GM Tarondor's Secrets of the Ancients - Traveller

Game Master Tarondor

Linc grabs a prisoner and starts pulling him to a pod.

not sure I got this - does she still need someone to do a electronics(computers) check or did she bypass that with the gambler-check?

before I hold up things any longer with mechanical questions - let's just assume, he plays safe either way
Malaxius is almost disgusted at the fact, that he encounters something like this unequipped to preserve it properly. He improvises with what he's got, using materials in the room if that seems sensible. For a moment he contemplates handing the thing to Nic and staying to help Zirelle strip the computers of every piece of intel about this thing. But he decides against it: he trusts Nic (more or less). But getting it into his head that this has priority over saving some henchmen's lives...would probably take more time than they have.
He turns to Zirelle:
"I've got to get this out of here...sry. But you seem to have the computers dancing to your tune anyway - if you find anything about the statue: copy it. And then please survive, so I can get a look at it!" then to Nic: "you got everything?...good! Now let's get out of here. Fast. This find must not be destroyed!"

Sorry, not sure either. Maybe he just subtracted one because that would be the difference between using gambler and using Electronics (Computers)? ... And yeah, get out. I have no idea if the thing is going to go off before 5 rounds is up.

Also, can I take any other action while my intelligent interface is working on getting that information? If so, I would like to zip-tie Harlan and also bash him to keep him unconscious. I don't want him waking up and ruining things.

Nic sighs again, being asked to do what he never does right, improvise under pressure. "Is the shuttle Gurrana and Adrastes came on still around, or was that the same as the cargo carrier?" Nic says, "I think I'd rather being in Imperial justice than Regina, either way though we have no cover story worth anything. Regina isn't Efate they keep everyone in jail for months just for looking like they might be a problem." If there is a craft Nic will enter and see if how many can fit. If not them get everyone in life pods and off to a long detention on Regina when they land. Seeing Linc stuff some of the defeated foes into life pods he's like okay with it figuring that they and us are screwed no matter what. To the best of his ability he helps Mal with the stuff and any living people along the way. If he has time he gets he Engineering Kit/Luggage and dumps the crappy primitive tools using the carrier to stuff the "booty" inside, if not just abandon it.

Remember at 5 INT Nic has an IQ of about 85-88, no smarts at all.

That's okay. She said that because she didn't want you waiting around for her, not because she didn't think the others were competent enough to get out on their own.

I will have you know that Ben has failed at many things in life, but he did successfully run to an elevator to escape.

Yes, I used Zirelle's roll, but applied it to Computers, because Gambling wasn't relevant.

Zirelle, I'm willing to have my mind changed, but I -think- your neural interface is just an interface. -You- still have to do the searching, no? I don't think you have time to do anything else.

But Harlen's dead as a doornail. He's not going anywhere unless you carry him. The man just committed suicide to avoid capture.

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ROUND ONE

The alarm starts to sound.

Ben, Erryll and Linc head back to the stairs.

Malaxius and Linc grab what's on Harlen's desk. Malaxius recognizes that the statuette is of Ancients origin. If it is genuine, that makes it hundreds of thousands of years old! Those of you who interrogated the assassin Kinson will recognize them as objects stolen from Vlen Backett's hostel room. Whatever's on those data tapes might have something to do with why Vlen Backett is dead.

Zirelle grabs Harlen's gauss pistol.

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ROUND TWO

Ben and Erryll get to the lower floor of the central container and move to the prisoners.

Malaxius and Linc move to the stairs.

Zirelle uses her Neural comms to jack into to the computer. [dice=Time]1d6. It will take 5 rounds to locate what you're looking for.

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ROUND THREE

Zirelle is still hacking the computer (round 2/5). But she is in deep enough to see that the self-destruct sequence will wipe the computer archives in four rounds. If she hadn’t started hacking when she did, she’d have had no chance to save anything. She’s still trying to get past the computer security.

Ben grabs injured prisoners and begins to haul him to the elevator.

Malaxius and Linc descend the stairs and move to where Erryll and the prisoners are.

As the evacuation klaxon continues to blare, Nicholas tries to assess the options for escape. One of the prisoners gasps ”There’s a shuttle on the ventral strut. One of the smugglers brought it.”

”Four reentry pods in the cargo bay, too,” says another.

Erryll, what are you doing?

How many people can fit into one reentry pod?

Only one way to find out!

I am not using a neural interface to do the hack, though I can communicate with the Intelligent interface that way... I am using the Intelligent Interface from my portable computer, which I hooked up to his system. It should be like an AI that is working on the hack for me, or at least that is what I think it does, and is the reason that I bought the whole portable computer setup. ... Good to hear that Harlan is dead though. That's something. :)

Nic renders an opinion to mostly to Mal but to anyone that listens, "I'd rather the shuttle to pods for myself, because we should have a little more control over where we go. Either way we can't be caught with this stuff by Imps or Regina cops. We'd be very lucky if they only confiscated it. Any ideas?"

Linc dumps his prisoner into a lifepod.
"Dump the prisoners into the pods and fire them off! I'll go get the shuttle!" He barked. He repeats the order through his cyberlink to his companions.

During the run to the docking area, Malaxius keeps on scolding Nic for how he handles their precious cargo - whatever he does, he just can't do it right. After a quick look of pain at the prospect of having the artefact confiscated, Malaxius thinks for a moment...
"...Yes, it should definitely be the shuttle. And then we should keep this secret as long as we can. Depending on what this is and if we find someone interested in funding...we could possibly turn this into an...inofficial archaological investigation - you know: when we find the funding, I know how to get access to the equipment.
And if we do it right and this is already big enough, when we are spotted, the imps just might be content with pretending that it was official all along and start exerting control - when I'm lucky, I know what I want to then and they can't take that away...Maybe to get this off, we should try to meet up with this professor Zirelle has been talking about - I hope someone who knows how to contact her will survive..."

Linc dumps his prisoner into a lifepod.

"Dump the prisoners into the pods and fire them off! I'll go get the shuttle!" He barked. He repeats the order through his cyberlink to his companions.

Erryll works to situate the prisoners prior to jettisoning them, and seal them in when he is done. He races to the shuttle.

I am not using a neural interface to do the hack, though I can communicate with the Intelligent interface that way... I am using the Intelligent Interface from my portable computer, which I hooked up to his system. It should be like an AI that is working on the hack for me, or at least that is what I think it does, and is the reason that I bought the whole portable computer setup. ... Good to hear that Harlan is dead though. That's something. :)

I understand. Okay, well, it's whirring away. What is Zirelle doing in the meantime?

Zirelle searches Harlan's body and his desk.

Malaxius and Nic have already ransacked the desk, and you've taken his gauss pistol. Only his vacc suit remains.

Zirelle's computer starts chirping. It's in.

First things first: Zirelle sees the actual countdown. The station will explode in just over two minutes. Nobody and nothing onboard will survive.

Second, Zirelle can see that although this is an good TL 12 computer, it is connected to some systems she doesn't understand at all - sensors and communications equipment -somewhere- that must be state of the art. She's never seen anything like it.

Third, Zirelle can see that the computer's files are being wiped as she's looking. It's disappearing faster than she can access them! She only just catches a look at a folder labelled "Backett, Vlen" before it too is deleted. Her search was not in vain, though. She saw a holo of Vlen Backett standing in this very office, handing Harlen the strange statue that Malaxius now has. And there was a note reading "Backett's lodge - Alell."

Zirelle is out of time. She runs or she dies.
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Downstairs, the team has run to the cargo hangar, dragging the injured mercenaries and traders. Shoving them into the escape pods, you run for the lone shuttle, magnetically locked to the underside of the station and pile in!

You have no time for the niceties of pre-flight inspections or engine start up. Who's flying this thing?

Linc jumped into the pilot's seat and performed a VERY short checklist (until his companions are aboard), casting off clamps and emergency boosting away.
Pilot (Small Craft): 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 6) + 2 = 12

Nic dumps his booty into the shuttle's storage bins(in the likely event it has some). If he has enough time he grabs his Engineering tools from the cargo pod he came in, also putting them securely into the shuttle, if not he abandons them.

Disappointed that she can't stop the countdown, Zirelle sprints for the shuttle, hoping she can make it.

As soon as he and all the archaeological stuff is in the shuttle, Malaxius is busy with fiddling around with how things are stored, trying to polster things better until he has to buckle up himself.

Ben buckles himself in and hums a little diddy.

The shuttle roars to life as Linc powers it up, ignoring swathes of the start-up checklist and various blinking lights. Linc, you notice that the escape pods are not launching.

On the station, the lights go off and with it the artificial gravity. Zirelle floats into the air as she makes her way across the middle deck.

Zirelle, please give me a Vacc Suit +DEX or EDU.

Vacc Suit + EDU: 2d6 + 0 + 1 ⇒ (4, 3) + 0 + 1 = 8

Linc, holding the clamps on while Zirelle isn't aboard yet and noticing the lack of pods scattering, tight beams a radio message to his companions.
"Hey crewmates! Why aren't the life pods launching?" He barked out, sweating at the tension of waiting next to a self destruct timer.

"I think we have all of the crew right? So no one is in them." Ben says as he tries to not count down in his head.

One person said that they put the prisoners in the pods, so theoretically there are people in there, but if they don't work, we'd better get them out quick. I can't help because I am still trying to get there myself. Or, we retcon and say everyone is in the shuttle, because someone also said that they pulled the shuttle away already, so I think everything is still in question.

Erryl and Ben went and grabbed them and dragged them to our ship. At least I think that was the plan. But maybe there were other groups of guys we missed. My intent was to bring them all with us.

I would also read it like the prisoners are in the pods. Eryll didn't state explicitly, where he drags them to. But it's a reaction to Lincs order (quoting it) and he didn't contradict. But why should we retcon? It was the logical thing to do based on the info we had at the time.
"Linc,... we have to go. This statue must not be destroyed!"

Because we don't want to leave them here to die?

Sweating at the countdown he can't see, Linc radio sent to Zirelle:
Zirelle! Can you get to the pods, fire them and take one yourself?
I can pick you up after.

Zirelle replied on Comms

I'll try.

She tries.

No go. The pods are non-functional. We have exactly (Insert exact countdown here) left.

No idea what timing we/you need to escape, but Zirelle does know the timing of the actual countdown from seeing it on the screen after she hacked in, and it was two minutes when she set out... so depending on what posts you believe, we either have everyone with us, or we do not, and with no clarification before this, getting a message like that, without knowing the pods are nonfunctional... I would say that Zirelle stopping and trying to shoot off in a pod probably used up her time, so I think you should just take off, and we'll let the GM decide who you have with you NPC wise and who you do not. I'm okay with dying. I made that choice when I attempted to stop the countdown.

Lincoln "Linc" Forgrave wrote:

Linc dumps his prisoner into a lifepod.

"Dump the prisoners into the pods and fire them off! I'll go get the shuttle!" He barked. He repeats the order through his cyberlink to his companions.

Erryll works to situate the prisoners prior to jettisoning them, and seal them in when he is done. He races to the shuttle.

I don't see that much room for interpretation here. And it was the logical thing to do before we knew that the pods didn't work.

Back up. They're definitely in the pods.

Linc grabs a prisoner and starts pulling him to a pod.

Nic renders an opinion to mostly to Mal but to anyone that listens, "I'd rather the shuttle to pods for myself, because we should have a little more control over where we go. Either way we can't be caught with this stuff by Imps or Regina cops. We'd be very lucky if they only confiscated it. Any ideas?"

Here, Nic talks about his preferences, but doesn't put anyone in the shuttle. Meanwhile, Linc is actively shoving people into pods.

Linc dumps his prisoner into a lifepod.

"Dump the prisoners into the pods and fire them off! I'll go get the shuttle!" He barked. He repeats the order through his cyberlink to his companions.

Linc puts someone (the same guy? a different guy or gal?) into the pod.

"...Yes, it should definitely be the shuttle."

Malaxius talks about the shuttle. No prisoners are put in the shuttle.

Lincoln "Linc" Forgrave wrote:

Linc dumps his prisoner into a lifepod.

"Dump the prisoners into the pods and fire them off! I'll go get the shuttle!" He barked. He repeats the order through his cyberlink to his companions.

Erryll works to situate the prisoners prior to jettisoning them, and seal them in when he is done. He races to the shuttle.

Here, Erryll acknowledges Linc putting the prisoners in the shuttle and himself seals them in.

So let's not talk about it like the prisoners are some sort of Schrödinger's Cat and the Referee is arbitrarily choosing the escape pods.

Arriving at the shuttle, Zirelle is amazed to see that it is still there, and jumps aboard.

The moment Zirelle is aboard, Linc slammed the throttle up to max, then hit the afterburner.

When Zirelle enters, Malaxius is in the process of berating Linc to just start and save the precious artefacts, before it's too late. He immediately becomes silent and looks like he feels rather guilty.

Since no reference was made to Nic's actions in recovering his Engineering toolkit and everyone directed their communications to other people I'll assume that Nic's oblivious to the plight of the people in the pods.

Nic, pushing his toolkit, comes up right behind Zirelle then get knocked on his behind as the access to the shuttle slams shut and Linc peels on out of the station.

Biting back bad words, Nic orders his suit to activate the mag locks on his boots and anchors himself as best he can until acceleration is cut.

What is the max acceleration of this shuttle and does it even have afterburners (fighters do but why would a shuttle have them?)

What is the max acceleration of this shuttle and does it even have afterburners (fighters do but why would a shuttle have them?)

It is a 30-ton UMW-class "Slow Boat", a common workhorse throughout the Imperium. Despite its name it is in fact much faster than many other non-military craft, with a 3G acceleration.

As Zirelle's timer counts down 20...19...18...17..., Linc is already firing the thrusters when the docking clamps release. The boat, battered and old in appearance but purring like a well-maintained race car, leaps away from the makeshift station and burns for distance. Below, the gorgeous blues and whites of Regina lay spread out like a paradise in the black while above the baleful red glow of the gas giant Assiniboia dominates the sky from horizon to horizon.

Onboard, the motion only becomes perceptible when Linc maneuvers at maximum burn and even then only barely. Despite appearances, Harlen kept his (or Ven Yasha's?) boat in excellent working order.

The comfort of the boat is shattered when the blast wave strikes it as the station explodes in a surprisingly powerful fireball surely visible to sensors throughout the system. Something strikes the boat's stern and the boat shakes violently. A panel rips loose from the wall and bounces down the passenger compartment, bruising Malaxius's knee. A moment later, the rattling stops but lights are flashing and alarms and blaring in the flight station as the lights flicker and one of the boat's three engines flares out and the main nav system starts giving strange signals. The station is gone. There is no sign that any of the escape pods got away from the station.

After about a minute, the nav system rights itself. At least half a dozen incoming communications are vying for your attention on the Comms panel.

What do you do?

Still feeling a bit unwell from his last encounter with zero-g, Malaxius grips his seat as tight as he can, trying not to vomit or black out. When he dares he looks at the storage compartment with a worried glance. When the panel hits his knee he shrieks in pain and surprise.

Relieved that they are all alive, Zirelle goes into damage control mode. She sits down at the comms panel and starts looking through the messages and seeing who they are from.

We probably have to answer someone, especially if it is official, but do we know the designation of this craft or the listed owner? If that information is there, we might be able to bluff. If not, what story are we telling? Found a container out here in the black and were planning on salvage, but it was trapped? Play dumb?

Linc, if you can get us to a dock somewhere, that might give us more options if things go wrong... well, worse.

Still feeling a bit unwell from his last encounter with zero-g, Malaxius grips his seat as tight as he can, trying not to vomit or black out. When he dares he looks at the storage compartment with a worried glance. When the panel hits his knee he shrieks in pain and surprise.

Erryll whirls in place to see what has happened to Mal, but the look on his face is DARK: "Someone should tell me we didn't know those "life" pods were coffins ... "

First I heard of it was when Linc radioed and asked why they weren't launching, and by that time no one had the time to undo what was done. If whoever used them didn't notice, then I'd say their deaths are on the head of the author of the universe and not us. Not sure why the story seems so awful sometimes, but it's the same universe we've been living in this whole time.

Sometimes it works out in our favor and other times it doesn't. If you believe in an afterlife, then those poor sods are probably happier than we are by now. Either way, nothing we can do but go forward, and hope that it all works into a larger tapestry that makes sense.

Everything happens in blur as the craft blasts out, Nic endures the hammering of the thrust. With the craft sounding alarms he too goes into damage control mode but differently than Zirelle. His quick reply to her is "Make up any story you want, you're the professional, they're not likely to believe anything anyway. Do we have a coded response only radio beacon? Might be able to rig one out of my long range transceiver. We have to dump that stuff, if it even breaths ancients stuff the Impy's will deeply interrogate us and will get the truth and then we go out an airlock naked with or without a trial. They don't mess around with Imperial security issues. But I have to work now."

First Nic looks up the specs on this model of slow boat, and then the emergency checklist for it. Later he will plug into the systems and starts working on the problems in order.

Electronic(Computer) 0, EDU +1: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 6) + 1 = 9 Familiar with his database and spacecraft emergency procedures Nic searches for specs. Yep Nic wants the computer to tell him what to do.

Action major; Acquire detailed technical information. Action minor; stand up.

Malaxius' eyes go wide at Nics suggestion, that they get rid of the artefacts.
"Whatever we do - we MUST get away with the statue...there has to be a way! If we fail at this...we will never find out, what this maniac was planning...and why he was somehow convinced that he has 'won'!"
Of course that is not the "real" reason, why he is so adamant. But he suspects that it is more convincing in the circumstances than "... because this is the chance of my life to do, what I always wanted to do!"

Nic sighs again, "Mal you are not listening to what I'm saying. If it is an ancient artifact and we are caught by any Imperial official with it they will take it away and may take out hearts ripped out of our chests with it. Don't you remember the bloodcurdling lecture at the ancient site on Efate? The one where they said if we did find something we had to report it at once and would be rewarded but if we took it we could be charged with high treason and executed. And I don't want to lose it, why do you think I suggested putting a response only beacon on it. Dump it all on a trajectory we know and pick it up a year or so later when we have time to make up a good excuse to be back here. There is a lot of debris out so there is a chance. The less evidence we have on us the better off we are. That is a way. If you have a better, practical, idea, I'll be all ears once we fix this craft well enough not to die here anyway."

It would help to know our options here... who exactly is trying to contact us, and whether there is a port nearby that we can disappear into... or does it have the range to get us out of the vicinity and somewhere else that we can lay low?

Zirelle is reluctant to side with the man who was so recently willing to leave her behind to die, but she spoke up anyway.

We can't let it out of our sight. I was able to hack in and saw a video of that exact statue being given to Harlen by Vlen Backett. A note on the file mentioned a lodge in Alell. I have no idea what it means, but whatever it is, it is important, and letting go of it is a bad idea unless there is no other choice. Let's find out if we have other choices first.

At Zirelle's remarks, Nic says, "As I said have great idea and I'm all for it. However the further we get from the debris field the harder it will be to hide -" Nic breaks off and says, "Vlen Backett? He's the guy that got me my TAS membership. Kinda of a relative. As I recall I think my mother's aunt, the one that stayed on Alell is his stepmother or something. Maybe I can contact him through family and get some help but it would take some time."

Note: As far as I recall no one has mentioned Vlen Backett's death or much of anything to him so he is blindly ignorant. Detailing a section of my long background.

Nic sighs again, "Mal you are not listening to what I'm saying. If it is an ancient artifact and we are caught by any Imperial official with it they will take it away and may take out hearts ripped out of our chests with it. Don't you remember the bloodcurdling lecture at the ancient site on Efate? The one where they said if we did find something we had to report it at once and would be rewarded but if we took it we could be charged with high treason and executed. And I don't want to lose it, why do you think I suggested putting a response only beacon on it. Dump it all on a trajectory we know and pick it up a year or so later when we have time to make up a good excuse to be back here. There is a lot of debris out so there is a chance. The less evidence we have on us the better off we are. That is a way. If you have a better, practical, idea, I'll be all ears once we fix this craft well enough not to die here anyway."

Oh yes - I know these lectures. They have been a constant part of my life for a long time. And at the beginning I was even thinking that this is as it should be - after all: you don't want greedy treasure hunters destroy, what could yield important information. But what do they do with that information, that learning they gain from it? They bury it! At least the parts that actually provide new insight. And I can't let that happen again! I know the risk, believe me. But I also know that it's worth taking! You know: human lives are comparatively easy to reproduce...

...but this is unique! If we destroy it, we loose it forever and with it everything we could have learned from it...
Zirelle, what's with this professor you have been talking about? Could she be trusted not to point the government our way, when we ask her help? As I understood things, she is also very interested in finding out what's behind this. You know how to contact her?