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.