GURPS March Harrier Session 11: Undercover on Lewis

Player Characters:

Everett de Clisson (Adam), Medic and Engineer

Ganidiirsi Ashran (Ben), Steward and Cargomaster

John Matrix (Nick), Broker and Captain

Sacha Bright (ChaoticNeutral), Pilot and First Officer

PCs Temporarily Run by the GM:

Gvoudzon, Vargr Gunner and Pilot

Significant NPCs:

Marc hault-Oberlindes, CEO, Oberlindes Lines

Arrlanroughl, VP, Oberlindes Lines

Quala Carthen, Oberlindes Broker

Ranate Zaitsiik, Inselberg New Hire Orientation Leader

William Irani, Inselberg Head Chauffer

Quill Steward, Inselberg Chief Mechanic

Nyx Bentzen, Inselbert Chef

Sir Orson Tukera, VIP at Inselberg

Lady Thalia Tukera, VIP at Inselberg

Gharukh, Vargr Cryptography Researcher

Dates: 

164-1106 to 214-1106

Worlds:

Aramanx/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3005)

Zila/Aramis (Spinward Marches 2908)

Lewis/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3107)

The crew started on Aramanx Highport, where laser damage to the March Harrier was being repaired.  Marc Oberlindes had another proposal for them.  Data from the captured Tukera courier Nebula had indicated the presence of a secret Tukera research facility on the interdicted world of Lewis.  Baron Marc said that they couldn't get away with directly attacking the base like Tukera had to the Oberlindes facility on Nasemin, but it might be possible to infiltrate it to gather information.  He said that Tukera hired servants for the Inselberg estates on Lewis using Central Hirings SA on Zila, and that a manager at Central Hirings had been influenced to hire whoever Oberlindes wanted.  He also said that payment would be similar to the previous mission: the idle March Harrier would be paid for its full passenger and cargo capacity.  The crew agreed to the terms, and set out for Zila aboard the Oberlindes courier Inside Information.  On the way, Everett cut a small Flesh Pocket in Gani's leg, which could be used to hide a communicator.

Arriving at Zila Starport, the crew met their Oberlindes contact Quala, who assigned them Zilan aliases and fake backgrounds and identify cards.  Quala told them that an Oberlindes trader with fake papers would be landing at the Tukera lanthanum mines on Lewis in about a month, and would be their ride home.  The crew headed over to Central Hirings SA in downtown Crescence, where they were all hired and given tickets to board a Tukera far trader in a few days.  They hung around the starport for the interim, since it was the only place on Zila safe from random police harassment.  Then they boarded the Far Trader Pegasus, where they were loaded into double-occupancy staterooms, given the starport safety dance, and then introduced to their trainer, "Lady" Ranate Zaitsiik.  She instructed them in the use of a tablet computer, then subjected them to aptitude tests.  Each crew member was then assigned a week of personal computer-based training for their prospective position.  Gvoudzon was slated to be a house servant, Gani a cook, John and Sacha to work as grav vehicle drivers or mechanics, and Everett to be a groundskeeper.  Each was also issued a combination filter mask and respirator and warned not to go outside on Lewis without it, as the atmosphere was both very thin and tainted with carcinogens.

The Pegasus was passed through the Navy interdiction on Lewis thanks to a Tukera family exemption, and then landed at the estate of Inselberg.  An enclosed grav vehicle was waiting by the landing pad to carry them to the main estate on top of a plateau.  There the crew was split up, with John and Sacha sent to the vehicle garage, Gani to the kitchens, Everett to the dome enclosing the main house, and Gvoudzon to board another air/raft to fly to the outlying Retreat.  The group spent the next couple of weeks in training, with John and Sacha learning basic grav vehicle operation and maintenance, Gani working on his large-scale cooking and food delivery skills, Everett learning to care for plants, and Gvoudzon being introduced to Gharukh, the cryptographer he would be serving.

After the initial training period was over, the crew started getting time off, and were able to arrange occasional meetings.  John and Sacha had some access to grav vehicles.  Gani had access to the main house to deliver meals.  Everett had access to the pressurized dome around the main house, but wasn't supposed to go inside much.  Finally Gvouzon was serving at the Retreat, which was set up as a Tukera research facility, though Gharukh was closely guarded there.  Each of them attempted to explore a bit and find information, but lacked access to much.

Gani discovered that another nearby plateau hosted a Tukera corporate site, and found an excuse to deliver food there.  The Tukera workers there had company-networked computers, and on his second visit he managed to steal a password and grab and email archive.  Sacha found another nearby plateau had a warehouse, and managed to break in and poke around, but didn't find anything interesting.  A young VIP, Lady Thalia Tukera, wanted to be driven around by grav vehicle to see various plateaus and also some squatter settlements, which gave John and Sacha a chance to explore the area.

On one of his trips back to the main estate, Gvoudzon reported that Gharukh was a prisoner and wanted out, and also that she was a genius scientist who probably knew important things, and finally that she had a brooch similar to his.  He proposed taking her with them when they made a break for the Oberlindes ship.  The crew was on board with the idea.  A few days later Gani's hidden communicator received a message from the Oberlindes ship, which had landed at the lanthanum mines.  The plan for the escape was pretty simple: John and Sacha would rig the charge gauges on most of the grav vehicles to read full even when empty, then would discharge all but two of them, and take the working ones.  Then Sacha would fly around as a decoy to distract the guards, while John flew over to the Retreat to grab Gvoudzon and Gharukh.  Finally everyone would meet at the Oberlindes ship.

The first part of the plan went well, though the Tukera guards already had a few grav vehicles out of the garage.  Sacha led some guards toward the squatter settlements.  John took another air/raft to the Retreat, where Gvoudzon and Gharukh had snuck out past the guards and hid in a cave on the side of the plateau.  They grabbed the Vargr and then flew straight to the mines and into the cargo hold of the Oberlindes ship.  Sacha followed up a few minutes later, and the ship took off for the 100-planetary-diameter limit at top speed, with the crew, Gharukh, and two incidentally-stolen air/rafts.  They made it there without trouble from Tukera ships or the Navy, and then jumped for Aramanx.

GM's Notes:

This session was almost all roleplaying, with each PC having to use their alias, fake incompetence at high-tech skills, and spy without getting caught.  Their die rolls were solid and they didn't press their luck too often, so they managed to not around suspicion from the Tukera guards until they were ready to escape.  They didn't manage to steal much information, other than the one email archive that Gani found, but they did get Gharukh.