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Mongoose Traveller Tale in the Third Imperium
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<blockquote data-quote="ptolemy" data-source="post: 9273829" data-attributes="member: 1412"><p><strong>The Adventures of Polybius Comnenus II</strong></p><p></p><p>The week in jump was not a comfortable one. We had prisoners and they needed to be guarded, fed and looked after to a basic degree. We had ten staterooms and some of them must have been the rooms of people we killed. They were murderers and who knows what else, but that didn’t mean we were insensitive to having killed them. They all had histories, had suffered and known joys. Whatever they had done with their lives didn’t stop them from being people. We all felt uncomfortable in the rooms were occupied. We just piled belongings in one room and moved ourselves into the now empty ones. I tried to distract my thoughts anyway I could, the meditations I practise to strengthen my psionics, studying brokerage, working out, familiarising myself with the vessel. We all all kept busy and tried to avoid talking about what had happened on Mithral. </p><p></p><p>The ship was well maintained and capable. It had two triple pop-up turrets. One had powerful particle beam barrels and the other combined a missile launcher, a sand caster and a beam laser. The missiles turned out to be a problem. Out of the twelve on board we identified five as having nuclear warheads, which, as you know, are strictly illegal in the Imperium. We spent time going through data files and found a cache of encrypted files which we assumed the Imperial authorities would be interested in. The ship was capable of 5G acceleration and could jump two parsecs. Its hull was clearly designed to have stealth capabilities. It was, all-in-all, a very nice ship. Probably made for a sinister market. We also had a small arsenal of side arms: the two laser sniper rifles, a dozen auto-rifles of Sword World manufacture, a couple of SMGs and an MG, along with more auto-pistols than I bothered to count. We found a nearly full crate of stun grenades and another of tranq. grenades. There were four shotguns and six snub pistols in the ship’s locker. The ship’s locker was the typical mess of equipment. We counted fourteen vacc. suits, but they weren’t as good as the ones we had left behind on Mithral. We were all exhausted and more than a little unsettled when we left and had only collected personal effects from Highndry. The hold was empty apart from a couple of cargo containers. </p><p></p><p>We took our time leaving the gravity well of Mithral so we could get a feel for the ship. We also put extra time into plotting the jump and making sure the J-drives were operational. We didn’t really take the time to familiarise ourselves with the ship properly because we wanted to be away. Eric and Myntelle spent most of the time with their kids. I think they were weary around us after witnessing the fight on the screen in the ATV. At least I thoughts so. Who wouldn’t be uncomfortable around people as violent as we had turned out to be?</p><p></p><p>208-1080</p><p></p><p>We jumped to Wardn. It was the nearest scout base. As soon as we returned to regular space Helena broadcast a request for assistance. When we had plotted the jump we had decided to jump a little farther out than the usual recommended jump-arrival area. The Starport replied asking what the problem was. We reported the nuclear weapons and the prisoners and were told to remain in position and wait for instructions. We knew we would have to answer a lot of questions but I didn’t care. The authorities would have to sort it out. The prisoners would have to be either charged with piracy and murder or extradited to the Sword Worlds. Probably the latter as the crime shad been committed against a Sword World base and personnel. Helena said she we had a claim on the ship due to something legal. I didn’t pay attention. </p><p></p><p>We cut our velocity and waited. We were drifting in space for most of a day when we were hailed. We rushed to the bridge to respond. Helena took the comms and I checked sensors. A Midu Agasham class destroyer was approaching with a weapons lock on us, which is enough to make anyone nervous. A destroyer! We were ordered to prepare for boarding, if we started our engines we would be fired on. If we powered our weapons we would be fired on. If we refused docking we would be fired on. We were asked for a crew manifest. We were told to have someone meet a boarding party at our airlock. A pinnace left the Cuirass and manoeuvred adjacent to us. We heard the ring of the docking clamps closing on our ship. The four of us were waiting at the air port, which you will remember is next to the bridge. We were taken aback to see three figures in battle dress, along with another couple of navy personnel. Destroyers don’t typically carry space marines, but this one appeared to. We could see built in laser weapons in the right arm of the battle dress. Their faces were mirrored plasteel which was very intimidating. The regular navy carried cutlases and snub pistols and carbines. A marine - a captain by insignia - led the boarding party. </p><p></p><p>“I am captain Aksel Hensen. I will be conducting an inspection of this vessel and impounding it in the name of the Third Imperium. You are commanded by Imperial law to cooperate in all ways. Please show me to the bridge.” They didn’t wait for a reply. The two other marines stepped forward and we opened the door to the bridge. </p><p></p><p>“Okay Lilly, what’s this all about? Has someone been a naughty girl?” The mirrored plasteel slide up an into the helmet revealing the face of a 40-something man with sharp eye and a nose which had been broken more than once. There was a hint of a smile on his face.</p><p></p><p>Lilly?</p><p></p><p>“Hello Aksel, No, not at all. We’re just trying to do our part as good citizens.” - Vasquez</p><p></p><p>The captain smiled. “Now that’s suspicious.” He frowned. “I have a report that this ship is carrying nuclear weapons. Do you deny it?”</p><p></p><p>“We reported them!” came Helena’s indignant reply.</p><p></p><p>The captain looked at Helena. “So you admit to the possession of illegal weaponry in Imperium space?”</p><p></p><p>“We have nuclear weapons on board but we are not ‘in possession of nuclear weapons’. We seized this vessel from pirates on Mithral -“</p><p></p><p>“You stole nuclear missiles from the Sword World?” </p><p></p><p>“How dare you make such an accusation, we are Imperial citizens!”</p><p></p><p>Captain Hensen looked Helena up and down. She was visibly bristling. He turned back to Vasquez.</p><p></p><p>“You always did like the pretty ones, Lilly, but I think you should try to find ones who have more than looks. You need to explain what’s going on here to your <em>cough</em> ship-mate.” </p><p></p><p>Even in such a serious situation myself, Vasquez and Peter all had to stifle laughter at this. I turned away, looking forward to the outcome. Helena drew herself up to her full height and said, “My name is her Ladyship, Sir Helena Rhoanion of Rhylanor, Daughter of Count Rhoanion. I would enquire as to your lineage but I doubt you ever met your father.” </p><p></p><p>The captain stood up to this quite well, I thought. The smirk left his face and he inclined his head slightly and said, with a formality which had bee missing to this point, “Ma’am, please accept my apologies. I should have recognised good breeding when I saw it. I did in fact know my father, and you will appreciate hearing that he will be suitably angry with me when he hears of this meeting. I must state that despite the good will I have for the Imperial Nobility there have been more than one of your social standing who have, shall we say, made poor decisions. I will conduct my enquiry respectfully but nonetheless fully. I have orders to impound this ship and arrest the crew. You will be taken into custardy where you will be treated with the dignity afforded to you by your rank. You rank, however, will not influence me in the pursuit of my duty.” </p><p></p><p>Helena gave short nod in reply and the captain turned back to Vasquez. “Okay, Lilly, tell me what has been going on.”</p><p></p><p>It didn’t take long to explain what had happened on Mithral. We had the data in the ship’s computers, some of which we had managed to decipher, the data chips which were presumably left by the Sword Worlder spy and video footage of both our initial search of the base and our subsequent fights. None of this was going to stop us from being arrested but it should prove our innocence. The captain appeared pleased that we had evidence which corroborated our story. We also had the support of the Bothildrs and Katrin (and presumably Egil, when he was revived). The captain called the destroyer and requested that the ship’s doctor come aboard. He asked us to show him the nukes. </p><p></p><p>“And just in case any of you - “ started captain Hensen</p><p></p><p>“Yes, we know” interrupted Vasquez irritably.</p><p></p><p>“As long as we understand each other.”</p><p></p><p>We showed him the missiles which we suspected were nukes, the prisoners and, when the doctor came aboard, the wounded in the low berths. A crew was sent over and we were taken into custody and taken to the destroyer. As captain Hensen had said, we were treated curiously. I suspect this was as much due to the presence of “Lilly” as much as that of a noble. It turned out that Vasquez’s unit had served along side Captain Hensen’s and he had promoted her to full lieutenant some time ago. The thing which apparently ” …we knew” was that the destroyer was monitoring boarding parties vitals and if they died they would fire on our ship with the intension of completely destroying it. </p><p></p><p>On docking at Wardn’s scout base they separated us and put us in holding cells. I think Helena might have been given different accommodation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ptolemy, post: 9273829, member: 1412"] [B]The Adventures of Polybius Comnenus II[/B] The week in jump was not a comfortable one. We had prisoners and they needed to be guarded, fed and looked after to a basic degree. We had ten staterooms and some of them must have been the rooms of people we killed. They were murderers and who knows what else, but that didn’t mean we were insensitive to having killed them. They all had histories, had suffered and known joys. Whatever they had done with their lives didn’t stop them from being people. We all felt uncomfortable in the rooms were occupied. We just piled belongings in one room and moved ourselves into the now empty ones. I tried to distract my thoughts anyway I could, the meditations I practise to strengthen my psionics, studying brokerage, working out, familiarising myself with the vessel. We all all kept busy and tried to avoid talking about what had happened on Mithral. The ship was well maintained and capable. It had two triple pop-up turrets. One had powerful particle beam barrels and the other combined a missile launcher, a sand caster and a beam laser. The missiles turned out to be a problem. Out of the twelve on board we identified five as having nuclear warheads, which, as you know, are strictly illegal in the Imperium. We spent time going through data files and found a cache of encrypted files which we assumed the Imperial authorities would be interested in. The ship was capable of 5G acceleration and could jump two parsecs. Its hull was clearly designed to have stealth capabilities. It was, all-in-all, a very nice ship. Probably made for a sinister market. We also had a small arsenal of side arms: the two laser sniper rifles, a dozen auto-rifles of Sword World manufacture, a couple of SMGs and an MG, along with more auto-pistols than I bothered to count. We found a nearly full crate of stun grenades and another of tranq. grenades. There were four shotguns and six snub pistols in the ship’s locker. The ship’s locker was the typical mess of equipment. We counted fourteen vacc. suits, but they weren’t as good as the ones we had left behind on Mithral. We were all exhausted and more than a little unsettled when we left and had only collected personal effects from Highndry. The hold was empty apart from a couple of cargo containers. We took our time leaving the gravity well of Mithral so we could get a feel for the ship. We also put extra time into plotting the jump and making sure the J-drives were operational. We didn’t really take the time to familiarise ourselves with the ship properly because we wanted to be away. Eric and Myntelle spent most of the time with their kids. I think they were weary around us after witnessing the fight on the screen in the ATV. At least I thoughts so. Who wouldn’t be uncomfortable around people as violent as we had turned out to be? 208-1080 We jumped to Wardn. It was the nearest scout base. As soon as we returned to regular space Helena broadcast a request for assistance. When we had plotted the jump we had decided to jump a little farther out than the usual recommended jump-arrival area. The Starport replied asking what the problem was. We reported the nuclear weapons and the prisoners and were told to remain in position and wait for instructions. We knew we would have to answer a lot of questions but I didn’t care. The authorities would have to sort it out. The prisoners would have to be either charged with piracy and murder or extradited to the Sword Worlds. Probably the latter as the crime shad been committed against a Sword World base and personnel. Helena said she we had a claim on the ship due to something legal. I didn’t pay attention. We cut our velocity and waited. We were drifting in space for most of a day when we were hailed. We rushed to the bridge to respond. Helena took the comms and I checked sensors. A Midu Agasham class destroyer was approaching with a weapons lock on us, which is enough to make anyone nervous. A destroyer! We were ordered to prepare for boarding, if we started our engines we would be fired on. If we powered our weapons we would be fired on. If we refused docking we would be fired on. We were asked for a crew manifest. We were told to have someone meet a boarding party at our airlock. A pinnace left the Cuirass and manoeuvred adjacent to us. We heard the ring of the docking clamps closing on our ship. The four of us were waiting at the air port, which you will remember is next to the bridge. We were taken aback to see three figures in battle dress, along with another couple of navy personnel. Destroyers don’t typically carry space marines, but this one appeared to. We could see built in laser weapons in the right arm of the battle dress. Their faces were mirrored plasteel which was very intimidating. The regular navy carried cutlases and snub pistols and carbines. A marine - a captain by insignia - led the boarding party. “I am captain Aksel Hensen. I will be conducting an inspection of this vessel and impounding it in the name of the Third Imperium. You are commanded by Imperial law to cooperate in all ways. Please show me to the bridge.” They didn’t wait for a reply. The two other marines stepped forward and we opened the door to the bridge. “Okay Lilly, what’s this all about? Has someone been a naughty girl?” The mirrored plasteel slide up an into the helmet revealing the face of a 40-something man with sharp eye and a nose which had been broken more than once. There was a hint of a smile on his face. Lilly? “Hello Aksel, No, not at all. We’re just trying to do our part as good citizens.” - Vasquez The captain smiled. “Now that’s suspicious.” He frowned. “I have a report that this ship is carrying nuclear weapons. Do you deny it?” “We reported them!” came Helena’s indignant reply. The captain looked at Helena. “So you admit to the possession of illegal weaponry in Imperium space?” “We have nuclear weapons on board but we are not ‘in possession of nuclear weapons’. We seized this vessel from pirates on Mithral -“ “You stole nuclear missiles from the Sword World?” “How dare you make such an accusation, we are Imperial citizens!” Captain Hensen looked Helena up and down. She was visibly bristling. He turned back to Vasquez. “You always did like the pretty ones, Lilly, but I think you should try to find ones who have more than looks. You need to explain what’s going on here to your [I]cough[/I] ship-mate.” Even in such a serious situation myself, Vasquez and Peter all had to stifle laughter at this. I turned away, looking forward to the outcome. Helena drew herself up to her full height and said, “My name is her Ladyship, Sir Helena Rhoanion of Rhylanor, Daughter of Count Rhoanion. I would enquire as to your lineage but I doubt you ever met your father.” The captain stood up to this quite well, I thought. The smirk left his face and he inclined his head slightly and said, with a formality which had bee missing to this point, “Ma’am, please accept my apologies. I should have recognised good breeding when I saw it. I did in fact know my father, and you will appreciate hearing that he will be suitably angry with me when he hears of this meeting. I must state that despite the good will I have for the Imperial Nobility there have been more than one of your social standing who have, shall we say, made poor decisions. I will conduct my enquiry respectfully but nonetheless fully. I have orders to impound this ship and arrest the crew. You will be taken into custardy where you will be treated with the dignity afforded to you by your rank. You rank, however, will not influence me in the pursuit of my duty.” Helena gave short nod in reply and the captain turned back to Vasquez. “Okay, Lilly, tell me what has been going on.” It didn’t take long to explain what had happened on Mithral. We had the data in the ship’s computers, some of which we had managed to decipher, the data chips which were presumably left by the Sword Worlder spy and video footage of both our initial search of the base and our subsequent fights. None of this was going to stop us from being arrested but it should prove our innocence. The captain appeared pleased that we had evidence which corroborated our story. We also had the support of the Bothildrs and Katrin (and presumably Egil, when he was revived). The captain called the destroyer and requested that the ship’s doctor come aboard. He asked us to show him the nukes. “And just in case any of you - “ started captain Hensen “Yes, we know” interrupted Vasquez irritably. “As long as we understand each other.” We showed him the missiles which we suspected were nukes, the prisoners and, when the doctor came aboard, the wounded in the low berths. A crew was sent over and we were taken into custody and taken to the destroyer. As captain Hensen had said, we were treated curiously. I suspect this was as much due to the presence of “Lilly” as much as that of a noble. It turned out that Vasquez’s unit had served along side Captain Hensen’s and he had promoted her to full lieutenant some time ago. The thing which apparently ” …we knew” was that the destroyer was monitoring boarding parties vitals and if they died they would fire on our ship with the intension of completely destroying it. On docking at Wardn’s scout base they separated us and put us in holding cells. I think Helena might have been given different accommodation. [/QUOTE]
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