In the Jungles near Punta Corso - summary 4
Our heroes were once again stranded in a less-than-pleasant system.
Sure, life could be decent on Alell, but once you’re an object of interest for
ZEP, life will never be the same. As it were, Most Reliable did have yet
another survey contract that might interest the group: there were indicators
that the old capitol of Knorbes, Ponte Corso, had been located, and it was of
great importance to the Empire if the central data archives can be located,
removed, and brought to Regina. Secretary Imbiss, the assistant of ambassador hault-Bellingcat, was more than willing to arrange the practical details, and this would also be an expedient way of getting our heroes out of the Alell system before there were additional complications, diplomatic or otherwise.
Besides coordinates for the old City Hall of Ponte Corso, secretary Imbiss also provided our heroes with the necessary administrative details to assume command of and crew the Prince William of Deneb, a trading vessel operated under charter by Most Reliable. The crew was offered standard salaries, a Cr 1,000 signing bonus and a Cr 5,000 bonus upon completion of the mission. Operating costs were to be paid out of pocket, but expenses would be covered. In addition, the crew was allowed to engage in any commerce during the trip, as long as the crew reports to the Most Reliable office in the Regina system no later than 125-1200. Departure was scheduled for 060-1200, and the Prince William of Deneb had a 0900ST departure slot. This left our heroes with a bit more than four standard days to inspect, prepare and in general figure out the so-called Prince Bill, a 200 ton modified bulk trader. It was decided to crew the ship with Captain Ma, Tricky Rouge, James Grayfield, Riva Carollo, Drozd and Firfar of Unimatrix 2. The latter was due to some incredibly odd administrative error hired to be the security detail on board the Prince Bill, while the other heroes were promised transport out of the system. The crew went about preparing Prince Bill for departure, while Tricky Rouge, having a merchant's background, tried to find some suitable cargo for the Alell-Whanga or Alell-Knorbes route. Although trade to these locations is somewhat limited due to population and technology levels, the route is on a Jump-1 tradeway that can take a trader all the way to District 268, so Tricky Rouge deemed that there'd be at least some cargo waiting in transit. Tricky was lucky, as Sternmetal Horizons needed to ship some equipment to the outpost on Whanga. Nothing exciting, just mainly sundry items and replacement parts, but still welcome cash for the crew. Soundtrack: Money for Nothing
Sternmetal Horizons, LIC: Sternmetal is primarily engaged in mining operations and manufacturing. It produces mostly power generation equipment of all types, including power plants for starships, air and ground vehicles, cities, and industrial installations. Sternmetal has recently become a major supplier of weapon systems and component supplier throughout Spinward Marches sector of the Empire. Additionally, Sternmetal is the largest manufacturer of food synthesis equipment in the Empire.
With three of the crew members having naval backgrounds, Captain Ma had few problems running a fairly tight ship. The first task was maintenance followed by a thorough cleaning on a daily basis. It turned out that although Prince Bill was quite utilitarian, she was also in rather decent shape. At 0900 on 060-1200, our heroes promptly released the couplings to the Alell highport, and Prince Bill was underway. As expected, she handled quite well, but as the vessel accelerated out to the jump Point, the crew picked up an automated distress call. Captain Ma and his crew members were more than a little wary of random distress calls, especially in the Alell system. Nevertheless, the crew were obliged to offer assistance, and after quite some time, Tricky located an escape pod way beyond the typical approach patterns into the Alell system. It turned out that the pod was almost a century old, and quite beaten up. Tricky suited up and EVA:ed to the pod, which after much deliberation was opened. Only two items of interest were found: a pen floating around forlornly in the vacuum, and a strange transmitter. The transmitter was brought on board Prince Bill, and an astonished Grayfield recognized the transmitter as being of Zhodani origin! There was no way of finding out why a Zhodani transmitter was located deep in the Spinward Marches, but Riva Carollo placed the transmitter in a signal-proof container until Imperial authorities could be notified.
After a fairly constructive week in hyperspace, Prince Bill entered the Whanga/Regina system. One other ship was noticed leaving the system, but besides that, the system was quite empty. As Prince Bill approached the primordial and fairly barren main planet, the calls from the crew were answered by mission control at the Sternmetal outpost with the unmistakable whiny accent of someone from Extolay/Lanth. The crew boarded the ship's boat and descended onto Whanga, following a landing beacon to the concrete slab that served the outpost as starport.
Captain Ma, Firfar, Grayfield and Tricky Rouge were greeted by Garrett and Spud, two of 95 prospectors/surveyors/handymen that made up the inhabitants of the outpost. They escorted the crew members to the main mess hall, and the personnel of the outpost were sure glad to see some new faces. All in all, the pace of life seemed rather relaxed on the outpost. There seemed no urgency as to declare Whanga ready for colonization. Ma, Firfar, Grayfield and Tricky decided to stay overnight to swap stories and liquor with Garrett and his surveyors after helping unload the supplies for the outpost. During the evening, Tricky Rouge did ask around for additional cargo for shipment to Knorbes or Regina, but there were only some messages to be delivered. However, after much drink, Spud divulged to Tricky that there were deposits of the mineral Gennadinium to be found on Whanga. This mineral is highly poisonous before being treated by an anodizing and melding process that leaves the Gennadinium with a very hard, yet flexible translucent mother-of-pearl like finish. This material is very popular among high-end interior decorators in certain parts of the Spinward Marches, but the process requires a special foundry of tech level 10 or above, and the possession of Gennadium is restricted before treatment, requiring a special imperial license and protective gear and facilities. Spud was definitely willing to sell some Gennadinium to the crew of Prince Bill, but Tricky decided to get back to Spud regarding the issue.
The crew blasted off into orbit after lunch on 070-1200, and after spending two days building a wilderness refuelling system utilizing the ship's boat and then refuelling, the crew jumped for Knorbes.
The airlock opened up to a stifling late morning. There was some light wind from the sea, and there were quite a few avian lifeforms lazily sailing on the sea breeze. The air was indeed rich and filled with an almost overwhelming bouquet of scents ranging from floral to putrid. The crew loaded their kit on their mechanical robotransporter and proceeded to examine the three major structures that scanners had revealed just south of the riverbed and close to the beach. There would be another eight hours of daylight, considering the 26,5-hour rotation of Knorbes.The structures turned out to be enormous ferroconcrete towers, and Captain Ma suggested that they might be air defense towers of some kind. There was one set of enormous steel doors facing west, but they could not be opened. The sun was rapidly setting, and the crew decided to set up camp, deploy remote sensors, and turn in, but as the sun dipped down below the horizon, a deep, melancholy horn-like sound echoed over the jungle, lending an ominious air to the scene. Another issue turned out to be mildew and rust that was attacking almost everything after less than a day on the planet.
As one might expect, the night was alive with all kinds of animal life, and the crew spent a most uneasy night under the vast canopies of the jungle. Sunrise was accompanied by another horn-like blast of sound that lasted almost half a minute, making the crew more than a little uneasy. After breakfast, Grayfield felt a bit queasy, but the crew decided to push on nevertheless. However, throughout the course of the day, all of the crew were experiencing nausea and cold sweats, and in some cases vomiting. Had they been poisoned by residual radioactivity from the nuclear exchanges or was it something else? Ma, Grayfield, and Tricky decided to head back, while Firfar true to form flipped a coin. The coin toss led to Firfar trekking back to the ship's boat as well, which was fortunate. He was by far worst off, suffering from intermittent fainting spells and convulsions, although the rest of the crew didn't look to well either. Firfar was eventually propped up on the robotransporter, and the crew reached the ship's boat just before sundown. Initial medical checkups had not inicated any form of contamination or illness, and the radiation monitors on board the ship's boat did not indicate anything but ever so slightly increased radiation levels, albeit well within the Imperial safety limits. What was ailing the crew? Fighting exhaustion and nausea, Ma and Tricky plotted a launch trajectory to Prince Bill, while Grayfield tied down the equipment and strapped Firfar to his acceleration couch. The boat took off just after sunset, and the very uncomfortable crew faced another issue: how were they to deal with quarantine on board their vessels so that they could reach the autodoc? Captain Ma ordered Riva Carollo and Drozd to suit as to avoid contamination, and considering the special circumstances this seemed to be the best solution. By now some of the crew were suffering from hallucinations as well, and Tricky, Ma and Firfar all saw how a vaccsuited Grayfield was banging on the airlock while the Grayfield inside Prince Bill kept yelling to not let him in. Eventually, the crew dragged themselves to the autodoc, but although symptoms were recognized, the autodoc could not make a proper diagnosis. Then Grayfield, nauseous but lucid, remarked that they might want to ask the local inhabitants of Mirren on Arundel, the northern temperate continent. The autodoc did stabilize the symptoms to some degree, and Tricky plotted a course to what was marked as Mirren Starport. The crew rested a couple of hours before once again taking their seats in the ship's boat and descending towards Mirren while Drozd and Riva Carollo sanitized Prince Bill.
Firfar
Soundtrack: Hallelujah. After another harrowing descent through the dense atmosphere, the ship's boat followed the beacon to a somewhat overgrown field that was supposed to be a starport. A small cabin was located next to the field, and as the ship's boat hovered above the field, landing lights came on and two odd-looking but armed individuals stepped out of the cabin. They were Amblin and Reynault, the two caretakers and guards of the starport. They were both wearing low-tech metal plating, but armed with slug-throwing assault rifles that definitely did not seem to be indigenous to Knorbes.
Reynault with his visor down.
Amblin and Reynault were quite friendly, though, and although they lived and worked on a low-tech world, they did not seem to be entirely out of touch with the universe outside of Knorbes. The crew mentioned that they were ill, and Amblin and Reynault listened without displaying fear or superstition. The looked at the crew, and each other, and then quite bluntly stated that the crew had been infected by Southern Fever, a potentially fatal but relatively easily curable disease. Some elders were summoned from nearby villages, and the Confederate Chieftain of Kaltenkin, Sceath Rorden, told the crew that they needed a drug prepared by one of the organs of the Minerva Tiger, a six-legged predator native to Byron, the southern continent. It was decided to lay a trap for such an animal somewhere near Punta Corso, and with some help from the villagers of Kaltenkin and Sceath Rorden, the crew purchased a Terran cow for bait.
Soundtrack: Clouds across the Moon. Meanwhile, Drake and Dr. Glazhütte-Limburgh had been given temporary positions by Most Reliable as deputy head of security and computer officer, respectively, on board the Oberlindes 15,000 ton liner The Roxy bound for Regina. They spent four fairly uneventful weeks on board, and they were discharged at Regina Orbital, the upstation 180 degrees latitude from Kerthain, the capitol of Regina, the subsector and the Spinward Marches. Immediately after disembarking, Drake and Dr. Glazhütte-Limburgh were approached by a Lieutenant Venton Eir Ladante, a courier wearing the uniform of the Yurst Household Air Cavalry and carrying an important note for Captain Harry Ma, Baron Calpaine...
Besides coordinates for the old City Hall of Ponte Corso, secretary Imbiss also provided our heroes with the necessary administrative details to assume command of and crew the Prince William of Deneb, a trading vessel operated under charter by Most Reliable. The crew was offered standard salaries, a Cr 1,000 signing bonus and a Cr 5,000 bonus upon completion of the mission. Operating costs were to be paid out of pocket, but expenses would be covered. In addition, the crew was allowed to engage in any commerce during the trip, as long as the crew reports to the Most Reliable office in the Regina system no later than 125-1200. Departure was scheduled for 060-1200, and the Prince William of Deneb had a 0900ST departure slot. This left our heroes with a bit more than four standard days to inspect, prepare and in general figure out the so-called Prince Bill, a 200 ton modified bulk trader. It was decided to crew the ship with Captain Ma, Tricky Rouge, James Grayfield, Riva Carollo, Drozd and Firfar of Unimatrix 2. The latter was due to some incredibly odd administrative error hired to be the security detail on board the Prince Bill, while the other heroes were promised transport out of the system. The crew went about preparing Prince Bill for departure, while Tricky Rouge, having a merchant's background, tried to find some suitable cargo for the Alell-Whanga or Alell-Knorbes route. Although trade to these locations is somewhat limited due to population and technology levels, the route is on a Jump-1 tradeway that can take a trader all the way to District 268, so Tricky Rouge deemed that there'd be at least some cargo waiting in transit. Tricky was lucky, as Sternmetal Horizons needed to ship some equipment to the outpost on Whanga. Nothing exciting, just mainly sundry items and replacement parts, but still welcome cash for the crew. Soundtrack: Money for Nothing
Old escape pod.
After a fairly constructive week in hyperspace, Prince Bill entered the Whanga/Regina system. One other ship was noticed leaving the system, but besides that, the system was quite empty. As Prince Bill approached the primordial and fairly barren main planet, the calls from the crew were answered by mission control at the Sternmetal outpost with the unmistakable whiny accent of someone from Extolay/Lanth. The crew boarded the ship's boat and descended onto Whanga, following a landing beacon to the concrete slab that served the outpost as starport.
The Sternmetal Horizon outpost on Whanga.
Garrett and Spud.
The crew blasted off into orbit after lunch on 070-1200, and after spending two days building a wilderness refuelling system utilizing the ship's boat and then refuelling, the crew jumped for Knorbes.
Soundtrack: Great Mission. Prince Bill entered the Knorbes system on 080-1200, and the crew found the system to be quite empty in terms of other spacecraft. There were two inert orbital platforms in high orbits, both dating back to the wars fough several centuries ago and clearly marked as hazards on navigational starmaps and with Imperial warning beacons attached. Another automated beacon transmitted the location of the very rudimentary landing spot grandly marked as Mirren Starport on the chart that Captain Ma brought up from the ship's computer. The crew established an efficiency orbit aound Knorbes after refuelling, and a significant amount of personal equipment was transferred to the ship's boat. It was decided that Drozd and Riva Carollo were to remain on board Prince Bill while the rest of the crew landed the ship's boat to the coordinates for Punta Corso that had been provided by Secretary Imbiss back on Alell. The ship's boat detached from Prince Bill without much ado, but the dense atmosphere of Knorbes provided the crew with a vary turbulent descent before the ship's boat broke out of a dense cloud layer some 6,000 meters above a stunning turqouise sea and a coastline with a most majestic blueish-green tropical rainforest that seemed to cover every square meter of land. A small fishing village was located some 30 kilometers south of the coordinates for Punta Corso. The crew made several swoops over the coast while scanning for what once was the capitol of Knorbes.
The scans revealed a jumble of ruins under the enormous canopies of the trees just about five kilometers from the coastline around what had once been a mighty river. The imagery correlated to a significant extent with old maps of Punta Corso, so Captain Ma landed the ship's boat on what the crew hoped was a solid part of the beach. The ship's boat settled in a cloud of dust and sand, and as the Engines powered down, the crew members donned what they assumed would be adequate tropical garb and double-checked their equipment. Even Tricky Rouge decided to leave the spacesuit behind, and her feminine self was fully revealed to the crew.
The scans revealed a jumble of ruins under the enormous canopies of the trees just about five kilometers from the coastline around what had once been a mighty river. The imagery correlated to a significant extent with old maps of Punta Corso, so Captain Ma landed the ship's boat on what the crew hoped was a solid part of the beach. The ship's boat settled in a cloud of dust and sand, and as the Engines powered down, the crew members donned what they assumed would be adequate tropical garb and double-checked their equipment. Even Tricky Rouge decided to leave the spacesuit behind, and her feminine self was fully revealed to the crew.
Before and after
The crew of the Prince Bill amongst the ruins of Punta Corso.
As one might expect, the night was alive with all kinds of animal life, and the crew spent a most uneasy night under the vast canopies of the jungle. Sunrise was accompanied by another horn-like blast of sound that lasted almost half a minute, making the crew more than a little uneasy. After breakfast, Grayfield felt a bit queasy, but the crew decided to push on nevertheless. However, throughout the course of the day, all of the crew were experiencing nausea and cold sweats, and in some cases vomiting. Had they been poisoned by residual radioactivity from the nuclear exchanges or was it something else? Ma, Grayfield, and Tricky decided to head back, while Firfar true to form flipped a coin. The coin toss led to Firfar trekking back to the ship's boat as well, which was fortunate. He was by far worst off, suffering from intermittent fainting spells and convulsions, although the rest of the crew didn't look to well either. Firfar was eventually propped up on the robotransporter, and the crew reached the ship's boat just before sundown. Initial medical checkups had not inicated any form of contamination or illness, and the radiation monitors on board the ship's boat did not indicate anything but ever so slightly increased radiation levels, albeit well within the Imperial safety limits. What was ailing the crew? Fighting exhaustion and nausea, Ma and Tricky plotted a launch trajectory to Prince Bill, while Grayfield tied down the equipment and strapped Firfar to his acceleration couch. The boat took off just after sunset, and the very uncomfortable crew faced another issue: how were they to deal with quarantine on board their vessels so that they could reach the autodoc? Captain Ma ordered Riva Carollo and Drozd to suit as to avoid contamination, and considering the special circumstances this seemed to be the best solution. By now some of the crew were suffering from hallucinations as well, and Tricky, Ma and Firfar all saw how a vaccsuited Grayfield was banging on the airlock while the Grayfield inside Prince Bill kept yelling to not let him in. Eventually, the crew dragged themselves to the autodoc, but although symptoms were recognized, the autodoc could not make a proper diagnosis. Then Grayfield, nauseous but lucid, remarked that they might want to ask the local inhabitants of Mirren on Arundel, the northern temperate continent. The autodoc did stabilize the symptoms to some degree, and Tricky plotted a course to what was marked as Mirren Starport. The crew rested a couple of hours before once again taking their seats in the ship's boat and descending towards Mirren while Drozd and Riva Carollo sanitized Prince Bill.
FirfarSoundtrack: Hallelujah. After another harrowing descent through the dense atmosphere, the ship's boat followed the beacon to a somewhat overgrown field that was supposed to be a starport. A small cabin was located next to the field, and as the ship's boat hovered above the field, landing lights came on and two odd-looking but armed individuals stepped out of the cabin. They were Amblin and Reynault, the two caretakers and guards of the starport. They were both wearing low-tech metal plating, but armed with slug-throwing assault rifles that definitely did not seem to be indigenous to Knorbes.
Reynault with his visor down.Amblin and Reynault were quite friendly, though, and although they lived and worked on a low-tech world, they did not seem to be entirely out of touch with the universe outside of Knorbes. The crew mentioned that they were ill, and Amblin and Reynault listened without displaying fear or superstition. The looked at the crew, and each other, and then quite bluntly stated that the crew had been infected by Southern Fever, a potentially fatal but relatively easily curable disease. Some elders were summoned from nearby villages, and the Confederate Chieftain of Kaltenkin, Sceath Rorden, told the crew that they needed a drug prepared by one of the organs of the Minerva Tiger, a six-legged predator native to Byron, the southern continent. It was decided to lay a trap for such an animal somewhere near Punta Corso, and with some help from the villagers of Kaltenkin and Sceath Rorden, the crew purchased a Terran cow for bait.
A small piece of art created by Drozd and painted on the side of the ship's boat.
Soundtrack: Counting the Cattle. Herding a cow into the hold of the ship's boat was more than a little challenging, and taking off with livestock on board even more so. Zero gravity spread manure all over the hold, and it was decided to sedate the cow for the trip to Punta Corso and draw straws for cleanup detail. The poor cow was eventually unloaded onto the same stretch of beach that had become somewhat of a landing pad for the ship's boat and led into the jungle two hours before sundown and the regular blast of sound. The crew broke out their carbines, tied the cow to a tree and took up positions as far away from the cow as the dense jungle would allow. Orders were given to shoot any Minerva Tiger on sight, but the first life form to approach the cow as the sun was setting was a short human dressed in a loincloth, red face-paint covering the top half of the shaved head and several layers of beads around his or her neck. The crew refrained from opening fire, and the short person scurried away as the regular horn blast echoed over the jungle. Later that night, the crew did get lucky. A Minerva Tiger approached the cow, and it was promptly killed by a carbine volley from the crew. The cow survived the ordeal, and although being even more terrified than before, she was lead back to the ship's boat while the limp body of the Minerva Tiger was loaded on to the robotransporter. An antidote was prepared and the crew finally got to rest a bit.
Soundtrack: I'm Alive! The crew were fully healed on 087-1200, and they were now going to be even more prepared for the trials and tribulations of the Knorbian jungles, be it diseases, wildlife or natives.
Soundtrack: I'm Alive! The crew were fully healed on 087-1200, and they were now going to be even more prepared for the trials and tribulations of the Knorbian jungles, be it diseases, wildlife or natives.
A Minerva Tiger
Soundtrack: Clouds across the Moon. Meanwhile, Drake and Dr. Glazhütte-Limburgh had been given temporary positions by Most Reliable as deputy head of security and computer officer, respectively, on board the Oberlindes 15,000 ton liner The Roxy bound for Regina. They spent four fairly uneventful weeks on board, and they were discharged at Regina Orbital, the upstation 180 degrees latitude from Kerthain, the capitol of Regina, the subsector and the Spinward Marches. Immediately after disembarking, Drake and Dr. Glazhütte-Limburgh were approached by a Lieutenant Venton Eir Ladante, a courier wearing the uniform of the Yurst Household Air Cavalry and carrying an important note for Captain Harry Ma, Baron Calpaine...
Kommentarer
Skicka en kommentar