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--- game_systems:traveller:solar_phoenix:adventure_journal [2025/02/22 15:11] – [Uncle Shawn and the Mystery of the Five Jacks] Bryan Stephens
+++ game_systems:traveller:solar_phoenix:adventure_journal [2025/04/14 14:17] (current) – [Jumping to Where?] Bryan Stephens
@@ Line 388: / Line 388: @@
 === Delight of the Sisters ===
 On board, everyone meets. Rutgers finds Shawn has brought along another active Scout, Wodjun Salas. Wodjun actually met Joe when they were both recovering and he was getting his eye and arm replaced with cybernetics, though you would never know it from the why they looked afterwards. It turns out that Shawn also knew Joe from way back. And he was here on a mission for Sir. Perez.
+{{:game_systems:traveller:solar_phoenix:characters:gyovpjmpmklngnzphcmi--0--kn7jh.jpg?400 |}}
 Upon meeting everyone, Tabitha runs forward to hug her favorite Uncle. Indeed, it was his free spirit that helped her make the decision to leave home and go find her own fortune. It was his spirit that inspired her to learn the art of the sword. Over the years, Uncle Shawn dropped by to offer her instruction and give advice on politics, while, of course, eating her food and drinking her spirits while staying in her home.
@@ Line 409: / Line 411: @@
 ====Rescue! ====
+{{:game_systems:traveller:places:torvald.jpg?400 |}}
 Ammar finishes his sweep and arrives on the bridge as the others are attempting to use the meson communicator of the ship to talk with Joe. They can actually get an image through Joe’s cybernetic eye, connected to the highly illegal piece of Ancient’s technology. Joe can hear them, but it becomes clear to the medically trained Tupper that Joe is thinking he is hearing voices and his memory is damaged. Joe appears to be in a bunkhouse dorm on the planet. Ammar quietly suggests that Shawn try singing to him again. Shawn takes him up on it and is able to get the lockout codes for the //Five Jacks//. Unfortunately, Joe ends up being beaten by the other workers for waking them up.
@@ Line 419: / Line 423: @@
 === Epilogue ===
 Upon Joe’s recovery, he tells his tale. He was captured by an overseer, Liu Jianhong and administered an interrogation drug. According to the autodoc, because he is not Tovaldian, it caused amnesia but not before Jianhong realized he was an Imperial Scout. The Overseer panicked and put him among the workers in the field. Joe had been working as a near mute as his memory has slowly improved. Joe collected and hide various samples of the kyrt and transmitted his data back to his ship. Shawn has no desire to retrieve the samples and will go with the data. He shares it all with Tabitha and the rest in payment for the help. Tupper creates an encoded message on their recent findings to go back with Shawn as they return to Imperial Space. Shawn also gives his niece some trade goods, in the form of radioactives, precious metals, and steel, noting //“Considering what you are doing, you never can tell.”//. After two more days, the groups separate, Joe back on his ship, Shawn and Wodjun on theirs. The crew of the //Solar Phoenix// watch them both depart. It is on to the next adventure.
+====== 06 Conference on Eldoria ======
+|Game Date|3/30/2025|
+|Campaign Dates|1105-251 to 265|
+==== The Unexpected Invitation ====
+The //Solar Phoenix// passes through jumpspace uneventfully. The crew is looking forward to someplace new that Is not trying to kill them. [[game_systems:traveller:worlds:Eldoria|Eldoria]] seems to fit the bill. It is an open planet, focused on research and development. It is more bureaucratic in nature than any of the travallers approve of, but being tourists should be fine. And, this trip is going to be paid for by someone else, within reason. Tupper is more stuck on details than Tabitha, and not willing to charge an exorbitant costs for lodging to their employer.
+Things initially go south when Tabitha demands her security, in this case Neil and Amarr, be allowed to carry weapons. Things go very poorly until a supervisor happens to come past by chance and Tabitha is able to play the “visiting dignitary” card. Neil and Amarr are designated as her security team. She is also assigned a local group working shifts. With this out of the way, they moved down to Nexus.
+Eldoria clearly was colonized and lost gravity technology, or they were settled by the Ancients and never had it. Three {{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_ring|Orbital Rings}} crisscross the planet, anchored in various places. Where the three meet on one side, is a built up region called Nexus. From Nexus is a space bridge to the system highport. The trip down the space elevator takes a couple of hours. While this might once have been cramped, the elevator is quite nice for the ride.
+{{:game_systems:traveller:dirty-pair-project-eden-niizk-2326.jpg?600 |}}
+Once at Nexus, their new guides are able to bring them to a fine establishment, //Isimigi’s//, where they are enjoying a superb meal. The ladies are entranced by the food and the décor. Liza has joined in with the two good friends, and she is starting to feel a more full part of the crew, especially with the casual acceptance of her by the owners. The men, on the other hand, just don’t seem able to let down their guards. They take in the people here. It is clear this is a formal society, with clothing mirroring hierarchy. Elite educated wear their degrees displayed if one knows how to read them. Several people dining here are clearly of the upper classes of society. They are polite enough to ignore the three clear aliens in their midst. Amarr and Neil also notice the movement of a well dressed man towards them. Based on his dress and Neil’s quick research of the meal, this man not only is the Terran equivalent of a PhD, but hold some additional position of power. He and Amarr both rise. The two men have grown closer over their journey, and they move together to great the man, Neil taking the initiative, with Amarr scanning the room for others, ready for action.
+Neil greets the man who introduces himself as Chancellor Ilion Veylan, of the Eldoria Institute for Advanced Governance. Chancellor Veylan asks to speak with //”Congresswoman Perez”// and Neil agrees after a quick nod from Amarr who sees no others approaching. Neil calls for another chair and soon the Chancellor takes his seat.
+He is hosting the ** Interstellar Symposium on Civilization & Identity** and would love for one of the //”Founding Mothers”// of the Karin Confederacy to speak. As he is talking, Tupper recognizes the man from almost a decade back, when he was a passenger on her ship. She remembers him as boundless in his curiosity about the Imperium with endless questions. The offer is for Cr10,000 and room and board for the Conference being held as the Island resort of Skorpa (named after a local creature not unlike a dolphin). Tupper fondly remembers the uplifted Orcas of Silaq and says she wants to go. The group agrees. That decided, Chancellor Veylan also asks Amarr, Liza, and Rutgers to speak as well, on their cultures. All three are both flattered and intemidated to be asked, and they all agree.
+==== Shopping, Speaking, Staying? ====
+The Conference is a week long. Tabitha and Tupper are put into multiroom suites, while the others have more traidtionall staff quarters. Tabitha is speaking the next day so she spends the day preparing. Neil gets some sleep, while Rutgers immediatly heads to the beach. No one on the beach as seen an Vargr in the fur before, but the upscale resort takes it in stride. Amarr accompanies the other lades into town to shop for local things.
+Unfortunatly, the crowds are very much taken with the towering Aslan and young Vargr with Tupper. With Liza and Amarr attracking more attenion, the crowd grows. Amarr is alarmed for everyone’s saftety. He hustles the ladies into a shop selling sea shells by the sea shore. And what shells they are. They party did not understand that most life native to this world was shelled like a crustation. The shop has everything from jewlery to carved furniture. Tupper looks a couple of items to decorate her room on the ship. Amarr watches the crowd grow outside the closed door. Liza finds a necklace of shells that dance in the light. She asks Tupper for a loan to buy the Cr1,000 equivilent necklace and Tupper agrees. They leave out the back to a waiting air-car from Skorpa to take them back.
+On the beach, Rutgers has been served food and drink, as he sits under a robotic umbrella. Amarr and the ladies hit the beach and are amazed to see Neil beyond the reef hanging 10 on the wonderful waves.
+Tabitha’s speech goes well, though not without incidnet. Dr. Caedmon Voss, a controversial advocate for rule by the intelligent elite speaks up at the end to debate this Imperial. Voss is charismatic, calculating, and a master of debate. However, he is a poor match for the skills of Tabitha Perez and her amazing charm. She is easily able to put him in his place.
+{{ :game_systems:traveller:npcs:u3kyb2vvo2ofgfiabv9b--0--kmg0u.jpg?250|}}
+Amarr’s discussion ends up focused mostly on the politics of Apocalypto and the integration of Humans, Aslan, and Vargr. The rumbling retired Marine and Naval officer keeps the room in the grips of his amazing stories from the past, including his run in with terrorists. The audience is rapt with wonder, conflict on Eldoria being far in the past.
+Rutgers and Liza also entrance the crowd. They regale them of life of the Vagr in the Imperium. Neither realizes the easy interactions, and even mild flirtation between them. The audience however, does not miss this and as they wind down, a question is asked if they are a couple. Liza laughs and looks rather slyly at Rutgers who stutters to affirm they are colleges, even as it is slowly dawning on him the young woman is actually interested in “this old spacer”.
+The rest of the week is spent at the resort enjoying the conference. Rutgers works up the courage to as Liza to dinner, but then over drinks. He wakes up in Tabaitha’s suite. Liza has a heart to hear with Tupper who assures her that Rutgers is interested, but he is an old Scout and not good at these things. Liza gives Rutgers another try, and the are able to grow closer the rest of their time there.
+Liza, Amarr and Rutgers invited to stay on world and teach with Room and board plus payment in Imperial Credits of $1000/ week. They all consider it but politely decline. Even Liza has been bitten by the exploration bug. They have things to do. Tupper points to Kwas as the next Destination.
+====== 07 Kwas-plications ======
+|Game Date|4/6/2025|
+|Campaign Dates|1105-226 to 299|
+==== Preparations====
+Rutgers and Neil go over the trip to Kwas and the note they will need jump tanks to get there. They can get them here, at a Tech Level 12 world. Kwas is a Venus like world and if they EVA they will need protection. Heck, their ship would need protection. This is going to take some time. Tabitha puts her Charm to work to obtain what they need in a timely fashion. They spend an extra week to have their ship’s boat coated with an ablative foam to protect from the acidic atmosphere, because as Tupper said, //”I am NOT bringing MY ship into THAT atmosphere!”// with the authority of an owner and captain. Rutgers also lands 6 Environmental suits built to withstand high pressure and the heat. They also obtain more foam to coat these for 6 hour excursions.
+The last bit of planning is where to jump form. Looking at the possible worlds, they decide to avoid the corporate feudal dystopia of Acheron, and opt instead for Corvalis, with its less restrictive culture. Both have a minimal starport, but this will work for their needs. They can refuel at Corvalis, use the drop tanks to jump, and pay the port to retrieve their tanks. After Kwas, they will jump back to Corvalis. Prepared, they make the week long jump to Corvalis.
+==== Kwas Follies ====
+{{:game_systems:traveller:solar_phoenix:venus.png?400 |}}
+Kwas is a high-gravity, acidic atmosphere, barren world that is utterly hostile to life. With no population, no government, and no law, it is an unclaimed and dangerous planet. It is highly geological active, with surface temperatures of over 700 C, making it similar to Venus. The air is composed of superheated, highly reactive gases, making it toxic and corrosive to standard life forms and equipment. A previous deep-space survey of Kwas, flagged the planet as having anomalous energy readings. The survey, conducted from orbit, detected unusual gravitational fluctuations and momentary bursts of structured radio signals from the surface. These may be natural and may be artificial.
+The //Solar Phoenix// arrives without incident in the Kwas system. Only three planets orbit the star, a baked  inner world, and a frozen outer world. Kwas is in the middle, cooking under its own dense atmosphere. The ship slides into orbit and begins its research. There are indeed radio and gravity pulses from the planet. Looking for a pattern, even Neil is at a loss. However, Tabitha, rather annoyingly, easily points out a locus that everyone else missed. A closer scan of the area shows the radar reflection of a smooth metallic surface that seems different from the surrounding rock. In fact, there seems to be a landing area build into the side of the mountain nearby.
+Tupper brings them down in the ship’s boat and the four headed out wait in twos for the painfully long cycle. Only Neil and Amarr have managed to acclimatize to the nearly 2g gravity, and Tabitha and Rutgers are feeling every kg of their heavy suits. Tupper heads out of the atmosphere as soon as Tabitha and Rutgers are clear, wanting to preserve the coating as long as possible, and decrease the time the ship is subjected to 4 atmospheres of pressure.
+The four cannot figure how to open the doors and head along a path carved in the mountain towards an opening. This is when disaster strikes. Neil is bringing up the rear and the pathway crumbles beneath him. Before he can arrest his fall, he has fallen almost 12 meters down the mountainside. He tries to get to a stable spot but slides further. Amarr easily gets down the mountainside to him, but cannot help him up.
+Seeing this emergency, Tabitha heads to the opening. It is quite narrow, and she has to carefully manuver to get inside. She finds a partially opened door, most likely due to sesmic shifts. By this time Rutgers notices she is gone and tells the others to hold on. Also manuvering inside, he and Tabitha find what is clearly an preperation room of some sort. There are even jackets for squat four armed creatures. More importantly, there is some sort of plant based rope. None of these things seem to be responding to the acid of the atmosphere. They take two jackest and the rope and head out. Rutgers goes first and almost dashes out the narrow area, not even slowing down. By the time Tabitha catches up, he has the alien rope secured and thrown down. Amarr and Neil climb up and out. However, they are all on the wrong side of a destroyed path.
+At this point, Rutgers calls for Tupper to come get them. Looking over Neil’s suit, it is clear his coating is signifcantly eroded. Tupper carefully hovers the ship’s boat next to the mountain in a feat of piloting skill. The cycling this time seems to take even longer per time in the airlock. As soon as Tabitha and Rutgers are inside, Tupper heads for space.
+==== Jumping to Where? ====
+The consensus is the planet is too dangerous to further explore and they decide to return to Corvalis. Neil goes to create the report with their footage. Jumps are routine. Tupper is on the bridge with Rutgers who is monitoring the jump drive. Tabitha is in her cabin like Neil, but Liza and Amarr are there on the bridge. Just as Rutgers engages the J-Drive, a gravity surge from the site on the planet strikes the //Solar Phoenix// and alarms no one wants to hear sound across the ship. MISJUMP!
+{{:game_systems:traveller:phoenix:shadoweyes.jpg?250 |}}
+The gravity surge flows across the ship. Tupper’s pilot seat is sheared from the deck and slammed into the ceiling. It is only because of a spin she was not killed. Liza is thrown across the bridge, landing on her left arm, clearly breaking it. The rest of the crew are all bounced around their areas. Light flash and flicker, while systems try to restore themselves automatically.
+Tupper is critically injured. Amarr is the first to stand and races to her side. Without talking, he grabs her and rushes her towards the med bay and autodoc. Rutgers races to help Liza and make sure she is OK then checks their status. They are in jump but the readings are strange.
+With the captain severely injured, there is no coordination of activity, but each person knows their duty. Neil immediately heads to the bridge to check on the systems. He is shocked to see the Pilot’s chair across the room. That does not stop him from strapping himself into the sensors station to review the ships. Meanwhile, Rutgers is getting Liza to the med bay.
+Amarr finishes getting Tupper safely inside the autodoc and turns around to see a cluster of glowing eyes. He strikes at the area, but hits nothing. The Aslan feels what seems to be a fang across his body. He charges out in search of a foe as Rutgers arrives with Liza. After getting Liza into a cast, he calls to Amarr asking what is going on, and Amarr gives his tale.
+{{ :game_systems:traveller:solar_phoenix:dragonsdomain.jpg?300|}}
+Tabitha, not able to do much for the ship, decides to bring food and drinks to everyone. The others start to look over the //Solar Phoenix//. Whatever has been the glitch in the sensors seems to have spread to every computer system. Strange glitches seem the norm. Rutgers and Amarr find something worse: the J-Drive has a space where parts are simply gone. They hope they come out in a place where there is help; even with fuel there is nothing they could do to jump.
+Rutgers analyzes the Jump bubble. He gives the crew the news at dinner: The jump-bubble will decay normally over a week, so they will emerge as they expect. The bad news is that it is fluctuating with the outside universe. Rutgers has no idea how far or how long they will have been in jump space relative to the universe. Indeed, they might be going back in time. The next few days are filled with going about their business. Amarr works on the damage to the bridge, Neil tries to get the computers under control. Tabitha tries to keep up moral, and when Tupper awakes, she is told the rather grim news. The crew tries to do the best they can to be normal.
+Everyone is on the bridge when the //Solar Phoenix// emerges back into the real universe. Before them is a silent milieu. It is a sargasso sea of spaceships. Tabitha calls it a graveyard.
+**End of Season 1**

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