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
Known Languages
Trade Solar, Early Solar.

Peter joins the Military-Industrial Complex

7th of February, 4501 New Catalonia, Cincastrella   I actually have to put some effort into managing the traffic and finding 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.   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.  

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.
  • We sell off some of our industrial goods in exchange for some advanced electronics
  • Lucid's dream bot sets us on a course for N. Catalunya
  • We pick up 5 more passengers bound for Pandya. Beñat donates to the Shivaji Teamsters strike fund.  

    Pandya – Spaceport

    16 December 4500
  • We drop off passengers, Aidan goes to find some booze. (I follow)
  • Aidan and I enjoy a 24-pack that suits our tastes.
  • Lucid and Beñat carouse around for some jobs, and meet a well-travelled individual by the name of Parvati Melnone.
  • She runs an auction house, and has a lost ship she wants to hire us to retrieve the cargo from. 20% of the appraised worth of the salvage. We are also welcome to participate in the auction.
  • Indian Lounge music plays as we discuss the deal.
  • Peter: 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:
  • "Alert: Security System Compromised"
  • 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.
  • Dirt Gathered

  • Nanoswarm is a Class III device (put in a jar)
  • Scans of the nerve gas in the atmosphere of the station
  • Extra-judicial shipping in the Union of Sol

    GSG (Galactic Surveyor's Guild) - Ross 26 November The Sol Customs officers spend about 40-50 minutes sweeping the ship. Ross is a heavily industrialized planet, with heavy industries concentrated here and making the pollution high. Mostly
  • I'm able to protect Arkip by giving away the position of the inspection team
  • I tend to my mail duties as a Guild member.
  • all the drives bound for Ross get yanked out of the broadcasting device
  • plug it into dumb petabytes of data into their stream. This takes the better part of the day.
  • I grab lunch at the local seafood restaurant with the Ross comms officer, its alright. We talk shop but probably won't go out of our way
  • Aidan spends 150 credits on snacks. 50 of which is full of Arkip's favourite snacks.   We buy our gas. (-200,000 credits)   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.

    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

  • We send a tight beam transmission to the Guild on Hanhoe to inform them about the attack on the Science Base
  • 30 October 4500
  • Back on Hanhoe, medical teams meet us to look us over for wounds
  • We explain to the Guild the tactical situation leading up to the attack, establishing the presence of a mole and how we left to try and draw out the mole.
  • 4 different squads, battle dress, plasma weapons (incl. a pghp) were then called in by the mole, most likely sensing "now or never" due to our arrival and investigation
  • We likely weren't tracked, unless they're *really* good.
  • The Guild rep brings us away from the scientists we brought back, who are themselves interrogated by Guild officials.
  • Ms. Bong needs now to be brought to Luna
  • Assured that our guild association and guild business for this mission will shield us from any Union of SOL-related issues, we accept the mission to bring her back
  • 9 November 4500
  • After taking the jump gate network to Sardukia, we're stopped by the Kingdom of Urea, a "semi-feudal" monarchy and one of the premier powers in the Urea sector.
  • Mail on/off load
  • 10-15 November, 4500
  • Monthly maintenance
  • Refuel
  • "codslayer69xd"
  • During this period, I am at 4/7 days of a training week.
  • I note on our itinerary that we're passing through Byzantion.
  • 17 November Caeleban 19 November [training week completed] We arrive on Espadachin.  
    Geneviève Sunderland
    Character | Jul 29, 2023

    Geneviève Sunderland is a bureaucrat in the Byzantium System.

    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:
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Top scientist for Project Gaia
  • 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
  • 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.
  • Cargo

  • 30 tons of unusual ore
  • 5 Passengers
  • Costs

  • in fuel: 200,000
  • 150,000 for the Ore
  • +50,000 for the passengers
  • 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
  • A planetary defense ship, fashioned out of a meteor, approaches us to ask for our manifest and stuff
  • They make note of Benat's military status in the Cincastrellan Confederacy.
  • Lucid buys 3 robot sword drones, 2 gun drones, and a drone interface.
  • The poor merchant dies inside as they see their drones default RGB lights turn to the cyan of Miku.
  • I decide to go to a major congregation area to seek up to 2 passengers, and to hire a gunner
  • A retired lance corporal with Gunnery One, Small Turrets. Astrid Yenson. She's looking for long-term employment.
  • Most of the passengers are run of the mill folks, trying to see family.
  • unfortunately, I can;t find any speculative trader to round out my hold.
  • 16 April 4500 CE
  • Benat buys medical supplies
  • I arrange ship upgrades.
  • Someone comes up to our ship as we finish loading the supplies
  • a man in his mid-40s, he pulls out a beautiful box, roughly more than a meter long. Intricately decorated with a crude lock (and key), but it's nice. Liam O'Connor.
  • Needs its transported to Catta Pride for a festival, handsome sum for the crate. The Collector is willing to pay a lot more for it.
  • Sensitive contents - when i go to gently shake it, Liam stops me. He dodges the question when Benat asks, quite rudely, what is in the box.
  • "A collector's item, thats all you need to know."
  • for our own safety
  • Lucid and I intervene, and we walk to a secluded section of our now-full cargo bay, where he quickly opens the case.
  • Inside the case is a sword. It looks like a regular-ass sword.
  • Benat recognises it as a ceremonial weapon, collectors pay a fortune for these because they're hard to find. They carry an air of aristocratic prestige.
  • We spend a day trying to get into the
  • 17 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  

    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.
  • 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.
    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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • We attack the two guards, but the ship's cannon becomes a problem
  • More people come out
  • We defeat them, but Beñat and Aidan get a nasty dose of radiation.
  • 11 March, 4500

  • The joint expedition with Cpt. Vega nets us 1 data crystal each.
  • Patricia is excited about a possibly sentient subspecies of Circas.
  • Circas
    Species | Jul 26, 2023

    A strange breed of creature hailing from the Far Frontier that communicates by flashing lights.

  • The crew besides me have to recover, I just piss my 30 rads immediately and continue to work on persuasion studies.
  • 18 March, 4500

    Frontier Space - 2818
  • We will jump back to the Vicegrip system next to investigate previous points of interest, mostly tje tenebrium.
  • I spent another week studying persuasion while en route.
  • Eldanea System + Pariahan Fronts
    4th of March, 4500

    25 February

    Eldanis System - Eldanus Prime
    Population: 5 million
    Largest City: 200,000, Eldun's Rest, Capital
  • A few unnafiliated settlements numbering in the tens of thousands on the other side of planet, limited interaction.
  • We see a rather underdeveloped facility, with minimal orbital installations, just the end of a space elevator for launching rockets
  • Almost 1500 years old, at least in design. The spaceport itself is probably 200-300, lacking any scarring indicative of the Cataclysm.
  • 4 planets, two asteroid belts
  • Eldanus Prime has two moons
  • We get survey info from the station as they pinged us, a refreshing return to standard procedure.
  • We land to refuel and resupply
  • They say that (in theory) they have a presidential republic
  • there's a presiding council, that is not technically a legislature
  • Most legislation is done by referendum, via paper across the planet to the outlaying settlements that are affiliated with them
  • They don't want to talk about the outlaying settlements, we let them leave and that's all they say.
  • Arkip nor Aidan are able to glean any more. "it's just one of those taboos"
  • We find a street preacher ranting about aliens
  • he believes that the people in the outlaying settlements are secretly turning the planet's inhabitant's into aliens.
  • we find a book that says the people broke away because they wanted to "own slaves". Lucid disputes the accuracy, but isn't aware of the context enough to know how and in what way - it sounds like propaganda to her.
  • [quote]Planet is home to roughly 5 million people, a small fraction of whom are independent and the target of anti-alien prejudice and superstition. The lack of acknowledgement and reluctance to discuss the circumstances beyond progaganda about them wanting to own slaves is concerning and might prove problematic in future contact and settlement efforts. Recommend any settlement take place away from existing colonies.[quote]  

    March 4, 4500

    Core AVG IV (3017 Far Frontier) - Core AVG IV
  • Nothing appears on the surface level
  • tidally locked, half baked and have frozen with a small twilight zone between the two
  • breathable, but only with a filter mask
  • still unpleasant, as it's thin enough that I'd get hypoxia
  • fair amount of life in the twilight zone
  • underneath oceans are signs of life in the cold area
  • we detect another survey ship on the surface, and signs of a camp and excavation
  • Cptn. Vega in Command of the Almutajawil
  • Sinead Scarlett is there, posing with a flag for Space Snapchat.
  • She sounds like someone scraping bare nails on a chalkboard when she speaks
  • Meanwhile, a doctor and two excavating robots are busy at work, which our contingent joins.
  • Vega pulls up her hand computer to compare our routes. It seems to be an honest clerical error.
  • According to her sensors, there were some unusual subterranian structures that could be alien in origin, potentially Pardian.
  • Herbivorous stuff, a Circas or two (at night)
  • Mostly avian life, not a lot of apex predators
  • Quiet, makes sense, but thought she would point them out.
  • Everything else being equal, pay will be split down the middle.
  • Solanian Survery Corp
  • Pariah State front
  • We decide that Lucid's sword thing will fly out there and play a game of hide and seek to lure the crew away from the ship
  • if the ship can be preserved, it's free for the taking and we can strip it for parts + cargo.
  • Faxi

    Galactic Surveryor's Guild - Far Δ Expedition

    AVG-II We jump into a ship graveyard
  • A transponder ping shows up
  • Lucid traces it and establishes its a station distress call from orbit around
  • This 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
  • We scan the surface of the main planet and find a domed city with roughly 20,000 people. It appears that there are several farming outposts, and ruined cities across the surface.
  • Also, Lucid finds that the space station is actually active.
  • The two groups seem adversarial and want us to dock exclusively with them.
  • The planet's atmosphere at one point was earth-like but has ceased to be
  • Estimation: the process of terraforming 500-1500 years ago, but it's reversed over time
  • On the Station
    Hrim Station, Home of the Hrimfaxi/b]
  • A delegation of 1-3 malnourished humans wearing similar jumpsuits, indicating a vague military background
  • Looks like it was a much nicer system but it got smashed.
  • Held together with "duct tape and hope"
  • Chemical propulsion rockets on their ships in the hangar
  • Prelate Kroll is the one who introduces himself.
  • 200 or so years since the people on the surface cut off contact
  • Offers to repair our landing struts, but their salvaged nuclear missiles aren't up to my ship's specs.
  • "The Black Hand" was a band of pirates that attacked roughly 150 years ago
  • They didn't know their distress call was still working.
  • Most of the planets are heavy-gravity worlds with extraordinarily high temps
  • Planets belts sustain their limited industrial capacity.
  • The planet below was inhabitable
  • According to records, the pirates reverted the atmosphere to a phosphorous one by hack(?)ing the terraforming system.
  • Scinfaxi/Hrimfaxi is the name of the system.
  • Recommend using the station as a refuelling depot. Planet-side natives are hostile though.
  • Prelate Kroll says they are all "citizens", conditional upon completion of service to military structure
  • Robot the Robot is tasked with helping out with repairs that the station's habitable sections.
  • Arkip sends us a message about "the planet being a bust".
  • At the same time, the station's alarm goes off
  • Beñat and I run to the ship and shoot out of the shuttle bay
  • After missing his first shot, I line up the ship a little better, and he takes out the missile the second time.
  • The shrapnel from the missile hits the air raft, however, and Arkip gets hit by debris and knocked out.
  • I get them on board, however, and return to Hrim Station.
  • The Expedition Begins
    18th of February, 4500

    Galactic Surveryor's Guild - Far Δ Expedition

    11 February 4500 The Vicegrip System AVG-I
  • Beñat offers his room to Patricia and her scientific partner (because of the Miku Speaker issue)
  • I land on the planet showing signs of life, AVG-I
  • however, I was expecting normal land
  • but the gravity is 2x expected, and my landing struts have been crumpled
  • Robot the Robot & Beñat head outside to repair the struts
  • couple days to jerry-rig a halfway solution
  • Lucid remotely investigates the technological trace that brought us here
  • unknown, unnatural electrical signatures
  • after about 100 kms, the signal drops out despite no unusual weather or anything
  • Aidan suspects ion or EMP weapons to be responsible.
  • Lucid suggests sending a message to offer aid or help, announcing we're from the Scouting Guild
  • Beñat disagrees, thinking we shouldn't send a message or announce ourselves, instead seeing if we can recover the drone and do some recon
  • If this were a base that didn't want to be found, they'd have used surface-to-air missiles, an EMP is used to disable.
  • Beñat, me, and Aidan set out
  • We get to a brushy section, and try to maintain stealth
  • Slowly and carefully, I get through OK.
  • Later on though, Aidan blows our cover.
  • We hear a crack (Aidan does at least), at about ear level. Almost as if someone shot at you, as a warning shot (like they aimed above their head).
  • Potato farm
  • looks like it could support a family
  • rudimentary
  • made of local materials, low to the ground
  • no one is working outside
  • Grav-plates throughout the main building
  • I can place the glint of a sniper scope on the roof of the building
  • Psionic abilities are used by Aidain, and he recognizes the man as a Stormcrow, a cloned special trooper with Centauri-tech and some self-fashioned weapons and stuff.
  • We enter his house
  • See our drone in the corner, damaged but serviceable w/ light maintenance.
  • After we explain ourselves as surveyors, they flick a switch and the plates turn on. It feels far less oppressive.
  • Arkip doesn't want to be found. He wants people to leave him alone
  • He suggests we mark the planet uninhabitable and hazardous
  • Not willing to do that, as it would get us in trouble and only buy them some time.
  • We offer him an open, indefinite position on the ship. We give him the option to leave anytime.
  • 13th February 4500
  • Robot & Beñat finishes the ship repairs
  • nothing of note on this planet besides basic minerals like iron
  • trace readings of tenebrium, not enough to mine, indicating potential more in the system
  • 14th February 4500
  • the scientists are back
  • They discovered a new species of fungus
  • -I depart the planet, leaving the following in the survey log.
    "Source of electrical signal identified as a shipwreck. Additional crew member gained."
    18th February 4500
  • Trace deposits on AVG-II and AVG-IV
  • We find a stable pocket of antimatter on AVG-II
  • we construct a program to trace it, it indicates a planetary system towards the edge of the system,
  • we elect not to spend the effort and set a jump to the next system
  • 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 January
  • The 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.
  • 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.
  • Personal Log
    9th of January, 4500

  • Lucid blows up a computer when trying to log in. It was rigged.
  • In the same room, we notice a pile of desks
  • I keep my laser carbine over Beñat's soldier while he investigates
  • We find a woman, Hollo Ezrahm, and coax her out with some food from our ship.
  • We set her and Jan Vartha up in two of our rooms.
  • The ship's computer is told to monitor them.
  • The Next Day
  • We return to the ship
  • We find body parts...in place...in the central lab. No whole corpses, whenever a limb was removed it was brought to the central lab.
  • Pushing on, we move into an office attached to the lab. It is a minimalist modern office with smashed-out lights and a pile of junk formerly a computer.
  • In the crew staterooms, we find one normal-looking room for Gale Lynch, it looks like she's been dragged from bed.
  • In Drive Pod Two, we head up a ladder.
  • As we do, we hear human-like humming. Beñat readies his stunner and I ready my carbine.
  • Lucid goes "Hey buddy, do you like Mt. Dew? I got MRE menu #8."
  • Pent, the name on the uniform, immediately grabs the MRE and chows down. She takes all the food we offer.
  • The lights are smashed.
  • We bring her back to the Ship too.
  • Running out of space
  • 1 hour of aggressive behaviour followed by 5 hours fatigued, and 6 hours normal-ish, then repeats.
  • Probably not getting more than 4 hours of sleep
  • Aidan uses his psionics to stabilize them for 8 hours.
  • We find a bomb had gone off in the aux lab
  • Beñat hypothesizes that the combat drugs may have been stored in here and when the bomb went off, they got dispersed through the ship
  • We proceed to the remnants of Quadrant Three
  • Lucid goes through the ship's computer to send from the bridge's comms array back to our ship.
  • No fuel. Hull and life support compromised. Hull exposure to vacuum: one week.
  • As Lucid goes to contact Gregory, a metal pipe sails through the air and smashes the screen. We spin on our heels to find a tall angry man.
  • We retreat to the ship, and decide to wait for the O2 to deplete before returning.
  • While Lucid is patched up by Beñat, we plan our next moves.
  • We're going to rest up and try to take care of that final guy - the saboteur, having failed to make it off the ship after all. We'll bring the survivors back. We send a message to Gregory informing him of the situation and message.   3rd of January
    -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 logs, engineering, transmission records (public, private needs more finagling), biometric data
  • Currently in quadrant two
  • We discover some combat logs of them testing some combat drugs
  • they were testing one on small animals
  • We notice there's a section they don't want us to see
  • Jan Vartha, a survivor who claims to have not eaten anyone but is still sensitive to the lights.
  • He's been skipped over for four promotions
  • While Lucid sets up a datalink with the two ship's computers, Beñat and I clear out the remaining quadrants of the vessel.
  • Personal Log - New Year, New Shipping Codes
    2nd of January, 4500

    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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