Trouble at Amondiage

We missed our usual Friday evening Traveller session last week, due to being down two players. One player has also told us that she will be dropping out long term due to changing life commitments, which takes us down to three players. A reasonable number for a game, but it does mean we may have to cancel more often if one player can’t make it.

There was the usual catch-up from the previous session, with a recap of the planned mission route. There’s a lot of information to take in for the Deepnight Revalation campaign, and the fact that players are asking about things ahead of time will probably make it easier when we get to the points where the knowledge is needed.

Before leaving Rampart, the crew of the Sex Thing pick up some high tech consumer electronics, for sale once they get out of the Imperium. They are expensive devices which will be higher tech than what is available to the smaller nations, but also capable of being used without the need of high tech infrastructure. Whilst loading up the Sex Thing with goods, there is a chance for one of the Travellers to notice what other members of the crew are up to, but it’s missed due to a low roll. It was nothing important, but just a bit of flavour that will probably come up at some point.

The ship leaves Rampart and heads towards the Islands, and I let people know what the mission objectives were for the journey across the Reft – part testing out the ship, part flying the flag for the Imperium.

Amondiage
You are to head to Amondiage Star Port and refuel there, the government is expecting you so sufficient fuel should be on hand, though it will need to be paid for. Given the amount of fuel, our agreement to buy it from them is as much a political statement as a practical issue. There may be a diplomatic function required, if so you should attend, be polite, and represent the technological might, friendship and trade opportunities that strong ties to the Imperium brings.

This is partly a diplomatic tour, but also an opportunity to remind the Island powers that the Imperium has military and technological might that they don’t want to push too far, without making it look like that we’re showing off our military capability.

New Home
There are no plans for New Home, and there has been no response from the government there other than an acknowledgement that the Deepnight Revelation will be passing through. As such, it is recommended that refuelling is done at the gas giant there.

Neubayern
Given the help that Neubayern provided with the rescue of the Deepnight Endeavour, it is important that a stop is made there to provide a show of friendship and solidarity with that nation. There will be some interviews, and you are to allow a Holovid crew aboard to conduct a short news piece on the ship and its mission which will most probably be led by Dr Jacob Weber.

Whilst there, it is a great opportunity to perform a detailed gravity scan of the system, to try and pin down as many of their asteroid monitors as possible. All scans should be passive in nature.

Topas
There are no special objectives for Topas. Refuelling at the Gas Giant of Topas V is recommended. This should be considered a ‘hot’ system, with the Hybris Trading Consortium claiming control of that gas world and restricting access to it for refueling. The Consortium are officially not government affiliated, so officially the government can’t complain if we need to defend ourselves with deadly force.

The Consortium is no more than sub-1,000t craft acting as pirates and freelancers, it is doubtful that they would be stupid enough to try to stop the Deepnight Revelation. If they use force against you, then you are to respond with force. Do not escalate, and do not engage anything which does not directly engage you. It is important that we are not seen as aggressors, but we must be seen to be willing to defend ourselves.

Topas does not have a stable government, so it is recommended that you do not get involved with them.

Serendip Belt
A diplomatic event is expected at Serendip Belt, which is likely to include a meeting with the Aslan Ambassador there as well. Serendip Belt is one of the Island nations most friendly with the Imperium.

Given that there are more social events coming up, it is decided to have weekly social events aboard the ship, officially to get the various divisions to mix and get to know each other, but also as a way of determining which crew members should never be allowed near any external social events.

The trip from Rampart to Amondiage is fairly uneventful, and they come out of jump at 1107-136 just over a hundred diameters from the main world. The first thing that they notice is that there seems to be a large number of ships outside the port – more than would be expected. After they are greeted by space port control, they find out that there’s a bit of a blockade going on.

A couple of dozen local small ships are preventing an Imperium registered freighter from docking. It is the Golden Starfall, a 1,800t Leviathan class Merchant Cruiser captained by Esumaan Dipasha. He contacts the Deepnight shortly after it comes out of jump, and requests their aid. He claims that he is being illegally prevented from docking due to issues the locals have with the company the ship is registered to – Delgado Trading. They accuse the company of unfair business practices, but all he’s doing is delivering cheap goods from the Imperium.

This is a chance for the ‘Officer PCs’ to get involved and decide how they want to proceed. The Deepnight is bound to get involved in local politics on the journey (everyone is going to want a large warship on their side), so it seemed a good idea to start it early.

The player’s aren’t too keen to get involved in local politics – they don’t want to start a war, and don’t want to cause trouble. After some back and forth with the local Imperium diplomat

• Amondiage is a dictatorship, and as the players noted the first time they were here there was a lot of propaganda keeping the population riled up about external threats, in order to distract them from internal problems. Letting local traders cause trouble about this is probably another distraction.
• There have been problems with Delgado Trading before, with rumours of them not paying local workers and undercutting local traders to force them out of business.
• The Deepnight has an agreement to pay Cr13,950,000 for fuel – that’s a big incentive they could use as a bargaining chip in any negotiations.

So the crew decide to threaten to take their business elsewhere – they will refuel from the gas giant due to the ‘unrest’ at the star port. They are shortly contacted by President Arlette Bisset, who greets them and offers to intervene to smooth things over – in exchange for a small favour.

Unfortunately I got the favour wrong, something one of the players picked up on. Originally it was for a couple of Amondiage cruisers to ‘escort’ the Deepnight to New Home – the idea being that it would be a big propaganda coup for Amondiage to have a couple of their cruisers fly into New Home along with an Imperium heavy cruiser (albeit de-militarised). Except – New Home is 4 parsecs away, and Amondiage ships are only Jump-3. I’d miscounted the distance when I came up with that plot.

So instead the cruisers would ‘escort’ the Deepnight away from Amondiage when it left, showing how close the Imperium and Amondiage were. Amondiage’s neighbours will have to make do with holovids of the occasion rather than seeing it directly.

The blockade it forcibly removed by the local police, and the Deepnight docks and starts refuelling. The crew are again invited to another social event, and manage to chat with various distinguished guests, including one of the president’s daughters who also happens to be Admiral of their fleet.

The next day, there is a delivery of high quality cheese and wine for the Deepnight, as well as signs of planning for a big escort party to send the ship on its way.