I-001: Previously on Dominion Space

Grammar Nazi warning!  These notes are compiled from multiple sources and the tense is all over the place!  I will probably fix that at some point…

Module 1:  Debut Queue

Debut Queue – A series introduces the main cast by adding them one at a time in sequential episodes, chapters, and/or story arcs.  Usually a tactic by writers to get everyone collected before having any real plot started, and the audience feels they can start paying attention.

– TV Tropes

Module 2:  …and no Fetch Quests!

GM:  “What would you guys like to see in a sci-fi game?”

Torren Robson (Dicard): “Spaceships, ripoffs of Light Sabers and no Fetch Quests!”

Live Session [~211.204]

The team arrive at the GRRAS research facility in the Riddle System.  They meet Vizier Frederic and his Office Manager, Vizant Melody Landmark .  They meet Victor – the only member who was not originally on Aaran’s Pride and get a little time to explore the facility.  Then the are briefed by Vizier Frederick: Their mission is to travel to the planet Pristine in Octant 3 and fetch obtain a specific notebook from a man named Willard Argyle and return it to Minor Vizier Frederick.  They have been given a very large sum of Money with which to purchase the Notebook. They travel to Pristine, (Standard Route: Riddle -> Witnish -> Zargonia -> Argyropoulos -> Pristine, total distance 85.5 light years.) During the long trip, they generally come to the conclusion that no-one likes each other very much. The Erin and Victor remain aboard the ship while the rest of the team do the mission.  They travel around and ask questions of the locals, which includes a trip to an operating mine site and a touristy-type hunting lodge.  They drive hired crawler vehicle to a much more isolated and smaller hunting lodge to speak with a local character, but he is not there and they find Argyle instead, but he refuses to sell his notebook. They are now outside the lodge in the crawler, having been threatened with internal defence turrets, and Willard has retreated inside.  

Module 3:  The Argyle Notebook

Module 4:  Return to GRRAS

Argyropoulos [211.316]  4-024 to 4-040

Stopping at Argyropoulos, the ship is subjected to an unusually vigorous customs inspection, especially for a Vizierate vessel.  Particularly unusual, a Legion Commissar is present.  It turns out, Commissar Commander Usher , incidentally knew Oliver’s mother , who is herself a Legion Officer.

Zargonia System, Zebulon Station [211.316] 4-041 to 4-114

Snark 416 arrives in the Zargonia system.  Oliver tries something nefarious with a public terminal and winds up being interviewed in a Legion Cast at Zebulon Station by none other than Commissar Usher, who convinces Oliver to make contact with a Legion member stationed at GRRAS and that, perhaps, something is not all above-board with the Vizierate project. 

Released from the Cast, Oliver goes shopping and has to locate Chris so the ship can leave; Chris has gone on a bender. 

Travel to GRRAS [211.331]  4-118 to 4-120

The rest of the trip is uneventful, the ship transits Witnish without visiting the Way Station – Dicard perhaps spooked by the previous customs check and pulling some sort of Vizierate priority. 

Module 5: Lying in the GRRAS

Module 6: Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!

Riddle System, GRRAS [211.346] 5-001 to 5-024

 Mundo Zargo [211.341] 6-001 to 6-173

Snark 416 docks with GRRAS in the cavernous multi-ship docking bay and everyone heads for the Vizierate offices.  Vizier Frederick held a debriefing  at which he was dismissive of the team and handed over future operations to Minor Vizier Lilith Saden-Ejder  – known as ‘Nanny’.  They all get their backpay and are assigned quarters.  Oliver goes exploring.

Lia’s first module begins about the same time that Oliver and crew arrive back at GRRAS.

Prior to that, Lia spent several jumps getting to know the crew of the Spanial  and fitting in before arriving at Mundo Zargo, though it was only at that point that the close-knit group really began to trust her.  She began being given access to training sims and shown around Spanial in earnest.

GRRAS, Vizierate Offices [211.347] 5-025 to 5-038

Oliver is interviewed by Nanny – she is apparently individually debriefing the team.

GRRAS, Legion Cast [211.347] 5-038 to 5-141

Oliver heads to the Legion Cast to follow up on Usher’s request where he meets Under Officer Felicity Lazar-Opes  – the contact mentioned by Commissar Usher during Oliver’s interview.  Felicity put Oliver through a series of aptitude tests and determined that he was most suited to becoming a Commissar were he to become a Legion member – and he agreed to become a Special Recruit  and an informer for the Legion placed inside the Vizierate.

GRRAS [211.348] 5-142 to 5-182

Oliver settles into a routine, mostly working on his studies.  On 211.350 Erin calls him and they meet to have dinner, where he learns about the hold the Vizierate have over her.

GRRAS, Vizierate Offices [211.351] 5-183 to 5-195

The team is called back to the Vizierate Offices.  Nanny considers that Oliver’s research into Argyle’s activities revealed Argyle to be a substantial security threat to the Dominion and instructed the team to return to Pristine to pick up Argyle’s trail and recover his Notebook; said Notebook was apparently not among the materials the team had recovered.  Nanny advises them that they will travel as far as Zargonia on a Vizierate Research ship to follow up on a lead before heading back to Pristine.  

 On arrival at Mundo Zargo, Lia assisted with unloading the cargo, then scored some Zoner! and spent time at Boothes Bar with Gregar .

Module 7: An Illuminating Journey

Module 8: Cold Case

Illuminator, enroute to Witnish [211.352] 7-001 to 7-021

 Spanial, enroute to Zarg’s World [211.347] 8-001 to 8-061

The team, with Nanny coming along, departed GRRAS and travelled aboard the Vizierate Research Ship Illuminator as far as Zargonia.  Nanny handed out assignments, mostly intended toward personal development, and which the team actually appeared to enjoy.  The exception being Oliver, who was mostly expected to get on with the mission on his own.

Way Station Witnish [211.363] 7-021 to 7-033

During the stop-over at Witnish, Erin dragged Oliver off the ship for some social interaction, and Chris forced him to keep a promise to have a drink together.

Illuminator, Bar Chill [211.366] 7-033 to 7-054

During the trip, Oliver reaches out to Fromm, and they agree to something approximating an alliance in their own self-interest.

Illuminator, Meeting Mallory [211.371] 7-054 to 7-122

Oliver had a romantic encounter with Minor Vizier Mallory Harrison , a Vizierate expert on alien races who cautioned him about working with her fellow Viziers Nanny and Frederick.  

Illuminator, Disciplinary Dicard [211.373] 7-122 to 7-140

It turns out that Nanny’s opinion of Mallory is mutually poor and Nanny sends Dicard to scold him for associating with her, which turns into a session closer to Oliver giving Dicard some counselling and convincing him to get a bigger ship when they reach Zargonia to help with his space-sickness.

Illuminator, Disciplinary Dicard [211.371] 7-140 to 7-164

Oliver continues his work.  Nanny calls a meeting prior to arriving at Zargonia where she briefs everyone: 

• She will be leaving them mostly on their own from here on
• Dicard will get his new ship and an extra crewmember to help run it
• Oliver is to lead the investigation on Zargonia – starting with a visit to a man named Alec Bronze-Stepping, who is believed to be a former associate of Argyle’s

Chris suggests they all have a drink together to celebrate the end of their trip.

Illuminator docks at Zebulon Station and they catch a shuttle downworld to the city of Purpleton.

Once under way, Karmen revealed that the job they contracted to do was to ferry a cargo container and a passenger to a restricted system, possibly returning with additional passengers and cargo.  The plan is to fly to Zarg’s World then jump to the restricted system from there.

On the trip to Zarg’s World, from where they would jump to the restricted system, Lia got to know their passenger, one Samuel Kort  .  Kort is a ‘security specialist’; he spent a lot of time using the ship’s exercise equipment – particularly the punching bag.

 Zarg’s World [211.361] 8-061 to 8-148

Spanial arrived at Zarg’s World and made its way into the Highport, Lia chatting amicably with the Legion Customs officer through the customs check.

The crew informed Lia that they had recently acquired a space utility vehicle – a Horton Model 7 Hopper .  However, they didn’t have a manual for it.  Kwint  was able to locate one, and he and Lia travel down to the floating city of Gravport to collect it, incidentally having a lovely restaurant meal while they were there.  

Spanial, Zarg’s World System [211.362] 8-148 to 8-192

Lia (and apparently Jennie) have a flying lesson departing Zarg’s World.  The ship heads to an asteroid where Kwint will leave the ship in the shuttle and pretend to be Spanial flying around the system while Spanial jumps for the restricted system.  They also drop off a comm buoy at the asteroid.

Spanial, enroute to Foofor System [211.366] 8-192 to 8-214

Enroute to the restricted system, Lia studied the Hopper manual.

The crew bonded over a meal, and Gregar took a 360° photo of the event  (which unfortunately distorts the scale of people!)

There was some debate as to whether to test the Hopper inside the Cargo Hold, or wait until the ship came out of jump and do the test in open space; Jennie won the argument and the test was deferred.

It was difficult to open the container in the hold given the security precautions on it, giving into curiosity Lia and Prrri scanned the container with a thermal sensor, revealing a cold interior and some sort of power source .

Zargonia, Purpleton to Snow Lake [211.379] 7-164 to 7-201

In Purpleton they make their plans and are issued with concealed weapon permits and weapons to match.  Oliver, Fromm and Chris travel to Snow Lake to interview Alec Bronze-Stepping.  Incidentally frightening off some potential muggers.  

Bronze-Stepping’s Apartment [211.379] 7-201 to 7-236

Bronze-Stepping is a former member of the Overlord’s Household, who Nanny said apparently knew Argyle.  However, Bronze-Stepping informed the team that he knew an identical looking man named Abbas Lozenge-Sok who died some time ago in a vehicle crash.  

The interview done, the team headed to Dataton where Lozenge-Sok used to work.

Dataton, MaPaCoA [211.380] 7-236 to 7-307

In Dataton they met Vizier Kahn-Serf, ViC of Cyber Security at MaPaCoA who oversees the joint agreement on operation of the facility in conjunction with his Advisory Board.  They raise the issue of Lozenge-Sok.  Kahn-Serf notes that Lozenge-Sok worked for his predecessor, Vizier Sardo Ohare.  In discussions with the MaPaCoA security board (comprising representatives from the Vizierate, Overlord’s Household, Legion and Planning Bureau) substantial evidence came out that Willard Argyle is a fake identity of Lozenge-Sok, who’s death was apparently faked as well.  There are some questions from the Board about the project team, including Legion Liaison, and the Board is advised of Alan’s liaison role; the Legion Board Representative, Staff Commissar Over Commander Vanna Bush, notes that information is restricted and is directed to Operations Staff Commissar Marshall Bock in Octant 6.

Settlement, Planning Bureau [211.382] 7-307 to 7-341

Following up on Lozenge-Sok’s earlier history, Oliver and Fromm travel to Settlement to meet with the Planning Bureau Board representative Undercrat Grade 2 Theo Holm-Nelson.  However, Holm-Nelson doesn’t tell them anything they don’t already know and seems more interested in trying to quiz them about the project and why Fromm appears to know of Marshall Bock.  

Purpleton [211.382] 7-341 to 7-364

Returning to Purpleton, Oliover attempts to follow up on Argyle/ Lozenge-Sok’s ex-girlfriend, discovering that she moved to Four-Two not long after his apparent death.  

It is then time to leave for Pristine, Dicard, Alan and Erin having spent the time while Oliver’;s team were away acquiring a new ship – the sloop Maldemar 732.

Spanial, Foofor System [211.378] 8-214 to 8-280

On emerging from hyperspace, Jennie tried to work out where they were in the restricted system, as they had limited navigational data.  Lia and Prrri tested the Hopper, Lia discovering an error in the cobbled together online flight manual that could have been quite dangerous if not picked up  .  Gregar and Ipan  were given a dressing down by Karmen over the incident.

 Spanial, N-Space near Foofor 2 [211.380] 8-280 to 8-302

Navigational data sorted, Spanial made its way toward their target planet, a roiling ball of ammonia and lightning, to rendezvous with the ship that was supposedly in orbit there.  Instead they found a spinning remnant of ship, missing it’s drive section  .  Eyeing the ammonia world that they were orbiting, Lia speculated, and was later proven correct, that this was the work of the Yarg – an enigmatic alien race.

The wreck of the Cyprinidae  [211.380] 8-302 to 8-571

A team of four – Lia, Karmen, Prrri and Kort boarded the wreck , discovering that the hull had been weakened in parts and literally broken off  .  They entered and recovered some valuable salvage, as well as identifying samples from the crew and some possible Yarg artefacts  , some of which seemed to have been brought by the crew to this system.  It seems the Yarg boarded this ship and there was combat with the crew.  The ship was armed, and among the salvage was a brace of anti-ship missiles.  The wreck was a dangerous environment and Karmen was injured during their exploration.  

They flew the Hopper back to Spanial and Karmen went to bed, knocking herself out to rest and recover leaving Jennie in charge. 

Spanial departing Foofor [211.380] 8-571 to 8-607

At that point unknown ships  were detected leaving the planet and Jennie headed the ship for the jump point.  One of the ship destroyed the wreck with cannon fire and the other pursued Spanial. There was communication of a sort – both Spanial and the Yarg ship playing their own messages back and forward to each other.  The Yarg ship fired a few shots in Spanial’s direction, obviously intended to miss, and broke off pursuit.  

Spanial jumped out of the system to return to Zarg’s World.

Module 9: A Threat’s Shadow

Module 10: Z is for…

Maldemar 732, enroute to Argyropoulos [211.386] 9-001 to 9-032

Oliver and the Vizierate’s Project team’s directive is clear: Locate the Argyle/Lozenge-Sok’s Notebook, anything he was working on, and preferable the man himself, and return them to Vizier Frederick. Initially, the team will have to pick up the trail at Pristine.

To reach Pristine, they must travel via Way Station Argyropoulos.  The crew are initially being careful with the new ship.  They get to know their new crew member, mechanic Ahbineet Downer .  Erin notes privately to Oliver that he’s a competent but utterly unimaginative mechanic, having been chosen by Dicard for his security reliability first and engineering competence second.

Oliver spends most of the time working on the Argyle materials, including:

• Finding Argyle’s stash of vid movies, some of which are restricted.  He begins watching some of them.
• Uncovering one project that Argyle was working on that seemed to be focussed on hiding and sending undetectable messages within the Dominion’s network, and which Argyle apparently abandoned as too hard.  However, building on Argyle’s work, Oliver believes he has figured out how to do it. Oliver tells no-one about this discovery.

Way Station Argyropoulos [211.400] 9-032 to 9-035

Not a particularly good first jump in the new ship, it takes 7 Cycles to reach the planet.  When they do, there is a short stop-over, during which Oliver takes some solo dock leave before returning to the ship.

Maldemar 732, enroute to Pristine [211.401] 9-035 to 9-087

Oliver continues working on the Argyle materials, and watching his vids.   Oliver meets with Dicard about future plans and invites Erin to join him for watching the vids, and she becomes something of a sounding board for his Argyle discoveries.

Presently the ship arrives at Pristine and the team take a shuttle down to the planet, leaving Erin and Downer on the ship.

Pristine [211.415] 9-087 to 9-193

Dicard has learned a few things since he was last here, and this time the visit begins with a trip to the Vizierate complex and requisitioning a crawler from the Admin Bureau rather than a commercial rental, though Dicard seems grumpy for some reason.  The team travels to the hunting lodge they visited previously where they speak with Peyton Gless and Wu, neither of whom have seen Argyle since the last time the team were there. 

Moving on to Argyle’s lodge, they find it damaged and cleaned out, abandoned except for an AlpCow sow that attacks and injures Dicard before Oliver and Chris deal with it.  Oliver finds evidence of a Legion raid before they return to Clement Basin to get Dicard to a hospital.  

Pristine, Clement Basin [211.415] 9-193 to 9-261

The hospital is visited by Vizierate Wardens to ensure Dicard is OK, and Oliver is invited to come and speak with the ViC of the Vizierate on Pristine.  The Vizier decides their mission is important and appoints Oliver as a Vizant 4 to take over in Dicard’s absence, pointing out to Oliver that the Legion will be more respectful of him if he has that status.

  Oliver and the team visit the Legion Cast, where it is confirmed that, yes, the Legion raided Argyles lodge – and fell afoul of Argyle’s booby traps.  Some legionnaires were killed when a huge anti-vehicle mine detonated in the driveway.  They are given access to all the recovered materials, discovering that Commissar Usher now has the chip emulator Nanny wanted recovered, and a fragment of a note from Argyle’s desk, to the effect that Patron = Contact.  An obscure reference to the journals that Oliver has been reading about who Argyle’s contacts are, this referencing the death of his ‘Contact’.  Oliver decides to visit the mine where Argyle worked sometimes, and where said Contact/ Patron was apparently located.

Pristine, Mine Site One [211.417] 9-261 to 9-385

The team travel in the Crawler to the mine, passing the line of ore buckets on their way to the spaceport refinery as they do.

At the mine site office they speak to Joel Cagnotti, a chain-smoking member of the mine’s personnel department who brings up the death file on the worker, Cagnotti noting that he took the man in question’s job.  Cagnotti notes that the Legion said it was a suicide.  The team visit the site of the suicide and note that it occurred completely out of anyone’s view with said suicide having to climb a safety fence.  There seem to be easier ways; Argyle’s journals make it clear he thinks the man was murdered. 

They visit the local Public Safety Office and after a potentially acrimonious exchange with the local commandant are able to access the video surveillance files, where they spot Argyle arriving at the mine not long after their last visit and trace his snow-mobile back to… Cagnotti.  A brief chase ensues, which Cagnotti claims was only because it didn’t occur to him that the Legion could be after him.  Cagnotti admits that Argyle gave him the snow-mobile before walking off toward the front gate and that was the last time Cagnotti saw him.

Oliver examines the mine’s computer logs, notes an anomaly, and determines that Argyle took control of the ore bucket system and used it to sneak into the spaceport, to which they follow the lead.

Pristine, Downport [211.418] 9-385 to 9-442

At the Downport they receive assistance from the Legion and a helpful Legion tech, determining that Argyle left the planet with the help of a cargo brokerage firm called Icehearts aboard a tramp freighter.  Said freighter is currently at Zarg’s World.

Pristine, Downport [211.419] 9-442 to 9-457

They return to the medical centre where Dicard is now awake.

It’s agreed that Fromm will stay on Pristine with Dicard while he recovers from his injuries, and check out the Icehearts lead, while Oliver will lead the rest of the team to Zarg’s World in pursuit of the freighter.

 Spanial, enroute to Zarg’s World [211.381] A-001 to A-034

Sent to deliver a mysterious case to a restricted system, the crew of the merchant freighter Spanial discovered their delivery point destroyed.  Investigating, they found the enigmatic, alien Yarg seemed to be responsible.  Now, they have to work out what to do next…

Initially everyone is tired and coming off a stressful day, they take a break, spending some time to informally debrief.

Ipan and Lia check in on Karmen, who seems to be recovering.  .

 Lia sorts through their salvage and begins studying the alien items.

 Spanial, enroute to Zarg’s World [211.382] A-035 to A-231

On the return journey Lia, assisted by various others (mostly Gregar and Prrri, even Kort), examined various possibly alien artifacts…  

… 

 …  .

Without telling anyone else, Lia made a copy of the egg-like object she found in a cabin aboard the wreck.

Lia, Prrri and Gregar also played 3D jigsaw puzzles and assembled the silvery pieces they found… what they put together vaguely resembled… part of a silvery, metallic tentacle?  

Lia wrote up two sets of notes on her findings, one edited and another a true account, her aim to conceal some things from their employer. 

 Zarg’s World System, Outer Orbit  [211.390] A-232 to A-291

Spanial arrives at Zarg’s World, but the hasty jump evading the Yarg and the need to avoid the Legion have meant that the ship arrives well out of its expected position and at the far edge of the system.  It will take some time (16 Cycles) to rendezvous with Kwint in the shuttle. 

Jennie spent some time beating herself up about the poor jump outcome, though there’s some question whether the ship in the hands of a less-skilled navigator would have emerged from Jump at all.

Once they do meet up with the shuttle, Spanial leaves the system and heads back to Mundo Zargo.

In the meantime, Lia continued her research and her private pursuits, and continued that through the jump.

 Mundo Zargo System [211.410] A-291 to A-332

Kwint, Karmen, Kort and Lia take the shuttle ahead to Mundo Zargo while Spanial follows them in slowly, in order to make contact with their employer before they have to get the crate and the missiles through customs. At Mundo Zargo they meet a man named Tanner – described as Zayaire’s ‘get-it-done man’ – who gives them instructions on how to get through customs and tells them to go to the Grasslands Estate Facility.  Lia stocks up on Zoner! and they travel as instructed.  

 Mundo Zargo Mainworld [211.411] A-332 to A-677

They travel to the facility, which turns out to be huge, with many underground corridors, wings, rooms, levels and its own internal travel monorail.

There seem to be hundreds of people working there and it has its own private security – something Lia has not heard of.

Tanner interviewed them about the job and then arranged for them to meet Zayaire.  While waiting, Lia explored the facility and discovered it was huge and staffed by what were apparently private contractors working for four different organisations, respectively in charge of Companion Lifeform research, Xenoform research, Facilities Management and Security.  They wore uniforms that matched some found in the Cargo Hold of the wreck.  In the entire time she was there, Lia saw only one person in an Ag Bureau uniform.

Lia also happened across a small stall selling produce from Felline, and was annoyed when the sellers were dismissive of the eating habits of the Felline themselves.

The crew met with Zayaire in an ornate boardroom, Zayaire apparently surprised at Lia/Winta’s presence.  However, that seemed to change the tone of the meeting, and instead of a roasting, a deal was struck:  The Spanial crew were to return the original cargo and any alien artifacts they had recovered.  They would be paid for the original job, and the charter would be extended if they took the missiles they had recovered to a cache in the Zarg’s World system.  They were also given instructions for bypassing customs.

They returned to the Highport to await Spanial’s arrival.  While there, Lia was approached by a woman named Lexi Lochan, an agent of Raina’s, who conveyed that Raina was worried about Lia and also wanting to see her.  Lexi also had several quastions about the Grasslands Estate Facility and filled in some knowledge gaps for Lia.

Before returning the cargo to Zayaire, Lia spent time with Prrri  in his cabin, where he showed her that modern Felline use a facsimilie of one of the produce items she saw as a fruit drinking canteen. 

The cargo container was returned to the grasslands estate, where the exchange was made rather abruptly, leaving Karmen with a briefcase full of Money cards and them to make their way back to the ship. 

Unknown to anyone, Lia keeps the egg-shaped fragment she found . 

 Mundo Zargo Highport, Spanial [211.412] A-677 to A-759

That Bluevening, Karmen paid everyone their bonuses from the job and their share of the salvage.  It was noted that there were a few items left over needing to be disposed of and it was agreed they be destroyed.  As would be revealed later there may have been a miscommunication about that.

NextCycle, Spanial left the Highport to return to the Zarg’s World system, Karmen and Jennie, with Lia looking on, discussing how best to manage this next bit of illegal activity.

Module 12: Chasing the Goose

Module 11: Hidden Things

Maldemar 732, enroute to Zarg’s World via Adal [211.419] C-001 to C-140

Oliver took the sloop and the rest of the team     to Zarg’s World, the most current known location of the ship on which they believe Argyle left Pristine.

The journey was sped somewhat when their Adal customs check was done via a customs pinnace operating off a carrier near the system’s safe jump limit.

Oliver continued to watch vids with Erin and discuss the mission.  Approaching Zarg’s World his research into the Argyle materials was almost complete.

Zarg’s World Highport [211.440] C-140 to C-153

Arriving at Zarg’s World Highport in the Maldemar 732, it was a simple matter for Oliver to locate the ship he was seeking, the merchant freighter Spanial  , and he and Alan paid a visit to the ship at its dock, in company with a couple of local customs officers.

Prrri  answered the airlock summons, advised them that no-one was in.  The Customs  officers assisted in summoning the Captain   and Cargo officer back to the ship.

 Spanial, enroute to Zarg’s World [211.413] B-001 to B-077

 Spanial, Zarg’s World System, near Loyalist’s Rock [211.422] B-077 to B-087

Spanial arrived in the outer part of Zarg’s World system, not far from the Outpost of Loyalists’ Rock.  This time Lia is to fly the decoy mission in the shuttle.  She travels to the planet, spending her BirthCycle alone in the shuttle.

Module 13: Make 10 Louder…

Shuttle Hio, enroute to Loyalist’s Rock [211.423] D-001 to D-104

Lia spent her birthCycle dreaming in the shuttle and reflecting on some of the aspects of her past.  

Module 11: Hidden Things, cont’d

Loyalist’s Rock [211.424] B-087 to B-137

Arriving at Loyalists’ Rock, her cover story went somewhat awry and she picked up a cargo of ‘Agricultural Samples’ intended to be taken by another carrier to a recipient on New Zargland.

She returned to the shuttle with the ill-gotten goods and flew to catch up to Spanial.

 Zarg’s World System [211.427] B-137 to B-190

After meeting up, Spanial travelled to the asteroid they chose to hide the missiles on.  Lia flew Gregar, Kwint and Kort to its surface in the Hopper , and despite a small mishap that saw Kort flailing at the end of his tether line, the missiles were stowed successfully.  

The ship flew on to the mainworld.

 Zarg’s World System [211.439] B-190 to B-533

Arriving at Zarg’s World Highport, Lia and Karmen spent some time hunting up possible cargoes.

Lia received a message and met with Martell Bartman-Jira  , another of Raina’s agents.   Martell advised her that Raina was sending some ‘experts’ to look after her, out of concern over both the Vizierate and Zayaire.  He also, in this and subsequent meetings enlightened her as to the relationship between Zayaire and Raina:  They are peers, each with their own territories, but these are not fixed, and Raina is keen to avoid anything that could be an ‘incident’.

Then with some free time, Lia decided to treat herself purchasing some expensive jewellery.  In the store she met South Walker-Cane , a charming Legal Advocate who took her to lunch, which was engaging and pleasant until it wasn’t.

Cooling off in a random room, Lia was discovered by two Legionnaires, who advised her there was a cargo-related matter to do with her ship and flew her up to the Highport in a Legion shuttle.  

Zarg’s World Highport, Spanial [211.440]  C-153 to C-194 and B-533 to B-554

Vizant 4 Oliver Starr  , with Under Commander Alan Halcyon    ‘assisting’, interviewed Captain Karmen Intuveker    and Cargo Master Lia Silver-Rose  about the whereabouts of Willard Argyle .  Oliver convinced Karmen to reveal the truth of what Spanial had done, which was to take Argyle into Separatist Space – specifically the Nonoop System –   where he was picked up by Separatist ship.

Alan indicated he was not able to fly into Separatist space, and Oliver returned to Maldemar 732, perhaps feeling somewhat disheartened.

Zarg’s World Highport [211.440]  C-194 to C-222 

Oliver returned to the sloop, spent some time thinking, then moved into action.  He sent a number of messages:  Including to Dicard, Felicity, Nanny and Frederick.  He visited the local ViC of the Vizierate to help him go undercover, and ordered Maldemar 732 back to GRRAS.

Zarg’s World Highport, Spanial [211.440]  B-554 to B-583

Lia debriefed with the crew and sent a message to Martell, receiving a belated warning from him about Oliver and the Legionnaire.

Zarg’s World Highport, Spanial [211.441]  C-222 to C-229 and B-583 to B-587

Karmen accepted his proposal, noting they were short on space, and billeted Oliver in the Sick Bay, asking Lia to show him around the ship.  

Module 14:  Baggage

Zarg’s World [211.441]  E-001 to E-470-Lia and E-470-Oliver

Oliver was inducted into the basics of Spanial’s Comms and Scan systems by Ipan, who seemed somewhat resentful of his presence but was none the less, acting professionally. Karmen advised Lia that she would arrange for another ship to take the errant Ag Samples cargo to New Zargland. The crew had already decided to take part of their Dock Leave together and visit Circus Galacta, currently on Zarg’s World and arrangements are made.  Oliver was invited. Oliver gradually met the rest of the ship’s compliment:  Reintroduced to Prrri, who seemed cautiously accepting in his alien way; Kort, who seems suspicious and perhaps dismissive (and is not being told about Oliver’s true reason for being aboard); Gregar, accepting but so far too busy to do more than superficialities; Kwint, who seemed actively trying to be friendly; and, Jennie, who was professional and somewhat welcoming. Oliver didn’t have a great time at the Circus Sideshow, perhaps nervous about fitting in he was distracted and under-performing. Lia acquired a large AlpCow plushie from Kort. They tried the VIP lounge, where Oliver had a portrait done and Lia was buttonholed by a man named Glover – one of the ‘Experts’ that Martell warned her about.   Glover asked after her safety and arranged a meeting with she and Karmen. Lia purchased a gift for Lali. They watched the circus Big Show, which was utterly spectacular. Afterwards some of the crew partied on, Jennie, with Oliver co-piloting fly the shuttle back up to the Highport.  They chatted on the way, and she also gaves him his first job – to check the Hopper’s computer systems. NextCycle, Oliver purchased a replacement for the Hopper’s onboard manuals, going straight back to the ship afterwards. Lia went to the meeting with Glover and Karmen, was almost tempted to fly straight to Captree with Glover, but decided to stay with Spanial.  Glover asked a bunch of questions about Oliver, cautioned them about Zayaire and said he and his associate, Vuist (who Lia has not seen) will shadow them to Mundo Zargo. Lia and Karmen return to the ship. In Green Shift, a speculative cargo of radioactives arrived and was loaded aboard by Lia. In Blue, Karmen convened a communal meal where everyone ate a delicious Kwint-dish and Karmen dealt with some housekeeping and the rough plan ahead.   After the meal, Lia went to her cabin and Oliver was invited to watch the undocking procedure from Control.  He and Jennie chatted some more before Spanial left dock to head for the jump point to Mundo Zargo. 

Module 15:  Choices

Spanial, enroute to Mundo Zargo [211.442] F-001 to F-002

• Spanial leaves dock from Zarg’s World and heads out to the jump point

F-003-Oliver to F-021-Oliver

• Oliver meets with Gregar
  • There is some initial nerd-bonding over Oliver’s glasses project
• Oliver installs the software update in the Hopper while Gregar looks on
• Oliver slips leaving the Hopper but Gregar steadies him and he avoids a potentially nasty fall.
• Gregar confesses to Oliver that he’s unhappy about letting Oliver access Spanial’s computer systems
• Oliver indicates, without discussing specifics, that he’s not working for the Vizierate by choice
• Oliver finds a storage widget in the ‘busted box’

F-003-Lia to F-021-Lia

• Lia reviews her messages
• Clarifies some history with Cinna and Raina
• Karmen awards Lia her Merchant Spacer’s ticket
• Lia tries to persuade Kort to stay with Spanial.
  • Kort indicates he won’t stay, but feels genuinely appreciative of Lia’s attempt.

F-023 to F-035

• At dinner, the crew toast Lia’s receipt of her merchant ticket
• Lia helps Oliver fit in with the crew, Oliver being somewhat oblivious as to the social dynamics of what’s going on 

F-036-Oliver to F-047-Oliver

• Oliver begins work on the storage widget

F-036-Lia to F-045-Lia

• Lia picks up that Karmen wants to talk to Kwint about something without Kort knowing about it
• She makes some progress on her perfume project

F-048 to F-075

• Jennie runs Oliver and Lia through a training sim
• They both do well; Jennie is impressed
• At dinner there’s an amusing discussion about grasshoppers

F-076-Oliver to F-080-Oliver

• Oliver extracts and views the video file from the widget he found
  • Which is a video from a vacc suit camera showing a combat aboard a ship with the alien Yarg

F-076-Lia to F-082-Lia

• Lia works on her perfume

F-083 to F-103

• Oliver announces his vid find at dinner, plays it to everyone in the Common Room (+ Jennie looks on from Control), causing some tension
• Oliver makes a surreptitious copy of the vid, loading it onto his LDA

F-104-Oliver to F-114-Oliver

• Gregar asks Oliver to audit the ship’s systems

F-104-Lia to F-120-Lia

• Lia studies the vid, making comprehensive notes

F-121 to F-122

• Oliver decides to set up in Control
  • Consequentially, he and Lia are working in proximity, though on separate tasks

F-123-Oliver to F-179-Oliver

• Oliver completes his work on IT Project #72
• Oliver discovers that the ships’ systems have several modifications that allow the crew to do things without leaving an audit trail however, this comes at a cost of a huge security hole
  • It turns out the crew are not fully aware of the capabilities or risks of what they have had put into the ship
• Oliver works on a security fix for their backdoor, coming up with a dongle-based approach
• Karmen asks him to see if he can crack the Money Card reader she salvaged
• Oliver decrypts the data from Argyle’s Project #72 – details of organised crime on Pristine 

F-123-Lia to F-216-Lia

• Ipan helps Lia with understanding the suit telemetry file that was packaged with the Vid
• Lia talks to Gregar about what Ipan found
  • Also on her opinions regarding men
• Lia asks Kort to withhold the Vid from Zayaire, but he gently refuses
• In turn Kort probes her for her thoughts on Oliver

Spanial, Mundo Zargo System [211.451]

• Spanial arrives in the Mundo Zargo system

F-180-Oliver to F-266-Oliver

• Jennie asks for Oliver’s help with sitting watches

• During their first watch change, she tells him of some research work she’s doing into a specific problem with Hyperspace navigation and Oliver helps her analyse her data and she believes she’s found something about how to plot safer jumps under certain circumstances
• Oliver checks his messages, discovering correspondence from his parents and from Dicard
  • Oliver notes that his mother is currently stationed at Captree
• Oliver researches Argyle’s music data blob searching the music files for hidden data, when it occurs to him he hasn’t done the same with the vid files
  • He checks them and finds nothing, seeking Gregar and Prrri as sounding boards for ideas on a hunch
  • Assisting him with his thinking, he focusses on Sundown on Starmist as the only vid file that shows obvious signs of Argyle working on it
  • Gregar says he hasn’t seen it and Prrri remarks casually that there is already a copy on the ship’s entertainment system
  • Oliver checks out said file and… discovers within it a copy of the Argyle Notebook for which he has been searching – Huzzah!
• Having celebrated in Olivery style (ie not at all) he returns to work; Jennie expresses concerns about not having heard from Karmen

F-217-Lia to F-415-Lia

• Karmen, Kwint, Ipan, Kort and Lia fly ahead to the planet in the shuttle
• Lia is dropped off at the Highport and the others continue down to the Grasslands Estate
• Lia checks some local news, noting among other things that the Agricultural Bureau is hosting a big conference at the Crystal Coast Resort and everyone is speculating over who will be appointed as the next Governor of Mundo Zargo
• Lia goes to a meeting with Farbello
  • He quizzes her about her interactions at the party where they met, stating interest in possible ramifications for the appointment of the new Governor of Mundo Zargo
  • They engage in wordplay, in which he reveals something of his true self, then he takes Lia back to a suite in the Vizierate tower, where he engages her services

• Lia receives and sends a message to Raina
• Among other messages, there is one from Jonathan Befiker – a proxy for Zayaire, asking if she is free
  • She says no
• Lia goes shopping, which adventure includes a free cutting of a succulent plant from an enthusiastic cafe owner
• Lia returns to her hotel to await Spanial’s arrival at the Highport
• She arranges to have lunch with Lexi

F-416-Lia (& Lexi)

• She notes to Lexi that she has been contacted by Jonathan; Lexi expresses some concern
• She observes Lia is confronted with some difficult choices between her loyalties
• She tells Lia a little of her history, and her philosophy, which seems to be one of free-market capitalism
• Lexi also reveals that her cover is as a mid-level Bureaucrat
• Lia shares a little of her own past
• Lexis asks Lia about her experience as a ‘White Tag’ and the rest of the conversation remains to be determined.

Spanial, Mundo Zargo Highport [211.454]

• Spanial arrives at Mundo Zargo Highport

• Lia returns to the Highport, checks her messages and returns to the ship

F-180-Oliver to F-266-Oliver

• Oliver tries to get in touch with the shuttle, only to be advised that Grasslands Down is in security lock down
• Oliver discusses the matter with Jennie, Gregar and Prrri, the others note that Lia has had the most contact with their employer; Oliver messages Lia

Crystal Coast resort [211.455] F-550 to F-649

• Lia returns to the ship on receiving the message
• She tries her help-line number (despite Glover having warned her not to use it while on Mundo Zargo) and is shortly connected directly to Zayaire
• Zayaire offers to expedite the Spanial crew out of the facility if Lia and Oliver – who he knows of from Kort – do a favour for him, and he asks them to come to the Crystal Coast Resort
• They agree and, bringing Prrri along to act as lookout, make their way to the resort
• On the way they stop to buy some suitable clothes for Oliver, with Lia advising – it’s possible Oliver has never looked so well-dressed in his life
• There are a number of travel options and they opt for a tour aerostat, which freaks Prrri out when it flies over the ocean, however, he is able to control himself
• Arriving at the resort, Lia and Oliver meet with Zayaire, , leaving Prrri looking somewhat confused in the conference centre area
• Zayaire’s proposal is as follows:
  • There is an Overlordly Envoy on Mundo Zargo who will decide the successful candidate as the next Governor , Zayaire’s name has been proposed, but he is in a fix:  He doesn’t want to be Governor but he can’t risk turning down a nomination for political reasons
  • If Lia and Oliver will agree to try and find out what the Envoy is thinking, he will expedite Karmen and the crew’s way out of the Grassland facility
  • If they come up with actual hard data, he will reimburse them and provide a bonus if they can prove they influenced a decision in his favour
• Oliver and Lia accept Zayaire’s offer.

Module 16:  The Judgement of Solomon

Crystal Coast Resort [211.455] G-001 to G-019

They begin their heroic mission to infiltrate the Envoy’s security by… checking into the resort and going to bed.  Oliver is given room 308 and Lia room 429 – room allocations may become important.  They both decide to sleep until they are fully rested.

Unusually and pleasantly, Oliver sleeps soundly and solidly until next Green.

Over the next little while they will get a sense of the resort’s layout and their rooms.

They decide to discuss plans over breakfast (noting it is dark in local time) and decide on the underwater garden room at Ranulf’s On-The-Water.  They briefly consider investigating the Lockdown at the Grasslands Facility, but decide to focus on their assigned task. 

Crystal Coast Resort – The Live Session – [211.455] G-020

They eventually settled on a plan of Lia attempting to feign a casual meeting with the Envoy, possibly utilising his interest in Chak, while Oliver looked for options for electronic surveillance.  

Oliver took a trip into Crystal Town to pick up some extra electronics gear for surveillance purposes – some of it quite illegal.

At the start of Blue Shift, Lia went for a quick recce, and happened to chance onto what appeared to be the Envoy’s security shift change and the Envoy heading out with ‘The Little Guy’.

She signalled Oliver and followed the Envoy and his guard to the elevator.

Oliver – Trying to break into the Envoy’s Room

With Lia having spotted the Envoy, Oliver decided there was no point in continuing to hack the cameras.  He donned the coverall he purchased in Crystal Town and left Lia’s room.  The floor was quiet.  Approaching the Envoy’s room 402 and about to knock or check out the lock, he spotted a small camera placed up high on the door frame.  He decided to continue on and knocked on 403 instead.

After a pause the door was opened by a sleepy-looking woman:  Light tan skin with light brown hair in a short bob, grey eyes, aged about 12, 170 cm tall, who Oliver quickly realised was part of the Envoy’s security detail.

Oliver left, noting as he turned that on the table behind her was a laptop with camera views of the corridors.

Debating what best to do, he returned to his room to consider his next steps and see if he would be arrested.

Lia – Following the Envoy

In the elevator, Chak book poking suggestively from the top of her bag, she found her plan to engae the Envoy’s attention not working as hoped.  Most unusually, the Envoy ignored her, Lia’s perception of people suggesting to her that he was tense and pre-occupied.  She overheard the Envoy telling the Little Guy that he had booked a private room in the Outdoor Area and would be spending some time there.

Lia took advantage of knowing where the Envoy was heading to stop at a terminal and send some messages:

• To Glover advising that the job for Zayaire was not what they thought it might be, and they could ‘relax’ and noting that the job might help with ‘the little spanials’
• To Lexi saying the same
• To Oliver telling him where she was heading 

Then she went to the Outdoor Area and was able to determine the approximate location of the Envoy’s room. Skirting the perimeter corridor, she was surprised to spot the Envoy, wearing a change of clothes, slipping out through a service door and heading for the vehicle park.

Lia followed, apparently managing to avoid being noticed. The Envoy donned a respirator and headed out into the night, made his way back to the front of the resort and hailed a cab.  Lia was able touse the line, with another cab and  followed the Envoy’s to Crystal Town, dropping him off next to a park in the centre of town.  Lia had her cab pull up a distance behind and watched from a nearby cafe as he went and sat on a bench, and waited.

Soon a man came up from deeper within the park and sat next to him.  Lia observed what appeared to be the Envoy surreptitiously handing off a small item to the man.  Shortly after that, the man got up and walked back the way he came, and the Envoy returned to the street.

Lia observed the man was wearing casual pants, a T-shirt and jacket of average or below-average quality.  He was aged about 10, average looks, well built and moved easily. 

Lia followed the Envoy back up the block where he found a taxi and returned to the resort, having the cab drop him off in the vehicle park out the front of the Parking Office.  He returned to his private room through the same service tunnel that he used to leave.

About four Tasks later she followed them back to 402.

Lia – Back in her Room

Returning to her own room, Lia discovered no sign of Oliver but the items he dumped from his backpack to replace with tools. 

In Oliver’s Room

Lia goes to Oliver’s room and they recount their adventures.  Realising they need to cover their tracks, Oliver hacks the Resort’s system and Lia composes an email to insert into the system to cover Oliver’s appearance.  Oliver and Lia then discuss next steps, without coming to a firm conclusion on how to proceed…

Oliver’s Room – Back to PBP – G-021 to G-045

They are joined by Jonathan, who delivers some extra information.  Lia tells Jonathan about the Envoy’s strange behaviour, noting this may suggest corruption and so make the Envoy amenable to bribes.  The widget has some details about the Envoy’s past – a secret trip to Octant 5 – and notes he will be meeting with the Legion soon.  Jonathan notes they’ve already met once with the Legion, so perhaps what they want to discuss is important?  Oliver and Lia agree that he will hacking into the Envoy’s Net messages while she tries a breakfast meeting.

Oliver’s Room  G-046-Oliver to G-054-Oliver 

Oliver begins hacking into OverNet to read the Envoy’s messages.  Succeeding initially in pretending to be an OverNet message server and then in obtaining a long list of the Envoy’s messages, but not their content – that has to be decrypted message-by-message.  He begins the task, noting that while his intrusion raised an alert, the subsequent deception appears to have worked – and further messages reveal the Envoy is actively trying to prevent anyone from Household Security following up on it.  

Oliver has just decrypted a message about there being a parcel for the Envoy at reception when Lia arrives.

Crystal Coast Resort  G-046-Lia to G-050-Lia

Lia returned to her room, checked messages – including one from Raina – and eventually returned to Oliver.

Crystal Coast Resort G-055 to G-069

They recap what they know, and are about to head to bed when Zayaire calls.  Jonathan has delivered Lia’s intel and Zayaire is wondering if they have anything extra, or anything that might tell him what motivates the Envoy.  He asks them to look into the odd behaviour if they have the opportunity, and notes that just learning what they have learned gives him a good edge for his upcoming meeting. 

They discuss checking out the park where the meeting took place, eg for cameras, but decide they don’t have time.   Both head to bed.

Crystal Coast Resort [211.456]  G-070-Oliver to G-151-Oliver 

On waking, Oliver continues with the Net messages.  The messages reveal the Envoy organising interviews with candidates and other stakeholders at Mundo Zargo, and also working on his other role as assisting with the itinerary for the upcoming visit of the Name Heir to Mundo Zargo.

Oliver is able to get a lot of background, and may be able to make some inferences about what the Envoy is thinking, but there is no ‘smoking gun’ – either for his Governor decision nor his odd behaviour with the secret meeting.  

Crystal Coast Resort [211.456]  G-070-Lia to G-116-Lia

On waking, Lia heads to breakfast and spies the Envoy heading across the lobby with one of his security detail.  She follows and sees he is going to The Rotunda – a glassed-in outdoor area where one can eat or relax.  She wrangles an invite to the Envoy’s table.  She establishes trust and rapport with him – he appreciates her perfume – and then slips in a gently disparaging story about Zayaire.  

The Envoy explores whether he can actually act in her defence, but she puts him off, leaving him with just the impression of a wronged damsel-in-distress – perhaps he will avenge her?

He job done, she spends some time enjoying the resort and asks Oliver to meet her in the Outdoor area.  

Outdoor Area G-117 to G-123

Meeting up, Lia tells Oliver of her conversation and he tells her that he’s basically done a lot of work, made a lot of progress and not learned anything firm.

He resolves to break back into the Envoy’s room.

Crystal Coast Resort  G-124-Oliver to G-151-Oliver 

Which he does.  He explores the conference area, disables the alarms on the emergency exit doors to approach without being seen by the cameras.  He picks the lock on the Envoy’s door, enters the room, finds it empty, breaks into the Envoy’s laptop and finds a draft memo on the Envoy’s decision-making.

It reveals:

• The Envoy is an Envoy in multiple capacities, though it’s not clear what the other might be
• The Envoy either hasn’t made a decision, or at least hasn’t written it down
  • It’s likely going to be between Under Secretary Schwanda (who Zayaire doesn’t want) and some dude from Mundo Zargo who won’t stick around long
• The Envoy will put Markov-Wrikster in the Governor’s slot as a temporary measure, but not permanently, because the Legion have been lobbying to be let off the leash regarding local piracy and they don’t like the current leadership
  • The outgoing Governor apparently didn’t think much of them either
• The Envoy is impressed by Zayaire, but not as Governor – he’s thinking of dragging Zayaire off to Zargonia
  • It’s unclear what Zayaire might think about that

While he’s there he discovers some data that may or may not have related to the Envoy’s secret meeting – the Name Heir’s draft itinerary and security information.

Oliver returns to his room, where Lia eventually joins him. 

Crystal Coast Resort  G-124-Lia to G-126-Lia

With nothing else pressing her, Lia enjoys the band in the Outdoor area and goes shopping.

Crystal Coast Resort [211.456] G-152 to G-175

Lia calls Zayaire and he has Jonathan set up a late meeting.  They give him the information thay have recovered.  Zayaire asks a couple of questions and is complimentary to their work.  A call is put through, presumably to Samuel Kort, regarding assisting the Spanial crew out of the Facility.  He says: 

“Both of you please let me know in future if you should be open to further engagements.  Though I understand, Emerald, that you may have prior obligations that prevent that; do please give her my regards.”

And he has Jonathan hand Oliver and Lia ʄ110,000 in unauthorised Money cards.

Lia purchases a carry case and Oliver carries the payment back to Spanial in it, placing the case in his cabin on his arrival and goes to bed.

Karmen and co actually beat them back to Spanial and a prodigal Prrri’s returns shortly afterwards. 

Lia sends some messages to Lexi, to Glover and Vuist and to Raina.

Spanial leaves dock heading for Captree and, eventually, Separatist space.   A small courier ship shadows them out of dock.

Module 18:  Transport

Leaving Mundo Zargo, the plan now is to drop Lia at Captree to fulfil her contractual commitments and then take Oliver into Separatist space. It should be a simple transport job, but there may be some lingering questions from recent exploits, and equally some forward planning for the next steps. Transport is Part 2 of the Choices module.

Spanial, enroute to Captree via Roseman [211.457] 

Now…

Merchant Freighter Spanial

Spanial left Mundo Zargo Highport at GR02 on 211.457.

Lia has gone to bed, the undocking process has woken Oliver up after about three hours sleep.  Though there’s a definite sense they are both excused from duty – at least for the current Cycle.

What are their plans, both immediate and general?

Any questions?