Ship's Log

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Ship's Log: Modified Far Trader "Lady Iskendu"
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[EXCERPTED]
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237/221 : Arrived Kelira System ( Deeps 2118 )
.. : Landed Kelira Starport
.. : Unloaded Cargo: Advanced Electronics, Advanced Weapons
.. : Refueled
.. : Loaded Mail, Passenger
240/221 : Initiated jump
247/221 : Arrived Itagachur System ( Deeps 1919 )
.. : Landed Itagachur Starport
.. : Unloaded Mail, Passengers
.. : Refueled
255/221 : Departed Itagachur Starport
258/221 : Docked: IV Itagachur/Savos Spaceport
.. : Unloaded passengers
.. : Loaded cargo: Precious metals, crystals, radioactives
.. : Departed: IV Itagachur/Savos Spaceport
259/221 : Docked: Carillian Scout Base Itagachur
.. : Docked: Carillian Scout Base Itagachur
.. : Initiated jump
266/221 : Arrived Vamuthunam System ( Deeps 1817 )
267/221 : Docked: unidentified starship
.. : Unloaded passengers
269/221 : Undocked: unidentified starship
.. : Landed: icy asteroid, initiated frontier refuelling
.. : Docked: unidentified starship
270/221 : Loaded cargo: Prescious metals, miscellaneous items
271/221 : Undocked: unidentified starship
.. : Intiated jump
278/221 : Arrived Henley System ( Deeps 1815 )
280/221 : Initiated fuel scooping procedure III Henley
284/221 : Entered orbit II Henley
285/221 : Initiated jump
292/221 : Arrived Godfrey System ( Deeps 1914 )
.. : Entered normal space 4 AU out from intended arrival point
.. : Godfrey Starport quarantined
295/221 : Initiated fuel scooping procedure V Godfrey
297/221 : Docked: CNS Golden Hammer
298/221 : Undocked: CNS Golden Hammer
.. : Initiated jump
305/221 : Arrived Kirshash System ( Deeps 1812 )
.. : Landed: Kirshash Starport
306/221 : Departed Kirshash Starport
.. : Initiated fuel scooping procedure III Kirshash
307/221 : Docked: unidentified spaceport
.. : Departed: unidentified spaceport
314/221 : Arrived Neifaonshua System ( Deeps 1714 )
.. : Landed Neifaonshua Starport
.. : Initiated frontier refuelling
.. : Unloaded cargo
.. : Loaded passenger
317/221 : Departed Neifaonshua Starport
.. : Initiated jump
324/221 : Arrive Henley System ( Deeps 1815 )
327/221 : Entered orbit II Henley
328/221 : Landed: II Henley

Records Missing

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Data Retrieval Error
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The records you have requested are not available.


There are no official reports of the whereabouts and activities of the specified persons ( Captain Jordan Ross, Marquis Harim Samadr, Marquis Henri de Lyons, Thiel Granz ) between the dates of 166-221 and 240-221.
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Data Retrieval Error
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The records you have requested are not available.


There are no official records for any person acting under the name "Zharn" between the dates of 166-221 and 240-221.
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Data Retrieval Error
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The records you have requested are not available.


The Free Trader "Lady Iskendu" has been verified as a registered Imperial star ship. The registration records have been restricted.

Episode 13 - Escape

Dhamras, Howotro
165-221 through 166-221

After a brief discussion, the group realized they needed more information before making any decisions. Once Thiel had scouted the lobby area of the building and reported it clear, the group took one of the elevators to the top floor. From there, they found stairs to the roof and scouted around.

The fifteen story building was taller than most of the surrounding buildings other than the massive hotel at the convention center, and from its roof they had a clear view of the city. They could see military vehicles and patrols around the convention center, and just outside of the cordon several burning police vehicles. Elsewhere in the city they could heard the sounds of combat, and see a number of grav gunships patrolling the skies. Jordan considered ways they could either rescue the hostages, or otherwise disrupt the coup. Harim argued that they didn't have the firepower to effectively do either of these things, and that their responsibilty was to get the "civilians" out of harm's way.


Not wanting to risk the streets, they decided to return to the basement and look for some kind of underground route out of the city. However, on entering the stairwell, they heard booted footsteps echoing up from below. They quickly went down two flights of stairs, and exited the stairwell while the troops were still well below them. Harim went to the nearest apartment and was prepared to knock, when he spotted an open door down the hall. He and Thiel quietly approached the door, but no one seemed to be home. The people living here had apparently simply grabbed a few things and run away when the trouble began. They quickly ushered the rest of the group into the apartment. Jordan, thinking about escape routes, found the elevators. He managed to force the doors open and after locating a service ladder within the elevator shaft, returned to the apartment. Searching through the apartment, they found nothing much of use, but "borrowed" some clothes so that the chef's assistants might pass as locals. Harim found that none of the men's clothes would fit him, and no one else tried.


After anxiously waiting for a while, they decided that no soldiers were about to kick in their door. Jordan sent his remote drone out the window to scout around. It was fully dark now, but the drone's infrared and low-light sensors would allow them to get a decent look at the situation. Peeking over the roof, the drone sighted two men looking over the northeast corner of the rooftop. They were apparently watching the convention center, although the drone didn't get close enough to see exactly what they were doing. Jordan then brought the drone below the roof level and scouted the perimeter of the building. Using the drone's thermal vision, they spotted a few people sneaking around, but the neighboring streets were mostly deserted. They spotted a vehicle parked at the southwest corner of the building, which on closer inspection seemed to be a police van. As the probe came around the southeast corner of the building, Jordan halted the drone. He had seen men in several of the windows on the 15th floor and didn't want to cross their field of view. The men seemed to be in uniform and were watching the convention center intently and in the dark didn't notice the drone floating silently near their window. Jordan then carefully piloted the drone up to the roof and cautiously approached the men stationed there.


One of the men was still staring over the edge, but the other was talking into a comm unit. Jordan slowly eased the drone closer hoping to overhear part of the conversation. They heard the man say, "... No. The signal is too weak. We'll have to set them on automatic," just before he started to pack up his things. Jordan studied their uniforms using a night vision mode for a moment before bring the drone back to the apartment. One of the men was wearing a police tactical uniform, while the other man seemed to be wearing the uniform of a mercenary or private security force.


The group considered contacting these men, thinking that working with the police might be the quickest way to safety, but Masuman warned the offworlders that the local police had a reputation for both corruption and brutality. His distrust convinced the others that they were better off avoiding them. At this time, Jordan, Thiel, Harim, and Henri all received a short, encrypted text message. It took some effort, but they were eventually able to decrypt the message. It was a terse note from MacKenzie, "Am nearby. City too hot. Can extract from outside of town." After some discussion, the group decided to make their way to the basement using the ladders in the elevator shaft. Henri had suggested avoiding the hard physical labor involved and just using the elevators themselves, but he was voted down by the more cautious members of the group.

They climbed down to the basement without incident, and considered their next move. Jordan suggested they commandeer the vehicle they had spotted earlier, but the others were not sure of the wisdom of that plan. Thiel, listening at the door to the lobby, heard men moving around and the group decided it was too dangerous to try to get past them and to the van. He quickly improvised a barricade that would slow anyone trying to force the door open.

Searching the basement, they found a small grate that seemed to lead to a sewer tunnel. Henri at first flatly refused to consider that route, but was eventually convinced there was no other viable option. Ironically, he and the other Marquis were the strongest of the group and were volunteered to pry the grate open. Even with their combined efforts, the grate was stubborn and the group winced at the grinding sound as they slowly dragged it open. After they dropped, one by one, into the tunnel, Henri had them all swear never to reveal that not only had he been forced to enter a sewer, he had actually performed physical labor in order to do so.

The sewer tunnel ran generally north-south, and they arbitrarily chose to head north. After about an hour of wandering and any number of twists and turns, they were unsure of their progress. Thiel located a ladder leading up to the street, he cautiously looked around and realized that they had drifted slightly to the west and were only halfway to the edge of the city. A few people suggested that they would make better time leaving the sewers and making their way along the streets, but the danger of the patrolling gunships convinced them to continue underground.

After another claustrophobic hour they came to a dead end. They backtracked slightly and found another exit. Thiel once again scouted ahead and found they had reached a deserted suburban neighborhood at the north end of town. The made a break for the cover of trees in a heavily wooded park. Jordan sent his drone ahead to check out their path. He found that the park ended at small ravine with a shallow creek running through it. There was a bridge about a 100 meters east of their position, but it seemed to be heavily guarded. An abandoned factory on the other side of the ravine made a convenient landmark, and they split into two groups in order to move more quietly. None of the offworlders had much experience with climbing muddy slopes, so the the ravine was difficult to cross, but after a few slips and slides they were all able to make it to the factory. Thiel contacted MacKenzie, who told them that they could come pick them up in about an hour, but that they need to move at least another kilometer away from the city before it would be safe to do so.

The group started following the roadway away from the factory, but ran for the cover of the trees when they spotted a gunship approaching. After the gunship passed, they decided to make their way through the forest, even if it was slower. After about an hour of stumbling through the dark, they found themselves at the edge of parking lot. They called MacKenzie who confirmed that the mercenaries were on their way. The shopping center seemed to be empty, but the group decided to wait at the edge of the woods. Soon the mercenaries' APC swooped into sight, and the exhausted refugees piled in.

MacKenzie has setup a camp at a recreational airfield well away from any of the major cities, and had had no incidents yet. He handed out spare uniforms to everyone, and pointed out the showers. While Harim was busy modelling his new military look, Henri set about burning his old clothes.

They watched news feeds and discussed the situation with the mercenaries. Apparently there had been an attempted military coup against the country's civilian government. The military officer corps included a large number of the country's old aristocracy. As the civilian government worked ever more closely with the Imperium, this aristocracy was gradually losing it power. Rallying various ultraconservative groups, they had staged a coup. They had taken a number of Imperial hostages in order to keep the Imperium from interfering until they had consolidated power, at which point they would release them as part of the negotiations. Things had gone badly from the start because they hadn't been able to seize the Imperial Governor as planned, which left them with less bargaining power than they hoped. Also, they had severely underestimated the effectiveness of the mercenaries and private security forces that the Imperial corporations had been hiring to defend their property. The latest news was that the coup had fractured into several factions, and there was chaotic fighting across the nation.


Thinking they wanted to get off planet as soon as possible, Thiel remembered the free trader captain Elena Voegeli had seemed willing to help them out before. He contacted her and asked if she would be able to pick them up. She agreed, but a few minutes later called back saying that she couldn't get clearance from the Navy to make an approach. Henri quickly made a call to Marquis Sringasa's office and diplomatically reminded them who had warned the Marquis about the current situation. Not long after that, Captain Voegeli called back saying, "It must be nice to have friends in high places..."
Six hours later, the group was back on the High Port and Harim was giving his first interview to the press. He managed to mention "delicious Iskendu beef" in nearly every answer.

Episode 12 - Coup

Howotro Highport
155-221 through 163-221
Following smuggling incident, the four men found themselves with some downtime. They had no contracts to fulfill and no pressing leads to investigate. Harim and Henri took this time to relax and enjoy their luxurious hotel suites and the Highport's extensive entertainment options. Meanwhile, Jordan studied and worked on his robotic projects. Thiel had heard a rumor - from the free trader, Elena Voegeli - that a man had been asking around about him. He spent his free time drifting through spacer bars and the seedy parts of the highport trying to find out what was going on. He discovered that an old enemy, Gorgi Tonis, had come and gone from Howotro while Thiel was way.

A couple of days later, Henri received an invitation from Alexander Moya. The chef had a business proposition and wanted to discuss it after a dinner at his restaurant. Moya explained that Dhamras, a city in the largest nation on Howotro, was hosting its annual Feast of Dhamras at the end of the week. This festival was a long standing tradition that celebrated everything and anything related to food. He had discovered that because of the troubles elsewhere on the planet there was an opportunity to rent a booth in the city's convention center for the three days of the Feast. Moya was looking for a partner in the venture, he would provide the culinary expertise and half of the capital, and proposed that Henri would provide some Iskendu beef and the other half of the costs. After briefly discussing the proposal with the others, Henri accepted the deal. He and Harim immediately started preparations including hiring a PR firm and coordinating with the Feast organizers. They learned during the week that Marquis Sringasa - the Imperial Governor of Howotro - was going to attend the Feast and Henri sent him a formal invitation to visit the booth. They also learned that MacKenzie was also going to be in a nearby city negotiating a contract, and invited him to come visit the booth as well.

Dhamras, Howotro
164-221 through 165-221

By the end of the week, all four of the men were eager for the Feast to begin and took a shuttle down to Dhamras early on the first day to oversee the final preparations. During the first day, the four men took turns watching the booth and talking to potential customers, although when Henri overheard Thiel's unique sales pitch, he volunteered to take his shifts as well. With his additional free time Thiel, acting on an inspiration from Jordan, rigged the kitchen vents to gently waft the delicious smell of the cooking beef towards the hallways with the highest traffic. While he was wandering through the convention center, Jordan noticed a particularly high concentration of heavily armed soldiers walking around. When he asked locals about this, they explained that it was unusual, but that the festival had it's roots in a historic victory and was very popular with the military.

During one of his shifts that Henri met a local named Masuman. Masuman was selling artisan cheeses from a tiny stall near the Iskendu booth. After tasting the Zhugean beef, he told Henri, "This is wonderful! You'll put my boss out of business!" He explained that he had been forced to sell his family's farm to an offworld corporation - Malcolm Foods - and to add insult to injury the only work he could find was tending the cattle for Malcolm Foods on the land he used to own. Jordan later visited the Malcolm booth and found their beef to be tough and bland - no competition for Iskendu at all - and that their cheeses were far inferior to the homemade ones Masuman was selling.

After the kitchens closed down, the party continued long into the night. While wandering from bar to bar, they noticed that the military presence was still unusually high. Following a hunch, Henri lead them to a higher class bar where he expected to find some politicos. He managed to locate and start a conversation with a local Senator. Senator Kapila seemed a little shocked after hearing about the number of soldiers patrolling the streets. He claimed that the military presence wasn't an issue, but the fact that he left as quickly as possible made his arguments unconvincing at best. Walking back to the hotel, Henri called Marquis Sringasa and explained what he had learned and what he suspected. Sringasa thanked him for the warning and said that he was scheduled to arrive in Dhamras the next afternoon, but that he would start an investigation as soon as possible.

The next morning, the group was tense and anxious as they helped setup the booth, but relaxed slightly as the day progressed and nothing bad happened. Jordan and Masuman, working with Iskendu beef, Masuman's cheese, and some fresh baked bread from local bakery, concocted what they declared to be "the best sandwich ever." Thiel, still worried about the situation, worked out the quickest routes out of the convention center and to their hotel suite. Later that afternoon, shortly after he was supposed to arrive in the city, Marquis Sringasa called from the highport. He began warning Henri that something was happening, but he was cut off in mid-sentence. They soon discovered that there was some kind of jammer blocking communications out of the city and even interfering with calls within the convention center. The crowd didn't immediately realize that anything was wrong, but began slowly building towards a panic. While Harim and Henri started securing the booth, Thiel and Jordan scouted the area.

They discovered that the military had cordoned off the whole campus surrounding the convention center. The crowd had begun to panic in earnest now, so Jordan collected Masuman and his son Prashad and quickly returned to the booth. Thiel tried scouting around outside the building, but realized that the soldiers were now herding the crowds back into the convention center. Rather than get caught up in the press, he forced the lock of a service door and found himself in the utility tunnels under the convention center. Feeling safe for the moment, Thiel hacked his communicator so that he was able to intercept a few of the military conversations. He picked up a message indicating that the troops were to start "gathering the Imperials." Realizing that meant him and his friends he contacted the group and warned them that they needed to get out as soon as possible. He found another door somewhat close to the booth and called the group, which now included Moya as well his assistants Wilhelmina and Maura.

Once the group was relatively safe in the utility tunnels, they searched and eventually found a small duct which seemed to lead away from the building. They began crawling through the duct and soon heard troops searching the tunnels they had just left, but felt somewhat confident that the duct they entered would be missed by a casual search.

The duct led to the basement of a nearby building. Thiel scouted around and realized that they were in a mixed use building just outside of the military cordon. Safe for the moment, they began to discuss their options.

Episode 11 - Return

In transit, Ushkager to Suukir
137-221 through 143-221

Under the supervision of Jordan and Thiel, Sister Ione’s inexperienced crew departed from Ushakger without any issues. The ship’s passengers consisted of a professional gambler on his way home to Suukir, Lord Kellea and his new wife returning from their honeymoon on Ushkager, three wealthy young women headed home to Howotro, and eight mercenaries commanded by Captain Harold MacKenzie.

Harim spent the first day of the journey recovering from his excesses on Ushkager. However, Penelope Mishina – daughter of Baron Mishina – and her two friends Marcia and Athena were much too intriguing for the Marquis to resist, and he was soon back to his normal socializing. Meanwhile, Raymond Kimber offered to teach anyone and everyone a few tips about card playing – as long as they played for real cash stakes. Thiel took him up on the offer and managed to not lose too much money.

Jordan and Henri were concerned at first about MacKenzie’s mercenaries, but they proved themselves friendlier and more open than the previous group of passengers. MacKenzie’s group had just completed a lucrative contract in the Carillian Assembly. After celebrating briefly on Ushkager, they were now following rumors of new contracts on Howotro.

Suukir Highport
144-221 through 146-221

 Arriving at Suukir, the crew of Sister Ione offloaded Raymond Kimber and a small amount of cargo. On the ship’s previous pass through the system, Harim had contacted - by long range communications – a broker on the Suukir Highport. With this brokers help, the crew was able to quickly find another passenger and enough cargo to fill their holds. Not wanting to waste any time, they were on their way out of Suukir as soon as possible.

In transit, Suukir to Howotro
147-221 through 153-221

The jump from Suukir to Howotro was uneventful. The new passenger was a businessman looking to sell communications equipment on Howotro, but not a very interesting or effective salesman. Harim found the girls a little less giddy and a little less interested in spending time with him as they got closer to home. As the crew spent more time with the mercenaries, a feeling of mutual respect developed.

Howotro Highport
154-221
As Sister Ione approached the Howotro Highport, the traffic control officer recognized Jordan’s name, asked “Are you the Captain Ross? The one that served on the Endeavor?” He learned that his name had been on the news again for the last few days. Apparently, the Navy had agreed to lease a decommissioned frigate to the production company making the film about Jordan’s life. The frigate was to be refitted and would be used to stand in for the cruiser he had served on. After the cargo was unloaded, the businessman from Suukir approached the crew and thanked them for a pleasant trip and the fastest pass through customs he had ever experienced.

When Jordan and Thiel reported in to Sentinel Express Lines, Mr. Smith had some more interesting news. The company had begun the process of merging with Morrigan Drive Systems, Napoleon Technologies Corporation, and Baroness Keshiigma’s various shipping companies to form MKSN, a licensed imperial corporation. There were still a lot of details to be worked out and the consolidation would take months, but Smith indicated that as the process continued he would likely have more short term contracts for them. He also offered them full-time salaried employment, if they were interested.

Meanwhile, Harim and Henri met with the Duke’s intelligence agents, Udar and Seska. The terrorist known as Steven Johnson had been tracked to the city of Shunquan, but had been killed in a firefight with the agents who tried to capture him. There was evidence that he had smuggled weapons onto the surface and had been training insurgents there. Meanwhile other agents had been dispatched to Droshas to track down James Weimar, another of the terrorists from Zhuge. They had not located the man as of their last report. The Duke had been convinced that Mr. Smith was involved with these terrorist, but had decided to hold off taking direct action until they uncovered more details about that connection and the organization that he was working with. The Marquises were encouraged to keep a low profile, but to continue gathering information.

Later that day, while the group was dining at the pub and explaining what they all had learned, Jordan received an urgent and somewhat cold message from Captain MacKenzie. The mercenary said that it was very important that they meet immediately. The group made their way quickly to the seedy bar where MacKenzie waited. He explained that 8 cases of his equipment - worth approximately one hundred twenty thousand credits - had gone missing. He had seen the cargo loaded on Sister Ione in Ushkager. His tone was serious and somewhat dangerous as he explained that he held the Captain of the ship – Jordan Ross, in this case – personally responsible for his missing cargo. Jordan managed, with the help of Marquis De Lyons’ diplomatic skills, to calm the angry mercenary down and explained that he would do everything in his power to find and return the missing equipment.

MacKenzie assigned his technical specialist, a tall quiet mercenary nicknamed Black Tom, to keep an eye on Jordan as well as aiding in the investigation. Reviewing the records and security footage at the warehouse revealed nothing suspicious. Examining the ship’s cargo logs revealed no record that the cargo had been on board, despite the fact that MacKenzie had the receipts – signed by Thiel on Ushkager – indicating that the crates had indeed been loaded. Suspecting that the logs had been doctored, Jordan and Black Tom managed to pull detailed records of every access to the computer since the cargo was loaded. Henri helped examine this data and pieced together enough info to deduce that the steward, Owen Korbo, had been responsible. He had done a good job of covering his tracks, but it became clear that he had edited the cargo logs.

In order to track down Korbo, Jordan ended up calling Sentinel to find a local address from his personal records. He ended up having to explain the situation to Mr. Smith, despite having wanted to hold off on that conversation until the issue was resolved. Smith provided the address of the hotel where Korbo stayed while on the Highport. Arriving at the hotel, Henri used a bit of charm and some cash to persuade the clerk into revealing the steward’s room number. By this time a number of MacKenzie’s mercenaries had converged on the hotel. Jordan, Thiel, and a pair of mercenaries went up to the room, while Henri, Harim, and a few more mercenaries waited in the bar and watched the lobby. Korbo was not in his room, and a brief search found nothing incriminating.

They decided to wait for the man to return. Thiel and a mercenary named Jones loitered in nearby passageways and watched the hotel’s back entrances. Harim and Jordan waited in the room, while Henri and Lieutenant Price – MacKenzie’s second in command – sat in the hotel bar discretely watching the lobby. Soon Jones spotted Korbo. The steward, oblivious to the many pairs of eyes following him, made his way up to his room and into the trap. He surrendered immediately, and revealed that he been approached by smugglers who offered him Cr.80000 to smuggle a small load of contraband to Howotro. The mercenaries’ equipment was the only cargo that he had an opportunity to replace. He had sold it on Ushkager for another Cr.80000, and doctored the cargo logs to hide the theft. He had known that the theft would be discovered quickly, but he had hoped that he would have had enough time to collect his payment and disappear before he was discovered. Jordan immediately confiscated the money the steward had already collected.

When pressed, Korbo revealed where and when he was supposed to receive payment. Jordan called MacKenzie, explained what had happened, and asked if Korbo’s Cr.160000 would compensate for the lost equipment. The mercenary quickly agreed and volunteered himself and his men to help obtain the remainder of the money. The meeting was set for a few hours later in a seedy bar. Henri and Lieutenant Price babysat Korbo, while MacKenzie, Harim, and Jordan quietly infiltrated the bar. Once again, Jones and Thiel loitered inconspicuously around the passageways near the bar watching for trouble.

Shortly before the designated meeting time, a group of men looking like local gangsters arrived. When Korbo arrived a few minutes later, he looked extremely nervous but the exchange went smoothly. Once the gangsters left the bar, Jordan quickly took the money away from the steward and gave it to MacKenzie. The mercenary thanked him for his efforts and seemed pleased with the way things had been resolved. When Jordan later reported to Mr. Smith, his employer was also pleased. Korbo was quietly fired and firmly encouraged to leave Howotro, but since the clients were happy and the authorities hadn’t been involved, there was no bad publicity for Sentinel lines.

Episode 10 - Delivery

In transit, Howotro to Suukir
119-221 through 125-221

Once the crew, passengers, and cargo had all been loaded aboard Sister Ione, Margot piloted the ship away from the Highport, while Jordan plotted the jump to Suukir, and Amos prepared the drives. While there were no incidents, Jordan was unimpressed by the young pilot’s competence. Following a power fluctuation during the activation of the jump drive, he was even less impressed by the engineer. After the ship had safely transitioned into jump space, he reviewed the engineering logs and determined that Amos was indeed at fault. Once he determined the problem, he showed the engineer what had gone wrong. Jordan’s mild reaction to the problem seemed to surprise Amos, who promised to be more careful in the future.

Most of the passengers avoided contacted with the crew. Their leader – Roger Steen - reminded Jordan of Marine officers he had met: he was polite but rigid and distant. Steen explained that they were independent contractors specializing in zero-g and vacuum construction projects. They were going to Ushkager to work on a new habitation dome. Thiel continued trying to get a feel for these contractors. He found about half of them seemed like regular blue collar workers, although a little quieter and more reserved than usual. The other half seemed more like professional killers posing as construction workers.

Also curious about the somewhat shady crewmembers, Thiel asked Korbo about Sentinel Express Lines’ hiring policies. He explained that Sentinel hired many young, inexperienced crewmembers and a handful of ex-Navy people to provide training and role models. Many of these kids washed out quickly, but those that survived the first year seemed to develop a strong loyalty to the company.

Suukir
125-221 through 127-221
 After coming out of jump in the Suukir system, they soon discovered that the power fluctuation they experienced on entering jump had left them deep in the outer system. Even with Sister Ione’s powerful maneuver drives, they were at least 120 hours out from the starport. Scanning the system, they found a gas giant fairly close by – they could reach it, skim fuel from its atmosphere and be on their way in less than 60 hours. After the crew discussed their various options, Jordan presented them to their passengers: they could make their way to the Suukir starport, refuel there, and jump out to Ushkager safely but several days behind schedule, or they could make the jump on schedule using unrefined fuel from the gas giant and have a small but measurable chance of a misjump. Steen indicated that it was very important that they arrive on time, and was willing to take the risk.

The fuel skimming operation went smoothly, and as Margot piloted the ship under Thiel’s observation, Jordan worked closely with Amos making the jump preparations as carefully as possible. Sister Ione entered jump space without a hitch.

In transit, Suukir to Ushkager
127-221 through 133-221

Once they were under way, Harim tried to inspect the contractors’ cargo, but found that it was all locked down by extremely advanced security systems. He did not wish to arouse their suspicions by tampering with the equipment, and was forced to abandon his investigations. Meanwhile, Thiel began conversing with both Margot and Amos. He attempted to draw them out about their backgrounds by hinting at his own criminal past. Both of the young crew members remained fairly reticent, but Thiel pieced together enough clues to deduce that Margot’s father was a smuggler and that Amos had pirate connections.

Ushkager
134-221 through 136-221

The ship arrived at Ushkager without incident and Margot brought the ship down in a very smooth landing. While Thiel and Korbo oversaw the unloading of passengers and cargo, Harim dosed himself with enough stimulants to keep himself awake and partying for the 72 hours he was going to be on planet. He soon wandered off to immerse himself in the decadence of the resorts and casinos.

Thinking that the crowds of rich and powerful people vacationing on Ushkager would be perfect customers for the Iskendu beef, Henri began searching for a venue in which to demonstrate it. He soon found that one of the resorts had a regular cooking competition featuring celebrity chefs and exotic ingredients. After speaking with the producers of the show, he arranged for the Iskendu beef to be featured in an upcoming Kitchen Stadium competition.

Jordan worked on the ship making sure that everything was in order after their misadventure in Suukir, while Thiel made arrangements for passengers and cargo for the return trip. He was able to fill the ship fairly quickly, primarily because there were a large number of mercenaries looking for passage to Howotro. Neither Jordan nor Thiel had visited Ushkager before and, once their responsibilities had been fulfilled, they spent some time wandering from dome to dome and gawking at the vast array of entertainments available to them.

The Kitchen Stadium show featuring the Iskendu beef was scheduled for the last night before the ship was set to depart. Harim returned to the ship just in time to join the others on their way to the show. While riding the moving walkway connecting the starport to the resort domes, Jordan noticed a group of men just ahead of them that looked suspicious. After looking around, he also spotted a similar group of men behind them walking quickly towards them. Once he pointed out these men, the group decided to get off of the walkway. They vaulted the railing – Henri stumbling in the process – and ended up in a fairly deserted section of tunnel. The men boxing them in immediately vaulted the railing as well drawing pistols in the process.

While Henri recovered from his fall, Jordan fired his laser pistol at the largest of the attackers, but the rushed shot missed its target. Thiel drew his Gauss pistol and sprayed automatic fire in the direction of the men in front of him. He had only hoped to distract them and keep their heads down while closing to melee range, but got extraordinarily lucky and managed to hit two of them. Harim drew his blade and charged the man nearest him, but couldn’t quite close the distance before the man fired. The shot struck the Marquis in the leg and he crumpled to the floor.

Jordan and Henri fired on the wounded assailants and took them out of the fight. Meanwhile Thiel drew his cutlass and closed to melee range, the powered blade nearly severed the arm of his opponent. Seeing their companions cut down so quickly, the remaining men sprinted down the tunnel away from the combat. Jordan took one last shot at the fleeing men and dropped one more of them.

Other than the shock that had rendered him briefly unconscious, Harim’s wound wasn’t particularly serious and Jordan was able to quickly patch him up and get him on his feet. Several of the attackers - injured but not yet dead – were bound and given first aid. Jordan revived the least injured one and questioned him. The thugs had been sent by a woman named Miriam who seemed to be a minor crime boss operating around the starport. She had thought the group would have been an easy target for armed robbery, and the men she sent had not been prepared to face such dangerous targets. Having disarmed the thugs, the group left them to find their own way home and continued on to their show as if nothing had happened. Afterwards, they took a shuttle back to their ship rather than risk another attack. Deciding they had a schedule to keep and little to gain by pursuing this Miriam person, they prepared to depart Ushkager as quickly as possible.

Episode 9 - Diversions

Howotro High Port
113-221 through 118-221

After the “beef party”, Jordan received a call from Joshua Wallace – a holovid producer he had met some weeks ago – who wanted to get his approval for the script based on events from his life. The script was not entirely accurate, but seemed like it would make an entertaining show without embarrassing anyone. At the meeting, a young man named Sullivan Penn introduced himself saying, “Dude! I am, like so totally stoked to meet you, man!” Sully was slated to play a young Jordan Ross in the vid and wanted to meet and get a sense of the person behind the story. Despite his initial misgivings, Jordan finds the kid to be genuinely interested in his story and eager to learn about naval life, and arranges a tour of the naval base for him.

During this time, Henri received a call from Baroness Keshiigma inviting him to a dinner at her summer home. Apparently, her chef had just found a “wonderful new kind of beef,” and she was dying to share it with people who shared her refined tastes. She included Marquis Samadr and Captain Ross in her invitation, but somehow failed to mention Thiel. Henri was hesitant to accept the invitation, but the others convinced him based on their desire to get more information on the odious woman’s connections to Mr. Smith.

Thiel posed as Harim’s valet for the evening and went completely unnoticed by the Baroness. While the rest of the group met the Baroness’ other guests, he slipped quietly off to the servant’s lounge. Sir Arturo Wing, a small man with a large, white handlebar mustache, was introduced as the chief operations officer for Keshiigma charters. He was an ex-Navy commander who now manages crews, maintenance and other logistical concerns for the Baroness. Dame Maxene Morrigan, the chairwoman of Morrigan Drive Systems appeared to be a tough, no-nonsense business woman. Baron Bertrand Yaqub introduced himself as the CEO of Napoleon Technologies Corporation, but said little else.

The meal itself was decent but uninspired, but the Baroness raved about the superiority of this Iskendu beef and how difficult it was to find. After dinner, Morrigan explained that her company had recently expanded its operations to Howotro to take advantage of the high technology base and limited bureaucracy. She also invited everyone to the christening of the first ship constructed in Howotro using Morrigan drives. She and Jordan talked at some length about the performance characteristics of her company’s systems, boring Harim to tears in the process. Yaqub remained quiet, but did mention that the current piracy scare was good for his business, which consisted primarily of weapon and sensor systems for starships.

While the Marquises and the Captain mingled with the high-rollers, Thiel chatted with their drivers and other staff in the servant’s lounge hoping to gain some information about the Baroness’ business and connection to Mr. Smith. He learned very little of substance, but did manage to slip away unnoticed and prowl through the house, eventually determining that the Baroness did not have an office in the building. They returned to the highport that evening, but it was late and they called it an evening.

The next morning, Jordan received a message from Mr. Smith indicating that he’d like to meet with him the following day. Later that day, Jordan and Thiel attended the christening of the ship Morrigan had told them about. They discovered the ship was owned by Mr. Smith’s Sentinel Express Lines and was named Sister Ione. Harim and Henri had no interest in the ship and instead met with Duke's agents Udar and Seska relaying what the group had learned. The agents had spent some time crosschecking their records and believed Reiff had been operating for at least a dozen years as a mercenary and gun runner, almost always aiding revolutionaries and insurgents. Reiff had been very slippery and - prior to Zhuge - made few mistakes. The agents suspected that he received professional training in covert ops, probably by SolSec – the infamous Solomani intelligence agency - however they have had no evidence of SolSec operating in the area for close to 30 years. In the evening, Harim researched Sister Ione, trying in vain to determine the significance of the name.

The following morning, Jordan and Thiel went for their first face-to-face meeting with Mr. Smith. After some pleasantries, Mr. Smith offered Jordan a short term contract for a specific job. Sentinel Express Lines had accepted an urgent contract to haul a dozen passengers to Ushkager within 19 days, but the only ship he had in system was the new Sister Ione which had only a partial, inexperienced crew. He offered Jordan Cr12000 to captain the ship for this one mission, as well as a share of any profits made from cargo and passengers on the return trip provided the ship was back in Howotro within 40 days. He was also willing Thiel Cr6000 as a pilot for the trip. They told him they needed to consider the offer and would contact him later that day with their answer. The Marquises flatly refused to work for their passage, but agreed that Jordan should take the contract, both for the cash and as a means to get more information about Mr. Smith’s operations.

After accepting the contract, Jordan interviewed his new crew briefly. Margot Park was training to be a pilot and seemed pleasant enough, but was very young and inexperienced. Amos Charles - the engineer- was a big, surly man in his mid 20’s. He seemed almost as inexperienced as Margot but much less pleasant. The final member of the crew was Owen Korbo, a steward. Owen was portly man in his late 30’s that seemed very competent and helpful. Afterwards, Jordan inspected the ship and its technical specs very carefully. He discovered a number of elements that were unusual in civilian ships, including armor, wiring for military grade sensors and fire control, as well as cargo spaces to would be better suited for use as missile magazines. The ship was more reminiscent of a military transport than a traditional commercial ship.

Meanwhile, Thiel worked with the crew and passengers preparing the ship for its first trip. He worked well with both Margot and Amos, and developed a feeling that they too had slightly shady backgrounds. However, his attempts to strike up casual conversations with the passengers were coldly rebuffed, leaving him with a very bad feeling about the men.

While Jordan and Thiel were hard at work preparing the ship, the Marquises spent their time readying themselves for a dream vacation to Ushkager, one of the most decadent and hedonistic systems in the sector.

Episode 7 & 8: Investigation

Niisha Military Base, Zhuge and Zhuge High Port
088-221 through 094-221

Flying back from Marugaya, the commandeered transport was directed to an outlying military base with a good hospital. Sometime during the flight, the terrorist leader regained consciousness long enough to commit suicide with a concealed poison capsule. On landing, the Baron was rushed into surgery, while the uninjured members of the group were debriefed. The next day, while Jordan and Thiel were recovering, Henri and Harim volunteered to help with the investigation and took a shuttle up to the high port. Thiel joined them the following day, and Jordan the day after that.

The group discovered that there were 4 agents working under cover of a corporation called the Myers Investment Group. They had arrived in Zhuge approximately a week prior aboard a Keshiigma Charters ship - the Duchess Esmeralda. Two of the men - James Weimar and Bryan Franklin - made an appointment with Baron Iskendu. The other two - Justin Vaden and Ronald Gooden - remained on the High Port, but their activities during this time remained a mystery.
Immediately after their meeting with the Baron, Weimar and Franklin returned to the High Port and communicated with someone in the city of Sharogo. They left the following morning, two days before the assassination attempt, on the same ship that they came in on.
During this time, an autopsy was performed on the terrorist leader revealing a couple of interesting facts. First, the man had high-tech neural implants which apparently self-destructed at approximately the same time as his suicide. Second, his body showed signs of a high-level of radiation exposure in his youth. Meanwhile, the other prisoners - known criminals from Sharogo - were being interrogated. They quickly revealed everything they knew about their leader - an offworlder named Jesse Reiff - but nothing about their own organization. Reiff had come to Zhuge several months ago, and had bought his way into a criminal organization with a shipment of offworld guns. He had recruited and trained a squad of local thugs. A month ago, they stole military uniforms from a supply company and the transport from a low security military compound. They then kept a low profile until a call came in the day before the assassination attempt, Reiff had apparently expected a little more time but managed to rush the operation.
With this new information, the group continued their investigation on the high port. They discovered that Reiff had travelled from Howotro on Buchannon Lines - a small independent passenger service on a regular route. The weapons were shipped separately and were slipped through customs under the guise of agricultural machinery, Reiff picked up this shipment and took them with him on a shuttle to Sharogo. With a little bit of hacking into communication systems, Jordan discovered that Reiff had communicated with Myers group, and that they had sent him a message immediately before leaving the station. They now had proof tying the "businessmen" to the assassination attempt.
The group began making arrangements for travelling back to Howotro to follow the trail. Harim arranged the use of Cassandra's Victory once again, and - seeing no sense in turning down an easy profit - he and Thiel began looking for passengers and cargo. Before their departure, the men returned to Togoshun for a dinner with the Baron and for an official ceremony thanking them for their service to the Iskendu family. All four men were made honorary Captains in the Baron's service and given beautiful - and quite functional - power swords and gauss pistols as symbols of their rank. After the ceremony, Lady Naoko spoke to them again about their business proposition and arranged for a shipment of the highest quality beef to be delivered to the ship for both their own private enjoyment as well as distribution.

Jump Space, from Zhuge to Howotro
095-221 through 101-221

The jump between Zhuge and Howotro was fairly uneventful. More than half of their passengers consisted of young men and women on their way to the Naval Academy at Howotro. This group was fairly rowdy but mostly entertained themselves, while the remaining passengers were reclusive businessmen.
On arriving in the Howotro system, the ship almost immediately picked up a distress signal from a free trader - the Khaiza Lukhinesh. The trader Captain - Elena Voegeli - explained that their power plant began malfunctioning shortly after she jumped into the system and that they required assistance. The group was initially suspicious - the damaged freighter being a classic pirate ploy - but Thiel's detailed scan seemed to confirm her story, and Harim - sensing a "damsel in distress" - was eager to help. Jordan expertly piloted the yacht to dock with the aging freighter. Despite Harim's disappointment upon discovering his "damsel" was in reality a grungy, middle-aged woman, he and Jordan encountered no trouble coming on board the damaged ship. Captain Voegeli explained that her "worthless, soon to be ex-Engineer" was passed out drunk in his stateroom, and Jordan volunteered to take a look at the malfunctioning systems. The damage was beyond his ability to repair, so Thiel performed a brief spacewalk to mount some towing clamps and they towed the crippled ship into port.

Howotro High Port
102-221 through 112-221

While Harim worked on a detailed report of the Zhugean events for the Duke, Henri and the others began investigating the Myers Investment Group and the four men that they had followed from Zhuge. Myers Investment Group had been founded approximately six months earlier. The company had rented a warehouse and office on the high port, and conducted a small speculative cargo business. In just a few days after their arrival, Weimar and the others had managed to sell off all of their assets, clean out their offices, and disappear into the chaos of the busy port. Breaking into the empty warehouse and office, Thiel and the others found no traces of the men or their business; everything had been thoroughly and professionally cleaned out.
The next day, Jordan began working on a dedicated search program designed to trace the men and their activities, while Thiel lingered around the seedy docks area learning what he could about the company from the stevedores. He learned that the contents of the warehouse had been sold at discount rates to a variety of speculative traders, most of whom had already shipped out their cargoes. In the meantime, Henri and Harim began discussing how to follow through on their agreement with Lady Naoko to open new markets for Zhugean beef. They spent quite a bit of money hiring an event planner and PR firm, and began interviewing local chefs.
Over the next few days, Jordan's search program proved to be exceptionally useful when paired with Henri's investigative skills as they began uncovering the activities of the Myers Investment Group. The company had contacted a number of local manufacturing firms and purchased small lots of personal weapons and starship components. Evidence was also uncovered indicating that they had provided the weapons that Reiff had smuggled onto Zhuge. They final burst of sales that cleaned out the warehouse seemed to be all legitimate business. Attempting to track down the agents, they eventually uncovered evidence that all four men changed their identities and left the station over the course of a few days. Bryan Franklin became Russell Jefferson, and booked passage on the independent trader Siskara Shagmur to an unknown destination. Vaden seems to have completely disappeared, while Gooden changed his identity to Steven Johnson and took shuttle down to the city of Shunquan, which is currently considered a war-zone. Weimar re-emerged as James Garmon, and booked passage on free trader “Hammerman’s Folly” to Droshas.
They had little luck using the same techniques to track Reiff. His trail was months older, and he seemed to have been much more careful. Remembering the evidence of radiation exposure from Reiff's autopsy, they began compiling a list of nuclear incidents in the sector over the last 40 years. Thiel began haunting spacer bars trying to dig up rumors related to any of these incidents, while Harim followed the same pattern in high end establishments frequented by Imperial and Naval personnel. Although they found no definitive leads, they were able to discount a number of the events and began focusing on two of the oldest events - rebellions on Kakugad and Rozurchar - where nuclear weapons were detonated.

During this search - and partly to distract themselves from the grim investigative work - the group found time to interview a few different chefs for the event. They eventually settled on Alexander Moya who had presented them with an impressive set of dishes that properly showcased the quality of the Zhugean beef. Having hired the chef, they set a date for the party and began compiling a guest list. Henri, a connoisseur of fine foods, knew a number of restaurateurs and food writers. Harim, with his reputation as both party goer and host, brought in a number of chefs and caterers specializing in service to the aristocratic set. In the end, the beef was very well received, and a number of buyers approached the men interested in placing orders.

Episode 5 & 6 - Zhuge

Togoshun, Zhuge

085-221
In the morning, Lady Iskendu explained that preparations for the expedition would take up the entire day, but that they would fly up to the family hunting lodge - Marugaya - first thing the following morning. The Baron and most of the family would be extremely busy during this time, and the visitors were welcome to relax in the manor or spend some more time exploring the city. She also explained that they were welcome to go with her to see one of the family's local ranches where she had some business matters to discuss with the manager. Henri and Harim were both interested in learning more about the family businesses and volunteered to join her. Thiel and Jordan tagged along more for lack of anything better to do than any interest in seeing a farm.

Seeing the ranch's massive cattle first hand was intimidating for Thiel, even more so when he learned that the domestic cattle - well over 2 meters at the shoulder - were small and gentle compared to their wild cousins. Lady Naoko explained that the inferior beef typically sold to offworlders came from "lazy and flabby" herds such as the ones found here, while the meat from the wild cattle is superior in every way. She and the ranch manager also discussed their plans for improving the herd, by bringing in wild breeding stock and changing feeding and exercise programs. Harim and Thiel spent some time talking with the ranch hands, discovering with some surprise that they enjoyed their work and respected their employers.

Following the tour of the ranch, Lady Naoko returned to the castle for some important meetings. She left her guests in the care of an employee named Mahajon Jongoro - or "Jon-Jon" as he preferred to be called. Jon-Jon was to act as a guide for the visitors as they spent the afternoon in the city. He informed the group that he had a quick errand to run in the city before showing them around. His errand turned out to be paying off a gambling debt at a local dojo. The fighters at the dojo were practicing the local martial art - Samuskido - which seemed to be an acrobatic sword fighting technique fought with wooden "blades" and padded armor. Harim was fascinated and asked for a quick lesson and a chance to spar. He fought fairly well against the instructor, Goro Kamatan. Jordan also volunteered, although he didn't fare nearly as well. Finally, Thiel stepped into the ring and - through some trickery - managed to beat Goro. Luckily, Harim was able to use his exceptional charm to mollify the offended fighter. In the end, both JonJon and Goro were impressed with both the curiosity and courage of the offworlders.

The group had dinner at a restaurant featuring an ongoing variety show to entertain the diners - primarily wealth businessmen. After eating and enjoying the show JonJon, led them to the arena where Goro Kamatan was fighting a match. This professional match involved high tech electronic blades that registered the location and power of each contact, but also had a set of judges scoring the combatants' grace and style during the fight. Goro barely won the close fought match, his power and technique offset by his opponent's impressive acrobatics. Afterwards, JonJon led them to what he called a "real fight" - an illegal, underground samuskido tournament. Unlike the earlier professional match, there were no scoreboards or style judges, just two men with wooden swords in a brutal fight until one was knocked out or yielded.


Marugaya, Zhuge086-221 and 087-221

Late the next morning, the group boarded a transport for the 3 hour flight to the family hunting lodge at Marugaya. They travelled with the Lady Naoko, he father, and both of her brothers, as well as a small group of bodyguards and scouts. After landing and getting settled in their rooms, they were given a brief tour of the lodge and grounds followed by an informal, rustic dinner with their hosts. Since the next day was going to start at dawn, every one retired to their rooms for an early night.

The next day, Lady Naoko introduced the group to the family's head guide Tomonaga Masuogon.
Tommy taught the men how to drive the ATVs used by the hunters, and had them drive around the grounds. He also showed them the 20mm MagRifles they would be armed with for the the hunt. After this brief training session, Tommy took the group on on extended trail ride to familiarize them with the vehicles, with occasional stops for target practice with the MagRifles. During one of these stops, a low flying grav transport raced overhead off in the direction of the lodge. Lady Naoko explained that there was no legitimate reason for the flyer to be there and headed in that direction could only mean trouble. When they attempted to call a warning into the lodge they discovered their signals were being jammed, which only confirmed Lady Naoko's suspicions.

The party hopped back on their ATVs and headed back to the lodge. Tommy raced ahead at a dangerous speed, but Lady Naoko stayed back with the offworlders who were not skilled enough drivers to keep up. About half an hour later, the stragglers found where Tommy had abandoned his ATV out of sight of the lodge. They followed him up a rough trail to where he was observing the lodge from behind a low wall.

The flyer had landed in a large courtyard between the lodge and two armed men were guarding the area. Their uniforms and the markings on the flyer were from a neighboring - supposedly allied - nation. After some discussion, Thiel and Harim began to sneak off along the wall trying to flank the guards. Before they had gone more than a few steps, gunfire erupted from within the lodge and a number of windows on the upper floor shattered. The startled guards in the courtyard turned to face the building and Tommy and Lady Naoko took the opportunity to fire. The 20mm explosive slugs designed to kill 6-ton Zhugean bulls did horrific damage to the bodies of the two men, but there was no return fire from within the building - probably due to the confusion following whatever firefight had occurred within. Thiel headed for the entrance to the servant's wing. Harim, not being prepared for a firefight boarded the flyer, both to secure it and to see if he could disable the communication jammer. The rest of the party, went into the guest wing of the lodge.

Shortly after entering the building, Thiel discovered that the staff had been executed. Meanwhile, the main party ran into a gunman. They took him out quickly, but not before Tommy was wounded. While they were pinned down in another firefight, Thiel took out another invader with one quiet shot from his laser pistol. Jordan and Naoko killed their combatant and made their way up the stairs, while Thiel sneaked up to the door of the Baron's office.

Peeking around the door frame, Thiel saw the Baron - looking badly wounded - sitting at his desk. A man was holding a pistol to the Baron's head and using him as a shield. He told Thiel to drop his weapon and kneel in the corner; worried about the Baron's safety, he complied. Jordan came to the doorway next laser pistol levelled at the hostage-taker. While they bantered and threatened each other, Jordan was carefully lining up a shot. It was a risky move, but Jordan's aim was true. The man's armor saved his life though, and his return fire left Jordan bleeding on the floor. Thiel took the opportunity to charge, while Henri and Naoko burst into the room. The man dove away from the desk firing wildy in the direction of the Baron and Thiel. Thinking quickly, Thiel shoved the Baron out of the line of fire, but took a gauss needle in his own shoulder. Henri fired his pistol and hit the man, but wasn't able to penetrate the his body armor. Finally, Naoko closed the gap and took him down with her power sword.

Naoko began patching up the wounded, while Henri investigated the scene. He found that the final enemy's harness looked to be missing some sort of equipment, but didn't have time to determine what it was or where it might be. Worried that more invader's might be on the way - they hurriedly loaded their wounded and the unconscious prisoners onto the flyer. Shortly after they took off, an explosion rocked the lodge and half the building collapsed into a flaming pile of debris.

Episode 4 - Travelling

Howotro High Port
073-221 through 076-221

Returning to the High Port, the four friends decided they needed to be better prepared in case of future trouble and began shopping for better weapons and armor. They also decided, since Mr. Smith would be unavailable for a few weeks, that they would accept the invitation from Lady Iskendu to join her for a hunt on Zhuge.

Harim arranged the use of a Yacht from Imperial Elite Charters for a one week trip from Howotro to Zhuge. The ship Cassandra's Victory is a 200 ton Frontier Yacht with improved drives, but less cargo space than traditional yachts. The ship includes a well appointed lounge, and a small exercise room that includes 2 equestrian simulators for those passengers that wish to practice (or learn) horseback riding.

Harim and Thiel spent the next few days finding passengers to fill the spare staterooms, while Marquis de Lyons was able to use his connections to arrange for a lucrative mail delivery contract. This little jaunt was going to be quite a profitable endeavor. Jordan spent a few days shopping for robotics kits and parts for a little side project he had in mind, and then spent the last day going through the ship making sure everything was in good condition.

Disembarking from the High Port, travelling to the jump point, and entering jump space went smoothly except a very minor power flicker during the jump transition.




Once the ship entered jump space, there was little for the crew to do for the next week. Jordan immediately began to track down the cause of the power flicker, and spent his spare time working on his drone construction project. Thing went fairly well, buy he eventually discovered that he was missing one key component.

Thiel's responsibilities included managing routine ship operations and maintenance, and in his spare time made good use of the ship's gym to pursue a fitness program.

Henri and Harim spent their time entertaining and being entertained by the passengers. A business executive named Tamati Gage had paid extra for the master suite, and spent most of his time within it. Another passenger, Nuria Estera, was an opera singer traveling with her fiance and another musician. The Marquis convinced her to put on an impromptu performance for the other passengers.

Felicia Brown was a business woman who nearly bored Harim to sleep with talk of mergers, acquisitions, and contract negotiations when he asked her why she was travelling to Zhuge. She did seem inordinately interested in the workings of the ship, but despite the crew's suspicions, nothing seemed to come of it.

Jia Wubai was moving to Zhuge with his wife Tu pursuing a career and a fusion engineer. He was quite happy to have a guided tour of the engineering section and talk about about the minutiae of power plant design and maintenance.

Three of the passengers - Augustina Konani, Emma Manuelita, and Aurora Natsumi - were interested in discussing the upcoming hunt. Augustina was a travel correspondent, writing a story about hunting expeditions, while Emma was a researcher studying the biology of wild Zhugean cattle, and Aurora was Emma's Zhugean guide.

Harim was quite intrigued by Lady Kandajha Geruga, who spent much of her time and her family's wealth on travelling throughout the sector.
The remaining passengers has only paid for middle passages, and spent little time in the lounge interacting with the others. Adeline Tuuliki looked like a hard case and potential trouble, but warmed up a bit after Harim turned on the charm. He suspected that she was a bounty hunter who had tracked a target to Zhuge. Fred Pangko was a farmer who had won a lottery of some kind and wanted to "see the universe", he seemed to be awestruck just by being onboard such a luxurious ship.


Zhuge, High Port and Togoshun
084-221

Jordan's astrogation was flawless and Cassandra's Victory arrived at the Zhuge High Port without incident. While the passenger's went their separate ways, Jordan discussed the power flicker issues he had found and fixed with the leasing company.

Henri sent a message to Lady Iskendu, and then spent some time looking up some information about her and Zhuge in general. (Library data) As it turns out, Lady Naoko Iskendu is the daughter of Baron Marumo Iskendu who is the Imperial representitive for Zhuge and one of the most powerful men on the planet.



A short time later, a shuttle arrived at the High Port to take Henri and his friends down to the city of Togoshun, the home of the Iskendu family. Togoshun was a small city in the temparate equatorial region of Zhuge, and the group found the city remarkably charming and it's population very polite. To his surprise, Harim tried and failed to find a seedy underside to the city. Eventually, they made their way to the Iskendu manor, which was an impressive half-fortress, half-palace perched on the cliffs overlooking the city. Lady Naoko greeted the men politely and offered to introduce them to her father. As they approached the Baron's office, they passed a group of very angry looking men in business suits storming out.


Baron Marumo Iskendu was a dynamic man of middling height in his early 60's. Despite Thiel's misgivings, he greeted his non-Noble guests as graciously as the two Marquis. The Baron explained that the angry businessmen had "tried to sell me something, I had no interest in buying" He seemed like a man that would be difficult to manipulate or bully.

Originally the family hunt was planned for a few weeks later, but since they had guests now, the Baron decided to move up the date of the hunt so that they would leave in the next day or two. He then had some servants show the visitors to rooms that had been set aside for them and explained that a formal dinner was being arranged for the evening.

The four men were given the black silk robes that were traditionally worn for these formal meals, but Henri could not resist adding a little flair to the extremely plain costume. The ceremonial dagger he tucked into his sash raised a few eyebrows at the table, but no serious complaints were raised. The meal was served at a small table for the Baron, his two sons and daughter as well as the four guests. Each of the seventeen courses was a single small, exquisitely prepared dish. The first course was a glass of extraordnarily strong liquor, after which the Baron seemed much more relaxed and talkative. He spoke of his strong support for Duke Aremani and his disdain for those of his peers who were not as supportive. He also talked about the recent increase in piracy and his theory that the "pirates" were actually being supported by some faction within the Imperium. The meal ended with another glass of the same liquor, and the friends made their ways to their rooms. Preparations for the hunt would begin early the next day.

Jump Space077-221 through 083-221

Episode 3 - The Getaway

Densun, Howotro
065-221 through 072-221

Captain Ross handed Henri his laser pistol and then proceded to drag a struggling Mr. Chen across the rooftop toward the garage, while Harim and Thiel took up positions covering the rear. Moments later two thugs in dark suits came through the door and fired wildly at the fleeing men. Marquis de Lyon ducked behind some cover while Jordan continued hustiling their erstwhile business partner toward the building. Thiel knocked out one of the attackers with a stunner and the other fell to Henri's laser.

Reaching the garage, Jordan began assessing the state of the grav cars... which was not terribly good. One of the two cars had been partially cannibalized to repair the other, but neither was immediately ready to fly. Meanwhile, Harim had taken the pistols from the fallen men and moved to a point where he could cover the door, and Henri made his way to the garage.

Another pair of thugs stormed out onto the roof firing enthusiastically if not accurately. Despite Harim's stolen pistol jamming, these men were quickly gunned down as well. Captain Ross determined that he could get one of the cars operational with just a couple parts taken from the other car and began doing just that.

During a brief respite, Harim and Thiel made their way to the garage. Thiel borrowed a pistol and found a concealed spot from which he could cover the rooftop. While Ross worked on the cars, the two Marquis realized that there was another door in the garage that lead to a stairwell into the building. Seeing the massive powerplant for the cannibalized car was on a wheeled hoist, they maneuvered it to the door and dropped it, effectivly jamming the door shut. Moments later there was a determined banging on the door. Harim fired through the door and from the cry of pain on the other side, apparently wounded someone. The thugs returned fire through the door, but didn't manage to injure anyone.

As soon as the car was operational, Harim jumped into the driver's seat and Henri climbed into the front passenger seat. Jordan opened the garage door and hustled Mr. Chen into the back of the car. Thiel hopped in and Harim flew off just as more thugs charged onto the rooftop.

The first few seconds of flight were a bit shaky as Marquis Samadr familiarized himself with the controls, but he soon had the car under control. Unfortunately, a few moments later the car's electrical systems started shorting out and the car lost altitude quickly. Harim didn't quite land softly, but he did manage to put the car down without a major crash. The car would never fly again, but the passengers were able to walk away only slightly shaken.

Luckily, between the spore-laden air and the rundown nature of the neighborhood, there were no witnesses to see them exit the vehicle and hustle down the street. Soon they heard a police siren approaching, and they ducked unseen into a coffee shop.

Mr. Chen explained that in addition to being a gangster, Thomas Sun was also a police detective, so that they could expect more trouble than help from the authorities. When asked if their deal was still on, he apologized and explained that he was going to have to flee the planet and would no longer have the money to invest in a starship.

While they were pondering their next move, Jordan realized that he had received a message sometime during the excitement. It turned out to be from a Baroness Keshiigma who had attended his reception but didn't get a chance to meet him. She was preparing for short cruise on her yacht and invited Captain Ross to join her. Marquis de Lyon remebered her as a remarkably unpleasant dinner companion, but eventually agreed that she could be useful given their current circumstances.

After a brief call to the Baroness' secretary, a car was sent to pick them up at the coffee shop. With a little persuasion and a twenty credit bill, the driver agreed to drop Mr. Chen at the starport before taking everyone else to the harbor. The entrance to the starport was blocked by a police cordon, but the Baroness' driver was waved through without incident. Thiel escorted Mr. Chen to a bank inside of the starport and received the promised Cr.10000 as well as another apology.

Once on the yacht, the four men dined with the Baroness and her consort. She turned out to be as unpleasant as Henri had described her, fawning over the Marquis' and the Navy Captain, but rude and dismissive to Thiel. With some carefully applied charm, Harim convinced the Baroness to talk about her various businesses. He learned that she was an investor in several starhip companies, including the very same Sentinel Express Lines that they had been investigating. She also revealed that she was a friend and business partner of the mysterious Mr. Smith. The Baroness offered to provide a personal introduction to Mr. Smith but explained that he was going to be out of the system for a number of weeks. The four friends spent the rest of the week relaxing on the luxurious - if somewhat gaudy - yacht.

Episode 2

Howtro Highport
061-221 through 064-221

Shortly after the holovid producer - Joshua Wallace – left, another man sat at the table. Marquis Harim Samadr introduced himself to Captain Ross and offered his apologies for not being able to attend the reception. After a brief conversation where they brought him up to speed, Harim led the group out of the pub in search of a party at which he could extend the celebrations. Despite his efforts and those of Thiel, they were unable to find anything suitable and they retired to their rooms for the night. Concerned that his friends were caught up in some sort of conspiracy against the Imperium, Harim spent some time trolling local databases for more information about Shariish and their anonymous benefactor.

The next morning, Jordan contacted Shariish and asked her to find him a media agent. Meanwhile, Harim persuaded the hotel desk clerk to tell him who had booked the rooms for his friends. The rooms had been paid for by a corporate account from Sentinel Express Lines – the same passenger line that Henri and Thiel had travelled on. After asking a few questions around the docks, Thiel determined that Sentinel Express Lines was a fairly new company running small passenger ships along the high-volume route connecting Sentinel and Howotro.

In the afternoon, Ross met with Sanford Marman – the media agent that Shariish had found. He soon learned that Marman would be too expensive to hire given the small amount of money he would reasonably expect to receive from the holovid deal. Harim quickly volunteered to act as Ross’ representative when they met with Wallace in the afternoon. As it turned out, Harim, Henri, and Thiel all contributed to the negotiations with Wallace. The deal they brokered was reasonably good, but they realized after the fact that - despite their attempts to rework the contract - Ross was unlikely to ever see any royalties. They did however walk out the office 20 thousand credits richer.

The next day, the group considered Mr. Chen’s business proposal. They did a few computer searches, and eventually found some references to him in a Law Enforcement database, but determined that his business was mostly legitimate. They arranged to meet with Mr. Chen the following day at his groundside offices. The rest of the day was spent in further investigation of Sentinel Express Lines and Shariish. Harim had apparently developed a bit of fascination for the woman, and arranged to have dinner with her. Applying his considerable charm to her, he not only convinced her to join him in his room, but also draw a few new pieces of information out of her. He even attempted to acquire her phone so that his friends could dig through her records, but he was unable to get it away from her without arouse suspicion.

The next morning, the men checked out of their nice – but very expensive – rooms, and took a shuttle to the Densun Downport. They spent a few hours on the surface exploring the spaceport and finding new hotels before Mr. Chen’s driver arrived to take them to their meeting. The aristocrats became increasingly uncomfortable as the neighborhoods they traveled through became progressively more run down, and were looking forward to the lunch Mr. Chen was buying them with some trepidation.

Lunch was provided in a dingy pastry shop in the same building as Mr. Chen’s office, but the food was surprisingly tasty. He refused to talk business until they had finished lunch and had gone to his new, fourth floor conference room. He was presenting some information about the ship he was looking to buy when the meeting was interrupted by an urgent call: “Mr. Chen! It’s Thomas Sun! He’s here looking for you…”

The call was cut off with the sound of gunfire and screaming. Chen turned to the group and said, “I’ll give you ten thousand credits, if you can get me to the starport safely.”

He explained that Thomas Sun was an enforcer for the Minlo family, and the family must be “upset” with him for trying to sell off his business. Harim quickly agreed, and readied his blade. Jordan and Thiel also began readying their weapons while Henri tried to determine the best place to hide. They determined that since the elevators were all on the third floor, where they supposed the thugs must be searching for Chen. Attempting to sneak down to the parking garage, they heard movement on stairs below them. Chen told them there were a couple of old grav cars on the roof that they might be able to use, and the party charged up the stairs. Thiel lingered behind as a rear guard. He fired his stunner at the first thug up the stairs knocking the man out, but the second one returned fire with a machine pistol of some sort and showered Thiel with chunks of concrete. Meanwhile Ross pulled a fire extinguisher off of the wall and placed it on a landing. Thiel ran from the thugs’ superior firepower, and they pursued. Ross waited with his laser pistol until the enemies reached the fire extinguisher. One well placed shot detonated the canister, and stunned the pursuers. Racing up a few more flights, Ross placed another extinguisher on the steps which caused the thugs to pause for a moment, giving the group even more of a lead.

Busting out of the door at the top of the stairs, they saw a garage-like building across the roof. Someone would have to hold that top of the stairs long enough for the others to get the grav cars up and running…

Episode 1

Howtro Highport
057-221 through 061-221

As the three men sat in the pub discussing their recent fortunes, they soon realized that someone was spending an inordinate amount of money and effort on their behalf. Captain Ross was given an immense suite in an exclusive hotel, and discovered that a gorgeous personal assistant – Shariish - had been hired to “ease his transition into civilian life.” Both Thiel and Henri had been sent first class ticket vouchers for travel to Howotro in order to attend the Ross’ retirement reception. They assumed that Jordan had come into to some wealth, but it turns out that some anonymous benefactor had arranged for their tickets and hotel rooms.

Determined to enjoy their time on station despite the mystery, the three men decided to experience a bit of the Highport’s night life and do some barhopping. While Thiel was entranced by the sheer size of the orbital station, Jordan noticed some people following the group. These people turned out to be reporters who had heard rumors about the “Heroic Captain Ross” and wanted to ask him about the reception at the end of the week. They seemed to be satisfied by Jordan’s appropriate but basically meaningless response and the three men were undisturbed for the rest of the evening.

Over the next few days, they each gathered information through their own channels. Thiel prowled the docks and learned that there were a number of ships hiring crew and that a new pirate was operating in nearby systems despite the large naval presence here. With the assistance of Shariish, he also acquired a burnt orange silk suit that he would wear to the reception.

Henri sought an audience with Marquis Sringasa of Howotro, and learned from the noble’s aide that the receptions given for retiring military officers have become increasingly elaborate social events. These parties attracted a variety of wealthy aristocrats and businessmen who were interested in meeting the retiring officers. Henri also arranged a meeting with the Marquis himself, but learned nothing more of interest.

Jordan asked Shariish a few questions, but learned little more than that she was hired by a “Mr. Smith”, and that she was available for a long term position should he desire it. He also made a few inquiries through naval channels but didn’t make much progress.

Finally, the day of the reception arrived, and while Jordan made his way quickly past the reporters waiting outside, Thiel happily talked to them. A short clip of Thiel proclaiming: “Captain Ross is my hero! He saved my life!” appeared on a number of news sites and broadcasts over the next few days. The reception began with dinner, and Jordan was pleased to hear that he was not expected to give any speeches. He was seated with Admiral Zarkhan and his niece Amalia, as well as Marquis Sringasa and his wife Martine and daughter Sarissa. When asked about the expense of the reception, the Admiral seemed a little confused and surprised, but not particularly displeased that Mr. Smith had spent so much money on the event.

Meanwhile, Thiel was seated at a table with a couple of hard characters Udar and Seska and eventually deduced that they were undercover bodyguards for Count Makinli. He also met Pangzhou Chen, a businessman from Howotro who had a proposal of some sort for Captain Ross.

Henri was stuck at a table with the remarkably unpleasant Baroness Keshiigma and Baron Sesu. Luckily, these two left the table quickly once the bar was opened. Henri did have a pleasant after-dinner conversation with Lady Naoko Iskendu, who eventually invited him to join her on a hunting expedition on her home planet of Zhuge.

Count Makinli appeared after dinner with Suzi, his bubble-headed date. The Count congratulated Jordan briefly and then pulled Marquis Sringasa aside for a private conversation. Henri spoke to Suzi, and soon suspected she wasn’t nearly as airheaded as she appeared to be.

As the guests mingled throughout the ballroom, Jordan noticed that a number of recently retired military officers had come with unusually stunning dates. He wondered if they had started as personal assistants like Shariish. Thiel introduced Mr. Chen to Jordan and three began discussing a business proposal and eventually agreed to meet with Mr. Chen at his planetside offices in a few days.

Later, Thiel approached Pilar Mills and her husband Darison - the outlandishly dressed representatives of Dragonfire Mining - and the three of them discussed fashion and what could be done to enhance Thiel’s orange suit.

Suzi introduced Henri to Captain Alfonso Mitrochev, a naval strategist of some renown. Captain Mitrochev’s date Alison seemed offended by Suzi’s presence, and to smooth things over Henri offered to get her a drink. As they walked to the bar, Alison revealed that she had some concerns about the grandiose retirement celebration, and commented that these receptions have grown more and more elaborate over the last two to three years.

After the reception, Jordan, Henri, and Thiel returned to the pub to enjoy a quiet drink and discuss what they had learned. Their conversation was interrupted by a man who claimed to be a holovid producer who wished to buy the rights to Captain Ross’ story.