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Session 10:1: A Long Trip Home
Here is a prime opportunity to try the Trans-warp Engine, it
is a long ways home to Cirrus and by using the TW Drive the PC's can cut the
time down to a tenth of what it would normally take. The problem with using a TW
Drive is it that it can be detected up to 3LY's away and while the conduit is
forming the ship will be vulnerable. It will take 1 minute per light year for
the computer to make the calculations and then the same amount of time to
generate the conduit. If the PC's are within 3LY's of any system, they will
attract attention, there is also the possibility that a passing ship will detect
the formation and stop to investigate (1 on a d6, per hour). The only way the
PC's can ensure that they are not detected, is to have charted all the shipping
lanes in the region first and then choose a spot that is out of the way.
The TW Drive will expend 10,000u of fuel forming the conduit and then the normal
drives will use 1/10 of the fuel needed to make the trip normally. Once the
conduit is formed, it is open at both ends and may be entered by other ships,
though there is only room for one... If a ship follows another, when the first
ship exits and collapses the conduit, the other ship is destroyed. A conduit can
not be formed within 150,000 LS of a star, or it will prematurely collapse, if
it is closer than 1LY the conduit may be affected by the star and cause an
anomaly, which will most often effect the exit point to be just as close to a
similar star, this second star may not be anywhere near where the PC's expected
to exit though. The conduit will also "linger" for the duration of the
trip and not collapse right away, the closer the conduit is, the longer it will
last.
The PC's will have the option to use the Dimensional Drive also, it does not use
as much fuel as the TW Drive, only 2000u to jump in and 2000u to jump out, but
it is far more inherently dangerous. The gate needs to be formed within a
gravity field that is of a strength that is proportionate with the distance one
wants to travel. As a rule of thumb, a gravity field of 0.1 can be used to
travel 10LY. The calculations require a team to perform the jump, the
D-engineer, dimension scientist, astrogator, and planetologist if a character
does not have all of these skills, there is a (-1) modifier for each additional
member. If something goes wrong, then a (roll of d100) will determine the
difference in the dimension the ship jumps too, if the dimension is too alien
(91-00), there is no chance of jumping back to one's own dimension as the
gravity fields are not compatible. Otherwise there is a modifier of (-1) per ten
percent difference that the exit jump will not be calculated properly either.
(Rolling d100 each time, though the difference is calculated from the original
dimension.) The trip is instantaneous though and unless there is a problem, the
ship will jump out a moment after it jumped in.
The D-drive is not as easily detected, as it will not show up on any type of
sensor, but the flash point can be seen, from 1LS away if in direct sight. The
exit point requires a gravity field, as well as the entry and if the ship is
lost in another dimension the chance of the exit point being calculated properly
is very remote. If the ship does not try to exit at the point of entry in this
case, it will either (01-10) be pulled back, (11-90) fail to jump, or (91-00)
exit into a stronger gravity field like a star, or gas giant. The ship is not as
vulnerable though as the TW-drive, as the shields, or cloak can be engaged when
the ship jumps, where as with the TW-drive, neither can be used during the
formation, or during the trip, as the fields interfere with each other.
Session 10-2: Spy Report
On their way back, the PC's should stop to pick up communications from the spies
they have on the Valamos starbase. When they do, they will learn of something
important for each month they have been gone. The exact details are the GM's
choice, but they will find out things like,
This time, one piece of vital information will be;
| A new colony broke away and headed for deep space to find a different planet than the one they were assigned. A patrol has been sent to find them and a fleet will follow, to destroy them. |
The PC's will have to find Altair (Quad F Sector 8:B / 9:C),
before they can make contact and then convince the colonists to uproot,
(unlikely) or support their effort of rebellion. They will know that GC is
looking for the rebel colony also and must find them first, or take out the
survey/patrol vessels before they find the colony. At this point the PC's should
return to the star base and see how things are getting along there and interact
with the government and direct their new fleet to find the colony. They will
learn that many more people are needed to mount a successful rebellion and
recruiting missions are their top priority. Altair is not in the Cirrus star
cluster, but is close enough to the PC's to make them worry, it will take GC a
long time to find them, unless one of the smuggler vessels is caught (1% chance
per month accumulative). The colony is small and needs supplies, so are relying
upon smuggling and pirate raids to provide their resources. This is how they
were discovered to exist and with each failure, they add to their chances of a
GC raid.
Altair is a colony of 6000 inhabitants, on a class M world abundant in
resources, just beyond a large gas cloud that offers them a measure of
protection against GC space. They are refugees that have abandoned the new
colony of Bergstrom II, to live beyond GC's grasp. Almost out of fuel, they
reached this planet and decided to colonize it. The rumors on Bergstrom II are
that they returned to their home world of Niwot, afraid of the hard work
colonizing represents. They had been assumed to be lost in space, until a
shuttle was spotted that was registered to the lost colonists, after they had
raided an outpost. GC immediately dispatched a patrol and survey vessels to find
them and won't give up too easily.
When the rebels find them, they will be in desperate need of supplies and will
have sent out three ships to perform raids on some of the closer outposts. The
PC's will have several mission parameters and must decide which is more
important.
These questions are meant to make the PC's realize how vulnerable they are and to bring them closer to home. Their missions now should stay within communication range, of the comm sat relay that they should have been building, if it is not in place by now, the units operating in GC space should be gone when they go check on them. These satellites can detect ships passing through a sector too, if they are within a LY. The PC's should get the idea of placing these satellites near GC colonies and outposts to watch for ships headed their way. As well as placing covert-ops and SF squads on them to further their goals. The PC's must realize that they are spread very thin and can't hope to cover all this space themselves, but need to stay close in case something does happen.
Session 10-3: Power Corrupts
| The next time the PC's return to the Cirrus starbase, Pervis and Clara ask to see them and that it was urgent and the Cirrus council wanted to see them without delay, as soon as they arrived. |
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| The council wants them to quit working on the comm sats and build bigger ships that can cloak, they say that their afraid of the GC finding them and want a way to evacuate the people. (They also seem unconcerned about the hidden colony and say they will deal with that later. (Providing the PC's stopped to pick up their spy report.)) |
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| When they talk to their friends, they
learn some disturbing news, the Cirrus Council has started having closed
sessions. Pervis though came back to the starbase after building the spy
base and couldn't resist... He learned that the sessions were
discussions on using pirate and terrorist tactics on GalCom colonies,
one idea was that they move the starbase from system to system and use
it as a weapon, to destroy what ever opposed them. They also talked
about using the GC method of bombarding colonies with nuclear weapons
and using bio-weapons, some of the viruses from Parnell were mentioned.
Among their plans, the high tech cruisers and it's cloaking ability was
often suggested as a means of delivery and protection for their normal
fleet. They had even gone so far to take one of the cruisers out of
action and had it stashed in a hanger bay in the command structure. They had talked about all the horror stories that they knew themselves and that the refugees were reporting. They were obviously planning something, as they had asked Ben to begin building the most massive military ship they were capable of constructing. Pervis was worried, he did not sign on for this, he saw the need for a rebellion, but not at the cost of millions of lives. Clara was also at the base and she had been helping Pervis and was appalled by the thoughts of several of the council members. She was there to talk to the PC's but what she had to talk to them about could wait. |
This should worry the PC's for several different reasons, hopefully they have gained a kind of honor code of heroes, that would prevent such tactics. But they should also have a better idea of the extent of GC space and know that if they tried anything, the GC would be able to wipe them out, without any problem. How the PC's react will determine much of the course of the campaign from here on out. It also makes a difference of who they talk to first and where the PC's have the conversation with their friends.
If the PC's confront the council about their closed sessions and reveal what they know, the council will know that there is a spy in their midst and Pervis will have an accident and Clara also, if she remains behind on the station. The council though will placate the PC's, saying that they though about it and were going to give up the idea and since the PC's are against something like this, then they will forget about it. The only way for the PC's to determine the truth is to use telepathy. If they make an issue about it the council will call for the guards that they have waiting for just such an event. If the PC's have supplied the troops with ED weapons they will very likely be stunned and then put in cold sleep. When they wake up it will be to find GC security forces have taken the base and they are being deported to a penal colony.
Session 10-4: The Lensmen Orb
(If the PC's have not been toting the Orb around with them and have not had it
stolen by General Ty'poff)
| Clara has brought the Lensmen Orb with her
and tells you that it belongs on the Xenophone or put somewhere safe,
the databanks didn't contain a lot of information about it, but she
knows that it was used by the Lensmen when they visited a new culture,
or planet that had not previously been visited by psionics. What she
knows about the orb, is that it can be used to draw psionic characters
to seek it out. It can also enhance powers but there are only stories of
this and not any real data. She knows it was taken away from the council
by a group of lensmen and rarely seen after that. It was at Parnell
because the lensmen used it against the aliens, but in doing so it
killed them, or disintegrated them, she's not sure, only that the
lensmen were gone and the orb was left behind. She knows it is dangerous
and it has tempted her and the others and more than anything else wants
it locked up where she can't get at it. (She has broken out in a sweat and nervously fidgets as she tells you this and it makes you wonder if it can corrupt such an innocent person such as Clara, do you stand a chance?) |
The orb is powerful and has the abilities to max a character's
abilities, but using it can "burn" a psionics mind, certainly if one
tries to use it alone, there is no save against this. The PC's will need it
during the "end game" of Part Three, but should use it sparingly up
until then, or take the chance of losing their psionic abilities. They can use
it though for recruiting purposes, but should stash it somewhere as soon as
possible, even possessing it causes one to think of using it and can turn one to
the dark side, by the lure of it's power. This should be played out by having a
couple of new recruits tempted by it and then the PC's finding them brain dead.
The PC's should be "tempted" as well, but saving each other until they
decide to place it someplace where no one will find it.
In this way the PC's will recruit psionic NPC's in numbers that the rebellion
will be jealous of. They will in a short time, be able to form the society they
need to build the council and should become a priority early on. The orb has the
ability to "draw" one in a thousand, of psionics and empaths to
itself, when used by two or more psionics. All the PC's will really have to do,
is find a world with a large population and use it once. There after they can
stash it someplace safe. The "Seekers" can then do the recruiting for
them and they can retrieve the Orb when they need it (Part Three: End Game).
Session 10-5: Disciples of Justice
| Clara has too much information to be talked about in a hurry so she asks for a volunteer to mind meld with. In the onrush of thoughts the PC learns of the data contained within the computers on Parnell. The ancients had recruited people and inducted them into an order called "Disciples of Justice". There were several branches of service one could enter, but they all dealt with psionics and how they used their powers to uplift the moral standards of the people and maintain an era of peace throughout the galaxy. It was they who put up the most resistance to the aliens called Klackons who attempted to conquer the galaxy and they were the ones who designed the Xenophone and other ships like it. |
The PC who receives this knowledge will gain 1 Psionic,
Intuition, and Empathy point each, their pk crystal will crack and be useless,
but from this point on they will not need it. This will not happen to any other
PC though and is a one time deal. They will learn everything the researchers
know and intuitively know that their only recourse is to form the
"Disciples of Justice". This one will tell the others about the
idealism, but they will be forced to live it, their actions from this point on
are controlled by the philosophy of "the way" and may even force them
to take sides against the PC's themselves. (Clara should pick the most honorable
PC, even if they don't volunteer, one she admires and incidentally, has feelings
for, this PC will learn this also and eventually get married, (no choice).)
If the PC's have not already confronted the council, here will be the way to do
it, though they must bide their time and arrange a few things first. It is they
who must placate the council and then quickly move to build a society similar to
the Disciples. If they don't decide to recreate the society it is unlikely they
will win the campaign, as "to err is human", and the GC will likely
get their hands on one of the cruisers and become stronger that the rebellion.
The PC's will need to let the council think they are in charge and giving orders
and start working behind the scenes from now on. They will need to eventually
replace the crews of the cruisers in service now and steal the one the council
has.
If the PC's do a little spying on their own, they will learn that once again
they are no longer in charge of the army, or fleet and they only reason they
have not been confronted is the council is afraid of them. They are waiting and
playing upon this fear, to coax the populous to turn on the PC's, if the PC's do
not play along for now, their only safety will be to sleep on the cruiser and
even that is no guarantee, as the council will try to get to their crew. Their
best option is to go back out on missions and quietly work behind the scenes
until they are ready for a coup of their own.
Branches of Service:
| Seekers | These were the ones who recruited. They traveled the galaxy looking for people with latent abilities and brought them back to be trained. They were under a code of non-interference and were only allowed to recruit one person at a time. |
| Guides | These were the teachers and trainers, of the psi-school and of the regular college too. |
| Servants | The most mundane of services, these were the healers, the scientists, and such that carried out the duties of running the society. They were also the most numerous and rarely left the planet, serving out their entire lives living and working there. |
| The Corps | These were the psionics that had a secondary service to the space force, marines, techs, etc... They primarily became the crews on the star ships. |
| Psi Cops | For the most part these disciples were investigators, the eyes and ears of the council, unable to act upon their own initiative they lived quietly and in secrecy upon the worlds they were assigned to. They were required to call for assistance for even the smallest intervention needed and were often people who were not ambitious, or wanted to live a normal life. |
| Braniacs | A slang term at first, but became one of endearment, as these people often gave their lives in the pursuit of the acquisition of knowledge. |
| Powers that be | A council member, or assistant to one. They dealt with all internal matters. |
| Peacemakers | A council member, or assistant to one. They dealt with all external matters. |
| Jedi | Often termed, the "Arm of the Council", they went upon all the missions of peace and gained much notoriety throughout the galaxy, most often seen in pairs, or commanding a starship, or watching over a region of space. Highly trained in diplomacy, they are the ambassadors of peace. |
| Lensmen | The true unsung heroes of the disciples,
they were the most powerful and often turned down positions of power, to
serve the masses. They wandered signally, or in small groups for a short
period of time. Often their presence, actions, and designs were carried
out in secrecy and most of the time unknown to the council, or to the
persons they helped. They came and went as they pleased and answered to
know one. Many times their actions were attributed to the jedi, but as
they never corrected anyone no one but the council knew the truth and
the lensmen would not discuss their comings and goings, so even they
wondered at times. The lensmen also did not have to always be a psionic character, but would accept a highly skilled hero into their elite group, sometimes against the wishes of the council, but were never swayed by the council's opinions. |
Ranks and Positions:
The ranks they held were different than the usual progression of a service, as
they often coincided with the branch the person was aspiring to.
| Latent | A new recruit, one not initiated, or having a pk crystal. All persons with psionic ability were under the authority of the council whether they wanted to be, or not and this was a sign of that. A latent could be a person who was denied entry into the college and was not allowed to practice their powers openly upon the pain of having it removed. This type of person were ones who were thought that had been, or could be seduced by the dark side. |
| Psionisist | A loose term to any person in the initiation process, who was developing their powers. |
| Adepts | Person's who had finished their training and were inducted into one of the less powerful services. |
| Disciples | Refers to persons who spend much of their time developing their powers. |
| Defenders | Persons in the service to the council of power. |
| Warriors | Persons in the service to the council of peace. |
| Knights | One who has entered the service of the Jedi, or corps |
| The One | Usually becomes a council member, teacher, or researcher. |
| The Lords | A jedi who is given jurisdiction over a group of systems, will usually be accompanied by a knight to carry out the mission decreed by the council. |
There is no tenth level of rank, as all serve the council. The tenth level is often reserved to the Lensmen who put aside such titles and rank. The term Lensmen is a misnomer, as they do not need the use of a lens (pkcrystal) as do all others. The Lensmen have sometimes even chastised the council, or members of the society, though it is not known how they learn of these indiscretions. (The PC's are all considered "Lensmen".)
| Rouge | A term used for anyone who has developed
their powers on their own, but also persons who have turned to the dark
side, after being trained. These persons are hunted down and usually
have their powers nullified and spend the rest of their lives in
seclusion. Rouges occur when like a spy, they are left on their own, by
trying to "fix" a situation without guidance from the council
the psionic goes a little too far and exposes themselves, they are
usually forced to openly use their power to control the situation after
that and become corrupted by the effect that power has on the normal
humans. The lensmen are not affected by this because they are not trying to "change the world", just one event in the cosmic scheme of things and in such a way that they will not be needed to control, or monitor the after effects. They often times will inspire the necessary ideals in others and not have to rely upon their powers at all. For one so powerful they seem rarely to use this power and just enough to tip the scales, rather than overturn them. In many cases they are another's inspiration and utilize their power to make that individual "larger than life", drawing the lime light away from themselves entirely. |
| "The Way" | Simply put, "the end justifies the means". With the means being psionics, used to the ends of the purposes of the council(s). The Way also prevents the psionic character from open displays of power, so that it is not thought that they are abusing their power, or forcing their will upon the normal humans. Secrecy is paramount to ease the phobias of the masses and indiscretions are what will hold a member back from rank. Open displays of power will get a member censured by the council and removed from duty, or worse, labeled as a rouge. |
If the PC's have not already, or do not think of colonizing a planet with psionics, Clara will suggest it, her and the others will begin to build the society as outlined above.
Session 10-5: Taking the Heat Off
The armsman PC (Commander) has been feeling a little like a third wheel, trained
for tactics, his roll with the other PC's is more like a body guard. So giving
it some thought the Commander strikes upon a plan to make themselves more
useful. The Commander remembers a situation where the general of a training camp
was taken hostage, by rebels and five years of chaos resulted. The commanders
were so busy vying for the general's position and fighting amongst each other
that they never did attempt a rescue. The ransom was never paid, nor was the
general ever seen again and a period dragged on where training halted and
several regions of space became lax and almost errupted in a military civil war.
The Commander has decided upon a plan to capitalize on this weakness and execute
it on a greater scale.
The ranking of generals in the GC is such that a one star general is in charge
of battalions, where most times this includes authority over all the military
outposts in a sector. A two star general is stationed on each of the prime
worlds and has authority over all the troops in the region. A three star is in
charge of one of the 20 training bases scattered throughout GC space, these
lower ranking generals have all come up through the ranks, where as the four
star and even five star are appointments and most times don't even have combat
experience. The four star are representatives of an entire quadrant and are
little more than figureheads, as is the one five star general who has never left
Gal-Prime. There is a division between these, with the three star generals
actually having the power that the four and five star lay claim to.
There is a lot of competition between the three star generals, who have mock
wars between themselves each year for stakes of honor, the commander of several
wins is usually appointed to the next vacant general position. Favorite two star
generals host the competition and all the generals lay wagers, successful
betting is one of the key factors to being appointed to three star, as it is
seen as a sign that the general can read the strategy of a situation. The PC's
Commander has dismissed the strategic importance of the outlying sectors and
will rely upon the special forces to harass the two star generals, the plan
though is to target the next in the chain of command, the three star generals
and the training
bases.
The base will be a little too large for the PC's to destroy outright, unless
they bombard it from orbit, the AI and the Commander will have a problem with
this though, it is not an honorable way to fight. Unless the PC's want to bring
in a large force of 10,000, or spend days running air sorties, they will be
limited to the damage they will be capable of inflicting upon the training
facility. Complete destruction though would immediately put the region on alert
and the Commander's idea is to primarily kidnap the general. Any destruction
done to the base would be as a diversion tactic to achieve this end.
The general lives in a modest two story house to the south west of the main
courtyard, with a flag pole directly in front of his home. There are
approximately 10,000 troops housed on base, of various armsmen rates, or grades.
Besides having gun emplacements ever 1/2 km on the 3 meter wall that surrounds
the fort and supply depot, jeeps patrol the entire base every 1/2 hour. Fifteen
patrols are constantly on the move, with two armsmen per patrol, both carrying
blasters. The jeep also sports a spotlight and rapid fire blast cannon and the
patrols are first year cadets. Gates and doors are electronically monitored and
an active sensor array is constantly on line. The Commander will need to devise
a plan to get in, kidnap the general, and get out, then present it to the PC's,
for final modifications.
If the PC's use stealth fighters to bomb the structures, they take the chance of
alerting the GC to the presence of higher tech. If the general just disappears,
it will not be a military coup, for the Commander to score points, some
destruction must be accomplished, even if it is only taking out the comm and
sensor placements. If the assault lasts longer than an hour, the fleet in orbit
will try to target and fire upon the rebels location, this will present problems
as a blast will typically devastate 1 sq kilometer. Any destruction done by the
fleet, will be blamed on the rebels, to cover themselves and they are not very
good shots.
The PC commander will know that the more impressive the kidnapping 'looks' to
the general, the more points he will score. Taking him out in a jeep disguised
as troops, in broad day light, to an awaiting shuttle, without firing a shot,
will gain him high marks. Simply transporting in, and transporting out with the
general will score none and make the general resistant to all diplomacy, or
interrogation. Likewise, asking for a ransom will be detrimental, where as
boasting of the feat will get him noticed. Kidnapping the general will cause the
planet to be searched, unless the fleet detects the flash jump from an incoming
and outgoing ship, if this happens the region will go on alert, otherwise it
will not. The four regions; Varran, Gallano, Elgron, and Thandar will feel the
repercussions and for the next five years, 4 two star generals will squabble
over the position.
For a further discussion see Part Two - Session Three: National Security
Council, which should be reviewed before playing out the scenario. You can also
review PC Info, about the Commander character. This action will also give any
Special Forces in the region breathing room.
Here ends Part One of the Campaign!
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