Session 11

Session 11 Notes (Audio Recording available here)

Josh talks about drill space routes. Some highlights include the fact that Zainab to Rannveig has no faster route because it’s not worth it, and that actual normal distances between planets may vary: the map represents spike drive distances only. Not all habitable planets have necessarily been discovered.

4:55: session starts!

Just left Katla system heading for Aethra. The party will arrive on Sunday, the 14th, and arrives at around 6:00PM shipboard time. The party gets a message from the Galactic News Network (GNN), which is labeled Article 1 and is supposedly very recent (this is a faction turn). Lorelai’s lead on Sam was that she was taken by a mogul family named Carden, who lives on Marisa but has a mine on Varvaressos: Rowan’s search for Sam turns up nothing. Rowan does a space Google search on the Cardens and determines they are Earl-level, and gets results for their drilling company. The order of rankings is (in order of descending importance) Duke, Marquee, Earl, Viscount, Baron. The nobility regulates information in the system, and is often accused of corrupting the information.

According to Lorelai, she has the same training as Lorelai and would probably be in a higher role (possibly something diplomatic: she’s “fluent with her tongue”). She had a disagreement with Lorelai’s mother and ran away: she probably wouldn’t be the “top dog”, but would be high up. Lorelai wants to bridge the gap between Sam and her mother. She’s not necessarily hiding, but she hasn’t contacted the family recently (although Sam and Lorelai left on good terms). The party finished their goal of getting to the Aethra system, and starts trying to decide on another short term goal.

The ship gets hailed by a bored guy, hailing from Marisa. Janick informs them that they’re heading to Varvaressos with aid supplies, supplying documentation. The ship gets clearance to land, and gets directions as to what to do. The party decides to hand over the cargo, no questions asked, although the party does have evidence of the contents on shipboard cameras. The party discusses the idea that they could be the “fall guy”, and decides to get rid of the cargo ASAP. Jedidiah will try to convert the officials if they start to pry at all.

The ship heads towards Varvaressos, and there’s an asteroid belt on the way (that Janick is very familiar with). Janick uses the galactic internet to research the situation between the two planets. He gets an advisory that the Marisan authorities have been known to alter data on the network and that they should be warned as they search. Most everything that Janick finds is propaganda, that the two planets are halves as a whole providing the universe with resources for ship building and other things. While going through the asteroid field, the ship gets hailed (by another ship in the field). Janick does a sensor scan from the pilot seat and sees a ship undocked from a nearby asteroid. The ship doesn’t look like its in a hurry, but it looks like they were waiting for something. Janick opens the channel and plays the audio over the ship intercom.

The other ship says they were waiting for us and that we got here fast, and the voice seems very nervous and not-well-spoken. The ship is a frigate-sized ship with weaponry they’re not bothering to hide (a multifocal laser, for sure, and possibly a sandthrower). They mention that the Indeed it Does was supposed to deliver a shipment of foodstuffs. They mention getting there early (and that being lucky), and ask the Indeed it Does to dock on the asteroid, transfer the cargo, and report being robbed. They mention “oafs on Osa Station always forgetting the important stuff” when Janick mentions this contradicting their orders, but mentions accurately the 1500 credits and that there are “resources for the freedom fighters on Varvaressos”.

The captain of the other ship requests a video message. Lorelai asks Rowan if you can do telepathy over video, to which Rowan says no. The pilot is fat and oil stained, trying to look busy. The captain is skinny and tall and wearing what looks like a military uniform, but it’s not a uniform that anyone recognizes. The cockpit is organized and orderly and clean, except for the pilot seat (which has a circle of filth around it): it seems like the captain runs a tight ship, except for the pilot. The captain introduces himself as Simon Ellada, captain of “The Dreams of Large Women”. He mentions the ship having things they need, as freedom fighters, and offers to give an itinerary of all of the items. Simon says the ruse is not for us or them, but for the Marisan nobles “on their ivory thrones”.

Janick wants to hear their side of things, and Simon wants to go back to the asteroid to transfer the cargo. Janick offers to do a lampray lock, but Simon doesn’t think their pilot can do it and says “their crew doesn’t have their 0G legs”. The crew decides to comply, landing on the asteroid as well. By the time the Indeed it Does lands, there’s already someone in a vac suit landed and hailing the party, helping them land. Simon offers to meet on either ship after the cargo is moved. Simon seems like the kind of person to take his appearance very seriously, standing at very rigid attention in his vac suit and wanting to show it at every opportunity. Jedidiah and Lorelai put on Vac suits to transfer the cargo, while Janick remains in the cockpit. The game plan is to push the cargo out of the artificial gravity field into 0G, so that the other ship can use a tow cable to bring the cargo in.

One of the people who came over to help receive the cargo is Simon, and Lorelai offers to have him on the Indeed it Does after. Lorelai also asks Janick to take cookies out of the freezer. The transfer works, and then a squat, rotund man moon-shuffles his way across the asteroid to the ship. The ship is re-pressurized and Jedidiah/Lorelai take off their vac suits: Simon and the other guy keep their suits on, but take off their helmets. Simon seems older, approximately 50 or 55, as if he served in the military and wants everyone to know it. The pilot looks “like Severus Snape, if he put on 200 pounds”. The crew decides to meet in the crew lounge, where there are cookies warming up in the microwave. Everyone but Aquila (who goes to engineering) is there.

Simon pulls out a data slab, which he uses to project two planets orbiting each other. He goes into a talk (that he’s obviously given before) about the history of Marisa and Varvaressos, and how Varvaressos used to be a beautiful world that was more and more heavily strip mined as it was found to be mineral-rich. The ecosystem fell apart on itself, and the people digging the planet dry made the planet unstable and made it lose its biosphere (turning it into a desert wasteland). There are still outposts on the surface where people live, but each is lorded over by nobility appointed by the royal family. The largest outpost (the capital) is named Malleus. Over the decades, the living conditions on Varvaressos have gotten worse, and the conditions on Marisa have gotten better for a smaller number of people. There have been uprisings before, but it’s hard for Varvaressos to find funding for a revolution with its resources, and so the freedom fighters look for allies from surrounding systems. Simon just wants to get people off of Varvaressos and replace their labor with robots: no killing of nobility. The nobility has limited the technology allowed on Varvaressos to TL3, except in special cases where the workers are under heavy supervision.

Janick asks how the party can help. Simon says that he and Marthus (the leaders of the freedom fighters) have been devising a plan and acquiring equipment, but that they need a catalyst. Simon mentions planting seeds on Marisa, and asks the party to spread information on Marisa and get people on the planet. The party agrees, and Simon hands Janick a data chip with coordinates for a cell of freedom fighters to meet. Simon makes the payment of 1500 credits, discusses further payment for further services, and the crew decides to proceed. Simon gives a weird salute, heads to the airlock, mentions being able to evacuate the site if needed, and leaves.

A Marisan military ship starts coming towards the ships, claiming forged cargo manifests and broken laws. The Dreams of Large Women starts jamming signals and tells the crew this, but says that they will be able to broadcast once they leave the belt. The party decides to engage in ship combat.