Ownership of the March Harrier

The subsidy contract complicates things, but to a first approximation, the March Harrier is owned half by the subsidy holder and half by the crew.  (Any crew members who bought Merchant Rank 1 or higher at the start of the campaign were part owners.  Any crew members without Merchant Rank, and any crew members who joined later, were just employees.)

At the start of the campaign, the March Harrier's ownership was:

• Aramis Trace Commercial Development Trust, LIC (Duke of Rhylanor) 50%
• Captain Dale Conan Wilder: 12.5%
• First Officer Randal Dorsainvil: 12.5%
• Second Officer John Matrix: 12.5%
• Engineer/Medic Everett de Clisson: 12.5%

After Randal Dorsainvil left the crew (to get married and join his new wife's crew), the other crew owners split his shares evenly, resulting in revised ownership:

• Aramis Trace Commercial Development Trust, LIC (Duke of Rhylanor) 50%
• Captain Dale Conan Wilder: 16.7%
• Second Officer John Matrix: 16.7%
• Engineer/Medic Everett de Clisson: 16.7%

After Oberlindes Lines bought the March Harrier's subsidy contract from the Aramis Trace Commercial Development Trust LIC, ownership was updated to:

• Oberlindes Lines 50%
• Captain Dale Conan Wilder: 16.7%
• Second Officer John Matrix: 16.7%
• Engineer/Medic Everett de Clisson: 16.7%

After Captain Dale Conan Wilder died (of a machine pistol bullet to the forehead while attempting to rescue Lisa Fireau and Gvoudzon from Vemene kidnappers) and his will (pending completion of probate or any other legal challenges) divided his share of the ship evenly among the surviving crew, ownership became:

• Oberlindes Lines 50%
• Captain John Matrix: 20%
• Engineer/Medic Everett de Clisson: 20%
• First Officer Sacha Bright: 3.3%
• Steward Ganidiirsi Ashran: 3.3%
• Chief Security Officer Gvoudzon: 3.3%

March Harrier Session 7: Island Stakeout

Player Characters:

Everett de Clisson (Adam), Medic and Engineer

Ganidiirsi Ashran (Ben), Steward and Cargomaster

John Matrix (Nick), Broker and Navigator

Sacha Bright (ChaoticNeutral), Temporary First Officer and Pilot

PCs Temporarily Run by the GM:

Gvoudzon, Vargr Gunner and Pilot

Dale Conan Wilder, Captain

Significant NPCs:

Lisa Fireau, Fireau et Fille Winery Co-Owner

Boris Dree, Fireau et Fille Employee

Lorn Denveldt, Tukera Lines Employee

Jelisa Chan, disgraced Akerut Engineer

Marc hault-Oberlindes, CEO, Oberlindes Lines

Commander Eneri Giilaan, Imperial Naval Intelligence

Detective Carter Voight, Imperial Starport Authority

Lord Magistrate Vernor, Klavisur politician

Dates: 

325-1105 to 332-1105

Worlds:

Aramanx/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3005)

After the ransom note arrived, there was no longer any doubt that Lisa Fireau had been kidnapped.  Detective Voight was handling the investigation for the starport, but had no jurisdiction planet-side.  He indicated that extradition from Klavisur would be difficult, as Klavisur was not a member of the Imperium and women had few rights there.  However, he was willing to share some information.  He had security footage of Lisa Fireau unsteadily boarding the a shuttle to Ulfrey, Klavisur along with Lorn Denveldt, a woman who Gani was sure was Jelika Chan, and other two large men.  He was also willing to let the crew talk to the pilot and steward of the shuttle.  The steward remembered that Fireau had appeared wobbly when boarding, and that she hadn't said anything.

Boris Dree advocated for getting in touch with Lisa's father Gustav Fireau on Zila, and seeing if he was willing and able to pay the random. Zila was 3 parsecs away, so Boris wanted to find a fast ship to get there and back quickly, before the kidnappers got impatient.  Marc Oberlindes contacted the crew, indicating that he had heard of the kidnapping and offering to help.  Boris asked if there was any way Oberlindes could get him to Zila quickly, and Oberlindes agreed to make a fast courier available.  Boris boarded the courier, and asked the crew not to try anything rash until he got back, unless it appeared to be the only option.

Captain Wilder's Navy contact Eneri Giilaan told him that it appeared Lisa might have been taken to Zenfalen Island, a small fishing island off the coast of Klavisur, owned by Lord Magistrate Vernor, a powerful Klavisur politician.

The kidnappers contacted the March Harrier again over a video feed, with the only person visible being Lisa Fireau, who was sitting in a sunny formal room, alive and apparently unharmed, holding a copy of that day's Ulfrey's Daily Truth newspaper.  (Aramanx was at the tech level where paper periodicals were still popular.)  The captain called the crew to the bridge to watch and try to find clues.  A disguised female voice indicated that the kidnappers would wait 3 weeks, not a day longer, to hear whether the MCr 20 ransom would be paid.  Then the sound muted for a minute.  The female voice returned, saying that the Vargr emissary must be the one to deliver the ransom.

The crew decided to check out Zenfalen Island and see if they could find Lisa.  They left Gvoudzon on the March Harrier, thinking the Vargr might stand out too much on the small fishing island.  First they went looking for a grav vehicle, but they only found one Air/Raft listed for sale on planet of Aramanx, for about double the usual price.  Deciding not to spend that much, they instead boarded a commercial shuttle to Ulfrey, then took a jet aircraft to Ulrach on the coast.  They then nosed around the docks looking for a fishing boat who could take them to Zenfalen.  The first captain they found indicated that he would indeed be going that way in a couple of days.  The crew offered to pay a lot more to leave immediately, and the captain was motivated to find a couple of crew members and leave within an hour.

The ride to Zenfalen on the low-tech fishing boat was mostly uneventful, with the highlight of the voyage being Everett actually catching a fish.  The crew disembarked and went looking for a hotel.  There were two on the island: the Grand Zenfalen Hotel (expensive) and the Fisherman's Rest (cheap).  They chose the cheap option, then visited a general store to buy some local clothing.  They walked around the island a bit, seeing the main docks, the town of Falenza, the dormant volcano, the star-shaped Klavisur Army fortress, and a few outlying villas and farm houses.  

The crew decided to split up and snoop around the island at night.  The most interesting thing they found was that a large villa in the northeast of the island had unexpectedly heavy security, with a high wall and a circling guard.  Gani scoped out the villa from a distance with his night vision gear, but avoided risking detection.  The next day, the crew watched the road to the villa and saw a couple of men with gun bulges under their clothing returning from the villa to the Grand Zenfalen Hotel, and then an older man with a cart bringing supplies to the villa.  

Further investigation showed that there were four men staying at the hotel and working at the villa in shifts.  Searching their hotel rooms found a high-tech tablet (locked) and some clothing.  Following the delivery man to a bar and buying him drinks gave some information: the villa belonged to Lord Magistrate Vernor himself, but he was rarely there, as he spent most of his time at the capital.  Besides the guards, at least one female guest was staying at the villa, but the delivery man didn't know her name.  She did not match Lisa Fireau's description.

The crew used their long-range laser communicator to contact the March Harrier in orbit, so that Gvoudzon and Captain Wilder could do some research for them.  Gvoudzon found video of Lord Magistrate Vernor giving a speech in the Klavisur Parliament in Ulfrey the day before.  The crew waited until night and then Gani used his grav belt to spy on the villa from above.  He saw a guard outside the wall, a guard inside the wall, and a guard inside the villa's central courtyard.  Most of the windows were closed.  He threw some rocks at a shuttered window, and a few minutes later the shutters opened and a man who looked like Lorn Denveldt stuck his head out, as a guard came over to investigate and Gani hid on the roof.

The presence of Lorn Denveldt was enough that the crew thought it was likely that Lisa Fireau was held nearby, but they were out of ideas for safe information gathering, so the next day they got back on the fishing board back to the mainland, then took a jet back to Ulfrey and a shuttle back to the highport.  They still had about 11 days remaining until Boris Dree's return and the deadline for paying the ransom.

GM's Notes:

This session ended up being mostly medium-tech information gathering on a low-tech planet.  The crew had night vision capabilities and a grav belt, which were helpful, but they did not manage to find Lisa Fireau.  However, they found Lorn Denveldt, one of her kidnappers, which they thought was close enough.

March Harrier Session 6: Bureaucratic Infighting

Player Characters:

Everett de Clisson (Adam), Medic and Engineer

Ganidiirsi Ashran (Ben), Steward and Cargomaster

John Matrix (Nick), Broker and Navigator

Sacha Bright (ChaoticNeutral), Temporary First Officer and Pilot

PCs Temporarily Run by the GM:

Gvoudzon, Vargr Gunner and Pilot

Dale Conan Wilder (Phil), Captain

Significant NPCs:

Lisa Fireau, Fireau et Fille Winery Co-Owner

Boris Dree, Fireau et Fille Employee

Chelsea Vilchis, Receptionist at the Department of Commerce

Lorn Denveldt, Tukera Lines Employee

Marc hault-Oberlindes, CEO, Oberlindes Lines

Dates: 

286-1105 to 325-1105

Worlds:

Zila/Aramis (Spinward Marches 2908)

Aramanx/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3005)

The March Harrier landed on Zila.  The crew spent a couple of days at the starport, doing their best to keep out of trouble after their arrest last time on Zila.  But they did not quickly find any passengers or cargo, and Gvoudzon got bored and went looking for something to do.  He found that Fireau et Fille, a renowned winery, had a free wine tasting at a location in the suburbs of Crescence, near the starport.  Free wine sounded good to the whole crew, so they renewed their Zila standby legal insurance and then took the train out to the winery.

The wine was excellent, though the small winery was a bit crowded.  A woman eventually approached the crew, saying she's overheard they had a starship, and wondering if they were interested in work.  She was Lisa Fireau, the "Fille" in FIreau et Fille, and she said that the winery's exclusive interstellar distribution agreement with Tukera Lines was about to expire, and that Tukera was buying up land on Zila and looked to be making a play to take over the wine market, so she and her father wanted to end the agreement with Tukera and go independent.  However, they were worried about Tukera's response, as Tukera had stockpiled a lot of Zilan wine and could possibly flood the market and put Fireau out of business.  Fireau had one advantage: a large and fine vintage of eiswein, a very rare wine that should sell for a large profit.  Lisa asked the March Harrier to get the eiswein to Aramanx without Tukera finding out, at which point she should be able to auction it for enough money to keep Fireau solvent.  She offered 10% of the sale price, and said it was important to leave within two weeks, to get the payment in time to make a tax collection deadline.

Unfortunately, after having Tukera handle all their exports for decades, nobody at Fireau knew the exact process to legally ship their own wine off-planet.  Furthermore, she didn't think it was safe to ship the wine from the main winery 2000 km away to the starport, as she feared Tukera intercepting the shipment.  So she was counting on the crew to handle all the legalities to let the March Harrier land at the winery, pick up the wine, and fly it to Aramanx.  She helped out by identifying five forms that she thought were required.  Form 117: Special Landing Permit, would allow landing the March Harrier to land at the winery.  Form 82a, Customs Declaration/Export Authorization, would allow shipping the wine offworld.  Form 29, Waiver for Pre-Launch Inspection, would allow taking off again after landing away from the starport.  Form 106, Local Landing Permit, was required to allow landing in Polykarp  Province, where the winery was located.  Finally, form 11/2, Application for Visa, was required to let Lisa Fireau and her employee Boris Dree leave Zila and return.

Lisa also knew of a few government and non-government organizations that might be able to help.  The Zila Trade Authority (ZTA) in Crescence dealt with imports and exports.  The Bureau of Offworld Affairs (BOA) in Crescence worked with offworld corporations and individuals.  The Department of Commerce (DoC) in Crescence was in charge of all commercial and economic affairs.  The Zila Port Authority (ZPA) at the starport was the Imperial Starport Authority (SPA) office on Zila, in charge of the starport.  The Polykarp Provincial Government Administrative Offices (PGAO) in Amali was in charge of local affairs in Polykarp.  The Imperial Consulate (IC) in North Crescence was the Imperial diplomatic center on Zila.  Finally, the Merchants' Guild (MG) at the starport was an association to help offworld merchants.

Given five forms to procure and a large number of possible offices to visit, the crew split up.  The Captain stayed at the starport and prepared the March Harrier for travel.  The others alternated between telephone calls and visits to the five offices they thought might handle the appropriate forms.  First they called the ZPA, and the receptionist there said their organization handled Form 29.  They also tried calling the PGAO, but didn't manage to talk to the clerk who knew about Form 106 before the office closed.

The next day Gani called the PGAO again, who said they had Form 106, but it required a local visit.  Sacha volunteered to take a plane trip to Amali in Polykarp Province to deal with that office.  Everett called his lawyer to see if he or any other lawyer at his firm could handle the forms, but they appeared to only do criminal work.  The crew visited the DoC in person and Gani met a very cute receptionist named Chelsea, who referred him to several officials who might be able to help, and also agreed to have dinner with him.  One clerk named Ditha was no help.  However, they also talked to a more helpful clerk named Randy, who extracted a small "cash only expediting fee" and produced a blank Form 17, but said it took 1-6 weeks to get approved through channels.  Told the crew needed it faster than that, he referred them to a supervisor named Lee.  Gani and Chelsea had dinner at a Vargr restaurant, which was not very authentic.

On the third day of the job, Gani called the BOA to get information about forms and scheduled an appointment with a supervisor named Joshua.  John met with the supervisor Lee at the DoC, who got him a meeting with Eneri, the Assistant to the Administrator, who could sign Form 17.  Sacha got on a jet airliner and flew to Amali in Polykarp Province, near the main winery.

On day four, Gani met with Joshua, who referred him to Zebulon, the Trade Relations Coordinator.  Meanwhile, in Polykarp Province, Sacha met with a receptionist named Lo, who got him a copy of Form 106 and a meeting with District Administrator Kynon, who could sign it.  That afternoon, Gani and John also managed to get Form 29 signed by Tamsin, a supervisor at the ZPA.

On the fifth day, the crew met with Zebulon "call me Mr. Askvig", who signed Form 82a, after they visited the receptionist Lizab to get the form.  Lisa Fireau called the crew to tell them she had been threatened by an anonymous person.  The Captain appointed Gvoudzon to take charge of ship's security in case of sabotage or hijacking attempts.

On the sixth day, Gani thought he was being followed by a couple of suspicious individuals.  He called his lawyer, who directed him to their nearby office.  While in the office, he took a photo of one of the followers, then went out the back door into a waiting taxi, which took him back to the starport's XT line.  Back on the March Harrier, Gani tried to find out who the tail was using the ship's databases, but didn't get a hit.  He and Gvoudzon used the ship's computer to make some wanted posters accusing the man of various crimes, and then printed out a bunch of copies, which they could later dump out the hatch before leaving the planet.

Sacha's appointment with Kynon happened on the seventh day, at which point he got Form 106 signed.  On the eighth day, the crew got another signature from General Supervisor Verrill at the DoC on Form 82a, and at that point they thought they were legal.  Lisa was getting nervous and asked to meet the crew in person on the ship.  She asked that they fly to the winery, load the cargo, and leave the planet as soon as possible, before the threats of violence escalated further.  The Captain agreed to leave the next day, and the crew called Sacha and asked him to meet them at the winery.

On the ninth day, Sacha took a taxi from his hotel to the winery and started working with the Fireau employees on a cargo loading plan.  Meanwhile the Captain got the ship fully fueled and then the March Harrier took off for the winery, taking a rather roundabout route required to avoid all commercial air corridors.  After landing, the crew and the Fireau employees loaded 150 dtons of wine onto the ship as quickly as possible.  Some police showed up outside the winery just as the loading finished, but Lisa had her local employees deal with them while the ship took off.  The March Harrier got off Zila without further problems.

Getting to Aramanx first required a double-jump to Carsten, which went smoothly.  Since they wanted to reach Aramanx quickly, the ship just refueled from the ocean on Carsten (because it was closer than the gas giant) and then took off again and jumped for Aramanx.

Arriving at Aramanx Highport, the crew found that all the long-term berths were full, so the ship would have to park in orbit near the port and take the launch back and forth to the port, except when actually unloading the cargo.  Still worried about security, the Captain asked Gvoudzon to keep an eye open for trouble.  Meanwhile, Lisa and Boris, with Sacha helping, started setting up a wine auction.  Lisa invited multiple merchants, but not Tukera, to bid at an auction for the wine in three days.

When the auction started, Lorn Denveldt of Tukera showed up, despite Fireau's attempts to exclude the company.  He was representing three merchants who did have invitations, and the auctioneer ruled that he could stay.  Bids started at Cr 150 per bottle (KCR 22.5 per dton) and rapidly rose to Cr 225 per bottle.  At Cr 250 per bottle, it appeared that Tukera might win, but then a new bidder appeared in the back of the room.  It was Marc Oberlindes, and he escalated the bidding all the way to Cr 310 per bottle.  At that point Denveldt asked for a hold on the auction while he got authorization to bid higher, but the auctioneer denied the request.  The total load went for a bit over MCr 8, leaving the March Harrier's 10% share over KCr 800.

The crew attempted to use the March Harrier's sensors to see if the Wolblutn could still be seen on the surface of Aramanx, at the mining camp in Renitza.  They failed to find it.

With the initial sale completed and enough money raised to keep the company afloat, Lisa stayed at Aramanx Highport setting up future wine deals.  Still concerned about security, she stayed on the March Harrier and took the launch to the starport.  However, one evening she failed to appear for the trip back to the ship.  Her employee, Boris Dree, indicated that it wasn't like her to not show up or answer calls, and asked the crew to help look for her.  Some investigation showed that Lisa had gotten on a shuttle to the nation of Klavisur, along with two men and a woman.  A few hours later, a message was sent to the March Harrier, saying "If you wish to see Fireau alive again, arrange payment of Cr 20,000,000.  You will be contacted."

We stopped at that point.

GM's Notes:

The Zilan bureaucracy paperwork challenge was one of the more annoying quests I've run in any RPG, but the players handled it well, using reaction rolls, Streetwise, bribery, and Sex Appeal.  After the profitable charter to Paya followed up by a profitable wine run, the ship is doing very well financially.

Interstellar Mail Order in Traveller

I haven't seen Traveller rules for interstellar mail order.  What if you don't have time to visit a high-tech or low-law-level world where the gizmo of your dreams can be found?  Can you get a merchant there to ship it to you?

The trivial case is same-world mail order.  On any world high-tech enough to have a datanet (TL8+) or at least a telephone system (TL6+) and with enough population to have a reasonable number of merchants (Population code 4+, or at least 10000 people), there should be mail order businesses, selling any products that are legal on that world.  Cost should be roughly the same as that of visiting a store, possibly with some additional shipping costs, especially for larger items.

But it gets more complicated across interstellar distances.  The customer needs a copy of the store's recent catalog.  This should be relatively easy to find, at least for larger merchants who broadcast xmail out their catalogs to all nearby systems regularly.  The customer then needs to send an xmail to place the order, along with sufficient funds.  If the customer's current location and the merchant's world have a bank in common (which should be the case for any high-TL high-population worlds within a subsector or so), then the customer can deposit their Imperial credits at the local bank and send an interstellar money order along with their order, typically for a 1% fee.  (If the buyer actually has an account at that bank, they might reduce or even waive the fee.)  The xmail costs the typical Cr 10 / parsec, and typically moves at around Jump 2, faster along xboat routes and major trade routes, slower between backwater planets.

Once the merchant receives the order and the payment, they can ship the goods, assuming they're still available and the price hasn't increased.  Shipping for large items runs at the rates given in GURPS Traveller Interstellar Wars: Cr 700 per dton per parsec on minor trade routes or better, or Cr 800 per dton per parsec on branch routes.  Shipping for smaller items runs into minimum fees: Cr 100 per parsec.  Freight typically moves at about Jump 1, as most cargo ships are Jump 2 but spend about half their time in-system rather than in jump.

That assumes the recipient will be staying put on a known planet.  If they expect their cargo to chase them down, there will be extra time and expense.  First, they'll have to send periodic xmails to update their own location, so their goods can be forwarded.  Second, they'll have to pay for any extra hops their cargo takes, at the usual price.  Third, if they want to be updated on the current location of their items, they need to pay for more xmails, from the item's location to all the worlds they might be.  It all adds up, so it's probably simpler to ship to a world the buyer visits regularly, and pay for storing the item there.  Storage fees for large items can add up: the standard rate at starports is Cr 2 per dton per day, with a Cr 1 per day minimum for small items.

March Harrier Session 5: War on Aramanx

Player Characters:

Everett de Clisson (Adam), Medic and Engineer

Ganidiirsi Ashran (Ben), Steward and Cargomaster

John Matrix (Nick), Broker and Navigator

Sacha Bright (ChaoticNeutral), Temporary First Officer and Pilot

PCs Temporarily Run by the GM:

Gvoudzon, Vargr Gunner and Pilot

Dale Conan Wilder (Phil), Captain

Significant NPCs:

Randall Dorsainvil, First Officer of the March Harrier

Fenna Song, Captain of the Margin of Profit

Cai Calula, Chosen of Cratersea

Lana Calula, Cai's sister

Celia Bailee, Lana's surrogate mother

Thoren Soner, Cai's bodyguard

Roet Bannerji, Captain of the Wolblutn

Jeffry Marte, Sternmetal Horizons employee

Kfouzorr, ex-member of the Kforuzeng

Eneri Giilaan, Imperial Naval Intelligence officer

Dates: 

192-1105 to 286-1105

Worlds:

Aramanx/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3005)

Carsten/Aramis (Spinward Marches 2906)

Heguz/Aramis (Spinward Marches 2706)

Violante/Aramis (Spinward Marches 2708)

Paya/Aramis (Spinward Marches 2509)

Violante/Aramis (Spinward Marches 2708)

Zila/Aramis (Spinward Marches 2908)

Everett, Gani, John, Sacha, and Gvoudzon started the session in Seniek, the capital of the nation of Senled on the balkanized world of Aramanx.  Their goal was to reach the remote border city of Tavanix and find Captain Bannerji.  They considered renting a car or taking the train, but it would be a three-day ground trip, so they bought airplane tickets instead.  The plane was grounded for several hours due to reports of aerial incursions over the border, but eventually reached their destination.  In Tavanix, the crew looked for the Sternmetal Horizons party that Bannerji was with.  A solider in a bar told Gani that he'd seen the Sternmetal reps at the Provincial Governor's Mansion, which was the temporary seat of local martial government.  Sacha made a phone call and managed to get an appointment at the Mansion to meet with the Sternmetal party.  The crew rented a ground vehicle and headed to the Mansion.

While waiting for their meeting, the crew saw an argument break out.  A Vargr was yelling at a Senledi army officer, who was ordering soliders to take the Vargr prisoner.  Gvoudzon recognized the Vargr as his friend Kfouzorr, and the crew joined Gvoudzon in trying to get the officer to listen to Kfouzorr's story.  Kfouzorr had deserted from the Kforuzeng mercenaries serving the rival nation of Lanax.  He said that he had been on the staff of Thane Dhurgeng, a batallion commander, but had decided to leave rather than being subjected to further blows to his charisma.  He had come bringing information on the mercenaries' plans, in exchange for asylum and transport.  Kfouzorr continued that the mercenaries were about to launch a raid to try to capture the Sternmetal representatives and destroy the local Senledi forces.  He thought the Sternmetal group were to be bargaining chips in upcoming negotiations.  The officer decided to pass Kfouzorr's story to higher authority, and level to find his commander.

The crew, with Kfouzorr and some soliders in tow, went for their meeting with Bannerji and the other Sternmetal representative.  Bannerji looked surprised to see them, but before discussion started, sounds of machine guns and artillery fire could be heard.  The Mansion was under attack!  The soldiers hit the deck and the crew hid under the conference table.  Bannerji and the other Sternmetal employee were slower to react, and when the ceiling started coming down, both were pinned under rubble.  When the explosions stopped, Bannerji was screaming for help.  The crew and one of the soldiers worked together to unpin Bannerji, while the other soldiers left the room.  Everett began first aid, including splinting a broken leg.  The other Sternmetal employee was dead.  The crew asked Kfouzorr for more details of the attack, and he said it was a pincher with two armored columns trying to cut Tavanix off from the rest of Senled.  The crew decided to rush back to their vehicle and try to get out of the war zone.  Bannerji begged them to bring him along, which they were happy to do.  Everett inspected the other Sternmetal rep to make sure he was dead, and took his wallet, which contained a Sternmetal business card identifying him as Jeffry Marte.

Reaching the parking lot, the crew saw that all vehicles that had been there were gone except for two, both of which were badly damaged.  Their own rental car was upside down.  The crew took a quick look to see if it was repairable, but there was no chance without major parts and a lot of time.  They decided to head back to town and look for another vehicle, carrying Bannerji.  Kfouzorr asked for a minute to grab something from the Mansion, and came back with a bolt-action rifle and some ration packs.

After some walking, the group reached Tavinax, and saw a huge traffic jam, with all roads heading north out of town toward the rest of Senled completely backed up.  The crew approached a man in an off-road vehicle and said that they needed to take it for military reasons.  He didn't seem to believe them, but he was outnumbered and they had guns, so he abandoned his vehicle and ran away.  Bannerji said that his ship was hidden in a mining camp across the Renitza border, and if they could get him there, he could get them offworld.  The roads toward the border were clear, so the group headed that way, though they stayed off the roads as much as possible.  There were some primitive rotary-wing aircraft patrolling the area, but nothing took a shot at their civilian vehicle.

While heading toward the border, the crew started asking Bannerji questions.  He revealed what he'd been doing with Sternmetal: smuggling lanthanum to evade the Navy's price caps on domestic lanthanum.  He had been picking up lanthanum in Patinir, then bringing it to Aramanx and hiding, while forging documents to make it look like the Wolblutn had gone to Scangen in the Vargr Extents and bought the lanthanum there.  He said the missile attack on the shuttle that found his ship in Patinir Belt had been an accident: he had only meant to fire a warning shot, but had hit the wrong button and accidentally nuked the shuttle.

The crew reached the Renitza border and found the gates closed and guarded by Renitzan troops.  Everett and Banerji produced Sternmetal IDs and said they needed to get back to their ship in Renitza.  The story worked and the vehicle was let through.  However, once past the border area, Everett said that going to Bannerji's ship was a bad idea, as there might be an ambush waiting for them, and they should instead just head for a spaceport and get a shuttle back to the highport.  There was no spaceport in Renitza, but if they drove north far enough, they could then cross back into Senled away from the battle zone, and head for the spaceport in Seniek.  They stopped at a fuel station for directions, and the attendant there said that Senledi border guards were notoriously corrupt and demanded bribes of alcohol to cross, and he happened to sell the kind of alcohol they liked.  It was cheap, so the crew bought some, and then refused to give any to Bannerji.

After several hours of driving north, they headed west for Senled.  The border was closed except for citizens, but Sacha pulled out his fake Senled citizen ID and told a (mostly true) story about trying to get out of the war zone and back home.  The story combined with a bribe of alcohol worked, and they were back in Senled.  When they reached the nearest airport, they found it jammed full of people trying to get away from the border.  It would have been a long wait for a flight, but there was a long-distance communicator at the airport that could send a message to Captain Wilder at the highport.  He responded that he would try to get permission to come get them in the launch, and an hour later the launch arrived.  The crew plus Kfouzorr, Bannerji, and two random people who were willing to pay for the two empty seats piled into the launch.

Reaching the highport, the Captain discharged the two paying passengers and instructed the crew to keep an eye on Bannerji, then left to contact his Navy contact.  A bit later, the Navy officer appeared to collect Bannerji.  He later returned to question the crew members and Kfouzorr about what Bannerji had confessed.  A couple of days later, the Captain called a meeting of the crew and handed out some reward money to everyone involved, plus some cards with Imperial Navy logos identifying the bearers as good citizens.

A couple days later, the Captain called a meeting of all owners of the March Harrier.  The ship's First Officer, Randall Dorsainvil, had xmailed Captain Wilder letting him know that he was engaged to Fenna Song, the Captain of the Margin of Profit, and would like to remain on that ship permanently.  The Captain's suggestion was offering Randall KCr 100 for his share of the ship.  On the one hand that was a very low offer because the ship was worth a lot more, but on the other hand Randall would be leaving the crew, and his ownership share had been contingent on being a crew member.  So the Captain thought that would be a fair offer.  The other owners agreed, and the Captain sent off an xmail.

Cai Calula, the ship's VIP passenger, was ready to resume his trip to Paya.  However, Everett thought he saw an angle and wanted to meet with the Navy officer to see if there was any chance of going back to the surface, seizing Bannerji's ship, giving the lanthanum and evidence to the Navy, and keeping the ship as a reward.  The officer took the meeting but said that the matter was above his pay grade and it would take a few weeks to get an answer from the brass.  After some discussion among the crew, they decided to give up on grabbing the Wolblutn and resume their trip to Paya.  Kfouzorr stayed on Aramanx Highport, after telling Gvoudzon that he was going to use his reward money to find passage as far away from the Kforuzeng as possible.

The trip to Carsten was fairly uneventful.  While there, Gani found some ammo for his gyroc weapon.  The March Harrier then double-jumped to Heguz, a water world where two different colonies had mysteriously disappeared over the last few centuries.  The third group of colonists were inhabiting a space station and trying to investigate the planet from orbit before trying again.  With no gas giant in the system and no fuel for sale on the station, the March Harrier risked a trip to the surface to refuel from the ocean, and managed not to be eaten by any sea monsters.

The March Harrier then double-jumped to Violante, an estate world owned by a small number of nobles from Deneb sector.  While there, John finally found a decent price for the howood they'd been carrying since Pysadi, and Gani set up the March Harrier's ATV as a food truck and made a bit of money selling food outside the starport.

The ship then double-jumped for Paya.  On the way, Cai Calula announced that he thought the March Harrier was a quaint and fun ship and would be an excellent addition to his collection.  He offered MCr 250 for the ship, well above its value.  However, the crew did not actually have clear title to the ship, as the subsidy holders were also owners.  Also, Calula indicated that the crew would need to stay with the ship and become his employees, and nobody really wanted to work for him.  The Captain held a meeting of the owners, who decided not to entertain the offer.

The March Harrier landed directly at Cai Calula's spaceport at Cratersea, rather than at Paya's main starport.  Someone goaded Calula into flying the G-Carrier out of the cargo hold himself; fortunately he managed to do so without breaking anything.  The ATVs, ketch, and fighter jet were also offloaded, and the crew was free of their charter.  They headed to the orbital highport to look for other passengers and cargo, and did find some mail heading for Violante, but nothing else.

Jumping back to Violante, the pilot asked John and Sacha whether they should head for Heguz or Zila.  Sacha immediately said Heguz because he hated Zila after his bogus arrest, but John said that Zila had better commercial prospects and they just needed to be careful there to avoid getting arrested.  Captain Wilder agreed and said maybe it would be safer to just stay inside the XT Zone on Zila.  The March Harrier then jumped toward Zila, and the session ended.

GM's Notes:

The players surprised me by first carjacking a vehicle and then heading for a spaceport instead of for the Wolblutn, but their plans were solid enough, and their rolls good enough, that their plan worked out.  Of course later they regretted not taking the Wolblutn, but at least they got out of the war zone and off of Aramanx safely.

The charter with Cai Calula was quite profitable, putting enough money in the operating fund to try to buy out Randall and keep the ship going for at least a few more months.  It could have been even more profitable if they'd sold the March Harrier to him, but being a spoiled rich boy's personal crew didn't seem like fun to anyone.  

March Harrier Session 4: Anolas, a Charter, and a Bannerji Sighting

Player Characters:

Everett de Clisson (Adam), Medic and Engineer

Ganidiirsi Ashran (Ben), Steward and Cargomaster

John Matrix (Nick), Broker and Navigator

Sacha Bright (ChaoticNeutral), Temporary First Officer and Pilot

PCs Temporarily Run by the GM:

Gvoudzon, Vargr Gunner and Pilot

Dale Conan Wilder (Phil), Captain

Significant NPCs:

Randall Dorsainvil, First Officer of the March Harrier

Fenna Song, Captain of the Margin of Profit

Arrlanroughl, VP of Oberlindes Lines

Maddox Kader, lawyer on Zila

5 Anolas

Professor Lars Dagiran, University of Junidy

Lizab Diiringer, University of Junidy

Cai Calula, Chosen of Cratersea

Lana Calula, Cai's sister

Celia Bailee, Lana's surrogate mother

Thoren Soner, Cai's bodyguard

2 Human Terrorists

4 Llellewyloly Terrorists

Roet Bannerji, Captain of the Wolblutn

Anonymous Naval Intelligence source

Dates: 

131-1105 to 192-1105

Worlds:

Junidy/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3202)

Towers/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3103)

Nasemin/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3003)

Aramanx/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3005)

The March Harrier landed on Junidy, the highest-population world in the Aramis subsector.  They offloaded a major cargo and a low passenger.  There were a couple of xmails for them in the system.  One was from Randall to the captain, indicating that he and Captain Song were still imprisoned on Zila (as of the time of sending, several weeks ago) but their lawyer said they would have their trial soon and should be released.  The other was from Arrlanroughl to Sacha, indicating that a ship with drive parts had been sent to Zila to repair the Margin of Profit and asking whether he was planning to head back toward Zila to resume his job with Oberlindes Lines.  Sacha chose not to answer the xmail yet.

Gvoudzon still appeared unnaturally obsessed with the anolas, so the crew set about finding a buyer for the anolas to get them off the ship.  Posting them on the local electronic merchant boards got a bunch of instant low-bidder offers from bots.  Over the next couple of days, some better offers came in, from merchants and an exotic pet dealer and a University professor.  The offer from the professor asked to visit the University of Junidy South Continental Campus Psychology Building in person, so most of the crew boarded a crowded high-speed monorail and visited the campus.  They left Gvoudzon and the Anolas behind in the care of the captain.  When they met Professor Dagiran, he indicated that the psychology department would like to acquire the anolas to conduct non-invasive research, and offered KCr 50.  He also asked whether any crew members were exhibiting odd psychological symptoms and offered diagnosis and treatement.  The crew mentioned Gvoudzon's symptoms.  John was a bit concerned about high medical bills, but the professor assured the group that the cost of any treatment would be included in the purchase price for the anolas.  Everyone except Everett agreed to a quick examination, and the professor indicated that those examined only showed mild symptoms from exposure to the anolas.  The group came to an agreement, and the professor sent his grad student, Lizab Diiringer, back to the March Harrier with the crew to take a look at Gvoudzon and fetch the anolas.

John and Gani decided that the professor had taken their offer a bit too quickly, so decided to make up a fake counter offer to try to get more cash.  Lizab took a quick look at Gvoudzon and suggested that he go back to the University for treatment, as he was clearly afflicted with something.  She called the professor, then indicated that he would like them all to come back to the University so he could take a look at Gvoudzon and the anolas in person.  Lizab unfolded a high-tech pet carrier for the anolas, and they took another monorail ride.  After some negotiation, the price for the anolas was raised to KCr 80 and it was agreed that Gvoudzon would receive treatment.  Everett didn't trust the psychologists and again refused to participate, but the rest of the crew remained with Gvoudzon.

About week later, the captain called with exciting news: he'd found a very profitable charter, paying double standard rates for four high passengers and a large cargo all the way to Paya.  He asked that the crew hurry back to the ship as soon as possible.  The crew met with the professor again, who agreed that Gvoudzon could leave, and his recovery should eventually be complete after separation from the anolas, though a few more weeks of treatment would be preferred.  They headed back to the ship.

The custom was Cai Calula, a very rich young man from Paya in the Spinward-Rimward corner of the subsector.  The world had been hit by an asteroid a few decades previously, most of the population had died, and most of the survivors had been evacuated.  But a small group of eccentrics had remained and gained claim to the whole planet.  And the fees to allow recent construction of a Navy base and Oberlindes Lines subsector headquarters had made each of them very rich.  Cai was the new ruler of the Cratersea District and had been yachting around the system buying vehicles for his collection when his yacht broke down.  Rather than waiting for it to be repaired or taking a luxury liner home, he decided it would be fun to rough it on a Jump-1 freighter back to Paya.  His cargo consisted of several vehicles: a G-Carrier, a jet fighter plane, a ketch, and a couple of ATVs.  The crew loaded the G-Carrier and ATVs themselves, but needed some help from the starport workers to handle the airplane and boat.

While waiting clearance for takeoff, the March Harrier received a radio call that their cargo had been selected for customs search.  None of them liked the idea, but messing with the Starport Authority sounded like a bad idea, so the captain indicated they should cooperate.  Six uniformed starport workers, two Human and four Llellewyloly, came on board and five of them headed for the cargo hold.  A bit later, one of them indicated that some unspecified illegal powder had been found on board the G-Carrier and that the ship would not be allowed to leave.  The captain protested and asked for details, as one of the other "customs workers" began a radio transmission that the Llellewyloly of Junidy had been oppressed for far too long and were going to blow up this starship in protest.  Gani heard the transmission and shot the terrorist with his gyroc pistol, and a fight was on.  The fight lasted only a few seconds, with Gani (with gyroc pistol and morph axe), Captain Wilder (unarmed), and Cai's bodyguard Thoren (with some kind of large black pistol) taking down all six terrorists (armed with low-tech handguns and a bomb they didn't have time to set off).  John and Sacha reached the cargo hold just as the fight ended, and Gvoudzon never even realized what was happening until it was over.  Captain Wilder called Starport Security to report the attack and several Starport Authority police came on board to take the surviving terrorists.  They interrogated the crew for a few hours and it was determined that the crew had done nothing wrong and was free to go.  Thoren tried to figure out if the terrorists had targeted his employer in particular.

The March Harrier and their passengers jumped for Towers.  They made a quick turnaround to replenish supplies then jumped for Nasemin.  After another quick turnaround they made a double-jump through the interdicted Zykoca system for Aramanx.  On the way to Aramanx, Celia, Cai's sister's unspecified associate, confided a problem to Gani.  Her job was to be Lana's surrogate mother and carry Lana's artificially-implanted embryos to term.  However, Cai wouldn't leave her alone, and Cai was rich and powerful and used to getting his way.  Lana wanted the crew to find a way to keep Cai away from her on the small ship.  Gani talked to Everett, and they suggested putting Celia in a low berth and claiming there had been a medical emergency threatening her health.  Everett put her under, then Gani and Everett explained to Cai and Lana that Celia had been suffering from acute gravity sickness and had been transferred to a low berth to preserve her health and that of the baby.  Cai and Lana seemed to buy the story.

After over a month cooped up on the ship, the crew exited into the relatively open spaces of Aramanx Highport and headed for the Worldview bar.  While there, John noticed one of the local news videos discussing a protest against offworld interests in the nation of Senled, The protests were apparently triggered by the visit of a group from the megacorporation Sternmetal Horizons LIC.  The crew was not particular interested in local politics, but the interesting part of the video was that one member of the Sternmetal group was Captain Bannerji of the Wolblutn.  John pointed out the video to his crewmates, who agreed that was definitely Bannerji.  The crew mentioned the sighting to the captain, who said he'd discussed Bannerji with a contact in Naval Intelligence, and that it would be great to talk to him and figure out what was going on and if he was indeed linked to the nuclear missile attack in Patinir.  The crew asked if the Navy had any resources to help, but the captain said there was no Navy base in the area and his contact was on his own and would appreciate the crew's help.

Everett, Gani, John, Sacha, and Gvoudzon took a shuttle down to Seniek, the capital of Senled.  Weapons were not allowed on the shuttle, so they decided not to risk bringing any, but would look for weapons planetside in case there was trouble.  After landing in Seniek, Sacha (the most streetwise of the crew) found a gun store, where it was made clear that (some) guns were legal for citizens but foreigners weren't allowed to possess any weapons.  The gun owner also pointed out a place where citizens who had lost their identification documents could get replacements.  Sacha headed over to the shady passport photo store and paid a king's ransom in local money (which was not very much in Imperial credits) for a fake ID.  Then, armed with the ID, he headed back to the gun store to load up before looking for Bannerji.

We stopped at that point, with the group considering what kind of low-tech gear they wanted to buy.

GM's Notes:

The crew were pretty lucky with the anolas.  Gvoudzon, as the one spending the most time with them, got penalties to his rolls to resist their mysterious effects, and temporarily lost several points of IQ, reverting to a childlike state.  The rest of the crew made their (hidden) rolls and so were able to deal with the situation fairly effectively.  Their attempt to raise the purchase price after a deal had already been made was a bit sketchy, but apparently Professor Dagiran wanted the anolas enough to comply.

The Llellewyloly-separatist terrorists were not particularly effective, and the crew (plus their passenger's bodyguard) were highly suspicious, so the fight was pretty one-sided.

March Harrier Session 3: Imprisoned on Zila

 

Player Characters:

Everett de Clisson (Adam), Medic and Engineer

Ganidiirsi Ashran (Ben), Steward and Cargomaster

John Matrix (Nick), Broker and Navigator

Dale Conan Wilder (Phil), Captain

Sacha Bright (ChaoticNeutral), Temporary First Officer and Pilot

PCs Temporarily Run by the GM:

Gvoudzon, Vargr Gunner and Pilot

Randall Dorsainvil, First Officer and Pilot

Significant NPCs:

5 Anolas

Monte Sladek, Zila starport worker

Cola Hillee, Zila starport worker

Thane Kiana, bartender at the Dead Spacer

Fenna Song, Captain of the Margin of Profit

Park Abyssi, Steward of the Margin of Profit

Marc hault-Oberlindes, CEO of Oberlindes Lines

Arrlanroughl, VP of Oberlindes Lines

Maddox Kader, lawyer on Zila

Dates: 

084-1105 to 131-1105

Worlds:

Zila/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3209)

Aramanx/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3005)

Nasemin/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3003)

Towers/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3103)

The March Harrier landed on Zila and unloaded passengers and cargo.  The starport was very small, and most services required leaving the extrality zone and taking a train to the nearby city of Crescence.  At the extrality fence, an Imperial Starport Authority guard required signing a waiver that Zila was an Amber Zone due to its overbearing local law level and that legal representation was recommended.  Gani decided to purchase legal insurance for the crew, and the law office clerk issued several collar badges which were claimed to reduce police harassment.

Looking for rumors of business, the crew proceeded to the Dead Spacer bar, which featured a picture of a vacc-suited spacer with the faceplate shattered.  Inside was a table with a couple of starport workers, a table with several blue-suited Akerut Lines crew, and a table with crew from an unrecognized line wearing green jumpsuits.  One of the starport workers, named Monte, recognized Gani and offered to buy the crew a round of Zilan wine, which was excellent and cheap.  The crew mentioned wanting to buy more, but the bartender indicated that only a very strictly limited amount could be taken off-world for personal use, as Akerut had an export monopoly.

The other starport worker, Cola, asked if the crew knew anything about the crash of the Mammoth on Aramis.  She said that she'd seen a few short news bulletins and heard a bit from the crew of the Wolblutn when they came through, but wanted more details.  She indicated that another 5000-ton Akerut freighter, the Titan, had originally had the naval priority cargo from Inthe to Aramis, but Titan's chief engineer had reported serious problems with the jump drives and refused to allow flying until they were repaired.  At that point the Titan's cargo was transferred to the Mammoth.  She noted that the Mammoth's chief engineer was beat up on Zila, and so the Titan's engineer also transferred to the Mammoth.  Finally, she indicated that she worked on the Titan's drives and they were a complete mess, as though the L-hyd valves were left open after a jump.  All in all, she thought the Mammoth's original engineer was competent, but the Titan's engineer who got transferred to the Mammoth was a complete idiot and probably caused the crash.

Overhearing the conversation, a couple of drunk Akerut crewmen wandered over and responded to the insults to their line by saying that the March Harrier was fit only for a garbage run, and that it was a good thing it had arrived as it could drag the Margin of Profit away.  This caused one of the green-suited crew from the adjacent table to jump up and get in his face.  She was apparently the captain of the Margin of Profit and didn't appreciate the slander against her ship.  A fistfight ensued between the captain of the Margin of Profit and the drunken Akerut crewman.  The bartender started yelling for everyone to stop and then started blowing a whistle.  The March Harrier crew took a step back, not wanting to get involved, but then Randall saw that a second Akerut crewman was about to join in, and restrained him.  At that point a couple of Zila police burst in and made everyone, including people who had not been fighting, hit the floor.  After a few minutes, they hauled off everyone in the room except the bartender to jail.

The March Harrier crew asked for their lawyer, and he showed up fairly quickly.  After talking to his clients he indicated that if they hadn't been involved in the fight and hadn't resisted they should be discharged routinely.

Randall recognized Sacha from their shared service in the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service.  They updated each other on recent events, with Randall serving as First Officer on the March Harrier, and Sacha serving as First Officer on the Margin of Profit, an Oberlindes Lines freighter.  Sacha said they'd been grounded on Zila for five weeks, waiting for parts.

Everyone spent a night in jail.  The next morning, the lawyer Maddox Kader showed up along with an older gentleman who turned out to be Marc hault-Oberlindes, head of Oberlindes Lines.  Everyone except Randall was discharged, and Oberlindes had covered their fines.  Randall was facing an assault charge for grabbing the Akerut crewman, and his trial was expected to come up in six weeks.  In the meantime, Oberlindes had a business proposal for Captain Wilder.  He and his right-hand Vargr Arrlanroughl were in the process of moving Oberlindes Lines' subsector headquarters from Paya to Aramanx on the Margin of Profit when it broke down on Zila.  He didn't know how long it would take for another ship to bring the needed parts, and he would like to hire the March Harrier to carry them and their cargo to Aramanx at maximum possible speed.  Additionally, if Randall was going to be stuck in jail awaiting trial, Oberlindes would bring a substitute pilot, Sacha.

Captain Wilder tentatively agreed to the deal, though he wanted to spend a few days trying to get Randall out of jail first.  Once it became clear that nothing was going to move up the trial date, Captain Wilder agreed that it would be better to spend the time moving a cargo than sitting on Zila.  Oberlindes agreed to cover Randall's legal expenses and have his captain, Fenna Song, keep an eye on the lawyers.  They then moved Margin of Profit's cargo to the March Harrier, and the Harrier jumped for deep space, then Carsten's gas giant, then immediately to Aramanx's orbital starport.

Upon reaching Aramanx and discharging their VIP passengers and their cargo, the March Harrier had to decide whether to immediately head back to Zila to try to pick up their first officer, or look for other business.  Aramanx was a balkanized world with many independent countries rather than a world government, and there appeared to be war brewing between several of the countries.  Sacha took a day shuttle trip down to the one of the more lenient (and currently peaceful) cities to buy some stimulants.  Captain Wilder wanted to do more research on the Wolblutn, and the vacation itinerary that the crew had found in its captain's lost wallet had indicated that it was heading for Scangen in the Vargr Extents.  Attempts to find the Wolblutn failed, so Captain Wilder decided to look for passengers and cargo headed in the direction of Jesedipere on the border, before heading back to Zila to try to pick up Randall.  They found a couple of passengers and a small cargo for the water world Nasemin, along with a low passenger heading to Junidy.  

The March Harrier jumped through the Zykoca system but skipped the interdicted planet, then continued to Nasemin to drop off their passengers and cargo.  At Nasemin's orbital port they found a small cargo for Towers and a large cargo for Junidy, so they continued that way.

Towers was an Amber Zone because of local customs involving dueling, which had seen a few offworlders stabbed by touchy locals.  The upside was that it was a great place to learn to fight or buy swords.  Sacha decided to buy a sword, and John thought it would be great to spend a week learning judo.  Unfortunately, the dojo he chose appeared to be run by someone who's learned judo from holovids and whose other clients were mostly hyperactive children, so he didn't learn anything useful.

During the extended trip, Gvoudzon's behavior toward the anolas became increasingly curious.  At first he seemed to just enjoy feeding them and playing with them, but he gradually started shirking his duties in favor of spending all his time with them.  Confronted about this, he responded with babble.  Captain Wilder had Everett check Gvoudzon out, and then had the anolas moved to a stateroom and Gvoudzon isolated from them.  He said it was because they worried that Gvoudzon might be sick and they wanted to protect the anolas, but it wasn't clear if Gvoudzon actually believed this.  The March Harrier then jumped for Junidy, the highest-population world in the subsector, with Wilder looking for a way to get the anolas off his ship.