Traveller Campaign

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My narrative of the perils of Brenda was put under "chat and news", and I thought it better to continue on a new thread under "batreps". The original thread is here
                                                                                                                                                 
Those expecting the Warspite's landing to be distressing would have been disappointed. Alex's expert piloting had bled height over a number of orbits, and the time was well used in picking out a suitable landing spot. For the final approach, the crew were wearing environment suits and securely strapped into chairs on the bridge.

Alex was at the controls, Lydia and York handling sensors and mapping the ground beneath them. Sean and Quillam fretted over engineering and damage monitors, worrying as the fuel tanks emptied steadily through damage or as Alex used the engines to adjust the ship to a safe landing.

Smita looked a little panicked, probably as it was her first unorthodox landing, and Alison fussed over her, trying to distract the younger woman's attention by suggesting meditation or mindfulness exercises. Janine's attention was firmly on the screen she held in her hand, probably catching up on medical journals. She was as afraid as Smita, but there was nothing she could do to help, so she put her trust in Alex and the Warspite and distracted herself with her reading.

At the back of the bridge, Rowan and Alder sat in combat armour. Each carried a veritable armoury, and strapped to their chairs were packs of emergency supplies. "Better to have than to want" was their mantra.

The Warspite crew on the bridge. The pink chair is Lydia's

A bump, and a scrape and they were down. Alex switched off the engines and silence descended.

"Is that it?" Asked Janine, apparently disappointed by the soft landing. Alex blew out a long breath. York patted him on the shoulder and murmured "well done".
 
Rowan and Alder unstrapped themselves and made for the exit. Nobody commented, for they knew that they were now in the twins' element. They would be going to reconnoitre the area. Ship's sensors were fine, but nothing beat the boots on the ground.

Smita unscrewed her eyes and allowed herself to breathe. She screamed.
"Look at my chest!"  Quillam slapped the back of Sean's head to make sure he was not distracted by the invitation, and led him off to inspect the damaged engines.

Smita's body glowed green in patches. She raised her hands which glowed green. She ripped off the gloves and was horrified to see that the glow came not from her suit, but from her body. Janine was by her instantly, checking life signs from the suit's displays, holding and peering at the glowing hands, and simultaneously analysing the atmosphere for biological contagion.

The glow was slowly increasing, slowly engulfing Smita's forearms and up to her neck.
"I can't see anything wrong with you." Janine looked at York " Could this be mechanical in some way? Radiation? " Smita mewed her fear. York shook his head.
"No radiation spills, besides which I don't know any ..." he saw the girl's frightened face ".. thing that would make a body glow that way."

"And yet ..." put in Lydia "... it's not unique here." Her nimble fingers flashed over her console, as she pulled up a series of images.
"I caught these when scanning the ground. You can see a number of bipeds on this planet – I would go so far as to say humans or near humans, it's a bit difficult to say. Anyway you can see here " she pointed to an image " .., and here ..." she pointed to another "... there are people who have parts of their body glowing. In these cases, it's their hands, but it doesn't look as if they're carrying a torch or lantern."

 Janine cocked her head. "Not physical,  not environmental ..." she looked at York.
"Psionic?" He asked. Janine did not respond, but chewed her lip. York knelt in front of Smita, who was scrubbing at her hands, trying to to remove the green glow.
"Have you ever been tested for psionics?" he asked gently. The young woman looked confused, then perplexed, and then explosively angry.
"I ... am ... not ... a ... monster!" Each word was angrier than the last. She pushed at York, who flew across the bridge to clatter into the emergency stores cabinet.

"Do you mind?" was all the reaction from Alex. York picked himself out of the dented cabinet, gingerly checking for broken bones. There were none, but he was sure that his back would be badly bruised. If he was looking for sympathy he got none. Janine was bent over Smita, excitedly examining the girl's hand. Alison held the other and glared at York. Smita looked at him through tear filled eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry" she repeated, rocking backwards and forwards.

"Evidence for my thesis." Janine mused. "Possibly a manifestation of psionic ... shall we call it energy? It accumulates until released – see the glow has receded." York experimentally rotated his shoulder, wincing.

"I'm OK" he said to Smita. "It's OK. It wasn't your fault." 
"Of course it wasn't!" snapped Alison.

"You know what's odd?" Lydia had drawn her knees up to her chin, and sat with her arms around them.
"A member of the crew has glowing green patches and has just thrown me into a cupboard?" asked York, hopefully, Lydia scowled slightly.

"That too. I was wondering why a low tech planet with struggling human inhabitants has been declared a red zone." She span the chair through a full circle. "It's almost as if they've been ... abandoned." She propelled the chair through another rotation. "Why would the Imperium abandon humans?" She made to spin the chair again, but York put a heavy hand on the arm, arresting the motion. Lydia looked up at him, a bright smile on her face.

"Psionics." She said. "Who better to dump on a remote planet than psionics?"
"Psionic gulag?" he asked.
"Possibly. There could be all sorts of reasons." York wished the Warspite was in contact with the Imperium network so he could do some digging, but the nearest relay was weeks away. He looked at Janine, who was still fussing over Smita.

"Is this planet making Smita psionic – triggering something?" Janine stood, pressing her hands into the small of her back which suddenly ached. She shook her head.

"I can't say for certain, I'm not sure, but I don't think so. I think there's something that makes psionic ... energy glow, but I don't know what." She looked down at Alison. "I have some basic exercises that can be done to focus the energy. Not control it, but ..contain it. "   
"That may help." Alison smiled down at Smita. "You are not a monster. Psionics are a natural human trait, whatever the Imperium thinks."
"It is what I have been told from an early age." Smita stood, and moved to face York. He noticed that her glow had noticeably lessened. She looked up at him solemnly. "I am sorry to have thrown you across the room." She bowed her head slightly. "It was not my intention."

York reached out to pat her shoulder, but as her head came up, he changed the movement to stroke his beard.
"You're not a monster. You have nothing to apologise for." Smita bowed her head, and left the bridge, followed by Alison and Janine.

York looked at Lydia, who was staring intently at him, fingers pressed to her temples.
"What are you doing?" he asked, politely.
"If Smita has psi powers, maybe I do too. I'm trying to communicate with you telepathically."  She shook her head. "No. You have nothing in that skull." York laughed, but was acutely conscious that he had felt something tickling the back of his brain.

The crew muster outside the ship

The shore party dressed for Brenda

GM's note. For those of you of a Traveller bent, Alex passed a 'very difficult' task, aided by Lydia on sensors and Quillam on engineering.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Brilliant

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Arturius woke when Balinda gently kicked him in the ribs. He opened his eyes.
"Where's Damon?" She asked. Arturius knew she was asking for him to search for Damon using his mind. He concentrated, frowning, then shook his head.
"Not here." Balinda swore.
"Go find him. Take Armin." Armin was the scout, expert in reading physical signs on the ground. Arturius nodded, then took his spear and went to collect Armin.

Arturius and Armin took turns. Arturius searched for life with his mind; then Armin would look for physical signs. After several hours, they had both drawn blanks, no sign of the missing Damon. 

"Let's go to the top of that rise, then call it a day."  Armin said, scratching his sparse beard. Arturius nodded and trudged up the gentle slope behind the scout. As they topped the rise, he became aware of two figures standing  on the reverse slope.

"Not human, not ip." Armin looked around nervously. The two figures were taller than the run-of-the-mill ip, with features more goat-like than the ip's. Indeed both of the still figures sported magnificent curled horns on their head.
"Are those spears white metal?" asked Arturius.
"I think so – though they're blackened – I don't know."
"Let's go back – tell Ballinda what we have seen."

Armin did not respond, but gave a sound like a disappointed sigh as a long blade appeared through his chest. Arturius gaped, looking in horror at the fountaining blood.  He didn't even feel the blade that penetrated his chest and took his life.

Stealthy not-ips creeping up on the human party.


GM Note. Well that's a bit of a bugger.  Although I haven't got a specific plan for what happens in this campaign, I was planning for Arturius to meet the Warspite crew. Regrettably that isn't going to happen now.

Armin and Arturius both failed to notice the two not-ip's creeping up behind them. The initial strikes wiped out both Human END, and did significant damage to the DEX.

I could have continued for another round, but that would have been pointless. Better a swift demise.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Ouch! 
Reminds us Brenda is not a happy, fluffy, place to dwell.

[Techno 3]

Great stuff, Nobby.