GURPS March Harrier Session 13: Blowing Up The Meson Guns

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

Gharukh, Vargr Cryptography Researcher

Vuzuege, Vargr Refugee Camp Leader

Sedge, Vargr Corsair Gang Leader

Aran Ashkashkur, Aramis Subsector Head, Vemene, Tukera Lines

Roald Bulolo, Director of Operations, Aramis Subsector, Tukera Lines

Dhurgeng, Vargr Starship Captain, Kforuzeng

Leonard Bolden-Tukera, Marquis of Aramis

Jelika Chan, Vemene Agent

Eneri Giilaan, Commander, Imperial Navy Intelligence

Dates: 

251-1106 to 86-1106

Worlds:

Jesedipere/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3001)

Yebab/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3002)

Nasemin/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3003)

Aramanx/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3005)

On Jesedipere, Gani was spying on the Tukera trading facility, where Aran Ashkashkur and his bodyguards had landed.  A few days later, two Kforuzeng corsairs and two Kforuzeng freighters jumped into the system.  A modular cutter from one of the Corsairs flew down to the Tukera site and Dhurgeng got out, accompanied by at least eight bodyguards.  Gani watched Dhurgeng meet with Ashkashkur.  The two then went into the warehouse where the stolen Imperial Navy meson guns were believed to be kept, though there were enough Tukera and Kforuzeng guards around that Gani couldn't see exactly what was happening inside.

Gani called back to the March Harrier crew to formulate a plan.  Initially they considered an attack on the Tukera site, but they were outnumbered in terms of starships five to one, and they guessed that they were outnumbered in terms of ground combatants about forty to twenty.  Everett suggested instead blowing up the meson guns or one of the freighters.  Gani considered hiding inside one of the crates to get inside a freighter and sabotage or hijack it, but Everett thought this was suicidal.  Gani eventually agreed with Everett, and they decided to load up two Air/Rafts with explosives and send one at the warehouse to blow up some meson guns, and the other at a freighter to try to destroy its engines.

Arrlanroughl and Gvoudzon went back to the Vargr refugees to look for explosives, and managed to buy a few.  Meanwhile John and Everett went into Downport and bought some explosives, some fertilizer, and some low-tech chemical fuel.  Nobody in the crew was an explosives expert, but their hope was that if they loaded enough high-energy things into an Air/Raft and flew it into something at high velocity, something might go boom.  Gharukh started hacking the Air/Raft autopilot to override the safety controls.  Meanwhile Gani, in his camouflaged cybersuit, snuck back into the warehouse and sabotaged a few crates of mason gun components, so that if the attack failed, the Kforuzeng might still have problems getting the meson guns to work.

The crew flew an Air/Raft with Gani's valet bot on board, to serve as telemetry to witness the attack.  Gani used his grav belt to fly back to the Air/Raft, and then took the Air/Raft back to the March Harrier.  The crew then loaded up both Air/Rafts with the explosives, boarded their ship, flew to the 100-diameter jump point, and hit the go button for Gharukh's hacked autopilot.  Both Air/Rafts flew toward the Tukera base, with one targeting the freighter's maneuver drive and the other aiming inside the warehouse.  The one aimed at the freigher struck a glancing blow, damaging the drive, destroying some meson gun crates being loaded, and killing some Tukera workers doing the loading.  The Air/Raft aimed at the warehouse was more accurate, flying right inside the open cargo doors and slamming into the unloaded crates, causing a large explosion followed by a huge fire.  After filming the evidence of their attack, the crew jumped out of the system for Yebab before the Tukera or Kforuzeng ships could give chase.

After reaching Yebab, the crew, without discussing it with Arrlanroughl, sent xmails with evidence of the stolen meson guns to the Imperial Navy on Junidy and Aramanx.  The March Harrier then jumped to Nasemin, where the crew sent more xmails since Nasemin was on an xboat route and fast delivery was more likely.  They finally jumped to Aramanx.

Reaching Aramanx, the crew met with Marc Oberlindes.  He announced that he had met with Roald Bulolo and the Marquis of Aramis and made the claim that Aashkashkur had stolen the meson guns and that Tukera needed to end the tradewar.  However, he only had circumstantial evidence and really needed proof to force the settlement.  He expressed his appreciation for the additional evidence that Gani's recordings in the warehouse provided.  During the meeting, Oberlindes got a message in his ear.  He left for a minute, then returned and said he had just heard of an Imperial Navy cruiser entering Jesedipere and dropping some Imperial Marines on the Tukera landing site.  Apparently someone had tipped off the Navy, which would weaken his ability to blackmail Tukera into ending the tradewar.

Gani took the blame for telling the Navy.  Whether Marc Oberlindes believed it was only him was not clear.  Oberlindes paid the crew for the full use of the ship during the mission to Jesedipere, but did not add an extra reward.

Eneri Giilaan met with the crew the next day.  He thanked them for telling the Navy about the stolen meson guns.  He told them that each would be eligible for a reward from the Navy, in return for signing a non-disclosure agreement to never talk about the stolen meson guns.  He indicated that a Navy-cleared lawyer could be made available to discuss their rights before signing.  Gharukh and Everett asked to talk to the lawyer.  The lawyer indicated that he didn't know the exact details of what secrets they knew, but that the Navy could compel them not to reveal secrets with or without a reward, so he recommended signing the NDA and taking the reward, rather than not signing the NDA and not getting the reward but being effectively bound by it anyway.  Everyone signed, and received KCr 100 each.

GM's Notes:

Everett was correct that a straight fight against the combined Tukera and Kforuzeng forces would have been a bad idea.  Even if the PCs (with help from the Vargr refugees) won the fight on Jesedipere, 2 Corsairs and a Patrol Cruiser in orbit would have definitely blown the March Harrier out of space.  The only way to win that would have been to turn Tukera and the Kforuzeng against each other then mop up the winner, and that would not have been easy to pull off.

Gani's idea of hiding inside a meson gun crate and sabotaging the freighter from the inside would have quite likely worked, but also probably would have gotten him captured or killed.

The plan of just blowing up the meson guns (using stolen Tukera Air/Rafts turned into missiles) was a reasonable approach, as it denied the weapons to the Kforuzeng.  It also meant that the Kforuzeng didn't pay for them, and both Dhurgeng and Ashkashkur had time to escape, so it wasn't a total victory.

Finally, telling the Navy about the meson guns was the patriotic thing to do, and did garner a reward from the Navy, but it cost the crew a potentially much larger reward from Oberlindes, and reduced the trust that Oberlindes had in them.  Tradeoffs.

That's the end of the campaign.  Thanks to the players.  I'll have a followup blog post about GURPS Traveller and this adventure later.