The group goes to sleep that night not having decided for sure what they will do, other than planning to sell their excess equipment, and spend at least one more night in Hawkshorn.
The following morning, the group heads over to the general store with their horse and cart. The proprietor is very interested in the gear the that group has for sale. After quite a bit of bartering, the proprietor offers a final price of 1300 grams for the lot (1450 if you also want to sell the horse and cart).
As Peter is involved in negotiations with the proprietor, Shooter looks around the store. He finds a reloading kit for 200 grams and shows it to Rock (the group's weaponsmith). "I'd like to have different types of ammo for my rifle," Shooter says. "Would this be suitable for the task?"
GM: In looking over the kit, Rock determines that it would work well. It is a compact kit in a titanium case and the technology is obviously what the locals refer to as ancient technology.
SHOOTER (OOC): Shooter wants to turn his Sniper Rifle into a multipower and this will serve as the justification for it, if the group agrees to buy it. I can also be used to reload the spent casings of the group, but that will also take some lead, which can also be purchased for 30 grams.
GM: Let me know if the group decides to purchase it the reloading kit. If they do, he will knock 40 grams off the price if you take him up on his offer for all of the rest of the gear.
PETER (GM): Unless I hear any objections, I'm going to say that we sell it all to the merchant and buy the kit for Shooter. We're not *actually* in this for the money - we just want to look like some guys who made a good haul. And this way we get rid of the extra material and don't have to worry about guarding it. I also say that the cart and horse go too. We don't really need them at this point.
After concluding their business at the general store, the group returns to the inn. As they are walking in the door, they see a pair of soldiers waiting for them. One is an officer and the other is a corporal.
LT HITE: The lieutenant stands up as the group enters, introduces himself, and says, "Is one of you Captain Sterling?" When Peter acknowledges that he is who the lieutenant is looking for, the officer goes on. "A report from Whitter indicates that you saw a group of clones up near Fort Attson after it had been attacked. We'd like for you to come to the morgue and see if a guy we got there looks the same."
PETER: "Yes," Peter replies courteously. "We did see the clone troopers - or whatever they were. I'll be happy to come along and ID a body for you. With your permission I'd like to bring someone along. He gestures to Rosin. This is Rosin. She can help identify the bodies as well."
GM: The officer goes on to say that you cannot bring any weapons with you though, if you want, more than one person can go. If you want to split up and have some people stay here to guard your equipment while the rest go with the officer, let me know who will be in what group.
CAL: (over the mind link) {If you go with them, it might be a good idea if I tailed you - inconspicuously - just to make sure everything's on the up and up...}
ROSIN: {I can go with him as well to help protect him. I rarely use my gun anyway.}
ROCK: Rock is also willing to go if asked. He does not need his weapon to be an effective defender. Rock is also fine to stay behind if that's more important.
ERICT: {It might be more important to have an easy exit strategy than to try to fight what could amount to copious amounts of guards, especially since those guards might well simply be following orders and not deserve to get pounded for it. It's up to you, Captain, which type of backup you want along with you, and which type in reserve.}
MARCO: {Captain, take one or two with you, and I'll lead the rest to a discrete, nearby location so that we can be nearby for quick backup. Rosin and Cal might be your best immediate support. Recommend that Rock stay with me to help with any necessary "breaking and entering."}
PETER: {Well, we have to trust someone if we're going to make any progress. And so far the people of Hawkshorn have seemed to be on the up-and-up. So I'm going to assume that they'll play fair with us. I'll take Rosin for local knowledge, and have Cal follow discretely. Shooter, keep the rest at the team at the inn - be alert, but I don't think you need to go into lock down. We'll keep you informed by mindlink.}
PETER: {And Cal, assume that they have someone who can see you - from what I understand, that's not beyond the realm of possibility. Don't break in anywhere or snoop around. They should understand if we're careful. But I don't want to push things.}
PETER (OOC): As I recall, Cal is the only one who actually *saw* the clones. Though I suppose with Marco's new abilities, he's shared the images with us.
GM: That is a real good point. Marco's new ability to allow people on the mind link to see through the eyes of someone else on the mind link did not exist at the time so Cal is the only one who can identify the clones. Do you want to change the turn a bit to have Cal go along as an obvious member of the group instead of sneaking behind?
CAL: Good point - CAL only saw the clones through his clairvoyant ability as I recall & while he could have described them, no one else would have a visual image to go by. I've no problem going with.
PETER (OOC): Also, Marco's comments once more lead to the question of his status with the group. Up until now, he's remained hesitant to join into the military chain of command. Of course that was when we were going strictly by the Imperial ranks. Right now we're masquerading as a mercenary company, and we have to come up with a role for him in that. Does he want to be in the chain of command? If so, where do we put him. Right now Shooter is the second in command of the company, and so command devolves to him. I open this up as a roleplaying discussion so that we can figure out where Marco fits in.
ROSIN: Rosin nods when her name is mentioned, but of course doesn't say anything.
CAL: Cal will follow discreetly, maintaining his invisibility to keep from being noticed. Once the group arrives where they're going, Cal will find a place where he can settle and be inconspicuous, and then switch to clairvoyance to track the group.
CAL: (GM) I never heard yea or nay on the changes to CAL?
GM: I could swear that I already answered but maybe not. In any event, I am fine with the changes to Cal.
PETER (OOC): In the alternative, if Cal is willing to let Peter into his mind, I'm sure Peter could grab the image from Cal's memories. But if Cal would rather not do that, I can understand. Whichever way Cal is more comfortable with is fine with me.
ROSIN: {Couldn't Cal identify the bodies looking though our eyes now that Marco lets us share what we're seeing?}
GM: Yes, that is also true. Marco could turn that power on and then he would be able to see through the eyes of someone else in the link.
CAL: Either way is OK. Question then is would you rather have Cal with you or outside watching your back? ;-)
GM: I am going to go ahead and send the next turn with the assumption that Cal will go as an obvious member. We can back up and correct if people are adamant about playing it another way.
Peter, Rosin and Cal head out the door with Lt. Hite while the rest of the group heads back to the inn.
The officer and soldier lead the way north through town, around the walled estate of the Baron of Horn, to an ancient, four story building near the tower gates that Rosin knows to be the barracks.
LT. HITE: "Not sure who all of you are mutants but as we enter the barracks, make sure you don't have any mutant abilities active. The barracks security measures tends to play havoc with them."
ROSIN: Rosin had had turned off her forcefield before entering town. This was a civilized area and one wasn't likely to be the target of ancient weapons without warning. A knife in the back was a possibility, from a common thief with a death wish, but her armor was enough to handle that threat. Along the link she sent, {Do you think that will affect the mind link?}
PETER: {Shooter, Marco, we're going to have to drop the mindlink I'm afraid. There's some kind of security that interferes with mutant powers - or so we're told. If we're not back within three hours, assume the worst. Take action as you see best sergeant}
PETER: "Understood, sir." [OOC: keep everything off that can be off]
GM: The group can obviously communicate this to the others over the mind link if they so desire.
As the lieutenant approaches the metal door to the barracks, someone inside opens it up. The officer leads the way into a small room with one other metal door. Cal, with his infravision, notes a higher concentration of radiation in this room, which could potentially be dangerous with prolonged (as in week or months, not minutes or seconds) exposure. In the room is a table with a soldier standing behind it. Another soldier stands near the door. In each corner is a birdcage on a stand except that instead of holding birds, they each hold a large spider whose body is about 15 cm in diameter, 20 if you count the legs.
The lieutenant nods curtly to the soldiers and walks over to the table where he signs a ledger. The then turns to Peter and asks for his name and the names of the two with him. He then writes whatever names Peter gives him in the book.
PETER (OOC): I'm playing this straight and giving them our real names.
As this is happening, the spiders, who otherwise seem quiet, begin pulsing with energy that is only visible in the infrared spectrum. Moments later, the Mind Link suddenly drops.
ROSIN: When the mindlink drops, so do Rosin's shoulders. Alone again. Amazing how fast she had gotten used to being able to talk, and how much she missed it when she was no longer able to. Still, there was nothing to do about it now, unless she wanted to break and run back to Marco. But that wouldn't help the group, and they would have no reason to keep her in the mind link if she wasn't useful to them. She could stand a bit more time without any voice, it's not as if she had any real choice about it. Squaring her shoulders again, Rosin prepares her self to continue on.
GM: If you had already dropped the Mind Link, then ignore that last part. Also let me know if anyone had any other mutant abilities active.
ROSIN (OOC): Rosin's DEX and SPD are so high, they are probably mutant abilities. Not that she can turn those off.
After the officer has finished writing the names in the book, the soldier nods and salutes the officer who then leads the group through the other door. Beyond the door are three passages. Lt Hite leads the way down one of them, then down a set of stairs. A few more passages and sets of stairs makes it clear to the group that they are heading deeper underground. They pass a few people along the way. They also pass occasional checkpoints manned by a soldier and at least one of the strange spiders.
Finally the lieutenant stops at a door and pulls out a key. He opens the door and leads the way inside. The room is quite cold. A large metal table in the center of the room holds the body of what, at first glance, is a human. Cal can see that he looks identical to the group of clones that he saw at Fort Attson. In the corner is another table with some equipment carefully laid out.
LT HITE: "Does this look one of the guys you saw near Ft. Attson?" the lieutenant asks.
GM: I need a PER roll from Peter, Cal and Rosin.
CAL: Cal's sharp eyes roam around the room before they settle onto the man lying on the slab. "Yes! This one is identical to the group that I saw in the ruins."
CAL: Per roll 16- ... [rolled 12]
ROSIN (OOC): Per 12-, [rolled 9]
PETER (TECH): PER Roll 13-, [rolled 16]
ROSIN: Rosin looks to the others for a clue of how to act. She is really missing the mind link here.
ROSIN (OOC): Nothing like being separated from something to make you realize how much you want it :-) Rosin might be primarily interested in her own skin, but as long as she wants that mindlink, she's going to have to be useful to the group...
PETER: "As Cal says, he looks the same. We saw half a dozen of them in Ft. Attson, though we kept out of sight from them."
ROSIN: Rosin nods in agreement.
PETER (OOC): Peter will take out his computer and check his notes on their time in Ft. Attson. Not that he needs to, having already reviewed it all. But he wants to see what the guard's reaction is.
Lt Hite tries but fails to look unimpressed as Peter pulls out his computer. As Peter is consulting his notes, Cal looks around the room again and his eyes settle on the table that holds all of the gear that was probably taken from the clone on the table. One of the items (about the size and shape of a quart-sized carton of milk) looks to be a portable radio. Suddenly Cal realizes why it caught his eye. The symbols and words imprinted on the device are Zdhant!
LT HITE: "We caught this guy up north of Mucktown. He was heading north along the beach."
The lieutenant moves over to the body. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the creature on the table is not human.
LT HITE: "This guys a cyborg. He's got a lot of human parts but has a machine brain. We tried to dump the brain memory but weren't successful."
ROCK (OOC): Interesting, a cyborg. The Zdhant didn't have anything like cyborg/clone technology, right? Did we see similar clones or cyborg type units when the maginites showed up?.
GM: As far as anyone knows, the Zhodani did not have the technology to make cyborgs - certainly not at this level of sophistication. You did not see any evidence that the Maginites had them either.
CAL: Cal will move over to the table for a closer look, being careful not to touch anything. "Captian - what do you make of this?" Cal will say while gesturing towards the portable radio.
LT HITE: As Cal moves over, the officer speaks up. "That's the gear that we found on this guy. Do you recognize the writing on the radio? No one I've talked to had any idea what language it was."
PETER: Peter moves over to the table and looks down at the radio. He's careful not to touch anything without permission from the lieutenant. "Yes, I do," he replies. "I've run into it before, though not anywhere near here. Those are refer to separate channels," he points to one set of markings, "and those refer to frequencies. If you let me examine it, I may be able to tell you more. And if he had anything written down, I'll be happy to take a look at that."
LT HITE: The officer nods his permission for Peter to look it over more carefully. "Just don't transmit on it," he warns. "We didn't find any papers on him."
PETER: Peter picks up the transceiver and carefully examines it for any other identifying features. He's also interested to see if it matches any of the Zho equipment he's familiar with. "If we do take the job," he adds, "is there any chance we could borrow this? It might be handy if we were able to listen in on their transmissions. Given that understanding of their language is rare in these parts, they might transmit in the clear. At the very least, I'd love to have one of my more technical people take a look at it to figure out the frequencies they use."
PETER (OOC): As far as I know, cyborg technology is out of the range of standard Traveller tech. Though I'm not certain if things are different given the prevalence of mutants. Also, my computer has eidetic memory. Does that give it any kind of camera/video capability? It would seem that the remembering aspect would include images as well as words. (And really, how expensive is a good digital camera?) Finally, though I hate to write any players out of the action, at present all the people back at the inn are out of touch with us and won't know about the cyborgs, Zhdant writing, etc., until we get back.
GM: I'm fine with saying that the computer includes a digital video camera and audio recording device.
GM: Cyborg technology is generally out of range of standard Traveller technology.
As Peter is examining the radio, Lt. Hite asks, "Would you guys be willing to go up and try to see what this guy was up to? I can offer you a couple hundred grams if you find out anything. If you find out some really interesting news, then I might be able to throw in some more, maybe more grams or maybe some ancient tech."
CAL: Cal's ears perk up at the sound of this. "Was he (it?) found near here? And, how did this one come to be in your possession? I would expect that a cyborg would be a formidable opponent."
LT HITE: "He was found a few kilometers north of Mucktown on the coast. And yes, he was tough but our soldiers are not exactly pushovers. And we have advanced tech as well."
ROSIN: Rosin listened to the back and forth quietly. If she thought of anything that the others seemed to be missing she would get their attention, otherwise she watched and listened.
PETER: "What do you mean 'go up?' Do you mean head out to where he was found and try and see what he was up to? If so, I think we can help. This guy clearly has some valuable tech on him, and that's worth investigating. We were going to take some time to relax after our latest exploration, but opportunities like this don't come up every day." He pauses for a moment with a thoughtful look on his face and adds, "what would be the status of and advanced tech we recover during the course of our investigations? Would it belong to us or to you?"
ROCK (OOC): I'd like to investigate this. First, they may be looking for us. I'd like to find out on our terms if so. Even if they're not looking for us, why are they here? Maybe what they're looking for will be our key to get home. Second, Rock ready to kick some arse. Buggems were good but not as satisfying as beating up evil cyborgs. :)
PETER (OOC): I'm keen on that too. If these really are Zho (or using Zho tech), then it may well be a clue to the Zho base we're looking for. Regardless, if there are Zho around, I want to know about it.
ROCK (OOC): My current take on all this is that these golden warriors are maginites and they are either looking for the secret Zho base (most likely) or us. They have the zho radio to either scan for us or maybe have it to help find the base. I could well be wrong here though. :)
PETER (OOC): As I understand things, the cyborg clones are separate from the golden warriors. In Ft. Attson, the golden warriors came and took thepeople, *then*, some time later, the cyborg clones came and asked questions about the golden warriors. So we have not one, but two potentially dangerous groups to worry about. :?
ROCK (OOC): Ah, that's right. The golden warriors and the cyborgs were different. Hmm, yes we do. :)
MARCO (OOC): I"m up for investigating also. My take is that the cyborgs are part of the group that left the "ancient" tech here and they happened to have some ancestral link to the native Zhodani.
Lt Hite says that he will get back to you on whether you can borrow the radio. He tells you to let him know if you decide to head up north to investigate and he can give you more specific information about where the cyborg was found.
PETER: "Thank you sir."
The officer leads the way back out of the barracks and tells you that if you decide to investigate, just leave a message here at the barracks for him and he will meet you.
PETER: "We'll give you our answer in the morning."
The group makes it back to the inn without incident and relays to the rest of the group what has transpired.
ROSIN: Rosin is relieved when the mental link is reestablished, giving her a voice again (if only to a select group). But once she had her voice she declined to use it to try pushing either for or against investigating the clone cyborgs. She recognized that she was out of her depths here, and that somehow this group knew a lot more about them than seemed possible. She did make it clear that she was willing to go with the group whichever way they decided.
MARCO: "I find the spiders very interesting and wonder if they are the "security measure" that Lt. Hite referenced. I also wonder if they have anything to do with the evolution of Zho mental abilities."
PETER: {I"ll bet the spiders are. They were prominently displayed in many locations. We've seen enough weird creatures around here that we probably don't want to mess with them.}
PETER: {As for the mission they've offered, I don't see how we can't take it. Whether these cyborgs are of Zho origin or are just using Zho equipment, we need to get to the bottom of this. They may offer a clue to the location of the Zho facility we're looking for; they may also represent either a group chasing us, a group that might aid us, or perhaps just another group of refugees from Thengo. One way or another we need to find out the truth. And if we can get ourselves into the good graces of the locals as we do so, *and* make some money, so much the better. We have no way of knowing what resources we'll ultimately need. But cash and goodwill never go awry.}
CAL: {Agreed. We need to know what they know. We've found one Zho cache, and we were certain that it was a satellite base. These cyborgs may have found another - and they may have the clues we need to find the main Zho base.}
ROCK: {I fully agree,} thought the large soldier. {While I know it would be nice to take a break, I am eager to learn more and might not find much rest if we don't depart immediately.} |