Peter Avignon
Peter Avignon
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Their homeworld, Bartholdi's Reach, fought a losing battle with Jred during the Long Night. It finally became untenable to live there when as small child, and his people had to flee towards civilized space. Peter arrived on Byzantion when they were 10-13ish. With his family's status as refugees, Peter came of age in the cosmospolitan system, and drifted away from their religious upbringing.
Education
Raised as in the Reformed Church (Nova-Calvinist), Peter still believes in much of the ethics and morals of his Christian faith, but does not believe in Capital-G "God", much to their family's chagrin.
Employment
Senior Courier (Rank 3) in the Galactic Surveyor's Guild.
Morality & Philosophy
Raised as in the Reformed Church (Neo-Calvinist), Peter still believes in much of the ethics and morals of his Christian faith, but does not believe in Capital-G "God", much to his hometown's chagrin.
Social
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Citizen of Byzantion
Birthplace
Bartholdi's Reach, Jred Frontier
Children
Current Residence
S.S. Good Times
Gender
Neutral
Eyes
Greenish
Hair
Ginger
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
White
Making the Trek to the Jred Frontier, pt 1
19th of May, 4501
Captain's Personal Log - SS Good Times II
16 May 4501 Pandya Orbital – Aseni Republic of Vega The Cincastrellan "gift" keeps gnawing at me. That data crystal they gave us after the Galvao mess supposedly holds coordinates to a Cazador-class parts cache. Military-grade salvage just sitting in some dead drop in the depths of Jred Space, waiting to be claimed. Too good to be true? Absolutely. Too tempting to ignore? Unfortunately not. Medium-Term Objectives:
Save us, Aidan
16th of May, 4501
Captain's Log - SS Good Times II
14 May 4501 - Jump Space
Status:
Holed up on the bridge
Three crew functional (barely)
One eldritch granny in a low berth
Watched the whole shitshow unfold via internal sensors. Aidan, our resident psionic, pulled a heroic idiot move by confronting the woman near engineering. Using his own psionic abilities, he shields himself from her maelstrom. Somehow he held long enough to yell:
Psionic stasis induced (Grandma’s now comatose in medbay)
Passenger secured in low berth (set to "meat locker" mode)
Cover story if anyone askes: "Terminally ill aunt en route to specialist care, will die if we unthaw."
The Aseni’ll execute her on sight if they find out she's a latent psionic, then Aidan too – Psionic abilities are not welcome in Aseni Republic space. Heck, they might execute us just for proximity.
16 May 4501 - Pandya Orbital
Aseni security gave our manifest the same attention they give expired parking permits. Collected our 200k hazard bonus from the shellshocked "grandson" seconds before Aseni authorities dragged him off. Guild mail payout: 25k. Barely covers the therapy bills.
New Crew Rules:
Beñat: No passengers. Ever.
Lucid: Unless cryo-frozen, pre-paid, and pre-sedated.
Lessons Learned:
Install psionic detectors
Grandmothers can indeed violate physics
Guild insurance doesn't cover "acts of malevolent transcendence"
Refueled at Pandya’s orbital siphon—hydrogen priced like vintage champagne. Next stop: Jred frontier mail run. Quiet. Boring. Blissfully normal.
Until then,
Captain Peter Avignon
SS Good Times II
"Delivering packages (not eldritch apocalypses) since 4498"
Aidan: "Let me help you!" Eldritch Passenger: [Unearthly screeching translated loosely as "Fuck off"]Lucid’s "Danger Bot" (a Roomba with a taser duct-taped to it) delivered the suppressant cocktail. Bought us two hours of peace. Thirty-four to go. Beñat wanted to space her. Lucid suggested "accidental airlock malfunction." I vetoed both. Murder’s bad for business, even when your target’s rearranging bulkheads like origami. Current Measures:
THIS MAIL RUN WENT FULL CHAOS MODE! (GONE WRONG? GONE SEXUAL? GONE CLASSIFIED?!) [NOT CLICKBAIT] [100% LEGIT]
14 May 4501
Babur Prime – Babur System
Aseni Republic of Vega
May 11th, 2252
Stepped off the Good Times II today into the choking haze of Babur Prime. Stars, this place is a gutter with delusions of grandeur—future Mumbai if Mumbai never bothered to scrub the soot off its face. The air clings to you like a bad debt, and every dockworker shuffling through the smog looks like they’ve been dusted in refinery ash. The ASR doesn’t believe in "business hostile regulations" like clean air or worker protections, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but still. You’d think a system this industrialized would’ve coughed up the credits for an orbital port by now.
Mail run to Pandya’s locked in—15 tons, three containers. Routine stuff, if you ignore the fact that half the cargo handlers look like they’re two missed meals away from collapsing. Lucid, ever the opportunist, sniffed out a couple of passengers: an older woman and a younger man, maybe her son or grandson. Beñat’s got his hackles up about them—says their story’s too neat, like a bad cover identity. I told him to ease off unless they start poking around the engineering bay, but I’ll keep an eye on it.
12th May, 2252
Jump Space
Lucid volunteered to play steward for the jump. Normally, I’d say that’s a bad idea—she’s got the bedside manner of a customs inspector—but she insisted. Turns out, she might regret it. As soon as we jumped, the older passenger started unravelling. Claims she’s hearing voices. Doc says its jump sickness. I trust Beñat, but I've been in space long enough to know about the things that live in jumpspace, even if nothing's been proven. I've seen and heard stuff that I can't explain.
13th May, 2252
Jump Space
The kid (assuming he is her kid) swears she’s never been like this before. Lucid’s trying to calm her down, but if this turns into a full-blown episode, we might have to sedate her. The last thing I need is a passenger clawing at the bulkheads mid-jump.
Beñat’s giving me that I told you so look. Damn him. I had him keep an eye on the old woman—she refused meds, of course. Lucid, at least, had the sense to offer her some warm, salted water. Old spacer’s remedy. Won’t fix voices in your head, but it’ll keep the shakes at bay.
Still. Something’s off. If this turns into a real problem, I don't know what we'll do if we're not done jumping.
14th May
Jump Space
The night walks began yesterday. Security feeds show her moving through the ship with impossible precision, her face...wrong. The geometry of her jaw shifted slightly left of where it should be, her mouth forming silent screams.
Aidan confirmed our worst fears - she's psionic, and whatever's riding her isn't Jred. "Like possession," he said. His solution was characteristically direct. Unfortunately, the only advice he has for dealing with psionics like himself is to put a bullet in her head, as it means she's about to violently fuck things up due to the juice going into her.
We showed the grandson the footage. His shock was either the performance of a lifetime or genuine horror. Either way, I've amended our contract - a 200k hazard bonus, payable upon delivery of whatever's left of his "mother."
The indication that a psionic is getting "juiced up" aligns with the hovering and the facial contortions. On Benat's suggestion, we put Aidan on guard duty and confirm the son to quarters to keep him from interfering. Still four more days of this. Times like this I sometimes regret falling out of the Nova Calvinist faith.
16th May
Midnight. Beñat's last words: "Oh shi-" before getting thrown across engineering like a toy. Now she's rebuilding my ship. Bulkheads peel open like flower petals. Beñat's down - took a psionic wave straight to the cortex. Engineering looks like a modern art exhibit.
I'm on the bridge with:
Manual jump override primed
One charged laser carbine
All the regrets of a life spent in space
If she breaches those doors, I'm taking us out of jump early. Better to risk misjump than become part of whatever nightmare sculpture she's building back there.
Xin Heinan Occupied
May 6th, 4501
27th of April
Another day, another paycheck chasing someone else's problems. Took a broker's contract to locate a missing person - simple enough work, if you ignore the fact that this entire damn region of space's about to erupt into war. By the time we made the week-long burn to Xin Heinan, Pariah forces had already rolled over the border like a toxic tide. The client probably doesn't even know their missing person is now behind enemy lines.
Made landfall on an isolated stretch of coastline today. The Good Time II's fuel siphon dipped into waters that probably violate twelve different environmental treaties, but hey, I'll worry about that when I have a fleet to refuel. The ocean smelled like rust and regret as we filtered hydrogen through the scrubbers.
4 May, 4501
Delivered the bad news to Xin Guangdong command. Watched their staff officers turn varying shades of pale as they realized their flank was completely exposed. Within six hours they'd assembled a strike group - all the enthusiasm of fresh recruits and none of the experience.
Volunteered to transport 40-50 of their troopers. The [Ship Name] wasn't built for troop deployments, but neither was I built to watch fascists roll over civilian populations without pushing back. They'll be bunking in the cargo hold alongside our regular munitions - safety regulations be damned.
6 May, 4501
En Route to Babur
Set course toward the Jred frontier under silent running protocols. The troopers pretend not to be terrified. I pretend not to notice how many of them can't be older than nineteen.
This whole operation stinks like a last stand in the making. But if we're sailing into the storm, at least we'll do it with our eyes open.
"No borders, no masters"
Taking down Galvao
18th of April, 4501
April 11th - Chang-Er
We set up to ambush Galvao's convoy on Jīnyīng (金鹰) Avenue: Beñat orders the five CPLF to lay down cover fire, two on each side. We make quick work of the job. One of the guards makes it away, and we make a hasty retreat w/ Alana in tow.
As we leave, no one is there to stop or confirm anything. We pass by the census station to ensure we have no ground-to-air attacks. There are ongoing weapons discharges showing up on our sensors from the station.
April 18th - Neuva Catalonia
As we arrive in the system, we get a transmission ping from our contacts. The Yuan Jiang naval task force will arrive in Chang-Er tomorrow, we're told to dock at the Cincastrellan naval base. We see 7 warships on our way in, and 1 battleship, that appear to be getting fitted out for operations. We land on said battleship. Astrid, Lucid, Aidan, Benat, myself, and Alana disembark. Captain Dora debriefs us, and there is a noticeable security detail for Alana. She passes over our paperwork enabling us to become certified as mercenaries, basically a letter of marque. We should go to the Mercenary Guild.
She also shows us a map, with a spot marked on the Jred Frontier. "We've recovered reports and after study, we believe there may be parts to your ship here." We take the information to check out later. After a debrief on our own to confirm our story, we're brought to a larger room to discuss rewards and further information.
Alana's early defection provides some difficulties for Dora. Her career careened into a ditch/plateaued when she was assigned to the Commodore, being the only one able to handle him for the Pariahans but also growing to resent the job over time.
Dora explains that the Yuan jiang republic elected to invade to deny the Pariahans the opportunity to do the same. Doing so cuts off Pariahan territory and will serve strategic goals for Stelsoc-aligned states.
I'm at Soup
10th of April, 4501
Alana Ferrer meets with us at a noodle shop.
Usually, Galvao is weakest when he's en route
These days, he's been waking up late, eating a big breakfast after 11am
Inconsistent schedule lately.
Drivers are armed members of the Pariahan Military.
4 to 8 more on assault cycles.
After breakfast, we meet to set up a plan.
Astrid is down
5 CPLF members
Bo Jierong
People
Operation Murder Galvao [TOP SECRET]
9th of April, 4501
Cincastrella
20 March
Barcelona
We spent the next month gearing up for the mission. Lucid configures the order for her robot, and Beñat and Aidan fill out their arsenals. I get the ventral hardpoint of the ship fixed, and a new torpedo turret installed. Cpt. Dora also supplies us with some "spicy" torpedos.
[URL=https://docs.google.com/document/d/17d9JJKN0szDafVuDzdbfDlF6SkA1EznFaSAk6sX9lZo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.p64lcxw402jb]Mission Briefings
Unnafiliated Space
3rd April
Chang-Er - Xi Chang Star System
We arrive via stealth jump. The sensor station is there to point at the jump gate arrays and prevent us from being caught unprepared. We scoop up some gas at the gas giant in the system.
4th April
We pass unmolested into a new system for the first time in a long time. We land the ship in a remote location in a forest outside Lyon. We can see a fleet of helicopter-like craft heading to a hotspot. We set down, ready to look for the CPLF.
8th April
After 4 days, Beñat finally makes contact with someone from the CPLF, Cmdr. Zhou Biao. He will meet with me, Benat, and Aidan. He tells us that the Commodore is scheduled to make a motorcade to the government for his lobbying of them. He recommends assaulting him in transit, as there are higher risks at the other sites.
1. Galvao will be a hard target to get at any point he's not travelling w/o another way in
2. With only 4 of us, it makes it harder for our objectives with 35 people at the compound.
3. Barring any revelations from Ferrer, and probably even with those, Cmdr. Biao recommends hitting him while in transit
4. We'll need to have a way to get the militia off their ass in exchange for their help.
9th April
We take up positions about 50m from the house that Galvao goes to and from.
Unfortunately, his aid's vehicle and two motorcycles take an alternate route and are going away from us.
We still take the shots before they get out of range. We took the potshots and hit the reactor of his vehicle. Zhang Dadong, militia captain, is gone.
We make a quick getaway, with Beñat literally carrying me over his shoulder cause it's faster.
Aidan has some motorcycles to deal with, however.
He escapes with some psionic shit, slamming the motorcycles and escaping.
We regroup and meet with Zhou Biao. He's got a few guys to commit, incl. his 2nd in command, and set about planning our next moves against Galvao.
Peter joins the Military-Industrial Complex
S.S. Good Times II – New Catalonia
Cincastrella
7th of February, 4501
I have to put some effort into managing the traffic and finding a place to park. Once cleared through customs and docked, Beñat gets a message from the Cpt. (now Admiral) of the last cruiser he served on. Its a dinner invite for a couple days from now. I will wear my guild's best (fancy clothing I slapped my guild patch onto).
We clean out the litter from the cargo bay.
9th of February
A ride is sent for us to bring us to the dinner. Takes us a couple hours to get from the high port to the moon. We find ourselves in a gorgeous resort.
Dora explains that they and the Yuan are working to make a thorn in the side of "Sgt Iturri Echazú." There's a civil war (proxy war between them and Pariah). As long as the ports stay open they stay uninvolved, but as the Stat there loses they've turned to Pariah. They believe there's a mole in the navy for Benat's old enemy, Commodore Galvao (Esteban), and that he's been instrumental in negotiations.
16th February
De Leon
We visit Beñat's family, and help Arkip get set up. Beñat takes him down to the local farming guild hall and sets him up with the union. We spend a few days here and then head back.
20th February
Barcelona
We spend the next month vacationing.
Fancy Auction
11 January 4501
On the last day, I enjoyed the grounds, reading my Broker texts and asking some of the other auction-goers who might know a thing or two about Brokering for their tips. Beñat notices a Cincastrellan stealth ship land. He informs me and we go to ask one of the guards what's going on.
They don't know, and they say that they wouldn't be allowed to tell. They suggest we speak with Parvati. At the soirée pre-auction, I blank out at all the wealth on display, which is worsened when Lucid's childhood friend Lyle runs into us. He insults me, mistaking me for her valet and referring to the Good Times II. I sit down with my now-alcoholic coffee beverage and ponder why everyone in this room makes me feel bad about myself just for existing.
12 January 4501
Lyle meets with Deepak Kang, a representative of one of the most powerful corporations in the Centauri Republic.
During the auction, Lyle makes off with some of the lesser prices. The only other thing that didn't go to the rich people was a statue that went to Captain Dora of the Cincestrellan Navy.
Returning with the spoils of salvage
11th of January 4501
19 December 4500
Benat goes onboard a S-type Scout ship and finds 2 mummified bodies and a pile o' bones.
To difficult to tow ourselves, we return to Pandia to hire a pilot.
22 December 4500
Hire pilot. I found one who would charge us 20,000 plus 15% profit from the haul. Lucid however, finds us a better deal through her socialibty, 10,00 plus 10% profit. The pilot's named Abishek Rai.
We contact Parvati Melnone with her business card that she left with us. She has armed people around her while she's inspecting the cargo crates we brought back from the ship.
She pays us out 2 million. I square myself upo with Astrid for her six months of service.
28 December 4500
We get 10,000,000 from the Guild (and a little goodwill). 9 million leftover towards repairs to theGood Times II.
4 January 4501
We updated our guild codes while we waited. We land at the auction house, at a complex with two guasse cannons and a big warehouse and 21 mansions.
11 January 4501
On the last day of me enjoying the grounds, reading my Broker texts and asking some of the other auction-goers who might know a thing or two about Brokering for their tips.
Welcome to the Aseni Republic of Vega
16th of December, 4500
The Aseni Republic of Vega
Shivaji – Capital
15 December 4500 After dropping off the passengers from Baji Rao, we make plans.Pandya – Spaceport
16 December 4500Peter: Do you want us to salvage the ship itself or just retrieve the cargo and rescue any survivors?
Derelict space Station - Shiva Rao
11th December, 4500
Baji Rao - Orbital Station
Independent System
The mercenaries of this system that function as the customs charge us 30,000.
I make a note for the guild to offset this cost for future
Biggest collective organization of mercenary company doesn't normally do this
gravity sucks, 5x Earth gravity
Lucid can't handle this
Lucid found a client, some fired workers who want us to find "dirt" on their former employers on their space station at Shiva Rao.
Shiva Rao Planetoid, Private Station
Beñat and Aidan space walk to the station after we dock, because the automated security locked us out for trespassing. Lucid's new drone covers them too.
they brute force the door, aside cannot be opened remotely. It takes about 40 minutes - 80 minutes total for the ev suit.
I fly our ship into the space port. We might need to sort out an exit plan.
Lucid dons a vacc suit to join us
Beñat and I hold down the corridors looking for coprorate murder bots.
unfortunately, the corridors are clear, although the living quarters were a mess.
Everything else is conspicuously clear.
we haven't encountered any more automated security.
While Lucid is tinkering in the computewr, Beñat recognises an ultraviolet pulse being sent out, the hallmark of a silent alarm.
He and Aidan take up defensive positions while Lucid and I try to get what we can off the computer. We see on one of the sensor packages the following warning:
We know 8 security bots are on our way, plus another unknown signal coming from all five directions but appears to be one entity.
Aidan recognises this as potential dirt - a "nano-swarm" - millions of microscopic machines capable of ripping us apart on a micro level.
We fight our way to engineering, to get to the environmental controls to cook the nano-swarm
Aidan uses his mind-fire
Beñat and I have our laser weapons
Lucid has her drone
Beñat runs to engineering, I follow after him.
Aidan and Lucid take some damage out in the corridor, but is able to cook nano-swarm.
Beñat stabilises Lucid and Aidan. Lucid is conked out for a bit.
As the bots approach, we radio over to Arkip and Astrid for help.
I buy us an extra couple minutes to fortify ourselves by securing the doors to engineering.
The Battle
The engineering is not as safe as we hoped
The bots make no qualms about shooting the sensitive equipment
Down to the skin of our teeth, we manage to fend them off until Arkip and Astrid arrive, who dispatch the remaining bots.
Lucid regains consciousness after the fight, and is forced back to the ship on Benat's doctor's order, along with myself and Astrid.
He and Arkip to gather more dirt.
They return to the ship.
We meet up with the fired workers, who pay us 350k credits.
Nanoswarm is a Class III device (put in a jar)
Scans of the nerve gas in the atmosphere of the station
"Alert: Security System Compromised"
Dirt Gathered
Extra-judicial shipping in the Union of Sol
7 December, 4500
Captain's Log - GSG Ross
26 November 4501 - Ross System
Sol Customs took their sweet time crawling through the Good Times II's guts today. Forty-seven minutes of armed bureaucrats poking at every welded seam while Ross' acid rain pitted our hull plating. This planet's what you get when you let industrialists run wild - skies the color of engine coolant and oceans thick enough to walk on.
Refueling operations went as expected:
Ocean intake turned the filters into a chemical warfare warning system
Beñat's "within tolerances" = we won't die before next jump
Lucid updated her will (again)
Mission Highlights:
Diverted inspection team from Arkip's hidey-hole (cost: one fake maintenance alert)
Spent eight hours jury-rigging a data dump into Ross' broadcast grid (watching their news streams glitch was worth the migraine)
Lunch with the comms officer: mediocre seafood, excellent blackmail material
Aidan's "snack run" included 50cr of Arkip's favorite carcinogenic junk food
Fuel bill: 200,000 credits. The look on Lucid's face: priceless.
3 December
We arrive in the Sol System.
Bong is dropped off at the Guild's moon facility
5 December
Sol Sector, Sol System – Mars
The plan is that I go Bloodrat, tell him that we're gonna pretend to arrest him. Beñat and Aidan hang back.
We make a successful stealth jump to Ross with Bloodrat and the cargo.
We send out a an SOS and dump some debris to make it look good
6 December
Sol Sector, Ross System - Ross
Coming out of our stealth jump startles the Ross authorities. Solar Ministry of Internal Security cover doesn't work, so Lucid name drops her dad and insinuates this is business for him.
We refuel only a quarter of a tank (-40,000 credits)
7 December
Sol Sector, Cygnus System - Cygnus
We tell them we were the mail, explaining the stealth jump away as us getting out of a sticky situation. The ship is a salvage.
Bloodrat is dropped off here to sort out his own affairs
We fill up on a full tank. The place is under sanctions from the Union of Sol, driving up the prices. (-300,000 credits).
Byzantion
We get waived on through thanks to my boo.
Husnu is pleased with our expediency. We make delivery of the crates, including the warframe, gun drones, and fuck ton of rifles.
We get paid 4 million. We decide to set a course for Cincestrellan space next.
Captain Peter Avignon
SS Good Times II
"Delivering democracy (or whatever) since 4498"
Hey Geneviève (sup, Hüsnü)
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Espadachin
Frontier Space
19 November
We arrive on the planet of Espadachin.
21 November
After refuelling, we depart.
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Byzantion
24 November
We get two messages – Geneviève and Hüsnü. I reply to Geneviève Sunderland to meet at our usual coffee shop. Hüsnü is a different story, we met at a Turkish café compared to the previous Parisian one (across the New Bosphorous) Sunderland and I met.
Lucid has an impromptu meetup, but it provides the cover Hüsnü and I need to duck out of the café unseen. We go to one of their safe houses, a room in a derelict building. Crates of assault rifles, improvised explosives, etc line the walls. He says that there's a shipment of weapons from Mars – tells me to look for a "complete and utter tool" of an arms dealer known as "blood rat". We just need to facilitate delivery.
25 November
I spend the night at Geneviève's (I have some clothes at her place I keep in a drawer and she doesn't mind washing the clothing I leave there; I would do the same).
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Ross
26 November
Heavily armed picket ship immediately accosts us.
Transfer the manifest
Sends them the crew list with names, positions, and times in the crew.
Lucid tries (and fails) to cover this but they still board us
four well-armed customs agents in full combat armour, laser rifles with the UN-Blue on their uniforms
plus an officer, clearly armed and with a datapad
Opus Dei strikes Guild science facility
19th of November, 4500
Wow, Civilised Space!
5 October 4500
GSG (Galactic Surveryor's Guild) - Hanhoe System
25 September 4500
Hanhoe is home to a scout base.
We're brought in for customs.
Thorough scan
I present my Guild ID, a microchipped piece of plastic
Beñat, Aidan, Lucid, Astrid
Arkip asks for gum and soju.
At the Guild Base
They don't take my ship there, but it's too big for any of the free slots
It's a highly developed facility, 1-2 tech levels higher than the rest of the planet
200-300 staffers (large for the lvl of automation)
AI paperwork regarding the ship situation
The guild is sending me after a distress beacon (50k cr bounty, with more for whatever we find)
The woman with the guild explains that it's from an 18-1900-year-old design.
indicating an earlier phase of galactic civ, early jump tech, or perhaps a solar sailer
need to check it out, and bring back anything interesting like historical documents and technological elements worth having
Coordinates are in deep space
27 September 4500
They get our ship's maintenance up to spec
Free of charge!
We get gassed up too
We jump to where we're supposed to go
5 October - Saturday
5-6 hours to get the secondary ping
We head in its bearing, activate our stealth system and make it look like the SS Good Times (blue-ish tint, it doesn't work quite right)
12 hours later
the LIDAR scans can't get us a visual absent a nearby star
no operational engine
no fusion reactor is online
appears to be displacing about 1300 tons of space (6x larger than ours)
We detect a millimetres-thick object in front of the ship, about a few hundred kilometres wide
Benats says it's a solar sailer, used to send colonists on one-way trips on systems near Sol. Hard for it to have gotten out here. Pre-jump.
1-2kms away, the solar sailer comes into view
Can't make out many details, appears to be BADLY damaged. The sail has been ripped to shreds. Struts are barely holding on.
Computer IDs it as an Exodus Solar Sailor, deployed by [DATA CORRUPTED] for [DATA CORRUPTED]. We pick up part of the ship's name, Sal... ...ria, and the United Nations Icon and "United Nations Emergency Mandate", meaning it from no later than 2182 (2400 years old)
Not having the tools for the door, we go to the hole. We find ourselves in a reactor room, a fission reactor. Beñat breaks out the Geiger counter, and it's tickin'.
One reactor is still running
One has been "blown the fuck out" through external damage
I go back to the ship to get an electronics kit so Lucid can get over to the Sailer
Lucid also has a snack for me, a plate of cheese and crackers. Rich girl can't cut for SHIT.
Lucid comes over to the ship and unlocks the doors. Our translators struggle to make ou any labels, text, etc because of how old it is
So far no bodies, according to Frank this is because they were supposed to be in stasis - and that if his math is right, they'd have aged only 40 years.
Lucid figures out that the name of the ship is the Sojourner, and with Beñat's help, we locate the location of the units.
Beñat checks for people in the back while we check the computer systems up on the bridge.
An hour later, on the bridge.
A (mummified) body, having run out of oxygen. No signs of violence.
Lucid looks for the black box. It passed the Oort Cloud and then fell through a wormhole. It got deposited...somewhere. "Warning, autography is off base". It wakes up 2-3 crew members. 2 back in stasis. Then a debris collision, damaging the reactors, knocking one offline and the other to 15% capacity. 5 people awoken. None returned. Normal readings for the next 4,900 years. Last recording is "reactor fuel at 5%. Launching distress signal."
Mission Statement:
One survivor out of 300.
System prioritized who to kill.
60% engineers. 30% scientists. 5% both. Rest agriculturalists.
Bong Ying-Ai is the name of the survivor. "Terraforming Engineer"
We find an 80-year-old looking woman. She's only aged 1/2 of what she should have.
We use the remaining Sailor's fuel to get it into place, on a system without inertial dampening.
Bolt it to the Venator.
8 October - Tuesday
We take from the ship, through 4-hour shifts to restock our oxygen:
The copied data recorder and mission info
Backups of any cultural information
Detached stasis pod
An astralade
The contents of the ship's library
Bulky terraforming equipment
I cannot read any of these Bibles. An English one and a French one.
We undo the bolting.
We damage the ship in the process and blow another hole in it. Venator is fine.
15 October - Tuesday
We get waived directly into the Guild's landing zone, pleasing Lucid.
I explained to the Guild Rep all of what we brought back:
She asks a scientist to join us
The scientist gets a huge bug eye look on her face while reviewing her datapad on Bong Ying-Ai
An hour later, Ms. Bong is revived.
22 October - tuesday
Guild finishes cataloguing and categorising everything
they source components for some of the ship
Five technical
Five structural
Our pick of the books
2 million credits total
Projext exodus's goal is to set up human colonies on nearby systems to look into terraforming and astrographic sciences. For use in jumping points for future exploration with superior solar sailers. Preparation for if Earth is no longer viable.
Top scientist for Project Gaia
Licking our wounds in Wild Space
18 September, 4500
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - The Mistake
Frontier Space
28 June 4500
We jump back to Crozeria
5-8 July 4500
I fuel up, it takes us a few days
Lucid will need similar medical attention to get better.
Our current goal is to sell off the mineral ores we have to a high-tech, high-industry planet
15-18 July 4500
We arrive in Estris and refuel and refine in peace, despite the warnings from the nav computer of the system being a pirate base
50 days later
GSG (Galactic Surveryor's Guild) - Wonsan
18 September 4500
TL 5 planet
poor, not a lot going on
we throw a party for the sad town
Lucid gains some subscribers
We'll have to come back on a job to build them a better connection
the Mistake (the Planet)
21st of June, 4500
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Crozeria
Frontier Space
We make a fuel stop here en route to the Mistake
Their once-a-decade, year-long season of storms has just started
Lucid buys a minifridge for the common room of the Venator
Beñat and I agree to convert the pod in the cargo bay to a Medlab.
Costs
-40,000 for fuel
next steps
14 June 4500
Planet - System
Date
Geargaros - Geargaros
We are exiled from Atreus
The price of using my guild privileges to protect Lucid.
We still have the spice from Greg's World.
Arriving here, we pick up some work
people are clamouring to leave this planet
we pick up 5 people
We should look for world codes with HT or IN to offload the ore.
30 tons of unusual ore
5 Passengers
in fuel: 200,000
150,000 for the Ore
+50,000 for the passengers
Cargo
Costs
Captain's Log: Communications officer detained
7th of June, 4500 CE
After a terrible misjump that left me out of commission for a week, the rest of the crew has found a bigger, better ship on the asteroid.
it's in better shape than the SS Good Times, our vessel having been damaged in the battle and jump.
so we use it to hop to a system
customs goes badly
turns out miku is a class 4 superweapon
Impounded on Catta Primae
25th of April, 4500 CE
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Catta Primae
Frontier Space
23rd of April 4500 - Friday
Upon arrival, we're impounded and told to visit Counsellor Harkonen to sort it out. We seek him out.
When we got to his office, Consul Harkonen was not expecting us initially, despite impounding my ship.
He needed to get our attention to ask for Benat's aid.
On "anonymous sources' he believes Ambassador Qastor, the Pariahan rep on the planet is planning on attacking their neutral spaceport.
He said that we can either help him or turn over Arkip, but under no circumstances will I turn over my crew as some part of
The Cincastrellan Ambassador Ana Anarcia Carrera is also involved. (Unknown to me - more of a note from Beñat's journal)
Beñat doesn't want to involve me, but he has been asked by "his people" to aid in removing Qastor (alive if possible)
He's acting against La Matria and her interest, pushing Catta Primae's government into a more fascist position.
I'm down to help because Harkonen is behaving in immoral ways.
We have intel that Qastor likes illegal cage fights
Arkip is going to help because he doesn't appreciate being used as a pawn.
24th of April - Saturday
Beñat goes back to Harkonen to play along. He basically wants him to go "Hello fellow comrades, I sure love terrorism as a Cincastrellan, do you have anything I can help with?"
Ambassador Carrera cringes very hard
Meanwhile, because I am not a wealthy person, nor do I look like I'm there to fight, no one takes me seriously when I try to find leads on the Cage Fights that Qastor frequents.
After meeting back up, Beñat suggests someone from the crew with a more imposing presence try to pose as a potential fighter for the matches.
He selects himself.
So we execute our plot as intended, with Beñat tracking down the black market to buy tranquillizer gas
Beñat will then go and tell the Harkonen "Woah, guess they must've known you recruited me"
While we get our plan together for the kidnapping, I contact Counsellor Raimus Troy.
We take the grav-train over to their office and deliver the Sword
We ask him for help with our illegal impounding
Without Aidan, we head back to the ship to fill him in on the problem - he will be instrumental in getting us into the Cage Fights.
25th April - Sunday
Aidan contacts an old friend or flame of his, Aamina bin Ali, who can get him into the Fights.
While I wait for them to do their thing, I have a few hours to spend in the district.
I decided to look for a prostitute. While chatting one of them up, Aditi, she tells me they're unionized.
After finishing earlier than intended, we talk a little bit more, asking her about where she's from, how long she's been in the sex work industry, and what sort of stigmas exist.
The two of them come back (sans Qastor). They were unable to stealthily kidnap him.
The new plan is to go to Harkonen and pretend Beñat's cover is blown after he destroyed his bug in a panic ruining the initial plan to record him in the embassy.
Instead, we will arrange an accident for Qastor's vehicle, while Beñat goes to visit Councillor Harkonen.
Lucid remotely hacks his car computer, running it off a cliff and disabling the grav supports. She notes it was a messy hack.
Beñat checks in, gets the impound lifted and fires a few parting jabs about the planet before leaving his office.
When the impound is lifted I immediately fire up the ship's systems and take off as soon as the airlock closes behind Beñat.
As we leave, news reports and police chatter mention a "traffic collision" having killed Ambassador Qastor.
I lay in coordinates for Bandera, via Iska to refuel at a gas giant.
Leunus Prime
15th of April, 4500 CE
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Leunus Prime
Leunus System, Mutual Development and Assistance Pact 15 April 4500 CE
Aidan Thorpe Arrested
8th of April, 4500
2 weeks from our last session
Towards the end of April
Meret system
The tender touches us down, does some last minute maintenance
We are sent to wait for a couple hours.
Me and lucid grab some "X-presso" brand 'spreso from the space diner
Extra 500k
Aidan get's got in a sting
I'm able to explain that he's not someone with any dangerous intent, and the office isn't in the mood to do paper work.
Leunus System
B-Grade Ship Port
rich planet
ping w/ the regular shit
ship
manifest
docking coordinates
Obligatory Water Level
20th of March, 4500 CE
Galactic Surveryor's Guild - Far Δ Expedition
Scans indicate water for use to refuel
A fairly small civilization of a few towns of a couple thousand each
Wooden Sailing ships
The drones only pick up rubberized liquor hats amongst the late 18th-century level tech
We find the smallest community we can, roughly 400 people
As Beñat & I step off the ship, a small crowd has already begun to congregate around our makeshift landing site.
One of them is wearing a fancy outfit, replete with a breastplate
He agrees to bring us to his "estate", in order to talk about his settlement's history and copy records for the survey.
Most of the communities refer to the planet as Cylocanthus, and they estimate about 80,000 people across the planet. The far-flung communities struggle to keep in contact, and these numbers are months out of date. Drones indicate that it's a margin of error of +/- 5,000. Records go back 400 years, to about the time the Cataclysm's impacts reached this region of space. Many ships were mis-jumped at the time, and it was very common for communities to form out of shipwrecks. There is no indication of why they are in an 18th level of technology, it does not appear intentional or cultural. It is entirely possible that the ship sank before the technology could be recovered, and that there just isn't a huge drive to advance beyond basic survival needs.
3 Weeks Pass (26 days)
1. Jump to ViceGrip
2. Week and a few days to go there, investigate gas giant, refuel
Tenebrium is there, but it's deep down.
Will require some persuade/advocating to get paid for it, because it is in the depths of the gas giants, very few ships can go that deep without getting their hulls fractured.
3. Week jump to Tender.
After we finish reviewing their records, Cpt. Jamal Nemo brings up that they have some other problems though.
Usually, they rock up with one ship, but Nemo knows what they can do. They show up and demand tribute, and all he has is muskets and black powder to face them.
These attacks have only started a few months ago. He sent out a ship after the first, but he won't hear back for up to a year.
If past patterns hold, they'll show up in another 2 days.
Unfortunately, I don't have any spare equipment or tools to donate them.
Since it takes two days, we pop to a couple of other settlements before heading back to Jamal's community.
At the first port of call, we find the island people who just chucked spears at us after Lucid opened her mouth.
We can gather that the attacks are only happening to a few settlements and that it is a fairly large operation.
Weird that there isn't any evidence of jump drive use, and it would take half a dozen ships to do this sort of operation. (VERY STRANGE, would have to find out first-hand why)
19th March
We camouflage our ship physically.
Everything but the reactor gets shut down.
We show them how to use our guns to those who are willing to join us.
20th March
We have Aidan, about a dozen villagers, and Cpt. Nemo forming a militia
"Do not fire until I fire" Benat orders the team.
One of the pirates is carrying a rifle and a chainsaw with a sword hilt.
Overall the pirates look like they're here to capture more than kill, small arms, barely lethal weapons.
I get hurt, but we manage to take all of them out.
One is running back to their ship, but we intercepted him beforehand. About a klick out is their ship.
We board the ship, one dude reading some smut.
Beñat interrogates him, he tells us where they're selling the people into slavery
Corporate bases, frontier outposts, other pirates, people who want to flee deeper into the frontier for nefarious reasons, and the odd surviving community. He mentions "People of Menentang" and "Darkholm" offhandedly travelling from far away for slaving.
A TL-15 warship of 500 years, held together with ducktape and hope.
I pilot the ship back to Al-Arish.
With knowledge of the science, they are lacking in practical skills.
I warn Cpt. Nemo about the potential for booby traps. Show him the computer, and his people how to use the consoles.
Give him my ship's comm frequency.
The Ship
Stellar League - Sol Sector Fleet
Big nasty beating-stick Earth used to keep civilized space in line
looks like it was part of the ship that rid putting down the Pariah Rebellion during the Jred Scourge
Went rogue during Long Night.
Became the fleet that tried to sack the pariah sector before getting driven to this point of space
stopped being SOl sector people in any meaningful regard
2-3 gens on ship
Trying to keep their advanced ships together by stripping other ships for parts, piracy, and the black market (tracing back all the way to SOL).
In short, they are the descendants of the Sol Sector fleet task force sent to subdue the Pariah Sector during the closing days of the Jred scourge.
The seem scattered now
Not an organized body, more of a "decentralized pirate nation". NOT a State.
Been in this region for a couple centuries at least.
18 March 4500
Core AVG-V System, 2818 Far Frontier Al-Arish, Cylocanthus We find an Earth-like planet made up of one big ocean with slightly less gravity.Space travellers are taking people, with a black hand painted on their ships. I fear they are selling them into slavery, as we never see them again. – Cpt. Jamal Nemo
Notes for future settlements:
Local culture is welcoming of more residents with one known major exception stemming from a social faux pas.Colony parties should be armed with at least one sidearm per adult, as piracy is a going concern, and we were unable to trace or identify broader operations. The bulk of the population seems to be Muslim, with a smattering of Southwest and South-central Asian beliefs. The amount of record-keeping indicates a colony ship too. The biggest danger seems to be storms. Not a problem with adequate tech, but these sailing-age islands struggle.This has led to the rubberization of their clothing Architectural records indicate reinforced, built deep, and anchored into the ground. Most buildings are on low-hanging stilts and anchored as tightly as tech allows. Also some maritime life that could prove dangerous, but fairly mundane to spacefarers. Flooding is a common issue, and tsunamis a rare but existential danger. Most fishing vessels are heavily armed
Against the Solanian Survey Corp
18th of March, 4500
4 March, 4500
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Far Δ Expedition Frontier Space - Core AVG IV (3017 Far Frontier) - Core AVG IV The landing site of the Solani team has an excavation pit with two guards, and no one else is immediately visible.11 March, 4500
18 March, 4500
Frontier Space - 2818
Eldanea System + Pariahan Fronts
4th of March, 4500
25 February
Eldanis System - Eldanus PrimePopulation: 5 million
Largest City: 200,000, Eldun's Rest, Capital
March 4, 4500
Core AVG IV (3017 Far Frontier) - Core AVG IV
Faxi
Galactic Surveryor's Guild - Far Δ Expedition
AVG-II We jump into a ship graveyardThis is an Emergency Broadcast Meltis Station under attack... pirates with advanced weapons... system defence fleet destroyed... unable to respond... calling for assistance... This Message will repeat
Hrim Station, Home of the Hrimfaxi/b]
The Expedition Begins
18th of February, 4500
Galactic Surveryor's Guild - Far Δ Expedition
11 February 4500 The Vicegrip System AVG-I"Source of electrical signal identified as a shipwreck. Additional crew member gained."18th February 4500
Heading into the Unknown
28th January 4500
week-long jump
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Meret
24 January
We arrive and go through a rudimentary customs check
Local Scout Base is calling active duty scouts
fly over in my ship - it's weirdly far
two fancy scout ships
mine, and another jalopy
Lucid recognizes someone in the crowd.
Sínnead Scarlett
Lucid tested the waters to see what they want or what their game is (theft of the Thursday brand?)
The guild is looking for scouts to do a 3 months deep space survey
They're short scouts, so even though it's not required for reservists, they could really use the help
they will pay some of us
no fuel needs to be burnt to get to the sector
Onboarding scientists
We get 4 probe drones (on loan)
Star Tek® Engineering Robot (on loan, rent-to-own), the 38-digit long serial number is its name.
Scientists
Dr. Patricia Rosario Consael Sanchez ("Charo") - Beñat's old flame
1 other scientist
28th of January
Captain's Meeting
We get a map showing us the systems they know and the rough amount of planets and their locations
We're told to divide them among ourselves
500 dollars for language translation software
Personal Log: The Kumarbi Conspiracy
17th of January, 4500
Week long Jump
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Kumarbi
Frontier Space
17th JanuaryThe customs agents at Kumarbi place a tracker on the crates with the weapons.
Beñat works on getting the crates out
I try to hit the bars and clubs, but I don't have much luck with bringing anyone back to the ship.
Shouldn't have gone to a lesbian bar
We made decoys of the weapons after transferring the real goods to the Desperados, anticorporate extremists
We make out jump out of the system right as we hear reports of explosions in the Capital, heading to Meret.
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Kumarbi
Frontier Space
17th January
Personal Log: Ship Upgrades on Mehen
10th of January, 4500
Week long Jump
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Mehen
Frontier Space
9 January 4500
We buy two beam lasers and divvy up the remainder of the credits from the last job.
Lucid seeks out a couple of venues to make some spending money from some gigs.
As Dirty Lucid performs, she uses her Fondue-heavy show, not knowing that Mehen is experiencing a month-long cheese shortage
I make my way to deliver the spare parts. As I follow Lucid's stream on my PADD, I realize that my "spare parts" are for the cheese factory on the planet.
Beñat is able to help get the machines up and running and the fromagerie.
I work with Lucid to flood the waves with some advertisements for my courier services.
This happens while the work is done on my ship.
10 January 4500
The following morning, a man with several unmarked boxes arrives to take advantage of my services.
Beñat identifies the unusually well-reinforced as likely containing contraband, most likely weapons.
Over the din and hum of the power tools of the engineers as they install my weapons and upgrade the electric systems, before I can negotiate with this patron, Benny pulls me aside to tell me this. It's likely they're trying to smuggle to Stelsoc insurgents on Kumarbi.
See "Mehen to Kumarbi" quest for more information.
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Mehen
Frontier Space
9 January 4500
Personal Log
9th of January, 4500
No fuel. Hull and life support compromised. Hull exposure to vacuum: one week.
-Eridani Dragoons were the mercs who brought the unwilling test subjects to the ship. -It took 8 days in total to finish all this up. 9th of January
Cata Gule - 4500
Gregory Thornfield pays us. 1,555,000 credits for the work. We set a course to jump (1 week) Mehen to get some guns installed on the ship with our newfound wealth.
Lots of Dead Bodies
2nd of January, 4500
Personal Log - New Year, New Shipping Codes
2nd of January, 4500
*begin ships log*
GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Catta Gule
Frontier Space
31 December 4499 - New Year's Eve
Maybe having that splice streamer join the crew wasn't such a bad move after all. Did a show for the 50,000 some-odd miners here. Anyways the Guild office survey data for the last 2-3 months have been dumped into the GSG servers for fellow scouts, getting refuelled and checked up.
While the crew and I were catching a drink, a man (Gregory Thornfield) in a suit, from Lysander Biochemical, approaches us with a rather worried expression. Without any corporation ships due to arrive in a week, he's asked us to go look into a research team sent to a nearby planet in the same system. He agrees to give us 60 rounds of ammunition and 2 vac suits, which he delivers outside our ship an hour later.
2 January 4500
Lucid and I work together and discover some encrypted messages from the derelict's ship's array, which is in a stable orbit and in working order from appearance, although the interior lights are off. Ship's sens-oars pick up nothing out of the ordinary. We breach the ship after a spacewalk.
Once inside, we find a room with busted-open cages and one open cryopod, opened roughly four days ago (team lost contact only a day prior). The closed cryopods seem to be empty. The dried blood on the floor, from a wide variety of creatures, has been left there over the last five days, along with some parts. Before leaving the room, we hear some skittering beneath us, from the ventilation chutes.
So far, the elevator lighting was fine, and the lighting in the power bay was at a low level, the reception area lights were off. All other lights have been shot out.
In the ship's galley, we find a blood-covered door, and inside we 12 dead humans gnawed on by human teeth and missing limbs. The entire kitchen has been uprooted, with blood all over the place. It looks like there are animal parts in the kitchen, but just humans in the freezer.
In the pilot's quarters, the lights are on full, and the mattress has been thrown on the floor. A picture frame is smashed on the ground, and the clothing on the ground has a name, Leo Ricardo. We hear more skittering - it moves away.
While Lucid hacks into the personal computer of the next crew quarters, we hear larger movements out in the hallway. After 2-3 minutes, after some growling, it moves away. After 20 minutes, we finally have access to the computer. The computer screen's logo, for Butler Chemicals, appears, and the computer welcomes a Harris Sloacome. It looks like he was reporting trade secrets to the company every week. The last message, from Butler Chemicals to Slowcome, orders him to extract himself and plant the device. There's a further reply from Sloacome:
Device placed. Leaving soon.Lucid sends the data to my computer. In the next room, we find another well-lit room, neat, save for two bottles of whiskey. There's a blood trail leading to the door which disappears in the hallways. The room belonged to Landric Ihintza, the Chief Medic. The engineer's room is completely smashed. Lights gone. The mattress is gone, and everything else is strewn and torn to about and to shreds. Look's like the person in the next room quickly got out of bed. As we prepare to check out the bridge, the rustling comes back...
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