Traveller T20: Tales of the Bray Keaven [Updated 12-20-05]

[Shadowdancer]

The holiday quartet decides that a speedier departure from Kingan is wiser than a delayed departure. The group hurriedly pools information that they remember about the border crossing.

Ian seems to recall that the one person who left King George’s Land while they were at the border station received a minimal documents inspection, and their car was not searched. The border crossing is about an hour from the hotel and 45 minutes from the outskirts of Kingan. The area near the border is mostly agricultural in nature with a collection of small and medium sized farms with a number of small dirt roads branching off from the main highway and heading out of sight. The border itself appears to be comprised of two parallel metal link fences about 20 meters apart (one on each side of the border), at least within eyesight of the border crossing. Ian does remember noting paramilitary border guards in the area of the border crossing itself and a couple of lightly armed hovercraft parked in the guard station area.

Ian’s suggestion that the crew contact the Bray Keaven sounds like a good one to the others. Swann suggests that Vasilii should be the one to contact the Bray Keaven while the others prepare to depart. "In case anyone monitors the transmission, it will be more in keeping with our cover. Just don’t give away too much, in case the transmission is being monitored."

-----​

Vasilii sits down at the comm panel and opens a long-distance channel to the Bray Keaven. He sits stiffly in front of the video unit and talks in a modulated tone.

Marcus answers his call. "Bray Keaven, Captain Argent speaking."

"Ah, Captain. Trader Vasilii Matahara here. I wanted to let you know that we’ve concluded our trade mission here and will be looking to leave as soon as possible. I have instructed my personnel to be ready for departure as soon as possible.

"I have a request. En route here, we stopped at a little town called Neilsen, I believe. I saw some very fine local art there and am looking to purchase it. Unfortunately, our vehicle will be quite loaded with the items we’ve acquired here. Would it be possible for you to meet us for pickup? I would be most happy to compensate you for your trouble."

"I think we can arrange the proper compensation, Mr. Matahara," Marcus says, playing along with Vasilii’s formality. "We can negotiate arrangements when we arrive. When would you like us to be there?"

"We’ll be leaving here in about an hour, which will put us at the border an hour and a half after that."

Vasilii pauses for a second, fixing Marcus with an intent gaze. "I hope you understand the gravity of our trade mission here. It is imperative that my mission gets our samples back. Time is of the essence, so please be on time."

Vasilii leans back, giving Marcus a languid wave. "My corporation is most interested in off-world trade. These trade samples represent millions of Imperial credits and could be the key to establishing a prosperous trade route with this world. Please forgive me if I seem a little intent on the subject, I’m just eager to get headed back home. As your Mr. Darishun would say, ‘Uuaariirihirare ira raa rkher aauun deuikeshiairaa.’ ("Meet us at border, be prepared" in Vilani).

"Well, if there isn’t anything else I’ll be signing off. I look forward to seeing you again, Captain. I’m sure my assistant will be pleased to be back onboard, he says your cargo area makes a wonderful acoustic chamber."

"I’m sure he does," Marcus says, tempted to look for his earmuffs on the trip out. "I’ll file my flight plan and be out there as soon as possible. Bray Keaven out."

When the signal goes dead, Argent turns to the rest of the crew. "Suit up, people. We need to meet Vasilii at the border in an hour. Martha, get your babies fired up."

With that, Marcus heads for the bridge.

-----​

Vasilii disconnects the comm line and leans back, a small sigh escaping him as he realizes that they’re committed now.

"Mr. Middleston, if you would be so kind as to start the packing. I think we can be out of here within the hour."

"That would be prudent," Saro says. "I’ll hurry."

-----​

While Vasilii is contacting the Bray Keaven, Ian heads downstairs for a little walk around the hotel. The man that he saw the previous night is now sitting by himself and using a laptop of some sort. The middle–aged brunette that he was chatting with earlier is nowhere in sight. A walk around the grounds of the hotel reveals nothing of note except that there appears to be a mid–sized non–descript neutral–color car (favored by surveillance teams everywhere) with a man in his 30s in the driver’s seat parked with a clear line of sight to the hotel lobby entrance and the Amadel. The location and the general scene just screams surveillance to Ian’s counter–intelligence–trained eye. On the other hand, the donut truck is nowhere in sight.

-----​

Saro packs as fast as he can, placing two cans of soda inside his baliset. Swann suggests to the Doctor that he cushion each can of soda by using a pair of socks — can inside one sock, then both placed inside another sock — before placing it inside his musical instrument.

Swann takes two cans of soda and places each inside a small plastic bag. He also puts a small amount of lukewarm tap water into each bag — from 1/8 to 1/4 of a cup. Then he sucks out as much excess air from each bag as he can before sealing it. He also places the laptop inside a large plastic bag and sucks out as much excess air as he can.

The cans of soda go into the new carry bag first, lying flat in the bottom of the storage compartment, and placed end to end. Then Swann fills out the space around the cans and on top with some socks to give some cushion between the cans and the laptop. He places a black T-shirt over the cans and socks, tucking in the edges all around, making the bottom as flat and even as possible. Then he places the laptop into the storage compartment.

Lastly, he places any other computer accessories and peripherals he has into the other storage compartments and pockets in the carry bag.

What Swann is trying to accomplish here is two-fold. First, he’s hoping to create a secure, hidden "nest" for the soda cans that upon a cursory inspection will just look like the bottom of the storage compartment. Secondly, if a search does turn up the cans, he is laying the groundwork for an attempt to bluff the guards. He just hopes none of them are very knowledgeable about laptop computers.

Swann asks the others for their advice on something. "When we get to the border, if we have to leave the car as we did before, should I take the laptop and carrying case inside the guard station with us, or leave it in the car? Taking it in might prompt a search of the bag that it might not receive in the car. But taking it in keeps it in my control, and might seem more ‘in character’ for a member of a business mission."

The consensus opinion is to leave it in the car.

Vasilii does a quick check of the giveaway cans. Two are inside a case of sodas in the Amadel. Two are hidden in the vehicles’ wheelwells. Two are inside Saro’s baliset, and two more are in Swann’s computer case.

Vasilii takes a pill bottle from his toiletry kit and shakes out all the pills. He then fills it with contents from a can of King Sour. He repacks the toiletry kit in his luggage.

Vasilii takes the last can and packs it in the sandstone vase he bought. He takes a lot of care to pad it so it doesn’t destroy the vase and repacks the vase with "fragile" markings.

Ian will pour some of the cola from the opened can into an empty screw–top cola bottle (after rinsing it out) and reseal it. He will leave it in the seat of the car next to him.

Vasilii collects his things and helps the others carry the items down to the Amadel. In the packing of the vehicle, Vasilii manages to put the long–range communicator in the passenger section. Also, he conceals a snub pistol and flak jacket there as well, in addition to the body pistol tucked inside the waist of his pants.

The holiday group hurriedly packs up their belongings and prepares to exit the hotel. Saro, Swann, and Ian pack the Amadel while Vasilii checks out of the hotel. The bill for three nights is 3000 KGLP. Saro has his auto pistol in a shoulder holster beneath his suit coat. Ian, also sitting in the front seat, keeps his gauss pistol and spare clips within reach. Swann keeps his body pistol and auto pistol with him in the back seat, and places his flak vest and submachine gun beneath the seat in front of him.

After checking out, Vasilii rejoins the rest of the group, and they drive off towards the border. The car that Ian thinks is a surveillance unit doesn't follow them, but Swann quickly picks up a non–descript neutral–colored hover car that seems to be trailing them. Just for fun, Swann tells Saro to take an exit and stop at a convenience store where he goes inside to grab a couple of snacks.

While they are stopped, Ian grabs his combat suit out of the trunk and climbs back in the car. He dons the suit as best as he is able in the confines of the car.

The hover car keeps on going, but shortly thereafter the ground car that Ian spotted earlier pulls into a fast food place across the street from the convenience store. Inside are the driver that Ian spotted earlier and the man that Ian saw in the hotel lobby on the laptop. Saro returns the Amadel to the freeway, and shortly afterward, Swann spies the original hover car following them a discrete distance behind.

As the city fades behind the Amadel, the ground car now joins the hover car, and the ground car appears to be accelerating to close the distance to the Amadel and come along side. The highway here has two lanes in either direction with a wide dirt median separating the sets of lanes. There are dirt roads that branch off and head to the various farms/fields that line the highway.

Swann observes the ground car speeding up to come along side the Amadel. "Looks like our ‘friends’ don’t want us to leave so soon," he says as he starts to pull out his flak jacket. "I wonder if we can get the Bray Keaven to land on the road ahead, and we just drive up the cargo ramp?"

Vasilii turns and looks at the ground car, his eyes widening a little. "Oh, you’d think we were in a race or something."

Vasilii wrestles his flak jacket on, making sure it's securely fastened. After that, he pulls the long-range communicator over next to him.

 

[Pyske]

*screech* *crash* Eric abruptly encounters the end of the thread.

Thank for posting this; it made an entertaining read.

. . . . . . . -- Eric

 

[Fade]

Out of interest, how far behind are we on the actual play now? Way back on page 2 you mentioned that you'd just got up to the second storage compartment in play, which we haven't reached in the story yet.

Oh, and thanks for posting this. Good fun.

 

[Fade]

Just wondering, why did the starting character levels vary from 3 to 10? Didn't you have some problems with that kind of capability variation?

 

[vutpakdi]

Out of interest, how far behind are we on the actual play now? Way back on page 2 you mentioned that you'd just got up to the second storage compartment in play, which we haven't reached in the story yet.

The events that Shadowdancer is recounting occurred about a year ago (realtime). The second storage compartment shows up in the story a couple of months (realtime) from the events that are happening now in the story.

Oh, and thanks for posting this. Good fun.

I'm enjoying Shadowdancer's compilation of the thread too: brings back fond memories.

Just wondering, why did the starting character levels vary from 3 to 10? Didn't you have some problems with that kind of capability variation?

That's how the original players rolled up the characters. Martha was rolled up as the original GM's NPC/PC. Vasilii got drummed out of the Merchants after only a term or two.

The variation of character level hasn't caused any problems, except for with Vargas who was, for quite a while, the ultimate jack of all trades, master of none (could do quite a few things, nothing particularly well), but that was mostly because of the way the character's skills were chosen.

Ron

 

[Shadowdancer]

Glad to see people are enjoying the story hour. And thanks, Ron, for catching the questions.


The story hour is on the verge of the incident which first led me to consider doing the story hour. At the time, things were happening in the game that caused me to think, "This is some really cool stuff. Other people should be reading this."

We have had other incidents since then, incidents that make me think, "This is like something out of a movie."

 

[Shadowdancer]

Chapter XXXV​

Date: 125 and 126-993​

Place: Medway, Bromley, Alief

The morning of the 125th finds Marcus and Martha trying to arrange for the equipment and supplies needed to repair the Bray Keaven. Major Eckels and Lt. Col. Billings are both very helpful, and by the early afternoon Martha has the supplies and equipment that she needs to get started as thanks for the work the Bray Keaven has done, and the entire crew pitches in to help (as much as they can and as much as Martha will allow) under her direction. Darishun does try to encourage Emile to restrict himself to light duty in order to aid recovery from his wounds.​

During a break, Marcus checks on the status of the evacuees from yesterday’s pickup. The family does seem to have been exposed to the rabbit hemorrhagic virus and survived, but the mother and children have not contracted AHV. However, the attack by the crazies has also exposed Eddie Boise to AHV, and he is not expected to last the day.​

Marcus talks to Lt. Col. Billings about other pickups. Given what has happened on the other pickups, the lieutenant colonel is hesitant to suggest that the ship endanger itself with other pickups. Given that Martha is working away on the hull, Marcus decides to take a break for a couple of days.​

-----​

By around 1130 on the morning of the 126th, Martha has the understructure of the crumpled section back into shape. She still needs to meld the alloy and repair the jump grid, but she says that the handling should be improved, if not quite back to normal yet.​

A break for lunch finds the crew gathered in the crew lounge, er, ummm, "enjoying" a meal of Marine rations when the comm chimes.​

Marcus steps over to the nearest comm panel and answers the hail. "Bray Keaven, Captain Argent speaking," he announces.​

It is Vasilii, calling from the hotel in Kingan, requesting the Bray Keaven meet the holiday group in Nielsen.​

-----​

When the signal goes dead, Argent turns to the rest of the group. "Suit up, people. We need to meet Vasilii at the border in an hour. Martha, get your babies fired up."​

With that, Marcus heads for the bridge. Vargas follows Argent to the bridge. "Let’s hope this is easier than our last pick up."​

Martha quickly heads down to engineering, and runs all her pre-flight diagnostics. Once they are complete, Martha runs outside to get the work crew and repair supplies moved away from the partially repaired section of the Bray Keaven as well as bring her tools back inside. The rest of the ship’s crew dons their vacc suits and get into position.​

Marcus contacts Lt. Col. Billings and clears the ship’s departure with the Bromlian military. Luckily, Lt. Col. Billings does know about the holiday group's foray into KGL and clears the departure through with a minimum amount of information exchange and fuss.​

Shortly afterward, the far trader lifts off from the airport and heads towards Nielsen.​

 

[Shadowdancer]

Date: 126-993​

Place: Nielsen Military Airbase, Bromley, near the KGL border​

The Bray Keaven is hot-parked at the military airport in Nielsen. Marcus notices a comm signal from Vasilii’s communicator."Argent here, what’s going on, Vasilii?"

"Captain, we're about 30 minutes from the border on the highway from Kingan to the border. We have two vehicles following us, a hover car and a ground car. The ground car is starting to overtake us and Mr. McConnell and Mr. Hellinic are preparing for hostilities.

"What’s your position and how fast can you get to the border?"

"I think we can be overhead in about 5-10 minutes with some firepower," Marcus says, already keying up a flight plan to take the Bray Keaven right over the border crossing. "Can you hold out that long?"

Leaning over to Vargas, he adds, "Contact the local military C.O. and ask them to warn their border patrol that we’ll be screaming past them in a few minutes. Drop Lt. Col. Billings’ name if you have to."

"Got it," replies the former Scout, who immediately dials up the proper frequency. "Bray Keaven to regional military HQ. Under Imperial authority, in response to current emergency situation, advise that this ship will be undertaking urgent humanitarian operations shortly and possibly at reduced altitude. Over."

"Be advised that hostilities have not begun yet," Vasilii says. "We are probably two minutes flight time for you past the border. Is there any chance you could do a ‘hot’ pickup? You know, like dropping the ramp and letting us drive right up in there?"

"You just aren’t going to make this easy, are you?" Marcus quips. "We’ll see what we can do, Vasilii. Keep your channel open."

As soon as Vasilii explains the situation, Marcus lifts the Bray Keaven off of the tarmac at the Nielsen Military Airbase and starts rocketing (as much as a far trader can rocket) towards the border and the highway to Kingan.

Meanwhile, Vargas quickly tries to warn the local military commander (Col. Marks) about the situation. Luckily, Lt. Col. Billings and Col. Rundell have already spoken with Col. Marks. Col. Marks says that he'll scramble a couple of Bromlian fighters, but they will only respond to intrusions of Bromlian airspace by KGL craft.

Back in engineering, Martha listens to the comm traffic while trying to prepare the ship as best she can for the possible conflict ahead. She says her silent prayers to Saint Elvis and wonders what the holiday party did that drew this down upon them.

-----​

About a minute from the airbase, the ship receives a transmission from King George’s Land: "Imperial merchant. Please be aware that you are not authorized to enter King George’s Land airspace. Any intrusion will be regarded as a hostile act, and your ship will be forced down."

As he overhears the Kingan military warning, the captain mutters, "Tell those gits to get stuffed, Emile."

"Oh I have already, I just did it in a bureaucratic dialect I picked up over the years. However . . . ," Vargas punches the transmit switch again. "Repeating, this is Bray Keaven operating by order of the Emperor himself. We do not require escort. Keep this airspace clear. If you cannot do it, Imperial representatives will. Keaven out."

The former Scout flips the comm off and looks to Argent. "Sure, a little dramatic license, but I thought it sounded pretty good."

-----​

Another transmission from Vasilii comes in. "Captain, we are now engaged in hostilities. We have two vehicles here, and we are running for the border."

Marcus nods grimly. "Hold ’em off as best you can; we’re coming over the border now." Argent attempts to coax everything he can out of the engines as he skims above the highway."Emile, be ready to engage any Kingan military aircraft," he adds.

"Roger that, charging guns," he replies in a much more serious tone.

The Bray Keaven streaks towards the border with King George’s Land. Marcus spares a glance at the sensor read out and spies what may be two KGL fighters approaching from the northwest. They will probably be within 30km of the Bray Keaven by the time the far trader crosses the border.

-----​

Vargas receives a comm from the fighters. "Imperial Merchant. This is Bat Alpha. Cross the border and we will fire upon you. You are not authorized to enter KGL. Repeat. Cross the border and we will open fire."

"Bat Alpha, this is Bray Keaven," Vargas replies. "Although we are on Imperial business, we do not require escort at this time. I’m sure if you check with higher authorities they have something more pressing for you to do. We appreciate the gesture though." Using passive sensors only, Vargas begins hunting for any kind of signature from the fighters.

Meanwhile, Martha waits in engineering and monitors the various radio wavebands being used by these TL8 fighters in the hopes of locking down the ranges she’ll need to jam at the Captain’s orders, both weapon’s sensors and communications.

Darishun is waiting near the improvised sick bay, but has the interior cargo bay door open so he can rush into the cargo bay and render aid when the holiday party enters.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Chapter XXXVI​

Date: 126-993
Place: The highway between Kingan and the KGL-Bromley border

Vasilii turns and looks at the ground car, his eyes widening a little. "Oh, you’d think we were in a race or something."

Vasilii wrestles his flak jacket on, making sure it's securely fastened. After that, he pulls the long-range communicator over next to him.

"Well gentlemen," Saro pats the pocket of his suit and seems to be searching for something. "Damn! Forgot them. Can I borrow sunglasses from someone?"

It’s difficult to tell, but the surgeon’s cool demeanor is just a facade and he really is very nervous.

"I guess this is when those safe driving courses pay off. Given what we know about the ruthlessness of KGL I'd say that if we stop we are goners. I like the idea of calling in the Bray Keaven to pick us up in KGL and we just keep driving. Any other options, and does anyone see any weapons on that hover car?"

Swann says to Saro, "Doc, get in the right-hand lane so they can’t pull alongside on your side. And stay in that lane. Vasilii, I suggest you get in the floorboard behind Doc, and keep your head down."

Vasilii switches sides with Swann, but doesn’t want to get in the floorboard. When the switch is concluded, Vasilii uses the long–range communicator to contact the Bray Keaven at the airport in Nielsen to report the situation.

-----​

After Vasilii moves, Swann takes his place on the other side of the car, slumping low so he can just see over the door of the Amadel. He takes his auto pistol out, makes sure it’s loaded, and places the five spare clips inside a handy pocket.

Ian pulls out his gauss pistol and preps it for action, making sure his three extra clips are easily accessible, then slumps down in the seat. He rolls down the window in preparation for the ensuing firefight that looks about to begin.

"Ian, when they come alongside, be ready to give them a broadside. Aim for the driver," Swann says.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Ian replies.

After some shuffling, Swann and Ian are now both on the left–hand side of the Amadel. The pursuing ground car almost catches up to the Amadel and tries to come up on the Amadel’s right side, but after a couple of attempts thwarted by Saro’s maneuvers, decides to come up on the left side.

As the ground car catches up, Ian and Swann briefly see the driver starting to make a "pull over" gesture before they open fire. Ian’s shot misses the driver while Swann’s shot strikes the driver in the shoulder. The driver jerks the car to the left and the car drops back dramatically. The driver still appears to be in control though, so it is unclear as to how much damage Swann was able to do.

The hover car is now about 400 m behind and seems to be accelerating. Looking out the back window, Swann sees the ground car passenger pointing a pistol of some sort out the side window of the vehicle.

-----​

Vasilii flinches when the shots ring out, and looks fearfully out the back window at the swerving ground car.

"Captain, we are now engaged in hostilities," he says over the comm. "We have two vehicles here, and we are running for the border. I request you pick us up immediately. It might only be a matter of minutes before reinforcements or military intervention arrives."

Vasilii pulls his snub pistol out and opens his window. He’s watching for any vehicles coming up on the right side.

-----​

"Damn!" Saro accelerates a bit once he sees the other car fall behind. He then concentrates on staying on the road. "Where is the hover car?"

"Hey Doc!" Ian says with a big smirk on his face, "How long’s it been since you put your driving skills through the mill? Looks like the hover car is about 400 meters behind us and is coming up fast."

Ian sets his gauss pistol to shoot four–round bursts to improve his chances to hit.

Saro says over the engine and the wind: "Last time I drove escaping the local authorities while engaging in a firefight with them? Let’s see . . . hmmm . . . This is the first time! I did take various defensive driving courses and have spent extensive time on the road. We’ll see how much I’ve learned and how much I have forgotten."

Then he shuts up and just concentrates on the road.

Swann says, "Doc, please let us know before you make any drastic moves. Vasilii, could you grab that SMG from underneath the seat right in front of you? I may need it."

Swann then sticks his head and arm out the window to fire at the driver of the ground car again. He draws a bead on the driver. After a moment, he fires his autopistol. Amazingly, the shot hits the driver on the side of the neck. "Not wearing any armor there, are you?" Swann mutters to himself.

Ian has to be a little more up and out of the car in order to fire a burst from his gauss pistol (since he and Swann are on the same side of the vehicle). He manages to get a burst off, though the shot is more difficult. The burst punches through the windshield in front of the driver, and there is an explosion of blood and gore. The pursuing ground car suddenly veers off to the left.

"Ohhhh, nice shooting," Swann says.

"Thanks, you’re not too bad yourself!"

Saro sees the car swerve in the rearview mirror and feels somewhat relieved. Once again, he concentrates on trying to maintain distance between the hover car and the Amadel.

"Great shooting! Now just keep an eye on the hover car for me if you will. Turnabout is fair play, after all."

Saro attempts to increase the distance from the hover car, but fails. The hover car closes the distance to 350m.

"Never mind about the submachine gun, I’ll get it myself," Swann says, reaching over to pull the gun from underneath the seat beneath Saro. "Doc, once we get rid of this hover car, look for a farm road we can turn off on and wait for the Bray Keaven. We don’t want to get too close to the border crossing."

Swann checks to make sure a clip is in the SMG, sets the weapon to fire a burst, and checks the location of the hover car. "OK, Ian, let’s take care of this other car. Aim for the driver again if you get a clear shot."

"That’s kinda tough with your big head in my way! Keep it low or you might lose it," Ian says with a grin.

The hover car closes the distance steadily in spite of Saro’s attempts to increase speed. As the distance drops, Swann and Ian can spy the passenger aiming some sort of small arm (a pistol or possibly an SMG) out the window at the Amadel.

As he waits for the hover car to get closer, Swann leaves the SMG’s safety on and points the barrel out the side window, in case Saro hits a bump or something.

When the distance drops to 80m or so, Ian fires. Unfortunately, he misses rather badly. One round actually appears to puncture the Amadel’s trunk.

"Damn good thing Swann didn’t have his head sticking out!" Ian mutters to himself.

The passenger in the hover car appears to fire (at about 80m) and misses.

Just before the range drops to 45m or so, Swann leans out the window, takes
off the weapon’s safety, aims, and fires the SMG. The burst strikes the hover car near the driver, but does not appear to cause any significant damage.

The passenger in the hover car fires a little after Swann does. A couple of rounds hit the Amadel in the trunk area, but none hit near Vasilii or Swann in the back seat.

Ian fires again. This time, his burst strikes the hover car windshield near the driver, and one round appears to hit the driver. The hover car veers off onto the median, and its speed appears to drop a bit.

"Swann, you may want to get on the other side of the car while you have the chance," Ian says.

Vasilii notices that the ground car is now back in pursuit, about 500m away.

Saro notices a constable patrol ground car approaching ahead with its lights flashing. The constable car is about 3km ahead.

"Oh boy," the doctor says. "We’ve got company at 12. Still far but I need to find a side road. Will you gentlemen get ready for a sharp turn and a bumpier ride?

"Where is the Bray Keaven? How far away?"

Vasilii evaluates the situation and then speaks into the comm. "Captain, one of the vehicles was delayed but civil authorities are arriving as reinforcements and will probably try to cut us off. If we’re forced to leave the main highway I’ll try to let you know. My suggestion however is to look for the massive dust cloud that we and the hover car will be making. Listening for the sound of smallarms fire might be a clue as well."

 

[Pyske]

Thanks for the update.

Out of curiosity, how far behind the campaign are we at this point, and how much editing is required to turn the logs / e-mails into what we see?

. . . . . . . -- Eric