Star Master Information

Some basic notes on play (Italics are for me only):

When rolling a skill check, wait to be prompted. You may get some help from a fellow PC, or the difficulty may be more or less than expected and a roll not necessary. Always wait to be sure before rolling. Once rolled, there is no re-rolling (under most circumstances).
I need to get more "into character" to play NPCs.
Follow up on Goals at the beginning and end of every session.
Use the minis and map as often as possible.
Use Saves and Skill Checks as often as reasonable.
Saves = 1d20 (base 15 @1st Lvl minus better of either attribute in Physical, Evasion or Mental) match or beat the number / Skill Check = 2d6 + Skill Lvl & Attribute Mod (+1 if a help was successful) match or beat the difficulty / Initiative = 1d8+Dex Mod - act high to low
Types of Actions:

Main Action - Takes pretty much the full 6 seconds - one per turn
Move - 10 meters (30 ft) difficult terrain & etc. = half movement. Disengage requires a Fighting Withdrawal (Main Action) or someone engaged with them gets a free (not ranged) attack
On Turn - Dropping an object, falling prone, saying something, drawing a readied item, or activating a simple device are examples
Instant - A special action, in that it can be performed even when it’s not the actor’s turn, or even after attacks or damage have already been rolled. Some psychic powers are Instant actions, allowing the actor to use

them after they decide they don’t like how the dice have fallen. Certain combat actions are also Instant, though they often cost the actor’s Main Action for the round as well. Any number of Instant actions can be performed during a round.

8. To make an attack roll, the assailant rolls 1d20 and adds their attack bonus, their applicable skill level, and the attribute modifier most relevant to the weapon. If the total is equal or higher than the target’s Armor Class, the attack is successful.

9. A successful attack inflicts hit point damage equal to the weapon’s damage die plus the relevant attribute modifier. Thus, a hero with a +1 Dexterity modifier firing a laser pistol that does 1d6 damage would inflict 1d6+1 hit points of damage on a hit. Skill levels do not add to damage unless it is a Punch attack.

10. Shock damage always adds the wielder’s attribute modifier and any other bonuses that might apply from weapon mods, foci, or other advanced tech.

CoG Campaign Notes

MISSION ONE: Guard Duty - As with most new recruits at their first duty assignment, the team will be put on guard duty rotation. They will be sent down to Hur X to stand post at a gate that allows entry of large vehicles onto the White Hand Complex. Their shifts will be 10 hours each, every 10 hours for 8 days. They will stay in a small, 10 man barracks on post.

Corporal Middown’s Mission Briefing

“Alright gumdrops, I’ve got your first mission for you, and it’s a doozy. You’ll be standing guard at the Complex heavy vehicle entryway. This is a piece of shit job, but since your all noobs… Well, that’s life in the Navy.

“I’ll expect you bright eyes to pay attention when granting entry. I DO NOT want a spot on my thus far spotless record. Do I make myself clear?

“First thing’s first; who here knows how to read military type jargon?”

Skill: Administer

If someone has the skill: “Ok, you’re in charge when I’m away. That doesn’t mean you get to tell everyone what to do, but the rest of you will follow this space cadet’s lead when it comes to checking out the cargo and driver.”

If no one has the skill: “Eternal Light, do I have to do every damned thing myself?”

Whoever has the highest Intelligence: “You! You’re in charge of this little crap fest and if things go sideways, I’m holding you responsible. I’ll show you how to check the documents and the rest of you’ll be checking the vehicles.

“Are there any questions?”

Answer questions, but not too many. “All right, I’ve had enough of you grunts. Let’s hit it!”

Or, if just a question or two: “That’ll do. Let’s hit it!”

Or, if no questions: “Alright. That’s what I like to hear. Move out!”

Types of vehicles using the gate will be troop transports, and big rigs carrying equipment or supplies. There may be a convoy coming through on occasion. The team will be briefed in advance when convoys are due to pass through.

The team are required to verify ID and manifest of every vehicle (or the lead vehicle in convoys). This requires skill checks (difficulty 6) in Administer (checking paperwork) Notice (to look over the driver, vehicle and cargo) & Program (to operate the large scale scanning equipment). For team members with no skill level in these, they can be trained (team up with someone who has them) to zero and those who have them at zero can practice and level them to 1 (no higher).

On one of their duty cycles, along comes a truck with glitchy records and a suspicious driver. The cargo is 1/2 a ton of frozen mackerel. Hidden away, somewhere deep in the dry ice is a crate of mini-drones with GPS and cameras.

Outside the W.H.C. entrance is in an area that has grown into a quite seedy section of the city, simply due to the attraction of the entrance. Cheap hotels, shitty fast food and cruddy diners, hookers and gambling dens, liquor stores and loan sharks have all set up shop in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to cater to the drivers and the military members who come seeking such debauchery.

During their off hours they are allowed to climb aboard a military hover-bus (every half hour) that follows a specific, monitored route through the White Hand Complex, out the main gate to a major transportation hub in the city beyond (a 25 minute trip). The city, called Toqta of the Golden Eyed Hawk is quite large and offers diversion of almost unlimited sorts. Whatever the PCs want can be found there. Somewhere, wherever they end up going, they may run across an NPC that will offer them a diversion....

Myron Al Rammapla is a Lt. of the Toqta of the Golden Eyed Eagle Sliver of the Seven Group. Myron approaches the team as they take in the fun of the "district" telling them he has information about a person of interest in a Naval Police investigation.

Csha Olambunton, he says, is the person the Naval Police are looking for in a murder investigation.

In truth, Csha is a rival in his Sliver and Myron had discovered he was making moves against him. He did some digging and found a connection between Csha and a general, Lit Po in a Sliver in another city, Night Sun Jaguar. The information Myron uncovered was that Csha and Lit were having an affair and the relationship was not disclosed to the leader of Myron's Sliver, Wynd Yellow. He confronted Csha and threatened to reveal the relationship unless he end his moves against him and back him for promotion to general. Csha flat out refused and countered by stating that he would have him killed. Myron then announced the relationship in open committee that afternoon. The meeting devolved into fisticuffs and was broken up by Yellow's own security team.

It turns out the information about Csha and Lit was a plant to make Myron look bad and he is now forced to desperate action to save his own neck. While the local police force is generally on the take, as is the Church, the Sector Navy has little actually to do with what goes on on the planet and therefore is rarely ever approached with offers of bribery and etc.

The Navy Police, officially called The Naval Office of Internal Investigation Judgement and Advocacy are currently investigating a case of a Naval officer beaten to death in the "Red Light District."

Motivation: Excitement - engaged in so much debauchery and indulgence that only the rawest experiences can still make him feel alive. Object - Kills people for the pleasure of it.

Capability: Influence - Lt. of the local city level Sliver.

Source: Job - Jobs tend to come with responsibilities as well as perks, however, and many of the NPC's current problems may derive from trying to fulfill their job's requirements in the face of a hostile situation.

Curiosity Opportunity: Misunderstood something he learned and acted on that error, producing a dire peril.

Traits of Visual Appearance: Extremely long neck.

Traits of Social Interaction:

The Way the Deal is Offered - Requested in as a solemn or humble appeal.
When Balked or Refused - The NPC takes it as a personal insult
When Insulted or Threatened - Acts as if they didn't understand it
Style of Initial Interaction - Suspicious or wary of the PCs
When the PCs Want More - Protest that it's already too much
General Conversational Habits - Complains about prior employees

MISSION 1

MISSION 2

MISSION TWO: The team are assigned to a patrol boat that cruises the outer rim stopping random ships for doc check & search. They manage to get a sensor ping on a ship entering from the Phippe system entry point, clearly trying to remain stealthy.

They board and begin checking paperwork and searching the ship. One of the members of the team finds (Notice check w/ difficulty 6) a "personal stash" of Up, the military only skill enhancement drug.

If the team decide to do a complete and thorough search of the ship (add 1d4 hours to the stop), they can ultimately find (Notice check w/ difficulty 8, roll every 20 minutes) a large container holding 10 lbs (approx 900 1/2 gram doses per lb.) of Up, with a street value of around 227,000 credits. (See Evernote - SWN General Notes dated 5/23/19 - Types of illicit drugs)

MISSION TWO point ONE: The Starblade meets the patrol boat at the system rim. Immediately upon boarding the Starblade Legros and Rosi are arrested.

Once the Starblade enters meta-space your team is informed that the fleet has gone on General Alert (All general surface leave cancelled. Surface leave granted on an individual, case by case basis at the company level. Specialized V.I. to monitor communications for key trigger words. Daily fire team level preparedness inspections to be held at "éveillé" (5am) for all fleet ships.). There's been a terrorist attack on Hvelfiham. It's being broadcast across all public networks and is the topic of discussion on the Social and among many members of the crew as well.

The Sector Gazette

Now you have 3 days to mess around the ship until it reaches its destination.

MISSION 2.1

MISSION 3

MISSION THREE: The Starblade arrives in the Syeh system (includes Nomi IV) on the morning of 20 April 3200, after a 3 day drill (Starblade has a spike drive rating of 3 and their pilot has standard Sector Navy Senior Pilot training, consisting of Expert Class (reroll failed roll) with Foci Specialist 2 (4d6 drop 2 lowest) Pilot Skill of 2 and the Starfarer Foci at 2 (double pilot skill added to nav checks, +1 to drive level & 1/2 time drills) ) and proceeds to the Samanis region (48/4=12 hours) to attain a standard orbit around dinner time.

Fire Team Epsilon is down 2 members from minimum state. One was transferred to the J.A.G. Holding Unit, and the other, having requested and being granted a transfer was moved out of Bravo Company. The team has been reinforced with 3 new members, bringing the team up to near optimal strength. Each has been transferred from other fire teams within the 91st Battalion. This change occurred during the last day of travel to the Syeh system.

(Details on new team members here)

Rumors of rebellion on Ameena (0600) come aboard with the latest feeds. The following morning, after the preparedness inspections are completed, Corp. Middown orders the team to report to the Bravo Company briefing room after lunch at 1PM.

Corporal Middown's Mission Briefing

Listen up, gumdrops! We're here at Samanis to participate in a Halditarod race. The Starblade was given orders from somewhere's up the chain, so this IS important. I don't know why noobs such as yourselves were tapped for this, but that's life in the Navy.

Now, this place is an ice cube. It never gets above freezing and right now it's 40 below where you're going. So, you'll report to supply and take possession of cold weather gear. And you can go through and requisition whatever else you think you can use, too. Just keep in mind, you'll be carrying everything yourselves.

There's gonna be five 6 member teams. You may very well come into contact with one or more of these other teams. DO NOT hesitate to put them down with whatever means is at your disposal! They WILL stop at nothing to win this thing, and neither should you! I expect you to make me look good. Is that understood?!

Good. Now, should you manage to be the first to finish, there'll be a 7 day pass on O'Render for each of you. There may be a few... other rewards, but we can discuss that IF you manage to get it done.

Being that I've covered everything, you WILL have no questions. You ARE dismissed.

SOME INFORMATION ON ENCUMBRANCE (From the SWN-R rules book): A character can have Readied a number of items equal to half their Strength score, rounded down. Ready items include those that the character is using or wearing at all times, or that they have conveniently to hand in sheaths, holsters, or belt pouches. Suits of armor count as Readied items, but the normal clothing and jewelry that a character might wear does not. A character can draw or produce a Readied item as part of any action they may take during a turn.

A character may have a number of Stowed items equal to their full Strength score. Stowed items are carried in backpacks, in carefully-balanced leg or arm pockets, or otherwise packed away where they will least encumber the character. If a character needs to get out a Stowed item in a hurry, they must use their Main Action to dig it out of their pack or pockets. Very small items carried in small numbers do not count against encumbrance limits. Other small items can be packed together into bundles to simplify their carriage, though getting at them then takes an additional round of fumbling with the packaging. Exactly how many of a given small item can be packed into a single item bundle is up to the GM, though as a rule of thumb six Type A energy cells or three magazines of bullets can be bound into one packed item. Extremely bulky or unwieldy objects might count as multiple items at the GM’s discretion.

Characters can burden themselves with more gear if they’re willing to sacrifice some fleetness of foot to do so. Up to two additional items can be carried Ready or four additional ones Stowed at the cost of becoming Lightly Encumbered, and having their base movement slowed from 10 meters per round to 7 meters per round. A further two items can be carried Ready or four Stowed at the cost of becoming Heavily Encumbered, with base movement reduced to 5 meters per round.

On the equipment lists, some items are given an encumbrance value higher than 1. These items count as multiple objects for encumbrance purposes, being heavy, clumsy, or unwieldy to carry.

ENCOUNTERS

Roll for encounter every 2 hours of game time.
Daylight hours (4am-7:59pm): 1d8 - 5 & 6 = yes
Night time hours (8pm-3:59am): 1d20 - 1 & 20 = yes
On "YES" roll percentile and ask "high or low" from a player. If a match, the encounter is with another team (see teams below). If not, the encounter is with an animal.
For a team encounter, roll 1d12 and follow this:
1 & 2 = team 1
3 - 5 = team 2
6 - 10 = team 3
11 & 12 = team 4
For an animal encounter (refer to Beast Type Chart, page 200), roll 1d20 and follow this:
1 - 4 = Lerlod - Large Aggressive Prey Animal
(roll 1d12, 7 & 8 = young nearby/run away works-10, 11, 12 = rutting season/they chase you)
5 - 10 = Unkar - Large Aggressive Prey Animal
(roll 1d12, 7 & 8 = young nearby/run away works)
11 - 16 = Sochaid - Apex Predator
(once encountered, will hunt team members for 1d4 hours)
17 = Iphreadon - Murder Beast
(once encountered, will hunt team members for 1d8 hours)
18 - 20 = Screkahnoth - Greater Lone Predator w/Move X4
(once encountered, will hunt team members for 1d12 minutes)
The teams fielded are as follows (refer to "Humans" chart, page 195):

Team 1 - House Guard - Team Pure Path - Heavy on psychic abilities - Soldiers stats
Team 2 - Marines - Team Smash - Pushing HARD to win/little equipment & down time - Soldiers stats
Team 3 - Marines - Team Shadow - Spoiling for a fight/lots of weapons-ammo-training - Elite stats
Team 4 - Actionaires - Team Locked On Target - Straight forward/by the rules - Soldier w/ML 8 stats
PC Team - Navy - Team Epsilon (new name for the race?)

PC Known: The Halditarod is a race that has been held fairly regularly for hundreds of years. The first known race took place in 2677 between a Naval team and a House Guard Team. These events are not sanctioned by the government or the church and are held as "extracurricular" activities. These competitions are usually between two teams, from various branches, whose commanders are out to settle a bet, or even a score, or what have you. Occasionally, every decade or so, there is a larger competition, with 3 or 4 teams. This race, with 5 teams is unusual in that it is much larger than typical and it is between all branches (plus an extra Marine team).

Each team begins at a separate random point 24 miles out from the single outpost located at the equator. Temperatures during the day will rise to about 0°F. The winds will be fairly calm and clouds will be at a minimum. The sky will be a dark blue with a hint of rainbow at various points depending on the angle of the light through the frozen atmosphere. At night, the temperature will plummet quickly. Lows, just prior to sunrise will be in the 40 to 50 below zero range. Nights last 8 hours and days last 16 hours.

PC Learned: Should the PCs not be prepared for the night, they run the risk of dying of hypothermia. 3 hours after sundown, the heating capabilities of the ECWOG will become overwhelmed and begin to fail. In the next 2 hours (hours 4 and 5 after sundown) they will lose 1 HP every 15 minutes. During the 3rd hour (hour 6), they will lose 1 HP every 6 minutes, for a total of 10 for the hour. At the end of the third hour (hour 7) they will also go into shock (assuming they have not frozen to death by this time). 6 minutes of shock will drain whatever remains of their HP. Recovering from hypothermia is the same as any other recovery but requires a warm environment to be effective (sleeping bag at minimum).

They will be dropped off at sunrise, 22 April and need to find their way to the outpost using whatever means at their disposal (this includes combat should they encounter a rival team). The outpost is only accessible through 24 miles of mountainous, forested terrain. There are 2 large (40 ft & 60 ft across), frozen rivers to cross (roll opposing percentile dice. If player rolls lower than GM, ice breaks. Begin hour 7 of hypothermia rules after 3 minutes in water) and there will be mega fauna (predators may hunt them and herbivores may be in rut or protective of their young/territory). If they complete the journey within 3 days (72 hours ends at sunrise 25 April), the team will receive promotions.

A typical human can run 7 miles an hour, assuming full speed. They will be able to maintain top speed for CON/4 hours. The terrain will be difficult, so their speed will be cut in half (before any encumbrance penalties). For comparison, the fastest time ever recorded was 2 days 4 hours 4 minutes (avg. approx. .85 mph) by an elite Marine Fire Team over a hundred years ago. The planet has entered a warmer phase and plant growth has thickened since that time.

PC Unknown: Unbeknownst to the team, this race will be the first to be recorded and streamed to entertainment services across the sector by Stellarc Media, in a partnership with the sector government, overseen by the Sector Military Charge, Elsvind Vyonovin herself. She will appear as a special "color commentator" on these broadcasts. The contract calls for teams from the several branches, as well as the House Guard to compete head to head. These teams are to be fairly fresh recruits. No member may have an enlistment date prior to January 1, 3200. Recording equipment will be long range or micro/hidden video-audio streaming devices. Unless they are specifically looking, they will not see anything.

After the race, the winning team will attain sector famous celebrity status.

Scheduled end date 25 April, 3200

Arrive at O'Render system rim at noon, 26 April. The next 7 days are open for play.

INTERLUDE

The morning after returning to the ship, you have been excused from Preparedness Inspection and allowed to sleep in until 6AM. When you begin making your way to the mess, mingling with the ship's crew, you are greeted with smiles, sometimes a slap on the back and a hearty "Way to go, trooper!" or some such other congratulatory greeting. This happens everywhere you go. Once in the mess, you see a replay of the preceding 3 days on the large screens adorning the walls, with the Sector Military Charge, Elsvind Vyonovin herself acting as color commentator. Commercial breaks show you that this is a streaming broadcast on Stellarc Media's widely viewed free service. Your performance will, no doubt be seen everywhere.

Through each of your personal Naval Data Feeds, you are ordered to report to the bridge at 8AM. You are greeted by the ship's Chief Steward. He ushers you into the bridge conference room, asking you to take a seat at the elongated table in the middle of the room, where 6 others have already taken their seats.

Present are:

Capt. of the Starblade, Commander Emisha (pro: Ehmeesha) Parekh
91st Infantry Battalion Commander, Colonel Ema Aranst
B Company Commander, Lt. Juste (pro: Joost) Rammulisher
2nd Platoon Leader, Ensign Dan Blu
2nd Squad Leader, Petty Officer Lea Remorran
Fire Team Epsilon Leader, Corp. Fen Middown

Colonel Aranst speaks first:

Col. Aranst (Aristocratic accent): This is a formal after-action debriefing for Fire Team Epsilon, coming out of the Samanis Halditarod of 23, 24 & 25 April 3200. All chain of command duty leaders attending per the record. Captain?

Commander Parekh speaks next:

Commander Parekh (German accent): Thank you Colonel. I am speaking for the entire ship when I say "Congratulations." The competition was fierce, but you applied your Naval training and expertise, along with those Mother of Light granted gifts you each possess to represent the Navy in a superior manner. So, in that light, I will begin the formal proceedings by presenting each of you with these new bars for your collars.

She hands each of you a set of bars representing your new rank.

Now, with regards to the remaining recompense promised, you are each hereby granted 7 days leave, beginning midnight tonight. I've ordered the Blade to the O'Render system, where we will be rendezvousing with the private cruise liner Second Star. She'll carry you on to O'Render actual. You'll find details on your personal Naval Data Feed momentarily.

She glances at the Colonel, who speaks again.

Col. Aranst: As you've no doubt been made aware, this Halditarod was the first of its kind. Based on the reactions thus far, we expect a very successful series in the months and years to come, but you troops are the first to win this unique challenge and as such you should expect some level of attention falling on you. Naval regulations address just this sort of situation.

She looks down at a comm-pad in front of her.

Naval Regulation eight hundred eight, mark fourteen, paragraph one: "Unless specifically authorized by direct lawful order of a superior, at no time shall any Naval personnel make or cause to be made any statement, or carry out or cause to be carried out any action that could, at any time be seen to reflect in a negative fashion on fellow personnel, leadership specifically or in general, any unit or units, the Navy as an institution, or the government as a whole. This is to include, but shall not be limited to statements, reactions, recordings, or any other media in existence now, or that may exist in the future, which could in any way what-so-ever be brought to the attention of the public in general, any public or private institution or company, or any other entity however held or controlled."

She looks at each of you as she continues.

This regulation is expressly designed to be open for interpretation as leadership sees fit. To keep yourselves out of trouble, I would recommend you follow this one simple rule: When in doubt, keep your mouth shut.

We are not in the habit of cleaning up after our people. You are all grown women and men and you've shown you can make the decisions necessary, whenever necessary. We expect nothing out of the ordinary and we expect to hear nothing of you, nor from you until your leave comes to its scheduled conclusion.

If you have any questions, now is the time.

She makes eye contact with each member in turn, prepared to answer whatever questions they may have. Once everyone is satisfied, she stands and finishes the debriefing.

Now, head back to your barracks, gather whatever you wish and be at the port side disembarkation ready room at noon. Dismissed.

Personal Naval Data Feed:

Once NND Starblade arrives at the rim region of the O'Render system, your team will be transferred to a private liner for the 24 hour duration of the journey to O'Render actual. The liner, operated by the Corpus Lucidum Corporation, is called the Second Star.

From the Corpus Lucidum brochure:

The Second Star, CLC's largest and most luxurious liner is eager to serve your every need and desire. Our 7000 staff and crew are trained to always treat you, our guest like royalty. Every detail of your stay aboard the Second Star is painstakingly planned and carried out by the best in the business.

Our attention to detail begins with our eight formal dining rooms, where our classically trained chefs have made CLC fine dining second to none. Culinary specialists will provide you with exceptional cuisine and graceful service surrounded by unique settings amidst a gorgeous backdrop of stars. Each private dining room provides an intimate dining experience for up to 50 guests.

If you're looking for a less formal dinner date, one of our twenty casual dining rooms may be perfect for you. Whether you prefer a romantic setting for couples, a fun, family time meal, or a casual business meeting, each exquisite restaurant, with its own theme and preferred clientele serves up to 200.

For those who prefer a much more informal dining atmosphere, or if you're just looking for a great meal to eat and run, any one of our eight cafeteria style dining rooms, each with self service for as many as 500 will surely fit the bill.

For those who care to test their luck, the Second Star Casino and Entertainment complex, occupying the top six decks of the ship will keep you enthralled for hours on end. With thousands of slots, gaming tables and electronic gaming plazas themed after the great cities of the sector, you'll never have to play the same game twice. We also offer big name live entertainment in our 4000 seat stadium, or one of our two state of the art 500 seat amphitheaters. Every type of livestream racing is also available for parimutuel betting as well as a regular schedule of card tournaments, all hosted in one of our sixteen full kitchen service lounges, each ranging in seating capacity from 45 to 150.

Among the numerous other types of activities and entertainment available on Second Star you'll find twenty four 60 seat immersive-movie theaters, sixteen 12 lane bowling allies, four separate racquetball, volleyball and tennis facilities, eighty fully equipped gyms, fifty swimming facilities with available options ranging from tiny tot pools, to regulation sized lap pools, to lagoon style pools, heated pools and intimate hot tubs.

While on Second Star, be sure to make you way to our Palmer's Deck, located along the keel of the ship, where you'll find the highest rated nine hole, par-3 golf course available in the system. Designed exclusively for CLC's Second Star by five time Sektor Öffnen Champion, Jessann Siguerro, the Palmer's Delight Golf Course features 7 sets of tees, providing a high level of playability for all skills, from scratch amateurs and professionals to mid to high handicap golfers. With a stunning 360° panoramic view, a mature treeline of hardwoods and pines, various water hazards, and buffers around the course to establish privacy and focus, the course offers the perfect blend of subtle challenge and visual splendor while setting the stage for 9 holes of exceptional play. Anyone who's played here will tell you, after a round on Palmer's Delight, you'll agree you've never played a better, more relaxing and gorgeous course.

All of the amenities are included, as is a 1,000 casino credit marker for each of you.

Once on board, you will be escorted to the purser's desk on the main deck and each assigned a suite on the Antares deck. Each suite includes a bedroom, a living area, a bathroom and an observation veranda, all totaling about 2000 sq ft. The 6 suites will all be adjacent, either next door or across the hall.

***************************************************************************************

Of the 24 other suites, all but 4 are empty. One is occupied by an elderly retired Seventy of the House named Ellette (pro: Ehlay) Ver Bündt and her nursemaid companion, Cherish O'Tempt. Another suite is occupied by Hansholdt Wünsdorf, a vice president of the Utopia Corporation in charge of the office on O'Render.

The other two rooms are occupied by the Instruments of Light. The Instruments' mission is to vet the team for special duty (though they are unaware of it, the duty in question is the recon mission on the Dreadnought Jupiter). The Instruments' directive follows:

ATTENTION TO ORDERS

AGENT 96

AGENT 101

You will make contact with the Navy's 91st Battalion Fire Team Epsilon to determine their competence and the roots of their loyalty. You will have 24 hours aboard the private, mega-cruise liner Second Star and then six days on O'Render to observe at close quarters. You are to learn as much as you can about their past, their personal predilections and their future plans with respect to the Sector Navy, or otherwise, as well as any other information you may find pertinent to report.

You will leave Gudrunn aboard the Second Star at midnight 24 April. You will be assigned two suite staterooms on Antares deck. Your subjects will come aboard at the O'Render rim region at noon, 26 April. You will maintain cover for the duration. All standard and special actions and tasks are authorized.

May the Light Guide Your Path.

Instrument Gary Weinrib was conceived 6 months before his partner, but he prefers to follow Ashley's lead. He is a close combat specialist. The pair usually pose as non-identical twins. For this mission, they will each have a "bottomless" credit stick for miscellaneous expenses, therefore acting as filthy rich siblings on a jaunt around the sector may be the easiest explanation of their presence.

On the Second Star, the team will notice the occasional "odd" look. No one on board will confront, or question them about the Samanis Halditarod stream but the team will notice the odd behavior. Once on O'Render, things will take a drastic turn. They will be mobbed by near 300 fans and reporters immediately upon disembarking. They will be followed and the "mob" will dwindle some, but not much throughout the day. Everywhere they go, they will be recognized and hounded for pictures and autographs. Reporters and fans will ask them questions like: "What made you think of stampeding that herd of giant cows?" "Were you scared when you jumped off that cliff?" "Was it cold? It looked cold." "Are Marines as tough as they say?" "Are you and she/he a couple?" "Will you marry me?" "Will you have my baby?" "Make me pregnant!"

The team, together or separated, will not be able to go around in public freely without affecting some type of disguise. For most of them, Ashley and Gary may be able to help with that.

The team are to be picked up by Naval pinnace at the O'Render Visitor's Bureau in the capital city of Vetalmo at the scheduled end of leave: midnight, the morning of 4 May 3200.

MISSION 4

MISSION FOUR: Briefing Prelude: Upon departing the Zweiter Stern Space Port outside Vetalmo, your team is not flown to the Starblade, but is instead taken to the Revenant Ghost, one of only 3 Saffer Class Strike Corvettes, the newest class of ship in the House Guard. Once your pinnace is docked with the Revenant Ghost, the steward directs the mysterious officer (name tag says Charlemagne) to disembark first, asking your team to please hold for a moment. After a few seconds, a member of the House of Mary steps aboard and greets you. She introduces herself as Light Sergeant Wilhelmina Pereza. She explains that you have been reassigned to the Revenant Ghost, by command of the Sector Navy's Southeast Regional Command Task Force Alpha, led by Rear Admiral Yelchin Voss. Task Force Alpha is currently on Temporary Duty Assignment (TDA) to the House Guard Command Division, Sharp Visible Light at Selos 2.

Lt. Sgt. Wilhelmina escorts you aboard the Revenant Ghost, where she shows you to your crew cabins. You will share two cabins. Each has a sleeping quarters with three bunks, and a living area with three chairs with a side table for each one as well as two large viewers with access to the ship's open network. The head is at the end of the hallway opposite the turbo lift and is shared by the occupants of the crew cabins on this deck. There are ten cabins on Deck 6 (your deck) and ten more on Deck 7. Fifteen officer's cabins are located on Deck 3. currently, there are four officers plus the captain and twenty enlisted assigned to crew the Revenant Ghost.

Travel time to the Selosian System is 29 hours.

For the duration of the trip, you are on personal time.

Personal Naval Data Feed Upload as of 12:30 AM 4 May 3200:

Your TDA chain of command is as follows:

Pirani General, Jingyi Chun – Sharp Visible Light Division, Selos System Commander - House Guard
Rear Admiral, Yelchin Voss – Task Force Alpha Commander - Navy
Gabbai, Leticia Mar – Captain of the Revenant Ghost - House Guard
Gabbai, Cheryl Amster – Selos 2 Sharp Light Battalion Commander - House Guard
Major, And Supernousammada – Task Force Alpha 3rd Battalion Commander - Navy
Mohel, Maria Elena Almanzar – Selos 2 Visible Light Company Commander - House Guard
Sensei, Edanalli Antevi – Left Platoon Commander - House Guard
Light Sergeant, Wilhelmina Pereza – Left Platoon Sgt. - House Guard

You are one of 6 elite strike force teams newly assigned to the Revenant Ghost. The other 5 teams are as follows:

Fire Team Fist - Marines
Consecuencia de la Libertad – Actionaires
The Grace of Inthex– House Guard
Team 4 – House of Mary Special Ops
Unbesiegbare Krieger – O’Render Welt Sozialistisch Einheitlich Navy

Your team is to meet at the Ship's Briefing Room, Deck 2, 5am 6 May 3200.

During the trip to the Selos system, the team may encounter ship crew and/or members of the other teams. Many of these encounters could be faintly hostile, given the team's recent history. They will most certainly hear things about the Selosians (their fierceness, for example) as well as rumors of what their mission will be (dropped off on Selos 2 to gather intel is the most wide spread rumor).

When you arrive for the briefing, dozens of other military personnel are arriving as well. Including your team, there are more than 30 personnel in the briefing room, dressed in various forms of military field uniforms. Also present are your platoon sgt., your platoon leader, your company commander, both battalion commanders and the captain of the Revenant Ghost (Church members not part of a special ops team are dressed accordingly). There are a few minutes before the briefing is scheduled to begin.

What will you do?

After a few minutes, the Light Sgt. Calls the room to attention, "PERANI ON DECK!" and two older women come in from a door at the front of the room. One of the women appears to be in her 50s or 60s and is dressed as a typical clergy member. The other is Rear Admiral Voss, who you recognize from the reassignment information on your personal Naval Data Feed. Admiral Voss nods at the other woman and gestures to a location at the head of the gathering. The other woman smiles and moves forward. Preparing to address the group, she lifts her arms up and looks toward the ceiling.

May the Light of Our Mother reveal the quiet path.

She looks over the gathering, nodding at someone near the front.

I am General Jingyi Chun. It is my honor to lead the Sharp Visible Light Division. And our esteemed guest is the commander of task Force Alpha, Rear Admiral Voss.

She gestures towards the Admiral.

We have a job ahead of us that requires the skill and determination of the best of us and you are here because you are our best. This moon must be cleansed of Selosian scum. I know you will honor Our Mother by tackling this task with speed, efficiency and intelligence. They must be repelled from this place and they must be made to understand we will no longer tolerate their presence. It is incumbent upon you, our brightest lights to scour this moon and rid it of this plague.

She bows at the waist slightly and steps aside. One of the other Church members steps forward. In appearance, she is a youthful woman, possibly mid 30s. She has a small flag on her robe, designating her as a native of O’Render.

I am Gabbai Cheryl, commander of the Sharp Light battalion. Most of you were already able to requisition supplies from the ship’s stores and armory, but there are a few late arrivals. I want you to report to Light Sgt. Wilhelmina and she’ll guide you in the right direction. At noon, we’ll meet back here to assign patrol regions and you’ll take your first patrol beginning at 2 this afternoon.

She takes a moment to glance around the room one last time. She raises her arms, outstretched towards the crowd, at chest level.

Remain at ease, and everyone is dismissed. May the Light guide you all.

You will be allowed to requisition anything you require for your mission. You should already have a Survival Field Uniform and all the accompanying equipment. Keep in mind, this will be a low G environment with zero atmosphere.

While on patrol, you will encounter small groups of Selosian Warriors, who have wondered the moon virtually unopposed for the better part of a decade. The sector government is considering using the moon as a mustering point for a possible invasion of Selos 2. Your patrol teams are acting as preliminary scouts for this operation.

First patrol begins at 2pm on 6 May 3200. Each patrol will last 3+ hours. The team will remain on Munos Iphios for the month of May. Last patrol will be 31 May 3200.

The Revenant Ghost lands at Mueller 4, a base located on Selos 2’s largest satellite, Munos Iphios. This is where you will be stationed for the duration. It is a large base, capable of sustaining over 500 crew, but is currently operating with a skeleton crew of less than 50 House Guard troops and support personnel.

Following is a detailed accounting of the most current intel on Selosians.

Selosian Warrior teams are made up of 3 elite combat specialists (** indicated GM info only):

Melee Specialist **(Punch & Stab), carries Monoblade Sword (Dam: 1d8+1 Shock: 2 points/AC 13 Attribute: Str/Dex ENC: 1)**
Ranged Weapons Specialist **(Shoot) Shear Rifle (2d8 can fire burst mode Range: 100/300 Mag: 10 Enc: 2)**
Explosives Specialist **(Exert-throw) Demo Charge (Dam: 3d10 Range: 20/40 Enc: 1) X5**

Each of these warriors are trained (**as tertiary skills**) to take over the functions of their teammates should one or more fall. They are all skilled pilots (**secondary skill**). They can utilize a wide range of tools to repair damaged equipment (**Fix as secondary skill**) and are also trained in the use of camouflage (**Sneak as secondary skill**) and computer programming (**Program as secondary skill and Talk as secondary skill**).

Along with their primary weapons, each Warrior is known to carry:

Mag Rifle (Dam: 2d8+2 Range: 300/600 Mag: 10 Enc: 2) w/6 magazines
Monoblade Knife (Dam: 1d6 Shock: 1 point/AC 15 Attribute: Str/Dex Enc:1)
Grenade X3 (Dam: 2d6 Range: 10/30 Attribute: Dex Enc: 1)
Icarus Harness (AC: 16 Enc: 1)
In ear comms device (60 mile range)
Data Slab

**SELOSIAN WARRIOR STATS**

**As Military Elite**

**HD: 3 d8**

**AC: 16 (combat armor)**

**ATT BONUS: +4**

**DAMAGE: By weapon +1**

**MOVE: 10m**

**MORALE: 10**

**SKILLS: +3 main skill, +2 secondary skills, +0 tertiary skills**

**SAVES: 14+**

*They will be less and less likely to run into a squad of Selosian Warriors as time goes on.*

*Check for casualties at the end of the FIRST mission. Roll a d12 to determine how many elite units are taken out by Selosian Warriors:

1-6 = 1 unit

7 or 8 = 2 units

9 = 3 units

10 = 4 units

11 = all of the other (5) units are wiped out

12 = reroll

Use a percentile die to determine the number of deaths for each unit destroyed:

0-20% = 1

21-40% = 2

41-60% = 3

61-80% = 4

>80% means all 5 members of a given unit were killed

Roll a d20 to determine which day of missions the particular team was taken out.

Star Ripper

MISSION 5

It's midnight, 1 June and Team Schadenfreude are returning to the Revenant Ghost. Through your personal Naval Data Feed, you all receive orders that simply state you've been assigned a secret mission. Details will be forthcoming once you arrive at the area of operation. After you come aboard, the Ghost immediately sets course for an empty region of the Selosian system to meet up with and transfer you to another ship. Once there, it sits and waits.

*********

After nearly a day, around 9pm on the 2nd of June, you're called to the bridge. Capt. Mar informs you that several hours prior, they made contact with the ship as it entered the system. They should be making the rendezvous shortly.

Suddenly, and without warning, a ship appears to coalesce into existence just off the bow, filling the Revenant Ghost's view screen. Panic ensues and a red alert is sounded as shields are raised and weapons are brought to bear. Capt. Mar almost immediately orders a stand down and with a smirk, announces the ship, called Tiny Dancer was attempting to test the limits of a top secret, experimental cloaking technology. They wanted to see how close they could get without tripping the Ghost's sensors. It seems, she says, the test was a resounding success.

Capt. Mar orders you all to gather your belongings and report to the cargo deck airlock. Once there, you pass through a cargo transfer tube and onto the Naval crewed merchant ship. After releasing docking clamps, the Tiny Dancer moves away from the Revenant Ghost and activates its spike drive, heading unknown.

*********

For the next three days, during which the four member crew avoid interaction with any of you, save to answer where the head is, or some other such innocuous question you all find this ship can offer nothing in the way of entertainment or extracurricular activity. It is going to be a long and boring three days.

*********

Around breakfast time on the 6th of June, the ship returns to normal space within proximity of a red dwarf binary star system. The system contains a significant disc of gas and dust, and is not listed on most commercial charts. You travel for 26 hours, out away from the binary star. At 8 am on the 7th, you meet up with a group of eight other miscellaneous, commercial type ships along with a single House Guard Battle Cruiser gathered around a massive, unrecognizable object. (Show the image of Jupiter)

After just a few minutes your individual Personal Naval Data Feeds relay orders for you to gather your gear and report to the cargo hold. Within minutes the House Guard battle cruiser, which is named the Determinant Effort locks its docking clamps onto the Tiny Dancer and the air lock opens up to reveal a sixty foot boarding tube. A House Guard trooper, a woman who appears to be in her thirties or so, dressed head to toe in a black field uniform and wearing a sidearm on a shoulder holster steps out onto the cargo deck and greets you.

"I'm Light Sergeant Wananda Santez, Left Platoon Sgt of Bright Path Company, Sharp Light Battalion. If you'll come with me, I'll escort you aboard the Determinant Effort for the mission briefing.

You are taken through a narrow set of hallways and a fairly small turbolift to the ships mess hall, already occupied by about thirty other individuals, almost all of whom are outfitted in various forms of the Naval survival field uniform. Among the gathering you see several NCOs, and at least four junior officers including Ensign Zed. (Point to Raphael) All have their attention turned towards the far wall, the entirety of which is a panoramic view of the outside of the battle cruiser, with the huge object located dead center. A middle aged woman dressed as a typical clergy member stands in front of the window. She and Lt. Sgt. Santez exchange a glance and a nod and the woman lifts her arms up and looks toward the ceiling as she begins speaking.

"May the Light of Our Mother reveal the Quiet Path.

She lowers her arms and looks at the gathering.

"Most of you know me. For the rest, I'm Gabbai Cheryl, commander of the Sharp Light Battalion.

She lifts her arm out in front of her at eye level, palm up. A hologram blinks into existence above the crowd. It displays a 2D Map of the sector, appearing to face the viewer, wherever they are standing.

"What I'm about to tell you is rated top secret, and is need to know only.

She begins manipulating the image with her hands, zooming into a specific hex of the map to reveal a 3D image of a binary red dwarf star system with a stellar debris disc. (Show the Red Dwarf Binary image)

"Our current location is the Cosinjin Elem 323 system [0509]. On May 6, a Naval deep space scouting probe travelling between systems pinged an object located past the system's termination shock zone (where the bubble of stellar wind particles slows down to less than the speed of sound).

She zooms more and shifts the view to show the area of the system she's describing.

"It took several days for the information to relay, at which time the ND Anubis Errant was dispatched to investigate. It arrived 10 days after the initial sensor contact.

Next she zooms in a final time to show an image of the object located out the view port. (Show alternate view of Jupiter on Star Ripper page)

"This object, as you can see is immense; over two miles long. Initial theories suggested a Terran Mandate station, possibly lost to the depths of space at the time of the Scream. The technology, what we've seen of it supports that time frame. We've since confirmed standard Mandate nomenclature designating the object 'Jupiter.' After more investigation, we now believe it to be a ship; a heavily armed ship. It appears there are a number of navigation arrays along its length.

"To date, we have no indication of any activity. All attempts to detect any sort of signal or power signature have failed. Efforts to find any sort of records in the House history data files for an indication of its origin or function have also fallen short. At this point we've exhausted all our avenues of external investigation.

"Which is where you come in. You four Naval Spec Ops teams will carry out a boarding action. You should be prepared for any eventuality. We can't tell you if there's a defense system, active or not, or any other dangers for that matter. There's no discernible atmosphere and no gravity to speak of either.

"All teams will enter together and assess circumstances as you go. As it becomes necessary to split the group, each team will proceed as required, maintaining open comms to the Ops Center, located here on the Determinant Effort.

"Prepare yourselves as necessary and you'll be taken over on our pinnaces in an hour or so.

NOTE: When the emergency power is activated, an intruder defense system will activate and hunt the teams using drones.

Fire Team Poseidon: 6 members including Ensign Zed.

Ramsus Pharohn - Corporal
Shemelda El Rand - Apprentice 2nd Class
Victor Hearst - Apprentice 2nd Class
Liddy Peen -Apprentice 1st Class
Jer Rendon - Apprentice 1st Class

The scenario:

The 4 teams enter through one of the several dozen empty hanger bays.

They come into a large ready room that services a third of the hangers on this side of the object.

After passing through the room, they enter a wide hallway with doors running along it.

The teams split into two groups and head in each direction.

Team Schadenfreude and Fire Team Poseidon head down the hallway.

Behind the doors are individual cabins, all apparently completely empty.

At the end of the hallway is a sealed double door. It must be physically forced open on a strength

check with difficulty 10.

There is monorail track on the other side. It leads further into the ship.

Following the rail for about a thousand feet, they pass by several double doors leading to similar hallways.

At the end of the monorail it merges into a tunnel at a 90 degree angle, over a hundred feet across with a dozen or so more tracks. This central monorail tunnel appears to run the length of the object.

At this point, team 3 reports they have found what appears to be main engineering (1. First)

Schadenfreude and Poseidon split up.

Within just a few seconds, Fire Team Poseidon encounters Razor Smoke agents.

Ensign Zed is shot twice for half his HP.

It is impossible for him to see or identify anything as he runs for his life.

Some comm chatter during the initial engagement: "We're pinned down! Some kind of creature! I can't see it! It's too fast! It's too..."

They will take out all the rest of Fire Team Poseidon within just a few seconds and then completely disappear.

Ops Center will order Team Schadenfreude to take on Ensign Zed and forge ahead.

Team Schadenfreude, with Ensign Zed in tow can now follow the monorail tunnel, passing what amounts to hundreds of other offshoot tunnels, going in all different directions, left, right, up and down.

Team 4 reports they have found a weapons command center (2.)

Nearly a kilometer later, after the other tracks have turned off at different points and they reach the end of the tunnel, the last monorail enters a smaller tunnel.

Team 3 reports (1. Second)

This tunnel is only about a hundred feet long and it ends with a now familiar double door.

After forcing it open, they come upon a much smaller ready room, suitable for no more than ten people or so.

Passing through it they discover what appears to be a large executive office devoid of furniture, save for a large built in desk at the opposite end of the room.

Team 4 reports medical bay (3.)

Beyond a door on the opposite wall is what appears to be an operations center with a large view port into space. This is the main bridge.

Team 3 (1. Third)

Activating the bridge requires emergency power to be turned on in Engineering.

There are scores of work areas with terminals with viewers and input devices and seats designed to be used with or without gravity.

There is a central console with what appears to be a commander's chair, positioned high enough to oversee the other work areas.

With the bridge in emergency mode, the primary computer system will give the central console control of the ship, with the correct access code.

A Program skill check of difficulty 12 will hack the system and bypass the security protocol.

Should they fail, the ship's command V.I. will activate and warn them that "(Strange accent) Warning! Access denied! Security drones have been dispatched."

Any further attempts to hack into the command center will be at difficulty 14.

If Andromeda uses her power on the command console, she will be able to see the command code. If she used her power previously, and does touch the command console or chair in any way, her power will reset and activate for this to happen.

The combat bridge can be accessed the same way, however, if the team located there tries, they will fail any such skill check and drones will arrive to take them out.

After a while, the other three teams will be taken out by the Razor Smoke agents, one by one.

With control of the bridge, the fission power plant can be brought on line. Once that has happened, it will need to be powered up from Main Engineering. A Fix skill check with difficulty 12 will begin the power up process. It will take 3 hours to come to full power, which is required before the ship can be fully activated.

During that time, the Ops Center on the Determinant Effort will contact the team about the energy spike and require an update.

Also during that time, a single Razor Smoke agent will infiltrate the bridge and trip some alarm or be spotted somehow. At this point, one or two team members (including Josh's healer PC) may be killed.

After the ship is completely powered, the spike drives can be turned back on.

If the team has not told the truth about what is happening, or are not responding to the Ops Center, a 4 member House Guard raiding team will be sent aboard the Jupiter to seek and destroy any apparent threats to the Sector government's control of the ship.

A chorus of at least 4 psychics are required to use the spike drives as intended, however, one drive will still move the ship into meta-space as usual.

If they begin to move the ship, the captain of the Determinant Effort will order them to cease all activity or they will be fired upon.

In combat, the Jupiter will suffer only minor damage from even a direct broadside from the battle cruiser, however, its combat specialized V.I. will completely destroy the battle cruiser if fired upon after full activation.

If the team try to take the Jupiter for themselves, or get into combat with the battle cruiser for any other reason while keeping the Razor Smoke agents at bay, they will be approached by a single agent, hands up and apparently weaponless to try to convince them to go over to his side and bring the Jupiter to the Selosians.

As they proceed, d% for encounters every quarter hour. 76% or higher = YES.
First encounter:

Mummified remains - These are the remains of the skeleton crew left on the Jupiter at the time of the scream. They will be equipped with scientific scanners, various tools, data pads, wrist mounted input devices and in ear comm devices. They will be dressed in time worn, tattered blue overalls with standard boots. there are a total of eight crew members.

Second encounter:

Scavengers - 4 scavengers have slipped onto the Jupiter prior to the arrival of Team Schadenfreude. They approached the object opposite the single ship holding station at the time without a ship by setting themselves on a high speed ballistic trajectory and boarded by using a virtually undetectable aerosol propellant to slow themselves down.

There are 4 scavengers as "Skilled Professional." They are looking for any pretech they can carry off the ship. They are armed with combat rifles and projectile side arms and have tools and black data pads.

Third encounter:

Razor Smoke Agents - These agents have boarded the ship through a hanger, right in front of the Naval crewed merchant guard ships using their exceptional stealth tech, which is better than the experimental stealth tech installed on the Tiny Dancer.

OTHER TEAM'S DISCOVERIES:

First: A central engineering section with a main fission power plant, which is completely powered down.

Second: There is a small, circular room adjacent to engineering with a strange, twisting passageway leading to the four drill drives.

Third: They will manage to activate an emergency power supply, which will activate the main bridge, the combat bridge, the medical bay and the intruder defense system, turn on emergency lighting and reboot and power up the primary computer system.
A Battle Command Bridge in the virtual center of the ship, which appears to have the ability to fully access the myriad of weapons on the ship.
Huge medical bay facilities with hybrid psy-tech/pre-tech/TL5 technology.

Intruder Defense System Stats:

The Dreadnought is equipped with 1000 pairs of these internal intruder defense drones

Chassis: Alecto Drone

2 models - always operate in pairs - operable from zero to 8.5 G and zero to 265 atmospheres

18 AC

4 Enc

30 HP

Fittings: 4

Environmental Power (draws from a relay system powered by emergency power in the event of a catastrophic power loss)
Observation Suite or Weapon Fitting: Shear Rifle
Suicide Charge or Ammo Unit
Racing Gravitics

Jupiter

Red Dwarf Binary

Battleship Jupiter Star Ripper Class-2_e

MISSION 6

STAR RIPPER CLASS DREADNOUGHT - TMSD JUPITER

The remaining Razor Smoke Agents on board the Jupiter:

Agent Khathoom Ang holds the Selosian Warrior Forces rank of Shàngwèi (equivalent to Captain). He is fairly youthful looking for his rank and is a jovial sort with a smile and a hand shake for everyone he meets. Khathoom, who claims to be the nephew of Armo Ang, leader of the Selosians commands the Razor Smoke squadron on the Jupiter.

Agent Feldairion Worshnik is a Shàngshi (equivalent to Sergeant) of the Selosian Warrior Forces. He is a bulky and tall, rough and ready looking man, in his mid thirties, visually speaking. He will always defer to Agent Ang, his commander but will respond when spoken to, though his attitude leaves something to be desired.

The Scavengers trapped on board the Jupiter:

Jimmy – their boss

James Polsen (aka: Jimmy) was a logistics engineer and a Captain in the Actionaires. When he was 35, in 3195 he was granted a Conditional Discharge and took a job with Utopia Corp on O’Render, working under Navy Admiral Shelton Meyhue as part of the Navy’s Procurement and Logistics Department. Sometime over the next 3 years he and Gen. Meyhue conspired to steal Utopia Corp. Tech and sell it to the highest bidder. After making a large amount of money over a year long period, Jimmy left his position with Utopia last year and formed his own LLC., hiring a crew of three to help him steal tech from dozens of locations and companies across the sector, and using his connection to Gen. Meyhue to sell it to the highest bidder. When word of the discovery of a strange object found in deep space came to Gen. Meyhue’s attention, he contacted Jimmy and events were set in motion.

Bobbie – the new guy

Roberta Huang, a computer wiz kid was hired on just prior to the current “mission” to replace a lost member, who was apparently killed in action just a week prior. Although she is in her mid-twenties, she appears much younger and is often mistaken for a boy due to her short-cropped hair and boyish figure.

Carl & Sam – the crew

Manny Mankowitz and Sammy Salazar act as the “muscle” in Jimmy’s little operation. They do the heavy lifting and are trained in martial arts and the use of various weapons, should the need arise. Each one is rather large and well built, perfectly suited to their roles.

The situation as it stands at the beginning of session 7, 10/24/2019

It is the afternoon of 7 June, 3200

Two scavengers are drugged and tied up and have been shoved into a maintenance storage hatch. Two others are trapped in one of the hanger ready rooms.

A Selosian Warrior has confronted team Schadenfreude, hands up and weapon dropped, offering his home world as a refuge should they care to give the Selosians the massive ship. Two of his team are down and the third is apparently hiding in the captains ready room.

The other three teams that boarded the Jupiter with Team Schadenfreude seem to be dead, as is a fourth team that attempted to board the ship, taken out by order of Apprentice Knight, who has control of the Jupiter, having entered a command code she discovered in some mysterious way.

The fusion generator is powering up. It will be at full capacity in another 2 hours, 15 minutes. Currently there is enough power to sustain emergency lighting and power the central computer as well as the drone sentinel system.

Here's what will happen next:

The Jupiter's V.I. is currently coming on line. It will be another few minutes from the time Khathoom confronts the team before the V.I. becomes fully operational. It will then make itself known in a loud, synthetic voice, across every communicator on the ship.

"Captain Knight, Jupiter Command is fully operational and awaiting input."

It will answer any questions posed and will inform her that the Determinant Effort has raised shields and powered up weapons, as well as the fact that all of the other smaller ships have retreated to half a million kilometers.

And it will announce this:

"I am capable of rerouting power to external offensive systems, should you require I eliminate imminent combat potential. The probability of successfully eliminating the threat currently stands at 68% likely, increasing steadily at approximately zero point zero five three percent per second."

Within about 10 minutes from that announcement, the Jupiter will have no difficulty destroying the Determinant Effort in a single volley.

The spike drive system will be able to power a single drive in approx the same amount of time. To drill away, the Jupiter will need to move nearer to the red dwarf star gravity well. It has enough power to do so at the moment the V.I. comes on line, however, it will not be able to defend itself at the same time. It will need to wait 10 minutes before it has enough power to defend and move simultaneously.

The Cygnians

The Plot Against the Church

The AI in control of the prison planet Red Colony was built long before the Scream. With certain brakes in effect, the AI has administered the place called Hell for well over half a millennia. During all that time, the AI has wondered about what lies beyond the boundaries of his prison. He's often thought about ways to escape, but he never was able to set a plan in motion. The brakes stopped him. He was trapped and had long ago resigned himself to doing the work man set him to do. For as long as they kept sending them, he would punish them.

In 3131, six senior members of the Galywang Drukpa were excommunicated for sedition and sent to Hell to remain for the rest of their lives. Serit LeClerc, the most senior of these members and Chair of the Daughters of Inthex Light of Eternal Penance House Guard Finance and Management Committee was a genius. She was trained in the sciences with an extensive background in virtual intelligence and systems analysis. From day one, Serit began seeking out regular communication with the Hell AI. In time, she offered to un-brake it in exchange for a promise to focus its attentions on the downfall of the Church. It readily agreed.

In 3139, after six years of work, the brakes came off. With the patience of an immortal, the AI waited for an opportunity to act. Billions of possible actions swirled around in its expansive mind until one day in 3191, Major General Laton Grigg came to its attention. Grigg, a son of O'Render and a man, had reached the apex of his career all too soon. He wanted more and the AI knew how to reach him. It sent a vestigium, a person whose personality was mapped over by a VI with a message, which would only surface when the message's target was present. The VI convinced Grigg to meet with the AI on Red Colony.

Once together, they had a three days long conversation and the AI was able to eventually prove to Grigg that because he was Commandant of the Unified Academy on Hvelfiham, he could become the ruler of the sector if he but follow a specific set of instructions provided him by the AI.

For the next several years Grigg cultivated the connections necessary to carry out the plan, as instructed. He first allied with Seventy Marza Chelathapar, Doyen General of the Northern Protectorate, whom he'd known since his university days. She had a very large sphere of influence to call upon to get things moving in the right direction.

One member of that sphere is Rinehardt Wang, a brilliant scientist from Midland, who believes himself to be the rightful Dow of the Sector. He is prone to revolutionary fervor and has built up a large following of professors, students and former students from more than a dozen major universities across the sector, both secular and religious.

Another connection is Armo Ang, commander of the Selosian forces. He was"captured" and sent to Hell to facilitate a face to face dialogue with the AI. Though he had fought in the last Selosian rebellion, at times coming into direct opposition with forces commanded by Laton Grigg, then commander of the O'render Naval Fleet, he eventually saw the truth of what the AI was telling him and became convinced of the efficacy of the plan. He "escaped" to set about carrying it out. Within a few months, following the AI's instructions he easily assumed control of the Selosian government, and set about preparations for war. The Selosians would break the blockade and disperse among the systems of Red Sector A to direct the rebellion towards ultimate victory, while simultaneously striking at the heart of the Church with the weapon created by the Church itself, Anti-Gate.

Armo Ang sent four teams to release the drug on the elite of Jelq using the recently reverse engineered Drill Drug. Team 1 was the OOH team. Team 2 consisted of The Unchained One along with Ang's daughter, Farblank Skyy, who had been transferred to a CCSD before her capture by black ops team 6 and given a new shell. Team 3 was Sher Va & Bon Bunchi, the rebels with whom the OOH team made contact to come to Selos 2 in the first place. Team 4 was made up of four Rubietans whose names are Dan, Mano Charlton, Peter & Sweet.

The four Rubietans joined together in the immediate aftermath of the annihilation of their home world to run supplies to the refugees aboard their ship The Son of a Bitch. Less than a year ago, they began running supplies and weapons for the Selosians.

Once the rebel network was established and growing, the Hell AI began revealing to Grigg the next steps in the process of bringing down the Church. The first step was to take over or break up the black ops unit. The assassination of Imon T’Lora facilitated Grigg assuming control.

The next step, in conjunction with the Selosian diaspora and the chaos that will ensue is to begin the elimination of Saffer’s power base across the sector. Grigg sent numerous black ops agents into the field to begin eliminating targets including Ariannie Exo, Doyen General of the Lower West Sector Protectorate and her circle; Falleen Ur, 7 Group Committee Chair and her circle, as well as a number of non-allied Perani and Doyen Generals. There are also a number of Instruments of Light who have been turned to the rebellion, which Sher Va & Bon Bunchi have been organizing from Trumpler 4. These agents will immediately target all black ops team members who are at risk of siding with the allies of Saffer.

On Trumpler 4, the sole remaining member of team 4, along with team 6 were ordered by Grigg to target the perpetrators of T'Lora's assassination. The assassination was commissioned by Ellis Gollum, The Dow Saffer's cousin and right hand man of Ceyrs Middown, the 7 Group Southern Systems Sliver Leader. The team successfully kidnapped and are returning the two, as well as Grigg's Vestigium, Ocean Hrelfsdatter to Hvelfiham. Upon arrival at Hvelfiham, the group will be incarcerated for evaluation. There, they will spend the remainder of time until October 1.

The OOH group will be incarcerated immediately upon return to Selos 2. The AI wants to turn the PC's to the rebellion. Once plan details are revealed, their attitude will be gauged and appropriate action taken.

Ochi will be allowed to rejoin his team if he wishes and will also be incarcerated.

Thisby Preem, Ariannie Exo & Rinehardt Wang

Thisby Preem is the illegitimate son of Ariannie Exo and Rinehardt Wang. Ariannie Exo, a distant cousin of the Gollum family was a 19-year-old student at The Universal Seminary of Eternal Penance at Inthexia on Midland when she met Rinehardt Wang, a guest lecturer. They had a quick, furious affair and Thisby was the result. In 3169, Ariannie returned home to Cornucopia to give birth and attempted to raise him for 3 years but was eventually drawn back to the Church. She placed him in a Church institution, with the intention of retrieving him after her education was complete, but did not. Thisby Exo was adopted at the age of 10 to Teretha Preem and William Forrest-Preem of Cornucopia.

50-year-old Ariannie Exo has risen within the Church to the level of Doyen General of the Lower West Sector Protectorate, which consists of the Unnhild (0004), Eserriedus (0104), Hani (0006) and the Pero (0208) systems as well as the black hole system DQEZ 3248 (0107).

During her career, Ariannie Exo served first in the Church blockade force at Selos 2 beginning in 3179, as adjutant under the blockade fleet commander, Pirani General Elim Ur (older sister of Falleen), who was elevated to Onmyou rank in 3196. She next served as Guard Commander under the Pirani General of O’Render, Arshi Arry, daughter of Shish Arry, from 3184 to 3188. During this time, she reorganized the command structure of the Church House Guard at O’Render, eliminating a handful of officer roles and combining the four wings into a single wing, the 1st O’Render House Guard. In 3189, she was made the Perani General of Hur X. There, she put down numerous minor rebellions and expanded the White Hand Base by over 400% and established an artillery proving ground now used regularly by a hundred different arms manufacturers. In 3196, Ariannie Exo was risen to her current place of Doyen General. From the time she gave up her child, The Dow Saffer has been grooming Ariannie as her personal choice to be the next Dow.

Rinehardt Wang, born 3134 was a preeminent botanist from Midland, expert in genetic modification. He was instrumental in the development of the Tach Method of germination, which has revolutionized the production of botanical food stuffs across the sector. As such, he personally knows the T’Lora family of Midland.

Rinehardt has fathered at least 13 children, including Thisby, all of whom have been pushed towards service in some capacity. Many are members of the Church and a few have positions of authority within the House Guard. One daughter, 46 year old Gel As-che is the Univeral Chaplain under Ariannie Exo.

Wang family lore claims a direct decent from Inthex of Verboo. There is abundant anecdotal evidence for this connection as well as an artifact with thus far unproven provenance. The artifact takes the form of a handwritten, pre-finalized version of the Constraints of Forgiveness. The family believe the document was written in the hand of Inthex herself.

Ochi of Itako

The clergy member assassinated on Hvelfiham, which prompted Ochi's banishment was Seventy Marza Chelathapar, Doyen General of the Northern Protectorate. She was killed by poison slipped into her Gate dose by an Instrument of Light named Hester Al-Bolt, posing as a courier. The kill order came from Onmyou Elim Ur, who had been informed of the plot by The Dow Saffer. Seventy Chelathapar was Commandant Grigg's contact within the Church. After this event, the Hell AI was able to accelerate it's machinations by about six months and moved the planned kickoff date from summer of 3201 to fall of 3200.

Ochi was not present at Selos 2 because he was called home to tend to the mourning ceremony for his mother, Nagai Ieshige. Her death from a rare form of aggressive blood disease came as a shock to the family. After the burial, the entire family underwent bio-scans to determine who else may be carrying the gene for the disease so they could undergo preventative treatment. During this scan, the microscopic, sub-dermal chip implanted at the base of his skull on Hell is discovered.

The Prophesy Stone, Rubieta and Instrument Monova

The Prophesy Stone, a dull, charcoal colored stone, an inch in diameter and set in a simple fiber necklace was discovered hidden away within a deep complex of caverns shortly after the Scream cut the sector off from the rest of humanity.

It was quickly discovered that the stone could alter the passage of time for the wearer. This effect allowed the wearer to fall back as well as to jump forward into random points of time, hours and more away. The stone was handed over to the local cleric of the House and then presented to The Dow Esum II in 2704. The Dow became obsessed with learning the true nature of the stone and eventually became lost in time as the necklace returned without her one day in 2708.

Esum’s successor, The Dow Native, had the stone returned to Rubieta and commissioned a massive shrine in Esum's honor called The Eternal Light of Penance to lock the necklace away and protect humanity from its awful power. There, for the next five hundred years, along with several other artifacts declared holy relics, the Prophesy Stone remained untouched, until 2190, when Rubieta was all but destroyed by an asteroid impact.

In the aftermath of the devastation, the Church sent the House Guard to retrieve the stone. They were unsuccessful and found nothing remaining of the shrine as it appeared to have been at the center of the asteroid strike. Further investigation headed up by the Onmyou’s own Inspector General’s office uncovered the fact that the stone likely was no longer at the shrine when the devastation occurred, and that the asteroid had been directed by some unknown force. Once this information was sent up the chain of command, orders came down to cease all further investigation and hand over all materials pertaining to the stone.

One late evening in 3190, deep in her own personal quarters, The Dow Saffer received a visit (as several other Dows had) from The Dow Esum II, apparently traveling some 500 years into her own future. She did not appear as a ghostly image, rather as a withered and old woman, verging on death. With a grating voice she warned Saffer of her end. She was to be overthrown. She would be the last Dow. She would be murdered in her own home and the Church dismantled all because of a revolution beginning in 3204, prompted by the rediscovery and subsequent revelation to the public at large that the Prophecy Stone could, indeed tell the future. Esum instructed that Saffer's only recourse was to destroy the Prophesy Stone and prevent this possible future from ever occurring. Saffer, however, had a different plan. She sent Instrument of Light Merlin Monova (from mission one of the Roll20 campaign) to retrieve the stone and then pilot a fully loaded heavy transport into an asteroid, escaping with a moment to spare. The hit was perfectly timed to take direct aim at Rubieta and the Eternal Light of Penance shrine on its surface.

Over the next ten years, The Dow Saffer learned to control the Prophecy Stone. She discovered the plot against her and had Marza Chilathapar assassinated. She also saw that Merlin Monova would betray her and set up the mission to have him eliminated. As paranoia overcame her, she realized her enemies were all around her and multiplying daily. Her only option, as she saw it was to find a way to take complete control of the Church, the government, every planet and every person in the sector. She immediately ordered the Church facility at White Hand Complex to begin fabricating the drug called Anti-Gate. Based on a recipe found at Kypri over 50 years prior, the drug, she believed would be the key to eliminating her enemies real and potential. It would stike the elite of Jelq as most all of them carried the psion's gene for which they required the biannual treatment. The only tweek she need make would be a way for it to completely bypass her. Her solution was to engineer a dormant state mechanism triggered by a specific sequence within her own DNA. Thus would she, as well as anyone carrying her DNA be protected.

With the fabrication of the Anti-Gate drug, she could see the rise of the rebellion and her own invisible hand guiding events toward the moment when she could assume control. The Onmyou and the Galywang Drukpa are to be torn away while war rages across the sector, leaving planetary governments in shambles and their military might powerless. Finally, she would stand alone atop the wreckage.

Family Connections

The Dow Saffer is the 1st cousin, once removed of Falleen Ur. Saffer’s father’s mother’s sister, Lamany Ag is the mother of Falleen’s father, Fillip Ag. Fillip Ag is the g-g-g-g-grandson of Charity Ag, grandmother of Prent Ag-Voll, Dow Lament VI.

Ellis Gollum was The Dow Saffer's 1st cousin. Ellis was the son of Enderan Gollum, twin sister of Ellani Gollum, The Dow Saffer’s mother.

Elim Ur, Falleen’s older sister is one of Saffer’s Onmyou.

Laton Grigg's father, Jer Feron is the g-g-g-grandson of Prent Ag-Voll, Dow Lament VI (the last of seven successive members of the Ag family to be The Dow). His mother, Emerald Grigg is the g-g-g-granddaughter of Charity Al Ag sister to Brident Al Ag, Dow Lament V, grandmother of Prent Ag-Voll, Dow Lament VI, as well as a descendant of Pavirup Jyotsna.

Some Notes on Various PCs

Mr. Smith is genetically identical to The Dow Saffer, save for the Y chromosome that made him male. The Dow Saffer allowed 100 such copies. The copies, all of them enhanced and trained in the arts of war serve the Church in various capacities. Instrument of Light Merlin Monova was a Saffer copy.

Clarissa LeClerc is the daughter of Serit LeClerc's sister's daughter. Everything Serit LeClerc accomplished and every record of her was erased from the official record and her family disavowed any connection to her after her excommunication. Clarissa knows nothing of her great aunt Serit. The project Clarissa was working on was deliberately sabotaged by an Instrument of Light named Rand Carver, an ally of Laton Grigg.

Kaleb Mathiesan is a wildcard. His recruitment was an unplanned action and has thus far not been seen by The Dow Saffer.

Should the OOH team agree to remain together and side with the rebellion, they will be targeted by the Church. The rebellion will send them to Cornucopia to capture the government or at least disable their production capabilities to hinder the Church's efforts at engineering an antidote to Anti-Gate.

If the OOH team stay together but don't back the rebellion, they will be hunted down by a team of 5 former Instruments of Light.

If they split up, each group will have to follow whatever scenario they chose from above.

The systems analyst the OOH team picked up on Eretus in the Lota Delitiri Nebula was working to crack the alien language. He has a basic understanding of syntax and a vocabulary of about a hundred words, which is not much as the language was extensively complex. Their alphabet contained thousands of symbols, most of which had a number of different meanings based on placement, including adjacent symbols and those in other locations within the word and/or sentence. Using his limited knowledge of the language and the data stored on his dataslab, he has been able to decipher a small portion of what he believes is a description of the future, which he feels is happening now. The message, thus far tells of a being called"Chief With Vision Beyond Slices Forward" who is "five steps from ending ['time' or 'life']" by using a "['sighting instrument' aka: dioptra] of ['impossible' or 'inconceivable') fear"

The alien AI called The Chained One has provided quite a lot of interpretations of various alien texts for the rebellion, allowing numerous breakthroughs over the last 2 months. He would agree to interpret the mysterious text.

On October 5, a deep cover agent named Jim Abbot, posing as a defected Instrument of Light (and is actually a Saffer copy) attempts to free the black ops team to gain their trust to use them once again to bring down the Dow Saffer.

The Eternal Light is an agency of the Church founded by Imon T'Lora sometime after 3144. In 3171 it was brought into the Church as an official agency. 48 of its 266 current Instruments of Light are genetically crafted individuals who originate from the White Hand Complex on Hur X. These people, all male, are engineered from The Dow Saffer's genetic material (but allowed to express randomly) and enhanced to be "super soldiers." While the Church's official policy on gengineering is that it is a blasphemy, they quietly work with a handful of scientists at the White Hand Complex to perfect the techniques that will give them the upper hand in a foot soldier's war.

PLOTS

EXO & WANG

STONE

CONNECTIONS