Arrasag Vargr Navy Roster Sheet

• Shotgunning
• Weight Lifting
• Studying Military & Vargr History
• Piloting & Driving any fast vehicles

• Expensive taste of electronics & hi-tech
• Shootgunning skills
• Being well adopted to live among humans
• Being liberal team-leader
• Piloting skills

• Extra strong claws, actively used to harden the claws
• Eats only meat if possible to choose
• Prefers luxurious lifestyle over everything else
• Sleeps in unusual ways
• During daytime, the resting is not ok and will not be tolerated at all

• Dhatszarrou is 182 cm long, in good physical shape and on average build, weighting 64 kilos.
• Has some minor sars in lower body due infighting practices.

• Trained loads of vacuum suit manouvering
• Navigation advanced training
• Gun Combat basic introduction
• Liason training, incase we see aliens
• Computers basic & advanced course, just to be able to use the ship computers

• Imperial Encyclopedia: Ancients
• Imperial Encyclopedia: Library data sections

• Algine [2308]; 7,4 Billion inhabitants, independent planet. Extremely hostile to foreigners. Does have one small scout base searching the planets inhabitants.
• Beck’s World [2204]; 70.000 inhabitants, all living in Beck’s town. Controlled by paramilitary group. Volcanic.
• Enope [2205], A rock in an empty solar system. Very valuable minerals in the planet. No atmosphere. Population 6.3 Billion. Extemely cold.
• Feri [2005]; 600 million inhabitants, 7 nationalities and currently having world war (5 nationalities fighting against the imperium.) Imperium conquered the starport last year.
• Hefry [1909]; Small vacuum planet, 32.000 inhabitants. Colonizated by the Imperium.
• Knorbes [1807]; 6 million inhabitants, familiar of tree Krakens, which people hunt for fun. There’s also Imperial Wild Life Refugee, which might also contain Ancient base. Imperium denies the existence of the base.
• Moughas [2406]; underdeveloped backward place, 2^nd generation colonists, 100% waterplanet
• Pscias [2106]; Imperial scouts are protecting this place, a barbaric cilizations is living there, no outworld experiences allowed
• Regina [1910]; Huge moon of gas giant, 800 million inhabitants. The administrative center of Regina sector. A good starport. Very close to Zhodani borders (adjacent sector is Zhodani sector).
• Roup [2007]; 3,5 Billion inhabitants, heavily ozone polluted, dictatorship, low resources, constant famine, extremely heavy police forces.
• Ruie [1809]; 7,8 Billion inhabitants; 152 differents nationalities, dangerous area because of polluting disease. Not member of Imperium.
• Shionythy [2306]; asteroid belt, the main planet destroyed by the Ancients, Ancients are the makers of Vargr
• Whanga [1808]; 40 inhabitants. Extremely active volcanic planet. Only some miners are present in this most backwater solar system. Can be used for refueling due many gas giants.
• Wochiers [2207]; 740 million inhabitants, extremely dense athmosphere, crystal farming community.

• Current date when we bought stuff: 248 day of year 1107 of the Reign of the Third Imperium

While we talk, the planet is continuously being bombed.

Jose wants to raid some small, fleeing Imperial ships during the fight. Captain is not entirely against the idea...

We notice seven large Vargr cruisers nearby. Captain tight-beams to them, introduces ourselves as semi-official, independent co-operators of Zhodanis, who might have useful information to share with the Vargrs for money. The Vargrs laugh at us.

Then we tight-beam to the Zhodani commander and try to convince him that the Vargrs are planning to attack the Zhodani and rob everything. The commander laughs at us.

One yacht flies from the planet towards the Vargrs. The Zhodanis try to shoot the yacht, but it enters inside one of the Vargr ships.

We decide to start going towards Regina to get our new ship. But the Zhodani commander kindly asks that we not leave yet. All possible help is needed here, they say. Captain talks about the reward. They tell us that we could be allowed to take a max. 400-ton ship from the planet after it has been conquered.

We ask for somewhat larger, and suggest that we might hire a couple of new crew members from the planet. "Oh well, okay, take a 800-ton ship then. And then you won't leave the planet within two weeks."

While we wait, Captain and Dick practice some shotgun shooting outside the ship. The target is one of our old TL9 spacesuits, remote-controlled by John.

While we are practicing, a huge fireball is seen approaching the Zhodani ships (and us) from the planet. It appears to be about 500 missiles and some small ships.

Two of the missiles are locked to us. We try to hide behind a big Zhodani ship. John, who is appointed to manage our tactics in 3D, asks Captain to inform the Zhodanis about our plans. Captain doesn't.

When the missiles are quite near, the Zhodani ship does a surprising maneuver, but gets hit quite badly. It is missing a large part of its hull, and loses its maneuverability.

We make a desperate attempt to flee, with Jose overriding all safety limits and squeezing the engine to 240 % of its maximum power. Still, two missiles hit us and our ship is badly damaged. The engines are definitely out, and there are large holes in the hull. One of the two engines is simply missing, and the other is out of order. Everybody is shaken, but not really hurt. What a luck! What's more, our weapons seem to be still functional.

Meanwhile, six Zhodani ships are also destroyed. We report our damage to the Zhodani commander, and asks for immediate help.

Jose finds to his surprise that it may be possible to partially fix one of our engines and use it somewhat. He starts repairing. We are spinning wildly. The small Imperial ships are approaching.

Captain switches off all electricity, trying to play dead. A little later, Jose notices that somebody is lasering our hull. We get some more holes and our turret jams. We continue to play dead.

Dick goes to retrieve the mining laser. John is sent outside the ship with a plasma gun to keep guard.

Then we notice that a Vargr cruiser tows us inside their cargo bay, obviously planning to rob us. Jose finds that our jump drive is quite functional, and starts to prepare for a jump.

The Vargrs demand us to switch off the jump drive, and keep immobile. They plan to sell us to the Zhodanis or the Imperium, whichever pays more. Jose continues to warm up the jump drive.

Some Vargr guys are approaching. Jose lets out a cloud of fuel. Captain shouts that he will shoot them with a plasma gun, exploding the fuel cloud, if they do not retreat. They start to retreat. Captain shoots them with a shotgun! Some of them drop down, some succeed to take shield. They start pointing us with guns.

Everybody back inside the ship. Dick goes in the fighter.

Now, the Vargrs start approaching again, this time in combat dresses. Jose throws a few bombs out, and Captain does an emergency jump, to somewhere else in this solar system.

The jump is very harsh, apparently the enclosing gray matter touches our hull at some points and damages it. Also, Jose sees the gray matter curve somewhat inside the engine room from the hole. Our ship is crumbling and rattling all the time.

Jose somehow manages to get back to the bridge, however. We spend most of the time sleeping with pills.

***

The jump takes a whole 15 days. Then, to our enormous relief, we return to normal space. We see a dim star far away.

Captain goes to the fighter, and its sensors say "Location Unknown". At least we are not anywhere in Spinward Marches. Besides, the dim star is so far that it would take years to go there with the fighter. Our main ship's engines and sensors are still out of order.

In about 12 hours, Jose manages to get the engine somehow working, and Captain and Dick do the same to the main ship sensors.

The sensors indicate that we are far east of Spinward Marches, somewhere in the Domain of Deneb, some 60 parsec from Kinorb. Within this parsec, there is a dual star, three gas giants, and several planets. The nearest gas giant is 5 days away, and we start going.

Everybody is mentally rather shaken, so Dick commands a heavy dose of alcohol for everyone during the 5-day trip. We send occasional SOS signals.

***

Near the gas giant we receive a radio message. We respond immediately.

"This is Captain Dhazarrou. Could you please tell where the hell we are?"

"grfffdddh you are approaching Erita II Delta Ay scrhhhppt. scrrfssstt your coordinates are Deneb sector 2259 ffft."

Later, when we come nearer, they friendly send us a star map of this region. We talk with them. They tell that they are five refugees, living on an isolated moon alone, after they were repelled from their home planet because of their uncontrollable powers.

Captain is eager to meet them and perhaps hire one of them to come with us, among other things to study the psi powers. Dick vehemently disagrees. The guys warn that they are dangerous.

However, Captain takes the fighter and decides to fly there, to exchange some food etc. Halfway there, he somehow feels extremely bad, and turns back.

Captain: "I decided not to go after all, the weather was too bad."

John: "So you got scared of their powers?"

Captain grabs John's nostrils with his nails, and explains very clearly: "The - weather - was - too - bad."

We refuel, and engage a jump to sector 2521, Geniishir.

***

The jump is as bad and uncomfortable as the last one. After 10 days, we return to normal space.

The computer crunches a while, but does not find our position. However, our sensors are working all right, and we are actually near a star. There are inhabited planets, a starport, and some traffic nearby.

The ships are very strange-looking and decorated. They respond to our radio message in a completely unknown language. Our weapon&armour database says that they look like Aslan Ihatei ships.

We meet them. They look rather like lions. One of them talks some bad Galanglic.

"Who you fight?"

"Mmmm... we unfortunately found ourselves in the middle of a battle between the Imperium and the Zhodanis. We had to escape."

"You Vargr?"

"Yes, I, captain, Vargr, the crew is humans."

"Oh. Vargr far from home. How you here?"

"When escaping in a hurry, we misjumped."

"Yes, yes, Vargr technology."

"Hrmp. Grmph. Well, anyway, we would like to make some trade with you."

Another Aslan comes here, this one female. She talks much better Galanglic. We tell that we would like to buy food, life support, and quite a few repairments for our ship.

"What will you pay with? Do you have land?"

"Sure, we own one solar system."

"Hrmp. Are you really allowed to sell it?"

"Umm, well... we could also pay with some precious materials."

We land on the planet and meet more Aslans. One of them, female, is obviously of quite high rank. She interrogates us about the battle where we got hit, about the Imperium, the Zhodanis, and the war.

They also mention that somebody was supposed to be buying one of Regina's outer moons, but we think that that hasn't happened yet.

Captain offers to help them buy some moons; he says that John has good connections to people owning moons. The female Aslan gets very suspicious. We obviously do not know why they are so eager to buy land. They do not understand that somebody would willingly sell any land.

But Captain and John show them some papers and convince them that we are indeed empowered to join Arrassag to any civilized empire of our choosing. We also are able to arrange the sale of some moons of Regina. They begin to sound very interested. As a commission for the deal, they would be willing to give us a 20000-ton ship of their very high technical level.

We think twice, and consider selling the other planets in our solar system, but not Arrassag itself. Also, we ponder whether we ourselves should stay here and just send the Aslans there. After all, we would be much safer here, so far away from the psi-using Zhodanis. ]]> Captains Log #7 http://esrspy.wanderer.org/journals/megatraveller/captains_log_7.html http://esrspy.wanderer.org/midcom-permalink-1b885fac161d93b8be06062977c8dc16 Tue, 08 Oct 2002 02:04:03 +0300 Timo Multamäki Turn 1900, exit from jump in Keng. Start refueling. Some facts we find about the Zhodani, from our Imperial Encyclopedia:" The Imperium and the Zhodani had quite peaceful trade between them before the war. The Zhodanis routinely use PSI powers. This scares the shit out of Dick, who insists that we absolutely must head back to more healthy regions of the Imperium. Once the Captain points out that we are MORE likely to run into Zhodani if we try to go back, Dick insists even more strongly that we MUST continue towards Arrassag. The Zhodani can often read thoughts from 10 000 or 100 000 km's distance. Some elite corps are even rumoured to do it from 1 parsec!" This makes us all bit wary, some more than others... Turn 1903, jump to Heya. Heya is a double star (mutual distance 620 AU), and there are two gas giants orbiting each star (four in total). We jump to the outer one. Turn 2017, exit from jump, much sooner than expected. Everybody rushes to their positions. As soon as Dick is on his seat at the gun controls, he takes a good amount of whisky, and looks considerably more relieved. Sensors show a 850-ton mercenary cruiser nearby. No closer contact, it just leaves the place. Captain commands everybody to have 4 cl of whisky for medical reasons. Dick takes some more to celebrate that we did not encounter any Zhodani here. Refueling goes all right. Turn 2020, jump to Arrassag, near the home planet. During the jump, the crew has long discussions about what questions we might be asked and how we must answer them. why did you take so long - in the first neighbor world, we could not register the planet, and besides, we had to flee from a Zhodani attack where did you leave your own ship, and what is this new one - it was not legal to fly with the old one, so we had to exchange it for this one where the heck is Urrgae - we'll show the film where did you spend all those jewels - Captain has full records (eg. the new ship cost quite a lot) so did you register Arrassag already - no, did not have enough money, besides, it will take quite some time too when will the first merchant fleet arrive - not until we are registered where's the nearest inhabited planet, can we go there - Heya, 2 pc, do NOT go there Dick has found something about the mystical virus in Arrassag's historical records. There have been incidents where people have returned seriously ill from long overseas journeys. Turn 2162, exit from jump. 70 large Zhodani ships seen near the gas giant. Captain sends a radio message to the home planet. Hello Arrassag, this is Captain Dhazarrou on ASS Llongakol. We have successfully returned from our great journey and will be landing on the planet within 3 hours. Ground control welcomes us warmly, and is rather stunned about the fact that we are landing straight on the planet, and about the encounter speed, too. We land in the capital's main market square. It is empty, but after landing, people rush out from buildings, holding their ears. We descend from our ship, others in our official dress, Captain in the huge battle dress. Adults are stunned and children are crying. The Vargr High Council welcomes us and holds long speeches. It is a warm day (83 degrees). John complains he is dying. Others are not comfortable either, except Captain in his air-conditioned battle dress. Captain generously gives the keys to our speeder to the GSA boss. Captain gives a short, fifteen-minute speech where he tells a suitable version of our journey, and some key facts about the surrounding universe (including the war and the 70 nearby Zhodani ships). The Imperium is a large, bureaucratic, and expensive place. During the speech, Captain's wrist communicator beeps, telling that the ship's sensors have observed five Zhodani ships are coming towards the planet at high speed (ETA 12 hours). Captain quickly explains to the council that we have to hide for a while, and that probably the only one in danger is our ship, not the general public. Before hiding, we have to quickly fill our life supply reserves, and if possible, get some fuel. We go back inside our ship. Suddenly we hear foreign thoughts inside our heads. They say: "You have no chance. Surrender immediately. We have observed you for quite some time. We have seen you come out of an uninhabited planet and visit several solar systems." Dick takes a very good amount of whisky from Jose's bottle. The voices continue. "You will have to join us. You have no other choice, and it will benefit both sides. We will reward you quite well." After some "negotiations", everybody agrees to join the Zhodani forces. Immediately after this, everybody feels happy and joyful. Captain and Dick go to the shooting range. Captain tries out the fusion gun, causing a large explosion, melting some sand into glass, and is so frightened that he decides not to use the gun again until he knows how to use it. Three days pass. We get another 9 cubic meters of jewels, and some food supplies. We leave a huge amount of stuff of various technical levels to Arrassag. Jose and Dick visit their families. Captain and John give guest lectures. Turn 2181: We start the ship and leave the planet. We hear a voice: "Stop immediately." Captain stops the ship. "Turn around." There is a Zhodani guy INSIDE our ship! He gives a crystal, telling that this with this crystal, we can deal with Zhodani people (kind of a passport and visa). We tell that we desire to meet a person in Regina according to a prior appointment. The Zhodani, however, informs us that unfortunately, Jack Smith is dead, and that the scientist that we hired has already given his results to Zhodanis. (According to the results, the virus is quite harmless, causing an occasional slight flu for weak people.) The Zhodani says they will permit us to use psi-shield helmets if we wish. They will be able to contact us anyway. <Man, does that feel bad, or what> We say that next we plan to proceed to Heya - Kinorb - Pixie. The guy says ok, and in that case, we should transport 100 Mcr to Captain Olsinzho, whom we will meet in Kinorb. Kinorb is not yet under Zhodani rule, but that's a matter of time only. It is currently surrounded by strong Zhodani forces. For Heya, they do not have much interest. Having given the money and the instructions, the Zhodani guy simply disappears. We are suddenly enlightened that in Kinorb there is one of the biggest psi schools in the whole Spinward Marches, having some 6000 students. Jump to Heya. 2217 (only 136 hours). Exit to Heya, refuel, jump to Kinorb. Exit to Kinorb, nearby the gas giant (184 hours). Captain tight-beams the Zhodani forces a hello-message with the crystal. Refuel. Then fly to meet Captain Olsinzho and give him the 100 Mcr. He thanks and says that he is happy to see that we are trustworthy. He also informs that it will only take another couple of days or so to fully invade Kinorb. We decide to wait that time here. Turn 1900, exit from jump in Keng. Start refueling.

Some facts we find about the Zhodani, from our Imperial Encyclopedia:"

The Imperium and the Zhodani had quite peaceful trade between them before the war.

The Zhodanis routinely use PSI powers. This scares the shit out of Dick, who insists that we absolutely must head back to more healthy regions of the Imperium. Once the Captain points out that we are MORE likely to run into Zhodani if we try to go back, Dick insists even more strongly that we MUST continue towards Arrassag.

The Zhodani can often read thoughts from 10 000 or 100 000 km's distance. Some elite corps are even rumoured to do it from 1 parsec!"

This makes us all bit wary, some more than others...

Turn 1903, jump to Heya.

Heya is a double star (mutual distance 620 AU), and there are two gas giants orbiting each star (four in total). We jump to the outer one.

Turn 2017, exit from jump, much sooner than expected. Everybody rushes to their positions.

As soon as Dick is on his seat at the gun controls, he takes a good amount of whisky, and looks considerably more relieved.

Sensors show a 850-ton mercenary cruiser nearby. No closer contact, it just leaves the place.

Captain commands everybody to have 4 cl of whisky for medical reasons. Dick takes some more to celebrate that we did not encounter any Zhodani here.

Refueling goes all right.

Turn 2020, jump to Arrassag, near the home planet.

During the jump, the crew has long discussions about what questions we might be asked and how we must answer them.

why did you take so long - in the first neighbor world, we could not register the planet, and besides, we had to flee from a Zhodani attack where did you leave your own ship, and what is this new one - it was not legal to fly with the old one, so we had to exchange it for this one where the heck is Urrgae - we'll show the film where did you spend all those jewels - Captain has full records (eg. the new ship cost quite a lot) so did you register Arrassag already - no, did not have enough money, besides, it will take quite some time too when will the first merchant fleet arrive - not until we are registered where's the nearest inhabited planet, can we go there - Heya, 2 pc, do NOT go there

Dick has found something about the mystical virus in Arrassag's historical records. There have been incidents where people have returned seriously ill from long overseas journeys.

Turn 2162, exit from jump.

70 large Zhodani ships seen near the gas giant.

Captain sends a radio message to the home planet.

Hello Arrassag, this is Captain Dhazarrou on ASS Llongakol. We have successfully returned from our great journey and will be landing on the planet within 3 hours.

Ground control welcomes us warmly, and is rather stunned about the fact that we are landing straight on the planet, and about the encounter speed, too.

We land in the capital's main market square. It is empty, but after landing, people rush out from buildings, holding their ears.

We descend from our ship, others in our official dress, Captain in the huge battle dress. Adults are stunned and children are crying.

The Vargr High Council welcomes us and holds long speeches. It is a warm day (83 degrees). John complains he is dying. Others are not comfortable either, except Captain in his air-conditioned battle dress.

Captain generously gives the keys to our speeder to the GSA boss.

Captain gives a short, fifteen-minute speech where he tells a suitable version of our journey, and some key facts about the surrounding universe (including the war and the 70 nearby Zhodani ships). The Imperium is a large, bureaucratic, and expensive place.

During the speech, Captain's wrist communicator beeps, telling that the ship's sensors have observed five Zhodani ships are coming towards the planet at high speed (ETA 12 hours). Captain quickly explains to the council that we have to hide for a while, and that probably the only one in danger is our ship, not the general public. Before hiding, we have to quickly fill our life supply reserves, and if possible, get some fuel.

We go back inside our ship.

Suddenly we hear foreign thoughts inside our heads. They say: "You have no chance. Surrender immediately. We have observed you for quite some time. We have seen you come out of an uninhabited planet and visit several solar systems."

Dick takes a very good amount of whisky from Jose's bottle.

The voices continue. "You will have to join us. You have no other choice, and it will benefit both sides. We will reward you quite well."

After some "negotiations", everybody agrees to join the Zhodani forces. Immediately after this, everybody feels happy and joyful.

Captain and Dick go to the shooting range. Captain tries out the fusion gun, causing a large explosion, melting some sand into glass, and is so frightened that he decides not to use the gun again until he knows how to use it.

Three days pass. We get another 9 cubic meters of jewels, and some food supplies. We leave a huge amount of stuff of various technical levels to Arrassag. Jose and Dick visit their families. Captain and John give guest lectures.

Turn 2181: We start the ship and leave the planet.

We hear a voice: "Stop immediately." Captain stops the ship. "Turn around." There is a Zhodani guy INSIDE our ship! He gives a crystal, telling that this with this crystal, we can deal with Zhodani people (kind of a passport and visa).

We tell that we desire to meet a person in Regina according to a prior appointment. The Zhodani, however, informs us that unfortunately, Jack Smith is dead, and that the scientist that we hired has already given his results to Zhodanis. (According to the results, the virus is quite harmless, causing an occasional slight flu for weak people.)

The Zhodani says they will permit us to use psi-shield helmets if we wish. They will be able to contact us anyway. <Man, does that feel bad, or what>

We say that next we plan to proceed to Heya - Kinorb - Pixie. The guy says ok, and in that case, we should transport 100 Mcr to Captain Olsinzho, whom we will meet in Kinorb. Kinorb is not yet under Zhodani rule, but that's a matter of time only. It is currently surrounded by strong Zhodani forces. For Heya, they do not have much interest.

Having given the money and the instructions, the Zhodani guy simply disappears.

We are suddenly enlightened that in Kinorb there is one of the biggest psi schools in the whole Spinward Marches, having some 6000 students.

Jump to Heya.

2217 (only 136 hours). Exit to Heya, refuel, jump to Kinorb.

Exit to Kinorb, nearby the gas giant (184 hours). Captain tight-beams the Zhodani forces a hello-message with the crystal.

Refuel.

Then fly to meet Captain Olsinzho and give him the 100 Mcr. He thanks and says that he is happy to see that we are trustworthy. He also informs that it will only take another couple of days or so to fully invade Kinorb.

We decide to wait that time here. ]]> Captains Log #6 http://esrspy.wanderer.org/journals/megatraveller/captains_log_6.html http://esrspy.wanderer.org/midcom-permalink-74ca6b81a5a437a9e9ffc45558e90a79 Tue, 08 Oct 2002 02:02:57 +0300 Timo Multamäki After completing studies in Regina it was time to move on... Turn 1300, still at Regina Prime, after 3 months of advanced studies. Captain, Jose and Dick are pondering about how to continue their mission. It appears that registering a new planet is not a very common event, and there are no ready procedures, so it might take quite a long time to do it. Another complication we conceive is that because of our strange virus infection, we might end up quarantined as guinea pigs -- or worse. * Jose finds out some interesting details in our Vargr courier. There are various secret pockets behind wall panels. Also, there is a full-functional recycler system -- you can literally throw a human body there and it disintegrates. Even the 30-minute safety delay can be overridden. Jose and Jack go off to purchase some handguns, bigger guns, spirits, drugs etc. They leave the Gig for customization (adding the same kind of secret pockets that our main ship already has). A 15000-credit medical bay is installed in Dick's cabin, capable of surgical operations and anaesthetics. Note: Our ship (Llongakol) is registered in Regina, and that's what the transponder says, too. * John tries to find some cooperative researchers in Regina University to carry out some research for us, about the strange virus -- how it spreads, what exactly it causes, and how come some animals seem to be immune against it. John finds a promising contact, an eccentric, very off-mainstream researcher named Krurr, who has been doing only private-funded research during the last years. The guy is over 50 years old, and has (among other things) studied the effects on chemical weapons on certain species; very controversial experminents on guinea pigs (and students). * What do you think about Vargrs? - Well... they are... sort of... humanoids... I think. * What is your personal motive for doing research? - Money. * What do you think about eating meat? - Well, certainly I do eat meat. * Would you consider moving to another planet if there is an exciting research opportunity there? - Yes, if an excellent laboratory is arranged, and enough money. * Do you believe in supernatural powers? - Science is my god! Krurr first offers to perform the virus studies in two weeks for 40 000 cr. Krurr: "Ok, when will I receive the specimens?" Captain: "He is already there with you." Krurr: "You bloody, murdering bastards!" A heated discussion follows. Finally, Captain and Krurr agree on the following terms: - 40 000 cr now - 40 000 cr later - Earnings on the countermedicine divided 50-50 between Krurr and us - The medicine will be named after both Krurr and Arrassag * The Gig is left for modifications (computerization), taking about 4 weeks. While Krurr is performing his research, we make a return trip to Arrassag to inform about the state of affairs, and to negotiate about how to continue. We aim to be back in 12-15 weeks. Krurr promises not to publish his results or the medicine within the next 16 weeks. Jack stays on Regina, with 200 000 cr of cash, and specific orders about how to keep an eye on Krurr. If he does not hear about us in 15 weeks, he will reveal Krurr's fishy business to the authorities. * Turn 1348. Leave Regina. After some time spent in local traffic, engage jump to Yori. Dick and Jose go searching the ship for any interesting details. They find even more secret pockets, the biggest one being 1.5 m3 in size. In one of the smaller pockets, they find a small plastic bag of white powder. They leave it alone. Turn 1524, exit from jump. 239 million km away from the gas giant where we tried to be. Fly there, taking about 2 days. Meet some salt freighters, greet them. They have heard news about Zhodani in Roup. Turn 1538, start refueling. Turn 1541, refueling complete. Engange jump to Rethe. During the jump, everybody takes again a physical condition test. Regular exercise commanded, varying in 0g, 1g and 1.1g. Turn 1717, exit from jump, exactly in the right location. 10 hours to go. Meet a scout ship. According to their latest information, Enobe, Beck's World, Kinorb, Yorbund, and Heya are under Zhodani rule now. Captain: When is the Imperial Navy going to do something about the Zhodani invasion? Scouts: As soon as Archduke Norris has come up with a plan and organized the counterattack. Of course this will take some time. Turn 1723, refueling complete. A Vargr Corsair (400 ton) appears from behind the gas giant, flying towards us, all guns locked in us. Llongakol tight-beams to Scouts: We might need some help here... Scouts tight-beam to Llongakol: If they are alone, they won't have the courage to attack. In the middle of a sea of noise, we hear a transmission from the Vargrs: zzrrhhccs fgrfgrdhzzcr backup zzrrrpphhggddfff After some computer-aided analysis, the message becomes more clear: Come here and give us some backup, there is a nice ship to raid here. The Vargr ship keeps up just behind us (100 km), and the Scouts turn to follow both ships. The Vargrs fire five laser beams, which all miss us. Dick fires three missiles. One misses. One hits their wing, which breaks, and starts flooding hydrogen out. One hits their bridge, which then looks like a mess. Their ship still accelerates at 3g, but with no specific direction. Also, they no longer have anything locked on us. Meanwhile, Jose is flying the fighter, fires some lasers, hits both the leaking hydrogen, and the ship's front. It shatter into a few pieces. The Scout ship confirms that we were only doing self-defense. They strongly advise us to leave quickly, and we warmly agree. Before we leave, Captain fires a few lasers into the Vargr ship, destroying it further. Then we fly for 4 hours from the merry battle ground, towards a better jump position. Turn 1724, engage jump to Keng. Turn 1900, exit from jump. Turn 1300, still at Regina Prime, after 3 months of advanced studies.

Captain, Jose and Dick are pondering about how to continue their mission. It appears that registering a new planet is not a very common event, and there are no ready procedures, so it might take quite a long time to do it.

Another complication we conceive is that because of our strange virus infection, we might end up quarantined as guinea pigs -- or worse.

*

Jose finds out some interesting details in our Vargr courier. There are various secret pockets behind wall panels. Also, there is a full-functional recycler system -- you can literally throw a human body there and it disintegrates. Even the 30-minute safety delay can be overridden.

Jose and Jack go off to purchase some handguns, bigger guns, spirits, drugs etc. They leave the Gig for customization (adding the same kind of secret pockets that our main ship already has).

A 15000-credit medical bay is installed in Dick's cabin, capable of surgical operations and anaesthetics.

Note: Our ship (Llongakol) is registered in Regina, and that's what the transponder says, too.

*

John tries to find some cooperative researchers in Regina University to carry out some research for us, about the strange virus -- how it spreads, what exactly it causes, and how come some animals seem to be immune against it.

John finds a promising contact, an eccentric, very off-mainstream researcher named Krurr, who has been doing only private-funded research during the last years. The guy is over 50 years old, and has (among other things) studied the effects on chemical weapons on certain species; very controversial experminents on guinea pigs (and students).

* What do you think about Vargrs? - Well... they are... sort of... humanoids... I think.

* What is your personal motive for doing research? - Money.

* What do you think about eating meat? - Well, certainly I do eat meat.

* Would you consider moving to another planet if there is an exciting research opportunity there? - Yes, if an excellent laboratory is arranged, and enough money.

* Do you believe in supernatural powers? - Science is my god!

Krurr first offers to perform the virus studies in two weeks for 40 000 cr.

Krurr: "Ok, when will I receive the specimens?" Captain: "He is already there with you." Krurr: "You bloody, murdering bastards!"

A heated discussion follows. Finally, Captain and Krurr agree on the following terms:

- 40 000 cr now - 40 000 cr later - Earnings on the countermedicine divided 50-50 between Krurr and us - The medicine will be named after both Krurr and Arrassag

*

The Gig is left for modifications (computerization), taking about 4 weeks.

While Krurr is performing his research, we make a return trip to Arrassag to inform about the state of affairs, and to negotiate about how to continue. We aim to be back in 12-15 weeks. Krurr promises not to publish his results or the medicine within the next 16 weeks.

Jack stays on Regina, with 200 000 cr of cash, and specific orders about how to keep an eye on Krurr. If he does not hear about us in 15 weeks, he will reveal Krurr's fishy business to the authorities.

*

Turn 1348. Leave Regina. After some time spent in local traffic, engage jump to Yori.

Dick and Jose go searching the ship for any interesting details. They find even more secret pockets, the biggest one being 1.5 m3 in size. In one of the smaller pockets, they find a small plastic bag of white powder. They leave it alone.

Turn 1524, exit from jump. 239 million km away from the gas giant where we tried to be. Fly there, taking about 2 days.

Meet some salt freighters, greet them. They have heard news about Zhodani in Roup.

Turn 1538, start refueling.

Turn 1541, refueling complete. Engange jump to Rethe.

During the jump, everybody takes again a physical condition test. Regular exercise commanded, varying in 0g, 1g and 1.1g.

Turn 1717, exit from jump, exactly in the right location. 10 hours to go. Meet a scout ship. According to their latest information, Enobe, Beck's World, Kinorb, Yorbund, and Heya are under Zhodani rule now. Captain: When is the Imperial Navy going to do something about the Zhodani invasion?

Scouts: As soon as Archduke Norris has come up with a plan and organized the counterattack. Of course this will take some time.

Turn 1723, refueling complete. A Vargr Corsair (400 ton) appears from behind the gas giant, flying towards us, all guns locked in us.

Llongakol tight-beams to Scouts: We might need some help here...

Scouts tight-beam to Llongakol: If they are alone, they won't have the courage to attack.

In the middle of a sea of noise, we hear a transmission from the Vargrs: zzrrhhccs fgrfgrdhzzcr backup zzrrrpphhggddfff

After some computer-aided analysis, the message becomes more clear: Come here and give us some backup, there is a nice ship to raid here.

The Vargr ship keeps up just behind us (100 km), and the Scouts turn to follow both ships.

The Vargrs fire five laser beams, which all miss us.

Dick fires three missiles. One misses. One hits their wing, which breaks, and starts flooding hydrogen out. One hits their bridge, which then looks like a mess. Their ship still accelerates at 3g, but with no specific direction. Also, they no longer have anything locked on us.

Meanwhile, Jose is flying the fighter, fires some lasers, hits both the leaking hydrogen, and the ship's front. It shatter into a few pieces.

The Scout ship confirms that we were only doing self-defense. They strongly advise us to leave quickly, and we warmly agree.

Before we leave, Captain fires a few lasers into the Vargr ship, destroying it further.

Then we fly for 4 hours from the merry battle ground, towards a better jump position.

Turn 1724, engage jump to Keng.

Turn 1900, exit from jump. ]]> Captains Log #5 http://esrspy.wanderer.org/journals/megatraveller/captains_log_5.html http://esrspy.wanderer.org/midcom-permalink-a81251a8751c1c74d981a4a67068d16a Tue, 08 Oct 2002 02:00:56 +0300 Timo Multamäki Quick review of the past:" Turn 756, smooth exit to Regina system. Regina, the main world of Regina sector, has both naval base and scout base. Captain flies to Regina Prime, which is a huge moon circling a gas giant. Around Regina Prime we notice hundreds of ships, spaceports and stuff. Jack:"Where would you like to go? What would you like to do?" Captain:"We need to buy another ship or possibly refit this. And besides that we'll have to register one planet to Imperium. Questions?" Jack:"OK. That means trip to planet, then. Lets park in the orbital city of Regina Prime City" Csptain's note:"We have approximately ~1 mo supply of lifesupport." Turn 759, at Regina prime (Background information, found from Galactic Encyclopedia: Corfu (Arrasag) was visited by some scouts long ago, found a deadly virus, thereafter named Corfu Claw, thus the whole solar system was made "no-go".) Captain: "We have some things to sell here -- mainly jewels." Jack: "Hmm... in that case, let's contact some jewel brokers. Typically, some kilos of jewels are sold on the market each day." Jack arranges a meeting with a jewel broker named Wilbur Strike, in a hotel room. Captain shows one liter of selected jewels. Wilbur bids 11000 cr/liter, for "a cubic meter or two". Captain asks for 23 Mcr for 2 cubic meters. Captain brings a bigger, 100-liter random sample, which makes Wilbur look disappointed. He bids only 9500 cr/liter for this quality, so we sell the 100 liters, for 0.95 Mcr. Captain asks Jack to find out about some more jewel brokers, and some shotguns. John will seek information of spaceship prices. Dick finds some public market quotes in a local economic newspaper: raw jewels 7000 - 12000 cr/l (depending on quality and crystals 5500 cr/l While Jack and John are on their way, Captain buys 50 100-liter cargo boxes and a floater for moving them around; also spends 250 cr for food. Jack returns, having found a better deal (10500 cr/l -- by Wilbur Smith!). Captain sells now 2 cubic meters for 21 Mcr. Some spaceship costs found: 100-ton TL15, 28 Mcr (new), 15 Mcr (used) 300-ton TL14, 43 Mcr (used) 200-ton TL14, 55 Mcr (used), former Vargr courier ship, jump-3, has a ship's boat, 54 m3 free space, required crew 2, 3 turrets. Plan: We'll sell our old ship for a good price, and buy a decent ship. What we need: - harmless looking - reasonably armed - very, very fast, for quick escapes - absolute maximum for required crew size is 5 (3 is better) We put a "for sale" ad in local newsgroups, about our wonderful, one-of-a-kind, antique, curiosity ship. Some bids: 2 M, 17 M. We accept the 17M deal; also, we sell the ship's boat from our new courier for 12M. We spend two days wandering around spaceship yards, browsing the available spaceships; meanwhile, we bid 55M for the Vargr courier. Wilbur happily buys another 2 m3 of jewels for 21M. Also, we sell 4 m3 of crystals for 22M at the raw material market. While we are waiting to hear about the Vargr cruiser bid (3 days), Jack and John take their 2-day shore leave. They return, looking happy but tired. We buy: - the 200-ton Vargr courier, Llongakol, 55M - a 20-ton Gig, Greawwuz, 13.78 M - a 10-ton Fighter, Urrgae's Honor, 14.26 M - triple missile turret for the Gig, 0.25 M The ships are painted in nice color, and marked with the official Arrassag emblem: a giant flask of water, supported by a human and a vargr. This costs 0.09M. Next, we go to a nearby Navy base, and enlist for one month for self-paid intensive courses. Jose: 2500 cr/month, as a mechanic. Captain: 5000 cr/month, flying with our own ships. Dick: 5000 cr/month, mostly simulated turret weapon fights, also one week of real-life practise. Everybody finishes their courses, finding them quite refreshing, and passes final exams quite ok (though some of theoretical background studies were rather dull). We spend another month: Jose: 3000 cr, "Efficient Thinking" at a local university. Captain: 3000 cr, same as Jose. Dick: 2500 cr, as a mechanic. And a third month: Jose: 3000 cr, "Peaceful Cultural Exchange in Contemporary World" (= liaison). Captain: 4000 cr, "Basic Turret Weapon Fighting". Dick: 5000 cr, "Contemporary Medicine" to keep up with current medical technology. Jack and John return from their leave, proudly wearing brand-new suits... and black sunglasses. Captain commands them to get rid of them and wear the ship's official uniform with the ship's logo. They are not exactly fascinated, but obey. Quick review of the past:"
Turn 756, smooth exit to Regina system.
Regina, the main world of Regina sector, has both naval base and scout base.
Captain flies to Regina Prime, which is a huge moon circling a gas giant.
Around Regina Prime we notice hundreds of ships, spaceports and stuff.

Jack:"Where would you like to go? What would you like to do?"
Captain:"We need to buy another ship or possibly refit this. And besides that we'll have to register one planet to Imperium. Questions?"
Jack:"OK. That means trip to planet, then. Lets park in the orbital city of Regina Prime City"
Csptain's note:"We have approximately ~1 mo supply of lifesupport."

Turn 759, at Regina prime

(Background information, found from Galactic Encyclopedia: Corfu (Arrasag) was visited by some scouts long ago, found a deadly virus, thereafter named Corfu Claw, thus the whole solar system was made "no-go".)

Captain: "We have some things to sell here -- mainly jewels." Jack: "Hmm... in that case, let's contact some jewel brokers. Typically, some kilos of jewels are sold on the market each day."

Jack arranges a meeting with a jewel broker named Wilbur Strike, in a hotel room. Captain shows one liter of selected jewels.

Wilbur bids 11000 cr/liter, for "a cubic meter or two". Captain asks for 23 Mcr for 2 cubic meters. Captain brings a bigger, 100-liter random sample, which makes Wilbur look disappointed. He bids only 9500 cr/liter for this quality, so we sell the 100 liters, for 0.95 Mcr.

Captain asks Jack to find out about some more jewel brokers, and some shotguns. John will seek information of spaceship prices.

Dick finds some public market quotes in a local economic newspaper: raw jewels 7000 - 12000 cr/l (depending on quality and crystals 5500 cr/l

While Jack and John are on their way, Captain buys 50 100-liter cargo boxes and a floater for moving them around; also spends 250 cr for food.

Jack returns, having found a better deal (10500 cr/l -- by Wilbur Smith!). Captain sells now 2 cubic meters for 21 Mcr.

Some spaceship costs found: 100-ton TL15, 28 Mcr (new), 15 Mcr (used) 300-ton TL14, 43 Mcr (used)

200-ton TL14, 55 Mcr (used), former Vargr courier ship, jump-3, has a ship's boat, 54 m3 free space, required crew 2, 3 turrets.

Plan: We'll sell our old ship for a good price, and buy a decent ship.

What we need: - harmless looking - reasonably armed - very, very fast, for quick escapes - absolute maximum for required crew size is 5 (3 is better)

We put a "for sale" ad in local newsgroups, about our wonderful, one-of-a-kind, antique, curiosity ship. Some bids: 2 M, 17 M. We accept the 17M deal; also, we sell the ship's boat from our new courier for 12M. We spend two days wandering around spaceship yards, browsing the available spaceships; meanwhile, we bid 55M for the Vargr courier.

Wilbur happily buys another 2 m3 of jewels for 21M. Also, we sell 4 m3 of crystals for 22M at the raw material market.

While we are waiting to hear about the Vargr cruiser bid (3 days), Jack and John take their 2-day shore leave. They return, looking happy but tired.

We buy: - the 200-ton Vargr courier, Llongakol, 55M - a 20-ton Gig, Greawwuz, 13.78 M - a 10-ton Fighter, Urrgae's Honor, 14.26 M - triple missile turret for the Gig, 0.25 M

The ships are painted in nice color, and marked with the official Arrassag emblem: a giant flask of water, supported by a human and a vargr. This costs 0.09M.

Next, we go to a nearby Navy base, and enlist for one month for self-paid intensive courses.

Jose: 2500 cr/month, as a mechanic. Captain: 5000 cr/month, flying with our own ships. Dick: 5000 cr/month, mostly simulated turret weapon fights, also one week of real-life practise.

Everybody finishes their courses, finding them quite refreshing, and passes final exams quite ok (though some of theoretical background studies were rather dull).

We spend another month: Jose: 3000 cr, "Efficient Thinking" at a local university. Captain: 3000 cr, same as Jose. Dick: 2500 cr, as a mechanic.

And a third month: Jose: 3000 cr, "Peaceful Cultural Exchange in Contemporary World" (= liaison). Captain: 4000 cr, "Basic Turret Weapon Fighting". Dick: 5000 cr, "Contemporary Medicine" to keep up with current medical technology.

Jack and John return from their leave, proudly wearing brand-new suits... and black sunglasses. Captain commands them to get rid of them and wear the ship's official uniform with the ship's logo. They are not exactly fascinated, but obey.]]> Captains Log #4 http://esrspy.wanderer.org/journals/megatraveller/captains_log_4.html http://esrspy.wanderer.org/midcom-permalink-5dd15593ca5e5a94e939115c550bcc7d Tue, 08 Oct 2002 02:00:09 +0300 Timo Multamäki Stardate 100: 30;4694, turn of 604 in Knorbes The imperial time is day 334 of year 1107. Imperial years are counted since the rise of the Third Empire. the morning after the arresting of captain. Captain was released from jail after paying the bail of 100.000cr. The hunting trip started just a couple of hours after it should have done. Captain summons Jose to the ground. The ship is sealed and the military ship will be guarding it. It's time for little exercise by the crew; a hunting trip. Captain sings in Vargr:" It's time to kill some tree-Krakens, fight, fight when on sight and the krakens die, die, die, death, death, death to tree krakens! " And then another merry ballad, called:"Who can smell the foul smell of fallen Kraken?" Not so keen Urrgae, relentless Captain, looking-for-donut-shop-Jose and cautious Dr. Dick proceed to the jungle of Knorbes. The tough looking guide, Juan, will head the landcruiser of ours to the dense forest of Knorbes National Park. Juan doesn't allow anyone else to drive; we don't have local drivers license. The seaside forest is nice and peaceful, a sort of Eden. "Drive to jungle should take ~2-3h", says Juan and continues driving. Memories of home, Arrasag, are taking over the captain. Occasionally gargantuan animals slow down the ride. Knorbes seem to be very rich in wildlife. Dick:"How many shotgun shots is needed to kill Kraken?" Juan:"Well... I usually use bow." Juan:"Krakens are that heavy, that it needs a BIG tree to support the weight" Juan:"Krakens cause several casualties yearly and even more injuries, so this is not for wimps." Urrgae is shivering. Jose pretends to deaf. During the ride, the last puffs of morning mist is burned away by the hot sun. "It's very day for hunting", comments Juan. There're couple of Sea Dragons and other biggish monsters swimming in the sea. Finally we arrive the jungleside, cover the vehicle and grap our stuff. "The krakens are known to destroy all uncovered stuff", warns Juan. Terrible sounds are coming out of the jungle. Juan explains that the most horrible noise comes from Kraken. Urrgae carries Captains laser rifle (TL9) after captain promises that he doesn't have to be on the first line if he carries the rifle. Captain and Dick have the autoshotguns, Jose is the cameraman (though armed with a sniper rifle). The jungle is dark, murky, moist and noisy. There're loads of animals, some poisonous, some not. We'll proceed in to the deepest jungle. In some openings we'll see the sun again, usually it's dark and using of goggles is recommended. After 30 minutes of hiking, we'll see the first to-be-kraken. The individual is standing in the treetop. It seems to be ~1.5 tons bird, which is smaller than Krakens. Juan informs:"That is just another birdie, meateater, but definitively not Kraken, Krakens are round about 20 times larger." Urrgae is shivering and is very pale. It also seems that Urrgae has a bad hair day. Jose has a very well planned escape route in mind. Captain seems to in full hunting mood, ears pointed. Dick is anxious to shoot in the middle of iris of the Kraken. After a bit more than hour we'll hear krakens voice closeby... after just after couple of minutes of crawling, we'll see the krakens. Surprisingly there're three huge, enermous krakens. We'll estimate that the largest (male) has ~15 meters tall, while resting. The two others are much smaller females. Jose takes pictures of the crew and krakens and some other animals. While taking pictures the giant kraken attacks the smaller saurus animal (approximated size of ~4t). After small fight the small animal is butched. Urrgae leaks under himself. Laughing Juan:"People have killed several krakens using shotguns, it's not easy game, but doable." The female krakens try to fly, it's again windy. The male kraken devours the body of smaller animal at 200 meters. Captain:"Is this normal sized kraken`?" Juan:"This is one of the largest I've seen for a long time" Juan:"This is the king of krakens and now it would your chance to kill it, as the females most likely don't show up in a while." Captain:"OK." Juan:"I can make it to come closer, if you like" Captain:"Can I turn around it?" Juan:"It is very perceptive" Captain:"Isn't it wise to depart a bit to get wider angle?" Juan:"Well... Forest slows it down and incase you're a bit farther away, usually only one gets hurt. At worst." Dick:"Lets stay behind separate trees." Captain:"Lets form half circle. I'll take the left front tree" Dick:"I'll take the right front tree." Juan:"Ok. It seems that I'll be in the middle then." Captain:"Urrgae is taking pictures and Jose snipes ~100 meters behind us." Captain:"Is it ok to kill krakens with laser?" Juan:"Well... why not? But killing krakens with guns is for wimps. Bows are for real man." After while of pondering we'll decice that captain uses laser pistol for first shot and shotgun after that and dick uses laser rifle. Jose is blasting with his sniper rifle. The combat The first shot: Captain hits in to the head of Kraken with a pistol Dick hits directly in the eye Jose hits the same eye than Dick Kraken yells and crawls loud and rapidly rushes toward us. Kraken seems to be really pissed of. Kraken is advancing directly toward the Captain, as the only good eye of the kraken can see only Captain. Juan comments:"Excellent! Blast more!" The second round: Captain hits four first shots with shotgun, but then gun suddenly jams! Dick hits the head Jose misses blatantly Kraken takes captains hits, falls down and seems to be dead. Juan:"It's not faking, it seems to be dead" Captain finishes the job after gun cleaning cleaning. Captain:"Can we climb on top of it to take pictures?" Juan:"Female krakens are coming! Take cover!" Captain:"I'll stay in here and cover under the kraken, shoot the other kraken" Captain:"Shoot!!" Juan:"That was not a good idea" Urrgae is taking pictures almost in the open area. Kraken seems to notice him. Captain:"Hey, after the head of the kraken is after me, I'll open fire from here below. Then shoot that motherfucker!" Captain shoots the other kraken and it falls down in bits and pieces... and lands of top of poor Urrgae, still taking pictures. Captain rushes to help Urrgae. Urrgae seems to be vanished under the huge bulk of a kraken. Captain:"Juan, Dick come on and help me. We've got to help Urrgae! Jose, you'll stay and watch." Juan starts hacking the trunk with his axe. After a short while we'll find the an arm of Urrgae. It seems that there's no pulse and no bones either. Dick manages to salvage the video recorder. The last picture of Urrgae is still on the screen. Horrible! It seems quite likely that Urrgae is dead. Captain howls painfully and continues digging using his bare claws. After 10 minutes of "digging" captain manages to salvage the mutilated body of the Urrgae. Captain graps Urrgae to his back and suggest the others:"Lets go on top of the larger kraken and take picture." Juan will takes pictures of the brave crew of Arrasag-1 on it's interstellar mission. Dick:"Maybe we should kill couple of those vultures, just in case". Captain:"Agreed." Blatatatataaammm!...and shotguns are singing again. After taking souveniers and collectibles from the big kraken, we'll head back to the jeep. Captain takes one claw of kraken. Conversation on the way back home: Sad Juan:"Damn. Again in my trip some fatalities. Darn" Mourning Dick:"Urrgae was a good vargr after all" Captain is silent and seems to be depressed. Jose:"We're lucky to be alive. Sad that Urrgae is not. Was this really any fun?" Return to base After sun sets, captain says non-humorously:"Urrgaes' mother will be proud of him, a real vargr always dies in the battle. Urrgae is the first space faring hero of Arrasag." After a while Juan asks depressed:"I assume that you're insured?" Dick:"What?" Juan:"Óh, well, I guess you're not insured then..." Dick:"Can insurance get Urrgae back alive? How this insurance thing works?" At almost bit earlier than midnight we'll return to the base. Our ship is still there, intact. Captain goes to cremate Urrgae. HOWLING and WAILING Dick goes to marine station to seek what's the status of Captains law troubles. Marines recommend marine club for drinking to sorrow. The rest of the crew goes to Imperial Club of Knorbes to be really drunk. After a while of heavy drinking couple of non-marine guys appears to our table offering administrative help and counceling. "My name is Jack Smith and this is my brother John, we'd require a safe passage to another solar system, called Forboldn." Captain:"But that's on the otherside of the Spinward marches" Dick:"Why don't you take a bus? ...ah, I know, you're too wasted to to drive. Drunken drivin' is not good." Jack:"Umh, it's actually one parsec away" Captain:"Bartender! Lets have drink for all of us" The night was wild. We'll wake up (all 5 of us) at some place not-too-far-away. We'll wake around 11, one hour before the court. Jack:"Well, whether you'll give us a ride and we'll represent you or you'll go and represent you." Jose:"Umh, be a bit more quiet." Dick:"Can you prove who you are? Are you legal? Can we make a background check?" Captain:"Do you eat meat?" Jack:"Occasionally" Captain:"We've got a deal." The trial The trial is very simple. Our defense (Jack Smith) is performing very well. The end verdict is 'not-guilty' and the guy in the wheelchair must pay fines due provocation and agressive behaviour. The judge invites the crew and the defense to dinner. The dinner is at the military base canteena. It's not very tasty but rather healthy. After the dinner we'll repack and head toward our ship. We'll reach the ship at the beginning of turn 612. Immediadly upon the return to ship we'll continue the military style life we had before. Preparing for next voyage We have one turn to checkup the ship, ourselves and clean old Urrgaes room for John and Jack. We notice that the military ship is gone and our ship is untouched. Full medical checkup shows that all are in good condition, though still bit intoxicated and/or having hangover. At the start of turn 613 captain picks up Jack and John. Long discussions about possible military conficts between the Imperium and Zhodanis. To 1808 Forboldn Turn 615 Smooth entrance to hyperspace. Normal, mandatory routines, during hyperspace. Training continues just like during last trip. Dick:"How about starting a raider career? Killing those dudes could give us some extra currency?" Captain:"Not that bad idea, but I guess it might be hard to kill in space unnoticeably." Captain:"Lets try to find out more about those dudes, we could use them as crew members" Jack is a merchant and John lawyer, administrator. J &amp; J seem to be free spirited, loyal and friendly. They seem to have travelled a lot. Dick and Captain do a recruiting meeting with John. Captain:"vargrs?" John:"Vargrs have lately been attacking all around, they seem to be rather aggressive." Dick:"The future of the Imperium?" John:"Stable. Zhodanis doesn't have a chance." Captain:"Working under Vargrs?" John:"Doesn't do any difference, boss is a boss" Dick:"Technical skills?" John:"Little, some computer skills" Captain:"Your worst qualities?" John:"too dependant of my bro'" Dick:"Origin? School?" John:"Origin is Regina, studied at Regina University" Captain:"Would you fight against pirates to retain our cargo?" John:"In case that I'd be a member of crew, yes. As a passanger, no." Dick:"Your relationship to money?" John:"Not just trying to get some." Captain:"And last question; what's motivation to be with us in this crappy ship?" John:"To get anywhere out of that dull planet." Dick:"Do you have any guestions from us?" John:"Where are you going?" ... a long pause... Captain:"Regina" And another meeting with Jack: Captain:"vargrs?" Jack:"Hasn't seen too many" Dick:"The future of the Imperium?" Jack:"Strebhon seems to be a cool guy." Captain:"Working under Vargrs?","Any racial dislikes?" John:"Doesn't do any difference, boss is a boss.","K'krees are not my favourites" Dick:"Technical skills?" John:"Little, some computer and electronics skills" Captain:"Your worst qualities?" John:"too dependant of my bro'" Dick:"Origin? School?" John:"Origin is Regina, studied at Regina University" Captain:"Would you fight against pirates to retain our cargo?" John:"In case that I'd be a member of crew, yes. As a passanger, no." Dick:"Your relationship to money?" John:"Money is nice to have, when needed." Captain:"And last question; what's motivation to be with us in this crappy ship?" John:"My brother thought that this would be a good idea" Captain and Dick ponders a while, conclusion:"Let's suggest 2 month trial term, no salary no expenses." John:"Well, sounds reasonable, but we need to have 1 day shoreleave and 500cr. on each place we'll stay." Captain:"Lets agree that you'll have 500cr and one day shoreleave on all places we'll stop by, which are inhabitated." Captain:"To celebrate this occasion, lets eat barbeque gang and drink some booze" Jack tries to fix our old and new computer and sensor systems together. Turn 660, a smooth exit to Forboldn Forboldn is three million inhabitant colony which is being terraformed at the moment. J &amp; J agrees that they'll spend their leave at Regina. We'll fill up the tanks at the gas giant. Captains does the first refueling gig, which goes smoothly. Jose does second immediadly after captains return. This time Jose doesn't wreck the smallship. Jack has managed to mostly integrate our two computers. Turn 675, Engaging to Hefry (1909) Smooth entrance to hyperspace. During the voyage, the standing orders will be Captain studies military tactics Jose and Dick studies computers with Jack John is ordered to study Vargr language mandatory 30min/shift physical training 1h 0g manouver training every day Shifts: Captain/Dick Dick/Jack Jack/Jose Jose/John John/Captain Turn 715, smooth exit to Hefry system After very quick checks, we'll recalculate next jump to Regina [1910]. Turn 716, smooth entrance to hyperspace. Turn 738, minor shaking Turn 756, smooth exit to Regina system. Regina, the main world of Regina sector, has both naval base and scout base. Captain flies to Regina Prime, which is a huge moon circling a gas giant. Around Regina Prime we notice hundreds of ships, spaceports and stuff. Jack:"Where would you like to go? What would you like to do?" Captain:"We need to buy another ship or possibly refit this. And besides that we'll have to Eregister one planet to Imperium. Questions?" Jack:"OK. That means trip to planet, then. Lets park in the orbital city of Regina Prime City" We have approximately ~1 mo supply of lifesupport. Stardate 100: 30;4694, turn of 604 in Knorbes

The imperial time is day 334 of year 1107. Imperial years are counted since the rise of the Third Empire.

the morning after the arresting of captain.

Captain was released from jail after paying the bail of 100.000cr. The hunting trip started just a couple of hours after it should have done.

Captain summons Jose to the ground. The ship is sealed and the military ship will be guarding it. It's time for little exercise by the crew; a hunting trip.

Captain sings in Vargr:"

And then another merry ballad, called:"Who can smell the foul smell of fallen Kraken?"

Not so keen Urrgae, relentless Captain, looking-for-donut-shop-Jose and cautious Dr. Dick proceed to the jungle of Knorbes.

The tough looking guide, Juan, will head the landcruiser of ours to the dense forest of Knorbes National Park. Juan doesn't allow anyone else to drive; we don't have local drivers license. The seaside forest is nice and peaceful, a sort of Eden. "Drive to jungle should take ~2-3h", says Juan and continues driving. Memories of home, Arrasag, are taking over the captain. Occasionally gargantuan animals slow down the ride. Knorbes seem to be very rich in wildlife.

Dick:"How many shotgun shots is needed to kill Kraken?"
Juan:"Well... I usually use bow."
Juan:"Krakens are that heavy, that it needs a BIG tree to support the weight"
Juan:"Krakens cause several casualties yearly and even more injuries, so this is not for wimps." Urrgae is shivering. Jose pretends to deaf.

During the ride, the last puffs of morning mist is burned away by the hot sun. "It's very day for hunting", comments Juan. There're couple of Sea Dragons and other biggish monsters swimming in the sea.

Finally we arrive the jungleside, cover the vehicle and grap our stuff. "The krakens are known to destroy all uncovered stuff", warns Juan.

Terrible sounds are coming out of the jungle. Juan explains that the most horrible noise comes from Kraken. Urrgae carries Captains laser rifle (TL9) after captain promises that he doesn't have to be on the first line if he carries the rifle.

Captain and Dick have the autoshotguns, Jose is the cameraman (though armed with a sniper rifle).

The jungle is dark, murky, moist and noisy. There're loads of animals, some poisonous, some not. We'll proceed in to the deepest jungle. In some openings we'll see the sun again, usually it's dark and using of goggles is recommended.

After 30 minutes of hiking, we'll see the first to-be-kraken. The individual is standing in the treetop. It seems to be ~1.5 tons bird, which is smaller than Krakens. Juan informs:"That is just another birdie, meateater, but definitively not Kraken, Krakens are round about 20 times larger."

Urrgae is shivering and is very pale. It also seems that Urrgae has a bad hair day. Jose has a very well planned escape route in mind. Captain seems to in full hunting mood, ears pointed. Dick is anxious to shoot in the middle of iris of the Kraken.

After a bit more than hour we'll hear krakens voice closeby... after just after couple of minutes of crawling, we'll see the krakens. Surprisingly there're three huge, enermous krakens. We'll estimate that the largest (male) has ~15 meters tall, while resting. The two others are much smaller females.

Jose takes pictures of the crew and krakens and some other animals. While taking pictures the giant kraken attacks the smaller saurus animal (approximated size of ~4t). After small fight the small animal is butched. Urrgae leaks under himself. Laughing Juan:"People have killed several krakens using shotguns, it's not easy game, but doable."

The female krakens try to fly, it's again windy. The male kraken devours the body of smaller animal at 200 meters.

Captain:"Is this normal sized kraken`?"
Juan:"This is one of the largest I've seen for a long time"
Juan:"This is the king of krakens and now it would your chance to kill it, as the females most likely don't show up in a while."
Captain:"OK."
Juan:"I can make it to come closer, if you like"
Captain:"Can I turn around it?"
Juan:"It is very perceptive"
Captain:"Isn't it wise to depart a bit to get wider angle?"
Juan:"Well... Forest slows it down and incase you're a bit farther away, usually only one gets hurt. At worst."
Dick:"Lets stay behind separate trees."
Captain:"Lets form half circle. I'll take the left front tree"
Dick:"I'll take the right front tree."
Juan:"Ok. It seems that I'll be in the middle then."
Captain:"Urrgae is taking pictures and Jose snipes ~100 meters behind us."
Captain:"Is it ok to kill krakens with laser?"
Juan:"Well... why not? But killing krakens with guns is for wimps. Bows are for real man."

After while of pondering we'll decice that captain uses laser pistol for first shot and shotgun after that and dick uses laser rifle. Jose is blasting with his sniper rifle.

The combat

The first shot:

• Captain hits in to the head of Kraken with a pistol
• Dick hits directly in the eye
• Jose hits the same eye than Dick
• Kraken yells and crawls loud and rapidly rushes toward us. Kraken seems to be really pissed of. Kraken is advancing directly toward the Captain, as the only good eye of the kraken can see only Captain.

Juan comments:"Excellent! Blast more!"

The second round:

• Captain hits four first shots with shotgun, but then gun suddenly jams!
• Dick hits the head
• Jose misses blatantly
• Kraken takes captains hits, falls down and seems to be dead.

Juan:"It's not faking, it seems to be dead"

Captain finishes the job after gun cleaning cleaning.

Captain:"Can we climb on top of it to take pictures?"
Juan:"Female krakens are coming! Take cover!"
Captain:"I'll stay in here and cover under the kraken, shoot the other kraken"
Captain:"Shoot!!"
Juan:"That was not a good idea"

Urrgae is taking pictures almost in the open area. Kraken seems to notice him.

Captain:"Hey, after the head of the kraken is after me, I'll open fire from here below. Then shoot that motherfucker!"

Captain shoots the other kraken and it falls down in bits and pieces... and lands of top of poor Urrgae, still taking pictures.

Captain rushes to help Urrgae. Urrgae seems to be vanished under the huge bulk of a kraken.

Captain:"Juan, Dick come on and help me. We've got to help Urrgae! Jose, you'll stay and watch."

Juan starts hacking the trunk with his axe. After a short while we'll find the an arm of Urrgae. It seems that there's no pulse and no bones either. Dick manages to salvage the video recorder. The last picture of Urrgae is still on the screen. Horrible!

It seems quite likely that Urrgae is dead. Captain howls painfully and continues digging using his bare claws. After 10 minutes of "digging" captain manages to salvage the mutilated body of the Urrgae. Captain graps Urrgae to his back and suggest the others:"Lets go on top of the larger kraken and take picture."

Juan will takes pictures of the brave crew of Arrasag-1 on it's interstellar mission.

Dick:"Maybe we should kill couple of those vultures, just in case". Captain:"Agreed." Blatatatataaammm!...and shotguns are singing again.

After taking souveniers and collectibles from the big kraken, we'll head back to the jeep. Captain takes one claw of kraken.

Conversation on the way back home:

Sad Juan:"Damn. Again in my trip some fatalities. Darn"
Mourning Dick:"Urrgae was a good vargr after all"
Captain is silent and seems to be depressed. Jose:"We're lucky to be alive. Sad that Urrgae is not. Was this really any fun?"

Return to base

After sun sets, captain says non-humorously:"Urrgaes' mother will be proud of him, a real vargr always dies in the battle. Urrgae is the first space faring hero of Arrasag."

After a while Juan asks depressed:"I assume that you're insured?"
Dick:"What?"
Juan:"Óh, well, I guess you're not insured then..."
Dick:"Can insurance get Urrgae back alive? How this insurance thing works?"

At almost bit earlier than midnight we'll return to the base. Our ship is still there, intact. Captain goes to cremate Urrgae. HOWLING and WAILING

Dick goes to marine station to seek what's the status of Captains law troubles. Marines recommend marine club for drinking to sorrow. The rest of the crew goes to Imperial Club of Knorbes to be really drunk. After a while of heavy drinking couple of non-marine guys appears to our table offering administrative help and counceling. "My name is Jack Smith and this is my brother John, we'd require a safe passage to another solar system, called Forboldn."

Captain:"But that's on the otherside of the Spinward marches"
Dick:"Why don't you take a bus? ...ah, I know, you're too wasted to to drive. Drunken drivin' is not good."
Jack:"Umh, it's actually one parsec away"
Captain:"Bartender! Lets have drink for all of us"

The night was wild. We'll wake up (all 5 of us) at some place not-too-far-away. We'll wake around 11, one hour before the court.

Jack:"Well, whether you'll give us a ride and we'll represent you or you'll go and represent you."
Jose:"Umh, be a bit more quiet."
Dick:"Can you prove who you are? Are you legal? Can we make a background check?"
Captain:"Do you eat meat?"
Jack:"Occasionally"
Captain:"We've got a deal."
The trial

The trial is very simple. Our defense (Jack Smith) is performing very well. The end verdict is 'not-guilty' and the guy in the wheelchair must pay fines due provocation and agressive behaviour. The judge invites the crew and the defense to dinner. The dinner is at the military base canteena. It's not very tasty but rather healthy.

After the dinner we'll repack and head toward our ship. We'll reach the ship at the beginning of turn 612. Immediadly upon the return to ship we'll continue the military style life we had before.

Preparing for next voyage

We have one turn to checkup the ship, ourselves and clean old Urrgaes room for John and Jack. We notice that the military ship is gone and our ship is untouched.

Full medical checkup shows that all are in good condition, though still bit intoxicated and/or having hangover.

At the start of turn 613 captain picks up Jack and John.

Long discussions about possible military conficts between the Imperium and Zhodanis.

To 1808 Forboldn

Turn 615

Smooth entrance to hyperspace. Normal, mandatory routines, during hyperspace. Training continues just like during last trip. Dick:"How about starting a raider career? Killing those dudes could give us some extra currency?" Captain:"Not that bad idea, but I guess it might be hard to kill in space unnoticeably." Captain:"Lets try to find out more about those dudes, we could use them as crew members"

Jack is a merchant and John lawyer, administrator. J & J seem to be free spirited, loyal and friendly. They seem to have travelled a lot.

Dick and Captain do a recruiting meeting with John.

Captain:"vargrs?"
John:"Vargrs have lately been attacking all around, they seem to be rather aggressive."
Dick:"The future of the Imperium?"
John:"Stable. Zhodanis doesn't have a chance."
Captain:"Working under Vargrs?"
John:"Doesn't do any difference, boss is a boss"
Dick:"Technical skills?"
John:"Little, some computer skills"
Captain:"Your worst qualities?"
John:"too dependant of my bro'"
Dick:"Origin? School?"
John:"Origin is Regina, studied at Regina University"
Captain:"Would you fight against pirates to retain our cargo?"
John:"In case that I'd be a member of crew, yes. As a passanger, no."
Dick:"Your relationship to money?"
John:"Not just trying to get some."
Captain:"And last question; what's motivation to be with us in this crappy ship?"
John:"To get anywhere out of that dull planet."
Dick:"Do you have any guestions from us?"
John:"Where are you going?"
... a long pause... Captain:"Regina"

And another meeting with Jack:

Captain:"vargrs?"
Jack:"Hasn't seen too many" Dick:"The future of the Imperium?" Jack:"Strebhon seems to be a cool guy." Captain:"Working under Vargrs?","Any racial dislikes?" John:"Doesn't do any difference, boss is a boss.","K'krees are not my favourites" Dick:"Technical skills?" John:"Little, some computer and electronics skills" Captain:"Your worst qualities?" John:"too dependant of my bro'" Dick:"Origin? School?" John:"Origin is Regina, studied at Regina University" Captain:"Would you fight against pirates to retain our cargo?" John:"In case that I'd be a member of crew, yes. As a passanger, no." Dick:"Your relationship to money?" John:"Money is nice to have, when needed." Captain:"And last question; what's motivation to be with us in this crappy ship?" John:"My brother thought that this would be a good idea"

Captain and Dick ponders a while, conclusion:"Let's suggest 2 month trial term, no salary no expenses."

John:"Well, sounds reasonable, but we need to have 1 day shoreleave and 500cr. on each place we'll stay."

Captain:"Lets agree that you'll have 500cr and one day shoreleave on all places we'll stop by, which are inhabitated."

Captain:"To celebrate this occasion, lets eat barbeque gang and drink some booze"

Jack tries to fix our old and new computer and sensor systems together.

Turn 660, a smooth exit to Forboldn

Forboldn is three million inhabitant colony which is being terraformed at the moment.

J & J agrees that they'll spend their leave at Regina. We'll fill up the tanks at the gas giant. Captains does the first refueling gig, which goes smoothly. Jose does second immediadly after captains return. This time Jose doesn't wreck the smallship.

Jack has managed to mostly integrate our two computers.

Turn 675, Engaging to Hefry (1909)

Smooth entrance to hyperspace.

During the voyage, the standing orders will be

• Captain studies military tactics
• Jose and Dick studies computers with Jack
• John is ordered to study Vargr language

• mandatory 30min/shift physical training
• 1h 0g manouver training every day

Shifts:

• Captain/Dick
• Dick/Jack
• Jack/Jose
• Jose/John
• John/Captain

Turn 715, smooth exit to Hefry system

After very quick checks, we'll recalculate next jump to Regina [1910].

Turn 716, smooth entrance to hyperspace.

Turn 738, minor shaking

Turn 756, smooth exit to Regina system.

Regina, the main world of Regina sector, has both naval base and scout base.

Captain flies to Regina Prime, which is a huge moon circling a gas giant. Around Regina Prime we notice hundreds of ships, spaceports and stuff.

Jack:"Where would you like to go? What would you like to do?"
Captain:"We need to buy another ship or possibly refit this. And besides that we'll have to Eregister one planet to Imperium. Questions?"
Jack:"OK. That means trip to planet, then. Lets park in the orbital city of Regina Prime City"

We have approximately ~1 mo supply of lifesupport. ]]> Captains Log #3 - Stardates 49-100 http://esrspy.wanderer.org/journals/megatraveller/captains_log_3_stardates_49_100.html http://esrspy.wanderer.org/midcom-permalink-143fa3d4d0a553c60951c53be555f5e8 Tue, 08 Oct 2002 01:58:33 +0300 Timo Multamäki Meet the Marine ;) Shift 285, Captain/Dick Captain and Dick are discussing about the future of this mission. Captains personal note: For security reasons I have limited access to Stardata database to Regina sector for the rest of the crew. It seems possible that some of the crew members are trying to avoid returning to Arrasag. Jose performs a thorough engine check and, discovers signs of wearing out in the maneuver drive engines. Begins repairs. We spend 8 shifts in the empty space for maintenance. Examine if possible to connect old and new computers and/or old and new sensors; seems possible, but quite difficult. Shift 293 Engage jump to 2204, Beck's World, orbit 2. Captain fabricates a cable and connects the new computer and the new sensors. Captain studies chemistry; Urrgae, imperial juridics; Dick, navigation. Shift 336 Smooth, but rather delayed exit from the jump. Routine medical check reveals unknown viruses in Dick's body; no sign in others. Dick immediately starts taking antibiotics, and starts more complete medical check. Dick starts writing scripts to convert the new sensor data and visualize it on the new computer. This will take a while. Shift 340 Land on the second innermost moon of a gas planet. Jose leaves for refueling. Dick continues script writing. Captain leaves for a walk on the moon. 15 minutes after he left, Jose observes an unknown spaceship, and notifies the main ship about this. He is commanded to continue the journey. Captain returns to the main ship. Main ship starts, flies near the inner moon, settles on orbit, and sees the unknown spaceship, which has landed on the moon. It is a 20 ton shuttle, named "Beck's Pride". Captain takes the speeder and drives to meet the shuttle. No activity seen. Captain sends a greeting message with the radio. No answer. Captain informs Dick, and stays in vicinity of the abandoned-looking shuttle. Takes pictures, sends these and other data to Dick, who looks it up. The shuttle is a modified launch. No activity during 4 hours; Captain returns to the main ships and goes to sleep. Shift 342 The cultures show up the same unknown virus in everyone (not just Dick). Dick also prepares cultures from the animals. Shift 348 Jose returns and goes to sleep. Shift 351 Jose wakes up. Dick's culture results show that the animals on the ship (with the exception of fishes) have the same virus that we're bearing. That sounds a bit scary. Captain and Dick drive back to Beck's Pride, which is still immobile. Captain succeeds in opening the locked door, and enters. A colorful sleeping gas fills the interior, then is sucked away again. Captain tries to escape, again opens the locked door; air suddenly enters the vacuum, Captain is blown against the wall. While Captain continues investigations inside the shuttle, Dick sees four armed people approaching slowly about 2 km away. Captain quickly gets out, both jump to the speeder. Captain greets them on the radio, they respond with laser fire (but miss). They are now about 500 m away. Captain flies the speeder behind the shuttle, and continues radio communications with the attackers. They accuse us for breaking in their shuttle. They claim to be Imperial Scouts. Urrgae (through a radio link) starts negotiations, tells that we are from Algine and are not used to local customs. They reluctantly suggest that the matter be resolved at the local Scout base, which we agree on. We are safely escorted to the Beck's World. A third ship (an armed Scout ship) joins the journey at halfway. Our main ship is left in orbit, in Jose's command. The others take the speeder and land on Beck's World, in a very small city's airport. Only two other spaceships seen there. We walk to the Scout office, where we discuss the alleged break-in incident. The talk proceeds rather peacefully. The Scout Colonel gives good advice on imperial manners. We also inform him that Zhodani have attacked Heya, which is bad news to him. We are given permit to proceed to Regina. Captain buys some meat and some wine, and one month's worth of life support supplies (thus we now have life support for two months). Shift 364 Engage jump to empty sector 2105. ETA: shift 397. During the jump, Dick's sensor system scripts are completed, and they seem to work fine. The new computer's screen shows among other things a complete image of the ship's hull. Shift 378 The gray matter outside wobbles extremely vigorously, and hits the ship, tearing away the radar antenna and shaking the ship. The violent wobbling lasts for 11 hours. From this on, everybody keeps vacc suits on all the time. Shift 413 A very delayed and violent exit from jump space. Dick is hurt bad, goes unconscious. Jose brings him to the medic bay, investigates the damages, and bandages him. Dick commands himself to complete rest for 7 days. Captain mounts a spare radar antenna. Engage jump to Feri (2005). Captain commands a physical condition test. Both Captain and Urrgae show seriously lowered condition. Captain commands increased physical training. Shift 456 Smooth exit from jump. Dick is almost healthy again. Sensors indicate hundreds of spaceships from 10 to 100 000 tons; and an abundance of energy shots; plus, we can visually see a battle going on. Both Imperial and Zhodani battleships seen in the battle, and three Vargr cruisers farther away not engaged in the battle. Our ship is in the middle of the battle. Captain communicates to the Vargrs, greeting them, and asks if they can provide fuel, which we desperately need. They offer one jump's worth of fuel for 50 000 cr, and Captain agrees. The Vargr battle cruisers are: one 30 000 ton, two 10 000 tons, heavily armed, regular crew size about 1200 in total (according to our encyclopedic database). We fly nearer them. Jose flies the ship's boat into one of the small cruisers for refueling. Refueling goes ok, Jose pays, and is permitted to leave. Very much pleasure to deal with you. Shift 457 Engage jump to empty sector 1906. Physical condition test indicates that everybody is in excellent condition. Shift 500 Exit from jump. Engage jump to Whanga (1805). Shift 501 Everybody takes an exam on their study subject. Everybody passes, others with good results, Urrgae with worse results. From now on, Captain will study military tactics; Dick, electronics. Urrgae continues to study the old subject. Shift 541 Exit from jump in Whanga. Fly to a moon of the gas giant. Shift 547 For practice, Captain takes the ship's boat and fills the fuel tanks full. Shift 557-558 Turret weapon shooting practice. Captain sets an old radio as a target on the edge of a volcanic crater. From 5000 km: Dick: misses. From 1000 km: Dick: hits very near, the radio falls to the crater. (Captain brings another radio for new target.) Jose: misses (over the crater). Captain: misses. Shift 559 Captain/Jose Next target Knorbes [1807]. Knorbes is a place where you can go hunting, yippee! Nice entrance to hyperspace. After nice smooth ride of 38,5 turns we'll have a nice exit to Knorbes solar system. Training we started on last jump continues... Smooth exit after 38,5 turns (turn 597,5) Dick/Urrgae. We're exactly where supposed to be, very low close to the main planet. The main planet is at TL 2 (circa 1600 AC). No starport, so after couple of hours of thruster flight we'll be in circular orbit around the main planet. The actual landing will happen in using landing vehicle (in our case, the speeder). The landing area is just big open concrete area. Docking fee is 250cr for first day, 1000cr for days after that. We seem to have two other ships landed, a small imperial ship and very luxurious 400 ton yacht. Only edged weapons and shotguns with non-lead pellets are allowed. Captain smiles when he informs This is Captain Dhazharrou, we have only shotguns with steel pellets, so no problemos. Airport control suggest using Hotel Knorbes if want the modern comforts, otherwisely we could use the local accommodities. Jose stays in the ship, while Captain, Urrgae and Dick descends. We want guided hunting tour. The Tree Krakens we're hunting is about size of a house and it's MEAN looking motherfucker. Still our brave hunters decide to go for it. Guide:"Tree Krakens always continue to attack until they are dead, so the only option is to kill them before you'll be killed." The fee is 5000cr/person for first day and 10000cr for subsequent days. We'll take one day hunting trip which will start tomorrow morning when sun rises. Today we'll be touring around the city, shopping. The restaurants were nice, but very heavy. This is a heaven for culinaristic meat eater like me. Dick complains about the quality of vegeterian foods. The living conditions were quite archaic at the local 'hotel'. The locals are laughing at us, we're different looking and bad hunters. The locals are trying hard to pick a fight and eventually they manage to do it. Captain:"My mother could have killed you in an eye blink as you're so fatso." The fatso makes a futile attempt to hit, but fails miserably. I return the attempt, but somehow he fails to take the hit, so I miss. His second blow I block valiantly, but his fat mass makes the blow quite heavy and it hits my chest. Now I get just a little angry, and tear good wounds to his face, chest and sides. He cowardly collapses on the floor, bleeding and unconscious. Dick quickly diagnoses and bandages him, mumbling something strange about his life being in danger. He insists on taking the guy to our ship for operation. Meanwhile, the bartender points at me with his shotgun, so I point back with mine. 20 min later, Marines come and take me to their base. Urrgae follows us trying to explain the things to the stupid Marines, who simply do not understand. Meanwhile: Dick stays with the bleeding guy, sees that he is still in immediate danger of death, contacts the Marine base with his hand radio, and asks them to come take him for operation. The Marines send a car to fetch the patient. He is taken to the base, where the doctor and Dick operate him; after this, his state seems stable enough. Captain has been thrown in jail. Dick is allowed to go meet him shortly. Dick and Urrgae return to the Smoked Kraken Inn for the night. In the morning: Dick and Urrgae walk to the base. Urrgae talks to the Colonel, who allows Captain to walk out for 100 000 credit's bail (but he is not allowed to leave the planet). Captain, Urrgae and Dick leave for the hunt trip only one hour late. Jose sends a radio message that while he was asleep, an Imperial battle cruiser was parked beside our ship. Shift 285, Captain/Dick

Captain and Dick are discussing about the future of this mission.

Captains personal note: For security reasons I have limited access to Stardata database to Regina sector for the rest of the crew. It seems possible that some of the crew members are trying to avoid returning to Arrasag.

Jose performs a thorough engine check and, discovers signs of wearing out in the maneuver drive engines. Begins repairs.

We spend 8 shifts in the empty space for maintenance. Examine if possible to connect old and new computers and/or old and new sensors; seems possible, but quite difficult.

Shift 293 Engage jump to 2204, Beck's World, orbit 2.

Captain fabricates a cable and connects the new computer and the new sensors. Captain studies chemistry; Urrgae, imperial juridics; Dick, navigation.

Shift 336 Smooth, but rather delayed exit from the jump.

Routine medical check reveals unknown viruses in Dick's body; no sign in others. Dick immediately starts taking antibiotics, and starts more complete medical check.

Dick starts writing scripts to convert the new sensor data and visualize it on the new computer. This will take a while.

Shift 340 Land on the second innermost moon of a gas planet. Jose leaves for refueling. Dick continues script writing. Captain leaves for a walk on the moon.

15 minutes after he left, Jose observes an unknown spaceship, and notifies the main ship about this. He is commanded to continue the journey. Captain returns to the main ship.

Main ship starts, flies near the inner moon, settles on orbit, and sees the unknown spaceship, which has landed on the moon. It is a 20 ton shuttle, named "Beck's Pride".

Captain takes the speeder and drives to meet the shuttle. No activity seen. Captain sends a greeting message with the radio. No answer.

Captain informs Dick, and stays in vicinity of the abandoned-looking shuttle. Takes pictures, sends these and other data to Dick, who looks it up. The shuttle is a modified launch.

No activity during 4 hours; Captain returns to the main ships and goes to sleep.

Shift 342 The cultures show up the same unknown virus in everyone (not just Dick). Dick also prepares cultures from the animals.

Shift 348 Jose returns and goes to sleep.

Shift 351 Jose wakes up. Dick's culture results show that the animals on the ship (with the exception of fishes) have the same virus that we're bearing. That sounds a bit scary. Captain and Dick drive back to Beck's Pride, which is still immobile. Captain succeeds in opening the locked door, and enters. A colorful sleeping gas fills the interior, then is sucked away again. Captain tries to escape, again opens the locked door; air suddenly enters the vacuum, Captain is blown against the wall.

While Captain continues investigations inside the shuttle, Dick sees four armed people approaching slowly about 2 km away. Captain quickly gets out, both jump to the speeder. Captain greets them on the radio, they respond with laser fire (but miss). They are now about 500 m away.

Captain flies the speeder behind the shuttle, and continues radio communications with the attackers. They accuse us for breaking in their shuttle. They claim to be Imperial Scouts.

Urrgae (through a radio link) starts negotiations, tells that we are from Algine and are not used to local customs. They reluctantly suggest that the matter be resolved at the local Scout base, which we agree on.

We are safely escorted to the Beck's World. A third ship (an armed Scout ship) joins the journey at halfway.

Our main ship is left in orbit, in Jose's command. The others take the speeder and land on Beck's World, in a very small city's airport. Only two other spaceships seen there.

We walk to the Scout office, where we discuss the alleged break-in incident. The talk proceeds rather peacefully. The Scout Colonel gives good advice on imperial manners. We also inform him that Zhodani have attacked Heya, which is bad news to him. We are given permit to proceed to Regina.

Captain buys some meat and some wine, and one month's worth of life support supplies (thus we now have life support for two months).

Shift 364 Engage jump to empty sector 2105. ETA: shift 397.

During the jump, Dick's sensor system scripts are completed, and they seem to work fine. The new computer's screen shows among other things a complete image of the ship's hull.

Shift 378 The gray matter outside wobbles extremely vigorously, and hits the ship, tearing away the radar antenna and shaking the ship. The violent wobbling lasts for 11 hours. From this on, everybody keeps vacc suits on all the time.

Shift 413 A very delayed and violent exit from jump space. Dick is hurt bad, goes unconscious. Jose brings him to the medic bay, investigates the damages, and bandages him. Dick commands himself to complete rest for 7 days.

Captain mounts a spare radar antenna.

Engage jump to Feri (2005).

Captain commands a physical condition test. Both Captain and Urrgae show seriously lowered condition. Captain commands increased physical training.

Shift 456 Smooth exit from jump. Dick is almost healthy again.

Sensors indicate hundreds of spaceships from 10 to 100 000 tons; and an abundance of energy shots; plus, we can visually see a battle going on.

Both Imperial and Zhodani battleships