PDF Review: On Wine Dark Sea

    This has been a neglected blog over the past decade I have had it, however, I can always take time to review gaming supplements. This is one of them, and one of the few I've felt passionate about reviewing.

    A fairly simple PDF, "On Wine Dark Sea" is 48 pages of text with a few public domain illustrations. At the great price of FREE, it's mostly written to players of various d20 based fantasy games, but it's fairly system agnostic. Even the 2d6 The Sword of Cepheus would work with these ideas.

    It starts with an origin for the idea, what it is, and what it isn't. It's not a full campaign. It is much closer to say, Adventure 0: The Imperial Fringe, than most roleplaying adventures. There's a starting idea, that the players are in a zero level death funnel at the Fall of Troy. Anyone who survives, ends up as a 1st level Adventurer. There's some ideas to start with, as for missions to take to get out of the city, or engage in looting for both Greek and Trojan parties. Perhaps the players join Odysseus in the Trojan horse! There's quick and dirty rules to organize the armies, and character levels as well. Some of them are tougher than others. In this case, a 1st level character is a tough adversary. Once the scenario is done, survivors advance to 1st level. Not your typical dungeon fantasy setting!

    From then, there's an entire Aegean world to explore, or fight. Instructions and an explanation of Patron Play are included. Patron play, to be honest, reminds me of how the Avalon Hill classic Diplomacy works. Everyone has a plan, and they all get interfered with. The party has to navigate a changing setting, and the best part, if you ask me, is the referee doesn't have to come up with the changes! He just lets the players duke it out. For what it's worth, I would advise having a day between patron turns and in person play, so players wouldn't be quite as familiar with their orders. That's a technique I used in college, to write a paper, and let it sit for a while to revise.

    I can give this little project two thumbs up for having great ideas to use and abuse no matter the setting.

On Patrol, Part IX

 This is a rather long one, written over the past few years in dribs and drabs. I started it shortly after I finished "Chaos Over Hades!" but have only completed it in the past few weeks. I am currently in the middle of an extended space combat sequence. I should be done with it shortly.

124-1120

            Hassan’s prize crew returned, aboard the Joey, after placing the Glycon under guarded seal at the downport. A few vital circuits were removed, preventing operation of the power plant and maneuver drive, and placed in a safe with the Starport Warden. The port security officers accepted custody of the prisoners, and read them rights under the High Laws. Not that it really meant anything, as all three only said things relating to their own health. They did have Imperial IDs, or at least high-quality forgeries. The records sent out here didn’t mention anything, but this is the edge of the Imperium, and information gets here in dribs and drabs. The flight back to the Boxing Kangaroo is the routine sort spacers fall asleep on.

            However, Sublieutenant Hassan’s section has the first watch, and he’s spent much of his rest period working on the paperwork required in this case, including his section of the libels that would be made regarding the Glycon, and sent to the Admiralty Court. He managed to get some of it done, but knows at least a short nap helps before standing the watch. Along with generous amounts of coffee. His hopes for a quiet watch are dashed, when one of the fuel shuttles starts sending out “Pan-pan, panpan, pan-pan! All stations, all stations, all stations! Fuel shuttle 1171 has a medical emergency, requiring assistance. The pilot just had a heart attack! I am inbound to Hades Orbital.”

            The standard emergency response kicked in, and Hassan started noting where everyone was, and Castillo came into the bridge with Lieutenant Brickley. “Status?”

            “Sir, we can intercept, I’m generating a solution right now.” A display showed how the Kangaroo could conduct an intercept for the wallowing shuttle, and provide the first aid needed. The Kangaroo maneuvered to enter a matching orbit, and launch the Joey to reach the shuttle, returning to the high port with a load of fuel, including a massive external tank that operated on a ballistic path normally.

Assistance Bill	Section III
Boat Pilot	Corporal Afari
Copilot	GMT2 Chishan
Engineer	MNE Franke
Medic	MNE Yap
Extra crewman	SA Owen

            Chishan and Afari inspected the boat, and crew, and Joey dropped from Boxing Kangaroo perfectly, in a ballistic arc to meet the boat. As they moved in, orbital maneuvers to get the boat to the match the shuttle and dock were easily done. Chishan went aboard, with Yap and Owen, to speak with the shuttle co-pilot.

            Yap began by hooking the pilot up to a medical kit, and revied him. The co-pilot said she could get the shuttle in to the high port, without a problem. The traffic controller came on and required the medical assistance to stay with the victim. They took him back to the boat, and flew in formation to the high port with the fuel load. After getting him on the gurney for the clinic, they went back to the Joey, and returned to the patrolling Boxing Kangaroo.

A few hours later, after section 2 took the watch under BM3 Zabiyah, a scout ship jumped in. The Sulieman class transmitted a code, and flew down to the main port. Quite possibly regular mail, as it was in fact, armed.

Higher Technology Items on a Low Tech World

If they run, they're barbarians!

This is a post that's been brewing in my head for a while about how technology can leak down the technology levels in Traveller. It will cover mandatory high technology, common imports to both governments and private concerns, and bootstraping technology. It was heavily influenced by this image of Roman Legion re-enactors manning a machine gun.

There is, as I see it, one item of mandatory high technology that will occur on any world that has an operating starport. That is a base station to communicate and offer some space traffic control. As in, keep the free trader from crashing on approach. It's going to be a standardized design from the IISS and Starport Authority. The Imperium is heavily run by the corporate classes, and one thing I do feel safe in stating is that certain navigation features will be standardized. The minimum outfit would be a simple antenna farm, a central computer with attached communications, and geostationary satellite. On worlds lacking indigenous electricity production, or where connecting to a grid is impractical, the rudimentary standardized system is powered by low maintenance generation. Typically, 'walk away' capable fusion plants, solar arrays, geothermal, and radiothermal generators are used for surface installations, of designed power outputs. Important factors for this equipment include reliability and minimal need for spare parts for all elements. This applies to small scale, Class E, ports, in newly established areas. In my vision of the Traveller Universe, inhabited worlds rarely have a Class E starport for more than a few decades, particularly on trade routes. The development of the surrounding area may easily push it into the Class D rating. Considering how GT: Starports notes that setting up a Class I (E) port is as simple as landing two cutters, clearing an area, establishing an extraterritoriality line, and maybe setting up an office, along with a communication station. It also notes that many have an 'artist's conception' of a future starport.

Review: GURPS Traveller Interstellar Wars

    The final physical book published for the GURPS Traveller line, and the only one for Fourth Edition, GT Interstellar Wars provides us a look at the first contact between Terrans and Vilani and the centuries of conflict that followed. Published in 2006, I was reluctant to get a copy because of edition compatibility. Also, I prefer the 3rd Imperium era.

    A 240 page hard cover book, the full color nature is typical of post D&D 3rd Edition publications from established gaming publishers. The copy I am borrowing from Hiverlord is in good shape, and eminently readable. The illustrations are of high quality, and the text readable. SJ Games really does produce quality supplements, and this is no exception. It feels like a book that can see regular use for a while. The illustrations are a mixture of computer renderings of starships that were common for the GT line, and quality illustrations. The style differences are not enough to distract the reader and break immersion.

    Structurally, Interstellar Wars is laid out in a familiar manner. Sections on background, characters, and starships offer a logical structure for both an initial read-through and later reference.

    Chapter 1, pages 6-16, is an introduction to the setting, and a basic history and information, including introducing some Vilani terms, and describing both Terran and Imperial societies. Including the differences between our era and the Terran Confederation of the 23rd century and later.

    Chapter 2, pages 17-46, provides an overview of the entire period, from the near future, including unification of Earth under the UN, to the fall of Vland in 2303. Much of this is based on prior material, including Jon F. Ziegler's GT Rim of Fire, but explored in more detail. An important detail is the nature of ethnic background of Sharik Yanglia was noted, and now expanded as a minor Human Race.

    Chapters 3, 48-68, and 4, 69-93, are similar in desribing the Terran Confederation and the Vilani Imperium. Both offer notes on society, structure, and military operations. The Imperium chapter also has a section on subject races. Alongside the familiar Answerin, Bwaps, Geonee, Suerrat, Vegans, and Nugiiri, we meet the Anakundu and Dishaan as well. The military sections provide, if you ask me, a justification for the 3rd Imperium's Marines to use the cutlass, as well as the Draft in practice. Nice little nods, if you ask me.

    Chapter 5, pages 95-132, covers the setting. Nine subsectors of the Rim, in detail a few thousand years before the 3rd Imperium. This provides some interesting information about the worlds previously covered, but has far less information than either of the 3rd Edition. One notable item, is the starport classification has returned to the Traveller standards of A-E, instead of GURPS Space using Roman numerals. My description of Persapera/Sol (SR 2028) does work with the offical, but it's been a few thousand years. 

    Characters are chapter 6, pages 133-157, and that is almost entirely GURPS 4e. For the non GURPS player, the description of social standing is most useful, as are Vilani military titles. Notable, the Ziru Sirka's fleet uses impenetrable function titles.

    Chapters 7, 159-168, provides a primer on how Vilani technology and Terran differ and work together. It also provides that much-needed information on society. Vilani social engineering for stability means computers are always dedicated. It also notes the limits on technology in this era. Biotechnology is noticeably limited.

    Chapters 8, 9, and 10, pages 169-186, 187-218, and 219-227, are all linked, Chapter 8's focus on starships is more informative on operations. It includes skill checks, chrome for operations, and the like. It also has the all important speculative trade tables, and how to work that into the setting. Chapter 9 is starship design, and is a refinement of the 3rd Edition one in the core GT book, and GT starships. It also includes a variety of sample designs from 10 dton fighter to the 30,000 dton Indomitable-class battleship, featuring a meson spinal and Jump 3. It also provides another justification for the Detached Duty scout ship. Chapter 20 is starship combat, and is serviceable.

    Chapter 11, 228-238, covers campaigns. It offers a default "Terran Free Traders" campaign, and other campaigns. Options, detailed as a few paragraphs, include main fleet and commerce raiding naval campaigns, ground warfare, occupation duty, exploration, colonization, and diplomacy/espionage. The one page offers some great alternates, including playing through the entire war with a cast of characters, time travel from the 3rd Imperium (Ancients Device!), secret Psionic masters, and a crossover with GURPS Infinite Worlds. The remainder of the book is a useful index.

    Conclusions? The book is a worthy addition to the GT canon. It is obviously a product of when it was produced, and includes some things in the future history that have changed radically. However, that does not detract form it. The ideas are still good, and workable. If a player is in a GURPS 4e group, and wants to try the Traveller setting, this book would work for that. Don't get it if you have little interest in this era. I did find the nods to the established Traveller setting to be amusing, but slightly distracting, as well as the references to Mesopotamian culture that also came from Imperium. Notably, the name of the family that was the Apkallu Kibrat Aban Kushamii being Sharrukin and then Anglicized to Sargon, is a clue to which of the authors wrote that section. Or at least provided the idea. Most of them got me to crack a grin, or connect the mechanic.

Drye, Paul, et al. Interstellar Wars. Steve Jackson Games, 2006. 

Chaos over Hades!

 This took a while, because of various distractions, like a new job, and replaying old video games.

114-1120

Imperial Patrol Cruiser Boxing Kangaroo’s maneuver drive fired, breaking orbit for the jump distance from Dismal to Hades. Sublieutenant Hassan prepares the jump plot. He can’t remember if he’s done this particular route before, but it’s a routine Jump-3 in well charted space. Brand had one of her juniors at the controls, who was a jump tech by training. With the final power diversion, the ship shudders slightly as it leaves reality. The watches go to their jump space norm, interrupted by the occasional drill. The major project, under Sergeant Valdez’s supervision, is cleaning up the bunk room. Without the distressed Solomani aboard, it’s possible to give it a deep clean. Besides, it gives the crew a chance to do something useful during the down time.

117-1120

On the afternoon of 117-1120, Spacehand Recruit Castillo is working with Marine Fini in the bunk room, and they find one of the rescue bubbles in the space removed from the packaging. Looking at, it, they speculate for a few minutes before calling for Sergeant Valdez.

Fini pops to attention, while Castillo matches her in a manner that suggests a less intense discipline, when Valdez enters the compartment. “Sergeant, we found this rescue bubble removed from stowage, and now it’s useless,” and hands the damaged bubble over to him.

Taking a second to examine it, Valdez notes the external seals are all broken, and but the oxygen tab wasn’t pulled. It looked like a quick examination by someone bored as all get out. He remembered his first tour, with his company crammed on a Caen-class Dropship. That was unpleasant, and the order of the day for the rest of the mission was finding things to do to keep the crew out of trouble. There were a lot of locker inspections, and a couple of Terminal Lances were muttering about how this wasn’t the Force. He turned to them, and said “Good work finding this, we’ll get a replacement at Hades.” He went up to the captain’s day cabin with the tampered item. He explained to Lieutenant Brickley about what it was, and how it looked more like boredom than sabotage. Besides, there was no indication of any tampering with the locked door to the missile magazine, and the alarm circuit was intact. 

121-1120

   

Keith Illustration, from Megatraveller

         The Boxing Kangaroo began to shudder noticeably as the ship came close to returning to the normal universe. Dropping into the system, the crew was on edge until Hassan and Zabiyah determined the ship had emerged in the Hades system. The cool, red star was normal for the Outback, but the small population orbited a gas giant. It also meant the fairly nice starport was relatively secure, given the lack of population. Officially a colony of Fenris, but that world’s military occupation meant it was a de facto Imperial possession. Other than the message stating the nature of the navigation instructions, there was nothing of interest nearby. Chishan and his section returned to an orbital watch, watching as normal.

            Later that evening, the subsisized liner Albatross jumped in from Prometheus, and a pair of fuel shuttles came to start it loading fuel, ready for it to continue on Fenris in a few days.

123-1120

 

Solomani Uriel class Escort, from MgT Solomani

           After a quiet day in orbit, and watching the Albatross make her way to the jump limit, the Boxing Kangaroo was in her usual patrol routine, with intermittent sensor sweeps showing little that changed in the system, when the main sensor array came alive for Zabiyah’s section that afternoon. An incoming jump flare was detected, and he immediately went for an active sweep.

            3,000 kilometers away, a small ship came into the universe, barely making emitting anything on the electromagnetic spectrum. The challenge, to submit to inspection of papers and identify the ship, was ignored. Going back to his training, and how he had seen leaders react in the past, he turned on the main radar system, and resent the challenge, further informing the intruders they were under sensor notice. He managed to get a lock on the little target easily. It proved to be a Uriel-class escort of Solomani design, but without the transponder, there was no way to identify the craft.

            Brickley came in, ready for ship-to-ship combat, “Officer of the Deck, report,” he stated, standing in front of his seat in the center of the bridge.

            “Sir, we have an unresponsive intruder at 3k kilometers and closing. Positive ID with FC radar has it as a Solomani designed Uriel class Escort. They have not replied to challenges, and we have sent two.”

            “Very well, what is the status of the ship?”

            “All systems normal.”

            “Attention on bridge, this is the Captain, I have the Deck and the Conn,” Brickley stated, and paused for a second, and turned on the announcing circuit, “Man General Quarters for hostile starship intercept.” The alarm sounded, rousing the off-watch sections to their stations. Chishan to the missile turret, and Valdez and Afari preparing the Marines in the Ship’s Boat. Hassan slipped into his console, while Brand was readying the power plant and drives. The crew strapped in, sending reports to the captain’s console.

            The two ships closed, with the intruder’s operator attempting a sensor lock. The Joey is released from Boxing Kangaroo’s hangar, and takes station. As the two starships reach under 1000 kilometers distance, the Joey races in, to attempt to board. Corpral Afari narrowly makes it, and docks with the Solomani Escort. Upon doing so, they note a name for this little ship; battered but faint, Glycon. The escort, lacking turret mounts, fires the each of its lasers harmlessly at the Ship’s Boat as it closes to dock.

            Sergeant Valdez is the first one across, with his team. Yap and Binici are ready with them. The Marines start working on opening the portside airlock, but end up blowing through the outer iris valve to get inside. Glycon’s crew tries to break the docking, but just can’t get it. The airtight door from the airlock to the crew’s area, and gets forced open, and the Marines storm in. They open the forward door on the little escort’s common area, and pull the hapless engineer off his couch. Placing him under Binici’s guard, they then force the overhead iris valve, and take the tiny bridge, and the two individuals in there surrender once the laser rifles are on them. The man at the pilot’s couch speaks, “I’m Andre Charpentier, and I surrender the family yacht to you. That includes you, Franca. Is my engineer, Teun, alright?”

            “I accept your surrender,” Sergeant Valdez says through an external speaker set to boom in the cramped bridge. “Your man is fine. We’ve got him back on the boat.” Switching to the radio, he calls out to the Joey. “Afari, you and Franke over here. We’ll need you to get this to a stable orbit. Before that, call the Skipper, and tell him to ready a prize crew.”

            Appledorn and Fini escorted the two crew down from bridge, and into the waiting boat. The four Marines ensure the three crew are all separated from each other. Corporal Afari and Marine Franke were able to get the ship into a stable orbit, and Valdez and Appledorn stay on the captured Escort.

            “Another prize, here we go.” Sublieutenant Hassan notes, with Castillo and Maurer in the boat on the return trip with Appledorn. The Kangaroo had closed into an appropriate distance. The small population here at Hades just couldn’t support a defense force, so roving patrols were about it. The plan for the Glycon was simple. Search the main cargo bay, and place her down at the Starport until the Navy could condemn and sell her. The ship would be under guard until then. The Class B port offered the space to put the captured boat down securely until a real prize crew could come for it. The Marines said the crew refused to talk, other than requesting comfort items, and an advocate. The four junior Marines stayed back on the Boxing Kangaroo as guards for the prisoners, as the Kangaroo secured from general quarters.

            Sergeant Valdez was standing by in the bridge of the little ‘yacht’ when the Joey docked. Appledorn was down at the airlock, showing the XO where to go. When they all returned, Hassan gave a final set of instructions.

            “Maurer and I will be checking out the M-drive, flight controls, and comms for the Downport. Sergeant, you’ll start searching the cargo bay. I understand you and Appledorn haven’t checked it yet?”

            “Yes sir, we haven’t. We’ll do a quick sweep for anything of interest. They did dump the log, though. Standard procedure for when you’re getting boarded by us.”

            “Good. Sergeant, carry out a search.”

            The trio departed for the cargo bay, and the Marines and Spacer looked through the crates in the space. Valdez found nothing of interest, just some spare parts he didn’t have a clue about. Castillo did find something interesting. A crate of Aquitanian Eau de Vie, lacking the Seals for Imperial Customs, as did Appledorn.

And Appledorn’s was far more interesting than some rare liquor. Eight travel cases for weapons. Two with gauss support weapons, six gauss rifles, eight ammo drums for the support weapons, and four mags for each rifle. All had Imperial model numbers and serials. Somehow, these were stolen and aboard a ship caught in questionable circumstances. The three men leave the cargo bay, and seal it. Weapons smuggling in the border is always an issue, especially with the Solomani Party General Conference going on.

            Meanwhile, Hassan and Maurer were going over the flight controls, comms, and powering on the transponder. Everything seemed fairly standard, and though it had been quite some time since he’d landed a starship at a downport, Hassan was certain he could with this one. They managed to get the comm system turned on, and contacted the downport for clearance, along with that for the Ship’s Boat. After about thirty minutes, Sergeant Valdez returned to state what they’d found. The information would immediately be passed to the Boxing Kangaroo and the Imperial Magistrate once they’d landed.

            “Boxing Kangaroo, this is Navy Prize Three One. Black sun standard heaters aboard, over,” Hassan radioed to the Kangaroo.

            “Prize Three One, Boxing Kangaroo, copy black sun standard heaters. Got a count? Over,” Lieutenant Brickley responded. The Skipper was still on the bridge.

            “Couple of heavies and half a dozen regulars. Over.”

            “Enough for a squad. I’ll note that, and send it down to the Starport Security and the Warden’s office. Anything else of interest? Over”

            “Crate of Aquitanian Eau de Vie. Small stuff, but still a fine. Prize Three One Over.”

            “Copy on the fun water. Prize Three One, this is Boxing Kangaroo¸ you can land when directed by Hades Down control, and be followed by the Joey. Boxing Kangaroo out.”

            “Boxing Kangaroo, Navy Prize Three One, we can land when directed, and return on Joey. Out.” Shortly afterwards, the prize crew lands the captured Glycon, and starts turning it over to the Starport Security Officer.

   

Recent News Stories: 

Home/Aldebaran                  079-1120

 The 104th General Congress of the Solomani Party opened today, beginning many days of intense political activity at the Solomani capital. Secretary-General Lin Peres presided over the opening ceremonies, calling for all Party delegates to be "mindful of the heavy responsibility inherent in making decisions that affect all the Solomani people."

 As Secretary-General Peres is not expected to win re-election, much attention fell on the Party leaders considered most likely to succeed her. Jan Malikov, a prominent Nationalist delegate to the Secretariat from Vantage/Solomani Rim, is considered the favorite in the upcoming voting. He spoke during several formal gatherings today, and appeared relaxed and confident.

 

Daedalus/Aldebaran                  063-1120 

The pleasant island resort of White Kyros was attacked before dawn this morning by an armed party of unknown origin. Over a dozen cottages were destroyed before the attackers withdrew. Although no specific report has been released to the media, casualties among both security staff and vacationers were apparently high.

 The authorities are treating the incident as an unusually bloody terrorist attack, but have made no public statement as to the identity of the terrorists.

 Terrorism and political violence are rare, but not unknown, on Daedalus. The White Kyros resort is quite exclusive, and is known to cater to Solomani Party leaders as well as the occasional Imperial aristocrat on a tour of the Solomani Confederation.

 

Esperance/Solomani Rim                  049-1120

 Air and interface forces of Waothan and Nueva Argentina have clashed over the neutral airspace of the city-state Todos Santos. Three aircraft were shot down, two Human and one Vegan, before the opposing forces could disengage. Both major states (and Todos Santos) are now engaged in a vicious name-calling contest in the Assembly of Nations, although other powers are attempting to mediate the dispute.

 

Capital/Core                  229-1119

A near tragedy was averted today, when quick thinking on the part of a sport rentry diver prevented the death of a companion.

 Davros Janni Gannisibek, a member of the Karbiili School's Atmospheric reentry diving team, experienced an equipment malfunction during a practice jump yesterday, when his retro pack malfunctioned and fired prematurely, placing Gannisibek on the wrong course for reentry. Team member Karen Selkirk Kabinda risked death herself to match course with Gannisibek, use her own retro pack to correct her teammate's vector, and then moved far enough away for both divers' ablative reentry shields to deploy without entangling each other.

 "We ended up about 20 klicks from where we were supposed to land." said Kabinda in an interview after both divers landed safely, "I didn't have the fuel to correct our courses to bring us both down in the right spot, and we almost landed in Zhukov Memorial Park Lake."

 Both divers were planning on going up again at the next opportunity. "You can't dwell too much on the risks," said Gannisibek, "otherwise nobody would ever go rock-climbing, or enter jump in a starship." No explanation has been brought forward for the malfunction, but the school and local law enforcement officials are investigating.

 

 

Preparing for In Person Play

Putting this to use!

    Well, this happened last weekend. I was talking with some friends that I was going over to play Traveller5 with the Hiverlord on Saturday. One of them, who can be very enthusiastic, asked me what I was doing, and explained a bit about the Traveller setting and mechanics, and roleplaying games. She then asked me if I would be interested in running a game, for the common group of friends, as she wanted to try it once. She said she'd played in a similar game before, and wanted to try again. I went a little more in depth on it, and she convinced another friend that this was a good idea. So I found myself now running a Traveller session that may turn into a campaign in the winter, for some people.

    Examining my bookshelf and extensive folder of PDFs, I settled on running One Crowded Hour for the group in August. I'll have character sheets for the pregenerated characters from the adventure prepped, but offer character generation if anyone wants it using Mongoose Traveller 1st Edition and limited options. I'll be copying the deckplan down onto graph paper so it's larger than the one provided in the PDF. Mr. Dougherty, a normal sized sheet of paper (US Letter or ISO A4) just doesn't quite work for the table!

    I have the adventure printed, and I'll make a pamphlet out of Traveller - in Two Pages, and provide prefilled character sheets for everyone. I'm hoping it turns out well, and that in the future, I can progress to more free-form games. I'm definately wanting as much input as possible for running a game for non-roleplayers. Maybe even start with Research Station Gamma....

Patrol Over Dismal

 108-1120

Unchanging
bureaucratic stereotype

            The Boxing Kangaroo was felt crowded, with the Solomani locked in the bunk room, and the crew forbidden to associated with them outside of the OOD and Marine. The survivors set up a rota, to ensure there would be one of them ready to meet with the crew. The most junior would have had the overnight. In the starport’s morning, Brickley found himself negotiating with the Starport Warden, an unpleasant cretin named Bretodeaux. They spent most of the time bandying about what responsibilities and authorization would be allowed for landing the crew of the Heartbreak Hill.

            “You see Lieutenant, I am under no obligation to allow ANY non-Imperial personnel on to this world, even if they stay inside the XT line,” was how it started after brief introduction. Self-importantly, the man continued, “I’m not even sure where this whole idea comes in, you know, that spacers whose craft can still support their lives…”

            “Except it cannot support their lives for the MINIMUM three weeks that it would be to get an official ship out here, with a diplomatic representative, to repatriate them.” Brickley calmly responded, at the man. “Additionally, my orders do not authorize me to maintain personnel onboard outside of ship’s company for any longer than required. Your starport is on an inhabited world in the Imperium, and the High Laws require that distressed starfarers are allowed to be landed at the starport and granted a minimum of parole around the starport vicinity. Additionally, I will inform my superiors that you were not willing to assist the Navy in standard missions.” His unspoken addendum was this would end Bretodeaux’s career, as the Navy in many ways was the authority with quick teeth in the Imperium.

            “Gah! I just want a nice easy time here,” came Bretodeaux’s response.

            “In that case, grant my ship or boat clearance. I know the only other ship in system is a safari ship!”

            “Fine, fine, we’ll take them,” Bretodeaux replied, seemingly resigned. They shifted the call to communications specialists, and Brickley called for the Marine Sentry to escort Mr. Strnad up. He took the half minute to think about what he had to say.

            As the door opened, and the Solomani official entered, Brickley waved him to a seat. “Mr. Strnad, we’ll be able to get your crew ashore on Dismal. At this point, you’ll be covered under the Distressed Starfarers provisions. You can land on Dismal, and there’s a moderate hotel in the Starport that should be able to put you and your crew up for a few weeks. It may be a while, maybe the 130^th or so, before you can get back to the Confederation.”

            “That’s some good news,” Strnad replied, his guarded features not showing a reaction. “I take it we’ll be limited in our movements?”

            “I’m afraid so. The Starport Security Officer will require daily check ins. I’d like to think this would be true for an Imperial ship unable to leave the Confederation under its own power.” A moment, and Brickley thought of misadventure BM3 Zabiyah told him of, having been in Mirabillis/Capella accidentally.

            “Well, at least there won’t be any S-men bugging the suites. Thank you for offering something positive for my crew, Lieutenant, and showing me a positive side of Imperials.” Strnad replied, with polished look. “May I take my leave, and return to the bunkroom?”

            “Of course, I’ll have the boat take you down later today,” as the two men parted.

            Corporal Afari found himself loading up his entire fireteam for the short flight down. A routine flight path, with a published approach, made this a piece of cake. Franke was in the other chair as systems operator, with Yap and Binici making sure the passengers sat down and didn’t rock the boat. Yap was the lead for passenger section, and the passengers wearing their vacc suits for the very thin atmosphere when they landed. Nice and easy, no major weather patterns. Coming in with minimal flare, he stuck the landing, making it look easy. But then, the contragravity and computers made any landing look easy, but he did it with style. “Thank you for flying with the Imperial Marine Force. Please enjoy your stay on Dismal!” he said over the loudspeaker as the port connected the boat to their pressurized concourse. The first person Binici let aboard was a security officer.

            Entering, the officer came aboard and entered the flight deck. “Alright, corporal, do you have the papers?”

            “Here’s their papers, and the required docs from the Skipper. Any questions?”

            “Not really, let me see,” as the security man flipped through the docs. “Huh, that’s interesting.”

            “What’s interesting?”

            “Looks like your ‘Mr. Strnad’ may be under an alias. Something clicked with him in my database. We’ll take him, but I’ll be watching him as best we can.”

            “What, nobody else around here security?”

            “Pretty much. I’m one of eight, we don’t have much out here that happens. The occasional border trader goes big, but that’s it. I’ve been authorized to tell you as soon as you’re ready, you can request clearance for launch.”

            “Well good luck with them.” As the security officer steps out, and the three other Marines moved to remove them, and their baggage that was removed from the wrecked courier. The return trip to the Boxing Kangaroo was routine and uneventful.

 110-1120

            A day later, a single seeker from the belt came in, to refuel and replenish some stores and then jump for Ember via Loki. Catalogued as routine, Sublieutenant Hassan noted it, and allowed the ship’s routine to continue for the rest of the day.

 113-1120

Once again, Sublieutenant Hassan found himself on watch when a ship entered the system, this time the midwatch, when the courier came out of Jumpspace a mere 500 km from the Kangaroo, coming in with the mail. Make way for the Imperial Scout Service, indeed! Logged and noted, they continued their lonely reverie. Consulting with the captain, they move their orbit in from the 100-diameter limit, closer to the geosynchronous orbit over the starpot.

 114-1120

            Running an afternoon training exercise for Owen, Chishan ended up noticing a comet in the system, and adds it to the astronomical database. While not a requirement, it costs them nothing in the long run.