fitted neatly in with the general loading of the vessel. Only unpacking the cargo pods and discovering ground base components would have exposed it and their corporate credentials were enough to prevent that. 

Alice and Scarrow continued to hold classes in the deadly art of knife-fighting, attracting marines and even crewers, and all the cons joined one or another group of corptroopers for training and exercise. All their equipment was cleaned, reviewed, oiled, tuned, updated and so on. 

Gradually, all the officers from Farquarson's command just happened to meet Alice in the bar, or in a corridor, and conversation just happened to drift to the alien creatures. Alice answered anything that was asked, including 'is there any more footage', with the results that the officers and (she suspected) the sergeants were far better briefed by the time they arrived than Farquarson realized. 

Manx spent some time exploring areas of the ship around the massive missile bay. He could almost smell nuclear missiles, though he could find no proof; access to the magazines wasn't authorized for any of the cons. He also took up his old profession, dusting off one of the 'faiths' he'd used in the past and adapting it for the crew and troops. The captive nature of his audience meant that the special magic of his personal magnetism was concentrated, and by the time they reached Emerald he had a full-blown cult going aboard the Darmagan. 

Alice did not neglect to feed her Odegran swarm spider.

Tandanis Highport, Emerald/Spinward, 11:40 shipboard time, 202/1107

The Imperial world of Emerald was the last stop before the jump into the unknown. Well aware of the stress of such a mission, the command crew had granted shore leave for the crew and troops before moving on. Both Alice and Manx were approached by the platoon of troops they had trained with to join them in their dirtside blowout. Alice felt that this was not appropriate for an officer, but Manx, unhampered by a military background, tagged along eagerly. Over the next fourteen hours he and Sergeant Rorchmutt guided them to the best bars, talked them out of several spots of trouble, and wangled them into nightclubs they should under no circumstances have been able to get in.

Tandanis Highport, Emerald/Spinward, 14:28 shipboard time, 203/1107

With Rorchmutt's platoon safely back on the Darmagan sporting odd bruises, the odd broken bone and massive hangovers, Manx went back onto the highport on his own. Working his way around, he drifted through the bars favoured by tramp merchants, free traders, bounty hunters and other free spirits, buying drinks and listening to rumours. 

It seemed some local adventurer called Ashley something had saved Emperor Strephon's life and been ennobled, but that sounded like a spacelane myth. Other odd stories came and went, but the main topic of everyone's conversation was the border tension with the Zhodani Consulate. "Those uppity Joes are gettin' pushy," was the most common feeling, "they need teachin' a lesson!" Anti-psionic sentiment was strong as well, of course. "We ketch any damn' snoops pokin' around in decent people's brains, they gonna be breathin' space," commented a grizzled captain, cheerfully buying Manx a beer. 

Most felt war was inevitable. Manx left deep in thought. If they needed to leave in a hurry, things could get complicated. Before returning to the Darmagan, he tapped into the local PAN and downloaded a full set of astrogation charts for the region. 

	Session Date: 12th October 2011 (286/-2507 Imperial)