Pirates of Drinax (IC)

[rogue_alchemist]

Spoiler: OODM

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There is a ton of information available on this sector (the Trojan Reach) available in the supplementary books. I can post whatever information you need for the campaign, but I don't want to overwhelm you, so I will not just dump it all here. I am going to try to give enough information for you to feel like you are immersed for this first post and try to give information when you jump, but feel free to ask for more. If I don't feel like the entire group is enjoying the info dump, then I can PM the extra info, or spoiler it for others to read. I just need feedback on what you like. I will try not to bury vital information, but it may not always be as obvious as I think. An interactive map is available online at travellermap.com. You can search for specific worlds or sectors and get there quickly, but the link should show you the Trojan Reach sector.

Spoiler: background

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The Outrim Void. The Trojan Reach. The place where empires die.
Between the Spinward Marches and the ever-advancing Aslan Hierate is an expanse of wild space called the Trojan Reach. A narrow ribbon of stars, the dust-spice trade route, links the two empires. Every day, ships brave the perilous crossing from Imperium to Hierate, navigating a circuitous route from Fist (Tobia 3215) to Tyokh (Tlaiowaha 2226). Between these two worlds is a sea of lawless, dangerous planets.
The Reach is where empires run aground and mortally wound themselves, and where fortunes can be made on trade and commerce. The First Imperium never conquered the Reach; the Second Imperium left isolated colonies across its expanse, and even the Third Imperium claims no more than a sixth of the systems here.
During the long night, another petty empire arose here – the Empire of Sindal. The Sindalians were barbarian raiders who crowned themselves kings and conquered several dozen worlds before their subjects rose up against them. Today, Sindal is a ruined world of a few hundred dirt farmers whose ancestors once ruled all the night sky, and the Sindalian empire is remembered in confused tales of a golden age and wars amid the stars.
When the Empire of Sindal collapsed, outlying regional capitals became the seat of even lesser kings, and the longest-lasting of these was Drinax (Tliowaha 2223). Drinax’s kings claimed half the worlds in their subsector for generations. The Drinaxians were wiser than their cousins; they learned to hide the iron fist of orbital bombardment behind a velvet glove of trade and protection. Drinax itself became a garden world, fat and plump, an oasis of culture and technology in a dangerous and barbaric sector. The floating palace of Drinax – a huge citadel of beauty and art, suspended on a grav platform of prodigious size – was a wonder of the galaxy.
Then, another empire came to the Trojan Reach. The Aslan were numerous, hungry, aggressive and confident, and the Empire of Drinax was fat, lazy and wholly unaware of the sheer numbers and might of the Hierate. The Aslan trade routes to the Imperium ran through the Kingdom of Drinax, and the kings became greedy. They demanded tolls, taxes, bribes… and the Aslan were incensed. In a single bloody war lasting less than a year, the Aslan shattered the last surviving remnant of the old Empire of Sindal. Drinax’s subject worlds were either conquered by the Aslan or revolted. Drinax itself was blasted to ash, leaving the floating palace as the only remaining property of the King of Drinax.
One palace… and a few ships.
That was two hundred years ago.
Today, trade ships from the Imperium and the Hierate pass by broken, beggared worlds. The worlds once claimed by Drinax realise they have exchanged one master for another, and that the Aslan have even less regard for them than the kings did. The Imperium and the Hierate pretend to be friends while they jockey for position. The sector stands on a knife edge. The right pressure could push half the Trojan Reach into the claws of the Aslan, force an already overstretched Imperium to extend its forces deeper into the sector, permit Drinax to rise again – or carve out a new kingdom in blood and steel!

Now is the time for corsairs and privateers, for rogues and empire-builders. The King of Drinax offers a small band of trusted, resourceful bastards the chance to make their fortune. He gives them a ship and a letter of marque. They are to go adventuring in the Trojan Reach, prey on shipping and build up support in the worlds once held by the Kingdom of Drinax, playing the two great powers off against each other. If they succeed, they will become princes in the renewed kingdom.

If they fail, the stars will be their grave.

King Oleb offers you – and the other Travellers – a chance for glory!

He will give you a recently recovered Drinaxi Harrier as your ship, and more, he will give you a letter of marque and reprisal. This document gives you the right to prey on merchant and military shipping within the borders of the old Empire of Sindal that does not carry the proper documentation. The King grins at you.

"Of course, no-one’s carried those papers in bloody centuries. Every ship in space is your legal prey – but I don’t want cutthroats and murderers. I want thieves!"

He gestures at a map of the Trojan Reach. On one side, there’s the great red expanse of the Third Imperium. On the other, the golden glow of the Aslan Hierate. Between the two are dozens of points of light, each marking a different independent star system. Threads of commerce and trade run between the two empires like arteries.

Spoiler: map

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"Once, every world along that trade route shared in the bounty. The traders paid taxes to use our space and our starports. Then, because my ancestors were greedy bastards, everything fell apart. The Kingdom collapsed, and that meant those cold-blooded Vilani snakes picked the Trojan Reach apart. It’s every world for themselves out there right now, and solitary worlds can’t bloody hold out against a gods-cursed empire!"

He throws himself heavily into the armoured bulk of the Dragon Throne.

"So, here’s what we’re going to do. You take the Harrier and you cut a bloody swathe across the stars. Attack shipping, raid starports, hit fuel depots. Take what prizes you can. Don’t kill anyone you don’t have to, though – we want to bleed the merchants until they go crying to the Imperium, not start a bloody war. Pirating is part one of the plan.

Part two is all those worlds out there. We make them our allies. Sell stolen goods there, defend ‘em from raiders, recruit crew, give them a taste of wealth, and bring them back under the banner of Drinax. When the time comes, we offer the Imperium a deal – the pirate attacks stop if they recognize the Kingdom of Drinax and give me my rightful due."

He slams his meaty fist into the arm of the throne.

"We do this right, and we’ll show there’s life in this old empire yet.

Now, the terms. We keep this a secret from the Imperium for as long as possible – and that means you keep that letter of marque hidden until we sign a peace. The ship’s being loaned to you – you’re responsible for repairs and maintenance, but she’s coming home at the end.

Ten percent of any money you make comes to me. Spend as much as you can spare on the colony worlds and curry favour with them. We’ll need them on our side if this isn’t going blow up in our faces."

He leans back in the throne.

"If this works... then you’ll be made dukes of my court. And..."

The king stops and glances at a side door.

"Get in here, daughter. This whole scheme was your idea."

The Crown Princess of Drinax slips into the room.

"Do I have to explain the whole ‘clandestine’ part of this scheme to you again, Sire?"

She smiles at you, and you can’t tell if she’s amused or furious. The King rises from his throne and takes his daughter’s hand in his huge fist.

"If we are going to save this kingdom, daughter, we shall have to trust these Travellers. After all, if they succeed, you’re marrying one of them."

Spoiler: NPC pictures

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King Oleb:

Princess Rao:

Spoiler: Map of Palace

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Spoiler: Drinaxi Harrier

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Spoiler: First Post

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Introduce your character and react to the king's invitation. Then feel free to wander around the palace or agree to start exploring the Trojan Reach. I am just the universe facilitating whatever you want to accomplish. I will gladly help you however I can, but most of it is up to you. There is a hook to get your started after you leave the palace, but I wanted to give you the chance to explore around here.

[Gareth3]

Timothy listens intently as the King explains his plan, but rolls his eyes when marrying the Princess is mentioned. He thinks for a moment and then looks curiously at the alien and female members of the crew to see their reactions.
I'm sure we'll be reasonably rewarded. But what's to stop the Aslan or Imperial navy from tracking down and killing us?

[Harmony]

Dame Anna d'Ivan

Anna stood silently as the king spoke. Her face covered in scars, memoirs from years of fencing, with some muscles were raptured to the point she her face rested in a permanent scowl. It had been years since she had removed all bodily hair, but she still kept it short. With only her blade at the side with her left hand on the pommel, a trick she had picked up early in her career to better keep focus. She wore her civilian clothes like a uniform, straight and impeccable.

She knew better than to interrupt nobility. This palace was a wonder, a living remnant of a dead civilization, desperately clinging to life in this bauble, while the world outside was just... empty. She wasn't sure about the whole piracy thing. She had hunted pirates for years, but this... If they could build something here from the ground up, breaking a few taboos might be worth it. And besides, Imperial Space was far away, and this close to the Aslan border... She loosens the grip on the pommel of her blade. It would work itself out.

After the king has finished, she curtsies. "It's a noble undertaking to restore Sindal. You will not find your faith in us misplaced."
She shows no reaction to the promise of marrying a princess, filtering it away as with most of what the king says. She does however eye the Princess curiously, as she's presented as the instrument of the plan.

[tonberrian]

Admiral Zughag

"This is everything I was promised, yes. Much better than the retirement the Imperial Navy promised me. I served for years, and what do they do? Put me behind a desk to do paperwork. This is much more exciting." The vargr turns to Timothy. "Piracy is... tolerated, so long as you play by the unspoken rules of the stars. As long as you steal only cargo, and leave the crews alive, it's not worth the cost to hunt down a small-time pirate. Kill crew, steal ships, or interfere with Imperial convoys, though... Then they take notice. Of course, we want to be noticed, eventually, so..."

[samduke]

Cpt Ashley Stuart.

After listening to the kings speech and the others reply.
I can tell my skills would be useful in this endeavor so count me in

[Gareth3]

Timothy reaches a decision.
That's good enough for me, I'm in.
He looks around the throne room.
Of course, if you want to keep the Drinax connection secret, you can't give us the ship. We need to steal it.

[tonberrian]

Admiral Zughag

"I don't think that's really necessary. Presumably the King here has been keeping the Harrier a secret, yes? Having the fiction of it being stolen from Drinax would make our connection harder, not easier, and to keep up the fiction would require a bounty on our heads. It's more trouble, and more attention, than it's worth."

[Gareth3]

Timothy turns to Anna.
What do you think? Should they openly give us the ship, or should we fake a theft?

[Harmony]

Anna d’Ivan

“I second the admirals opinion on the matter.” Anna responds. “There is enough moving parts already, and I feel there is no need to over complicate our plans.”

[tonberrian]

Admiral Zughag

"I for one am eager to test the Harrier out. We should head out immediately."

[Gareth3]

Timothy shrugs.
Fair enough, let's go.

[samduke]

well hopefully it handles well out in the black

[rogue_alchemist]

"I would prefer not to over-complicate this endeavor any more than it already is. My daughter and I have already hatched a good plan. Of course we have kept the Harrier a secret." After looking around to see if there any any other questions or comments, he turns to his advisors and says "Well let them take it out and see." He then address the would-be pirates gathered, "It was highly advanced when it was built, and is still quite a feat of engineering and style. Remember, it is on loan to you to help realize this clandestine endeavor, so treat it well! I will be keeping a close and interested eye on your progress, so don't try to double-cross me either." He makes a dismissive gesture and sinks back in his throne to relax as he watches you leave.

[Harmony]

Anna d'Ivan

Anna frowns briefly as the king indicates that they'd double-cross him. "Let's get her checked out." She agrees, dropping it for now. "I want all systems double-checked, report your findings to Mister Zughag. If you have any questions on what systems falls within your responsibility, refer to the XO."

[Gareth3]

Timothy looks at the Harrier dubiously, not used to such an old craft. He walks to the bridge and spends a few minutes at a workstation, checking the interface for the sensors and the weapons. Then he moves further inside the ship, getting as close to the actual sensors and weapons as possible without actually dismantling anything, grumbling to himself the whole time. Probably sell this rustbucket to some idiot as an antique when it's all over...
Intelligence + Gunner roll, "What is the condition of the weapons?"
(2d6)[9]+2+2
Intelligence + Electronics (Sensors) roll, "What is the condition of the sensors?"
(2d6)[9]+2+1

[samduke]

Ashley

Walking onto the harrier its age registering in her mind, first goes down to enginering to have a look at the engines and maneuvering thrusters <Mechanic (2d6)[3]> to see condition, then wandering into the cargo bay to see if there is anything that looks like an escape craft or ships boat (2d6)[7], then walking all the way to the bridge to check out the helm configuration and pilot controls (2d6)[5], after spending time there familiarizing with them, walk to the officer quarters to lay claim to a single bunk room before taking a break and getting some rest before going on duty.

[rogue_alchemist]

Spoiler: Timothy

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You find the weapons both in good working order, full range of motion. It has a Single Turret with missile rack and a Particle Barbette that is accurate with a high yield. The sensors are an advanced suite that will do an excellent job of telling you what is out there. It does also contain an countermeasure suite that looks top of the line military grade, but when you test it out, it seems more like a standard countermeasure suite (DM+4, instead of DM+6).

Spoiler: Ashley

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The maneuvering drive has Thrust 6, so it should be able to get in and get out, though you can see it hasn't been repaired perfectly and will shut out (requiring a quick restart) if a pilot makes a mistake in handling it (double 1's on a Pilot (starship) roll).
No extra boats or ships on board.
The computer has evade/1 and maneuver/0, so that will help, as well as Jump/2, so you can make 2 sector jumps in this ship.

Ashley and Timothy wander around the ship, inspecting everything, while Anna stays in the bridge, ready to take command and leave when everything is ready.

Spoiler: OORef

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I know we are down two travellers, but we can go ahead and start and I'll just act their part for now. Then if we recruit different people, we'll just pop them in after that is done. So everyone else can post and carry on.

[tonberrian]

"We're going to need a crew. I doubt between us we can run this whole ship."

[Gareth3]

Timothy explains what he's found.
Pretty good for an old ship. I wouldn't want to go up against Imperials, but otherwise we should be fine.

[samduke]

Reporting in with what she has found, well this tub is no fighter, but we should be able to get from point to point within reason.

[tonberrian]

"I'm worried about the particle barbette. It's a highly radioactive weapon, firing it at a ship will likely severely injure anyone on board - good if we want to steal the ship, bad if we don't want to get much attention from Imperials or the Aslan."

[Harmony]

Anna d’Ivan

“Noted.” Anna nods in agreement with Zughag. “We might have to change that out later, but it’s EM profile may very well have a good intimidating effect. If we have to fire for effect, it’s all sorts of problems regardless of the payload.”

[tonberrian]

Admiral Zughag

"If we really want to make a positive name for ourselves, it would behoove us to find other pirates and wipe them out - or press-gang them. Unfortunately, we don't have the firepower currently to be much of a threat with something this small. It's a fine ship, but it's very expensive for its size. The stealth systems alone account for nearly two-thirds the running costs. A more reasonably-equipped ship could be perhaps 5 times the size for only a little over twice the cost. Still, we have to start somewhere. I'll put together a list of recruits we can bring on, and then we can go over a list of targets to earn some money."

[rogue_alchemist]

You find the few crewmen you need to round out the ship roster and head out for the stars, taking it on a test-drive out to the nearest gas-giant and back, trying out the fuel scoop while you are there. Everything seems to be working pretty well, it handles nicely, though it may not look as grand as it did at its height. When you get back Princess Rao meets you and proposes an immediate course of action.

"I have just received reports of an attack near Torpol and Clarke. It is suspected this was done by the same raiding party in both planets. They hit Clarke, then headed to Torpol, from which they jumped and haven't been seen since. Both governments want to punish they raiders and have put a bounty on their heads. This is the perfect opportunity to get in good with the leaders of those worlds. We have been in contact with both worlds recently, and I think this could be just the push we need to get them in our corner. I suggest you head there with all speed! Any questions?"

Spoiler: OORef

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You are free to ask her whatever you want, but most information about the worlds is available on the ship computer, so you don't have to ask her what kind of planets they are or where. The main thing she is good for would be information about politics or nuances that computers aren't good at, not generic information.

I figured the game was lagging a bit and you all could use a push to get you started.

[Gareth3]

Timothy is the first to speak.
Chasing down raiders would be a big PR boost. Do you want Drinax openly backing us for this? Doesn't have to be permanent, we could just say you hired us for this mission.

[rogue_alchemist]

"Yes, let them know we contracted you to assist them with this terrible crime, lest the whole subsector be overrun with such ruffians." She smiles at the end, relishing the joke that they are unleashing just such ruffians of their own to destabilize the sector and get everyone to ban together under Drinax's 'protection'.

[Harmony]

Anna d’Ivan

“Do you have any more intel on the raiding party? Number of ships and sizes? Any recordings of the culprits operations would assist. Who were the targets? Where did they come from and what did they carry?” Anna pauses, realizing she’s probably asked to many questions. “Send us all the data you have.” She turns to Zughag “Plot us a course to the closest star, Admiral Zughag, and try to figure out possible jumps for our target. They must have some safe haven.”

[rogue_alchemist]

"Very little information was shared, though we do have a transmission, which I will upload to your ship before you leave. There appears to be 3 ships involved, though it was a precision hit with a quick in and out. You'll have to talk to the representatives on Torpol or Clarke for more information. If you agree to assist, I am sure they will give you all the information they have. Good luck!"

Spoiler: audio message

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'This is the free trader Beowulf, calling anyone...Mayday, mayday, we are under attack...' static hiss for a few seconds ‘Mayday... losing cabin pressure... calling anyone...please help.’ Only one voice is heard, and no one responded. Having the computer analyze the audio track confirms it is unedited.

Spoiler: actions

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I just wanted to post the audio before I forgot. You can still ask her questions, but it seems she has shared all she knows.

[tonberrian]

Zughag

"I'm a little worried we're somewhat under equipped for taking on three ships, but we have to start somewhere. I've also got a roster on potential recruits. We can be in jump within the hour."

[Harmony]

Anna d’Ivan

Anna simply nods. “We can perhaps pick up more crew on the closest system, as well as more information. We should be able to outrun anything that’s not a proper warship if worst comes to worst.”

“If our repairs are in order, wrap up your business here and prepare for departure.”