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--- game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:adventure_journal [2025/10/06 14:23] – [LYDIA] Bryan Stephens
+++ game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:adventure_journal [2025/11/12 16:23] (current) – [Good Evening, Professor] Bryan Stephens
@@ Line 570: / Line 570: @@
 No one is quite sure how to make a report. Lucas suggests they remain and look at the other dig sites. They decide to reaming for another 4 months or so doing surveys. Sorrel does not want this. Being on digs is not what she thought it would be. After the excitement of a find of a life time, digging up bronze age sites is not what she wants to do. She leaves with a passing ship after a heartfelt good bye. Lucas promises she will still get credit on the paper. He is also insistent that Auther and Gwith’thin will finished their degrees. This also gives him time to write up their findings in a way they can report them to the authorities. Lucas and Daivd work on a report that makes it easy to pull certain items they understand might be at issue. David also makes the report he will want to give to the Navy. They plan to head to Glisten, the sub-sector Capitol closest to Dawnworld. This time also gives Lucas and Gwith’thin time to figure out why Sphere Terra males are sterile. It is a type a virus that piggy backs on more common viruses. It is easily purged by adult immune systems but not infants. It is very stable, as it is artificial, and a vaccine should be achievable. Further, it gives Maria a chance to train Vincent on mental shields and mink link.
-After a little over four months, the group bids farewell to Dawnworld and using their new Jump-4 drives, take only two weeks to arrive at Glisten. Lucas immediately puts in a request to meet with the Sub-Sector Duke’s people, while David makes an appointment with Naval Intelligence at the Naval base in system. Lucas is quite concerned about meeting with people of such high status, and asks Vincent to come with him to the meeting. Maria decides to stay on the ship with the others, and deliberately not run around the city.
+After a little over four months, the group bids farewell to Dawnworld and using their new Jump-4 drives, take only two weeks to arrive at Glisten. Lucas immediately puts in a request to meet with the Sub-Sector Duchess’s people, while David makes an appointment with Naval Intelligence at the Naval base in system. Lucas is quite concerned about meeting with people of such high status, and asks Vincent to come with him to the meeting. Maria decides to stay on the ship with the others, and deliberately not run around the city.
 {{:game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:uojy57ked4ruvzwxrfsw--1--r70zk.jpg?300 |}}
-While Vincent has taken Lucas clothes shopping, David flies to the naval base to meet with Lt. Commander Adams. He is too the point and Commander Adams is amazed at the story. With a call, he expedites Lucas’ meeting and sends Captain Swift to the Duke’s residence. Vincent and Lucas find their clothes shopping interrupted by the Duke’s security, who take them directly to a meeting days sooner than they expected. All three men find themselves in a conference room in the Duke’s private rotating habitat.
+While Vincent has taken Lucas clothes shopping, David flies to the naval base to meet with Lt. Commander Adams. He is too the point and Commander Adams is amazed at the story. With a call, he expedites Lucas’ meeting and sends Captain Swift to the Duchess’s residence. Vincent and Lucas find their clothes shopping interrupted by the Duchess’s security, who take them directly to a meeting days sooner than they expected. All three men find themselves in a conference room in the Duchess’s private rotating habitat.
 They are met by Ms. Sonesta and Mr. Jordan. She does all the talking. It is clear she already has the report from David and takes the information from Lucas. They are as excited by the possible cure for Dawnworld’s curse as they are the information on the ancients. The three are told they will be guests for three days at the residence. Vincent calls Maria, who by this point, is contemplating hacking the starport’s security feed as she has had no contact for hours. As Vincent gives his rather anodyne report, Maria summons her energy and attempts a very distant mindlink with Vincent. Vincent, to his surprise, is able to make the connection briefly, and tells Maria the full story with memory.
@@ Line 1126: / Line 1126: @@
 Davie makes his report to Commander Adams, presenting the detailed information Lucas compiled. Adams invites David to stay on base, and David accepts. He soon finds himself in Officer quarters, with a wonderful view of the inside of the Oneil habitat inside the asteroid of the naval base. He sends a message to the others he has reported and invites Anson to join him. As it was in the Navy, it is now time to hurry up and wait.
-Richmond joins Maria on the trip out. They are headed for a small Mandala outpost. These sorts of thing are contact points, not the research and training spots like the Brotherhood of Sol. This one is an office of the Wimariaus Research Foundation. The Foundation conducts aptitude testing and provides vocational counseling. It uses a variety of tests that have literally centuries of development and refinement for Humans, Vargr and Aslan. Each Wimarius office collects its data and shares it with all other offices across the Imperium. It is an old and legitimate organization, with an office in every sector capital. Unlike some of its competitors who target mostly highly social nobility, Wimarius is open to all levels of society, with sliding scale fees.
+Richmond joins Maria on the trip out. They are headed for a small Mandala outpost. These sorts of thing are contact points, not the research and training spots like the Brethren of Sol. This one is an office of the Wimariaus Research Foundation. The Foundation conducts aptitude testing and provides vocational counseling. It uses a variety of tests that have literally centuries of development and refinement for Humans, Vargr and Aslan. Each Wimarius office collects its data and shares it with all other offices across the Imperium. It is an old and legitimate organization, with an office in every sector capital. Unlike some of its competitors who target mostly highly social nobility, Wimarius is open to all levels of society, with sliding scale fees.
-The Wimarius Research Foundation office in Glisten is housed in one of the largest and oldest habitats that is not Glisten City, Glisfour. While smaller than Glisten, this city-habitat supports Glisten Institute for Technology and Coventry Naval Academy and is a natural place for Wimarius. It is also a natural place for a Mandala front. This particular Wimarius office, unbeknownst to Wimarius headquarters, is owned and operated by Mandala. This is a much smaller operation than the Brotherhood of Sol. In fact, it is all of 4 people. Operations close to a sector capital are always dangerous, so a low profile is a must.
+The Wimarius Research Foundation office in Glisten is housed in one of the largest and oldest habitats that is not Glisten City, Glisfour. While smaller than Glisten, this city-habitat supports Glisten Institute for Technology and Coventry Naval Academy and is a natural place for Wimarius. It is also a natural place for a Mandala front. This particular Wimarius office, unbeknownst to Wimarius headquarters, is owned and operated by Mandala. This is a much smaller operation than the Brethren of Sol. In fact, it is all of 4 people. Operations close to a sector capital are always dangerous, so a low profile is a must.
 {{:game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:lore:med.png?300 |}}
-While the members of this cell are unlikely to be able to help Sorrel directly, they are most likely going to be able to get her and Kelleys someplace where they can get help. Maria plans to send them to the temple of the Brotherhood of Sol, who helped them before.
+While the members of this cell are unlikely to be able to help Sorrel directly, they are most likely going to be able to get her and Kelleys someplace where they can get help. Maria plans to send them to the temple of the Brethren of Sol, who helped them before.
 Upon arrival, Maria shows her Mandala medallion, and the staff at the desk, Benjamin Addu is a bit tongue tied. While Maria is retired, he does not realize that, and an Mandala agent is an unusual person to be present. She and Richmond are shown to Director Ermur Kad. Kad is also unsure of himself, but unwilling to argue with Maria. She arranges for a donation to the local Wimarius chapter, and they create the background work. Richmond and Maria leave to fly back to the starport.
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 ====LYDIA====
-|UWP:| E310430–7|{{:game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:lydia.png?400 |}}|
+{{ :game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:lydia.png?400|}}
+|UWP:| E310430–7|
 |Starport|E |Frontier|
 |Size| 3 |4,800km|
@@ Line 1618: / Line 1620: @@
 |Law Level| 0 |No prohibitions|
 |Technology Level| 7 Pre-stellar|
@@ Line 1649: / Line 1652: @@
 ==== The Exploration ====
+{{ :game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:lore:picture5.png?300|}}
 It takes the team around two days to [[game_systems:game_systems:traveller:worlds:Twilights_Peak|survey]] the facility and the surrounding areas. What they find bothers them greatly. The base itself is still active, much the way the base on Dawnworld was once they repaired the power supplies. Like that base, this is powered by geothermal energy. They find in active drones, workshops, teleportation circles, and manufacturing equipment. That is all normal. It is the biological things that upset them.
@@ Line 1673: / Line 1678: @@
 ==== Pushing Buttons – Sort Of ====
+{{:game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:lore:globe_room.png?500 |}}
 With two days past, and a sense of urgency that they are only sure of being one week ahead of Omicron, Vincet pushes the group into action. Most of the technology not only uses controls, but psionic interfaces. Lucas gets to work in the main control room. Mostly he is looking for data. After a good 7 hours, he has a report on what they can do. The machinery here can be used to upgrade their ship’s hull, their suits, even make antimatter warheads and psi batteries. They can also upgrade their ship’s weapons. Each item will take time. They decide to prioritize defense. First the ship’s hull, then anti-disintegration fields for their suits. Psi crystals for Maria, and then energy crystals to be added to their turrets.
@@ Line 1691: / Line 1698: @@
 ==== Foes From the Past ====
+{{ :game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:lore:cryochambers.png?400|}}
 The four secure their suits and most dangerous weapons. Lucas suggests the use one of the grav transports to look like they belong, and they approach, their personal grav disks stored in a stand. Together they move along the hallway towards the newly discovered access.
@@ Line 1711: / Line 1720: @@
 So help them God.
+==== Tellsadiu, Servant of an Ancient ===
+|Game Date|09/4/24|
+|Campaign Dates| 319-1100|
+{{:game_systems:traveller:npcs:attendant.png?200 |attendant}}
+The gloves are off, and the group uses their disks to ascend to the top of the shaft. There they find what is obviously a droyne warrior, complete with an alien looking gun, and surprisingly, a human dressed in shimmering robes. He tells them
+//”Tellsadiu is waiting for you and seeks to talk to you. He is this way.”//
+Even though they are linked telepathically, the four still glance at each other. Their weapons are still drawn. They follow the attendant through the grand ritual chamber and reception area, past two other warriors, to the command center. The real command center for the complex. The command chamber for the installation is grander than the others, as might be expected. It has a wide dais, upon which stands an imperious looking man, in black and gold robes.
+{{ :game_systems:traveller:npcs:telisidue.png?300|Tellsadiu }}
+A globe projected in the air beside the command position. There are two subordinate workstations, each with a droyne technician on either side. A warrior and a second attendant stand at the edges of the room.
+Tellsadiu speaks,
+//”You did better than I expected against the Gythe. Now you will get to see the coming of my master, Tsyamoykyo.”//
+Ama-gi snorts mentally across the telepathic link,
+//That one? He was one of the most minor of the Ancients. He went down rabbit holes on obscure science and experiments of a minute nature resulted in him being sidelined and garnering little support. While others were moving planets or accelerating the lifespan of stars, Tsyamoykyo was fiddling about with the genetic code of unimportant servitor species. Others, like my master Kraverse, had similar interests but their projects were bigger and. At some point, this one’s master became useful as a subordinate and was quickly brought under the control of others. This man is most likely a descendent of Earth.//
+Tellsadiu answers their questions, as if they are slow children. He speaks a little slowly, making everyone wait for information. It is clear he holds everyone beneath him in contempt, and has utter reverence for his master. He expounds on the coming event, and clearly expects all four will serve him, realistically unable to understand they would reject him. Tellsadiu tells them how wonderful everything is going to be. It is a horror.
+Tsyamoykyo is aware that he needs to move carefully. Upstart civilizations among the former servitor species pose a threat to his plans. The Imperium, Zhodani and the other civilizations in Charted Space are as ants to an Ancient such as him, but there are too many ants for open conquest. An army of Gythe creatures could change that, holding planetary populations hostage or eliminating those which did not want to serve their rightful master.
+Maria and David steel themselves for a fight. Both have sworn to defend the People of Imperium, even if Maria’s was not formal. Vincent simply cannot bring himself to believe in this madness as his mind rejects it instead of taking in the horror. Lucas feels a rising primal urge, and even utters a growl. It is only with the strength of their telepathic link that he does not start shooting wildly. Instead, David coordinates a response. Vincent has a little less discipline and open fires on Tellsadiu.
+The beam of his laser simply dances along a pilar of light extending from the dais to the ceiling. Tellsadiu laughs and notes //”There is no need for that,”// but the fight is on.
+Vincent fires again, this time into a technician at the console in front of him. The laser strikes the shimmering robes and is partially absorbed, though clearly some burns the worker before it can even react.
+David follows up with a burst of automatic fire from his gauss pistol, striking both the technician and the warrior in the room just as Vincent fires. To his trained mind, he sees the robes are less effective against the powerful gauss rounds -either it stops them totally or does not -and this thought flows to the group. Important for Maria who opts to use her psi-blade as she strides back into the reception chamber to engage the three warriors there.
+Her blade pulses blue-white with psi energy, slicing a warrior almost down. The three fire their fusion guns into her, but armor withstands the attack easily. In the new reflect mode, the initial energy of the fusion beams is reflected away with a technology that is unknown to Imperial Science. Her own telekinetic energy defects even more, with the absorbing outer armor easily taking the rest. Bathed in heat and fire, Maria bears down, her blade flashing as she becomes an avatar of Alecto.
+{{:game_systems:traveller:npcs:droyne_warrior.png?200 |}}
+In the command center, the other warrior fires into David, his armor and shield mostly ignoring the effect, but the excellent shot catches him in the head, rattling him inside. Lucas shorts the warrior and his gauss round penetrates easily. Vincent tries a gauss round on the force field, but again it does nothing. Lucas drops the warrior, and David fires at the other technician, but one of the attendants dives in the way, taking a heavy hit.
+Meanwhile, Maria is fighting the three warriors. Ama-gi recognizes these guns and floods them with alarm. They can be fired at much higher power using more of the charges. Enough to destroy them. David’s head whips around to see Maria fighting. He goes to shoot, but his gauss gun disintegrates in his hands as Tellsadiu gestures. David takes his carbine off to fire into the room to support Maria as he moves up.
+Thinking that a power gun would help them with the force field. Lucas grabs the gun from warrior. It has no firing mechanism of any type. It must be telepathically operated.
+//”Give it me!”// cries Vincent, who takes it.
+//”Aim for that spot on the podium,”// Lucas thinks, rather than saying, to Vincent, trying to send him an image.
+Lucas then turns and mans the control console. On the maps of the base, Omicron forces are fighting drones in the base. Worse yet, they are unable to even target and defend themselves for the horrible gythe. While he could not use the fusion gun, Lucas already has days of experience working the controls of this base. Indeed, he can work far easier with the partially telepathic controls than he could with a normal keyboard. He uses the sensors and the bases comm transmission to reach the Omicron forces.
+//”ATTENION OMICRON FORCES! THIS IS DR LUCAS VINDERVOLK. YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK BY ALIENS YOU CANNOT SEE OR REMEMBER. PREPARE YOUR HUDS TO RECEIVE AN OVERLAY. I WILL SEND THE ALIEN’S LOCATION DIRECTLY”//
+//”This is Captain McGuffin, responding. Doctor, that would explain things. Standing by!”//
+Lucas then sends out location information and a masking image to prevent them seeing it. In this case, a giant fuzzy bunny.
+David and Maria fight the remaining warriors, taking them down one at a time, while Vincent tries to get the gun operational with his limited telepathy. One of the attendants comes to him and says,
+//”You really should not be trying that. One such as you cannot use it”// in a patronizing voice. However, it is then that Vincent finds his mind touching the controls.
+//”Third time’s the charm!”// he says, //Now you do full power!// and he blasts the podium. A great hole is blasted into it, and the force field flickers. For the first time the Servant of an Ancient looks concerned. The attendant lunges for the gun, but Lucas catches him dead center, knocking him backwards. The attendant staggers up and Lucas puts him down for good as Tellsadiu fires the disintegrator into Vincent. Again, their upgraded armor works, and the shifting outer skin shrugs off the effect.
+David comes back down the hall, and fires his carbine into the hole in the podium, but does not seem to add to the damage. Maria grabs a fusion gun from a fallen warrior, she too follows. Vincent unleashes a second blast, again hitting an internal node, weakening the force field further. Then David finds his mark inside that hole, a central spot that seems important.
+It is.
+The force field drops as Maria raises her fusion rifle. Tellsadiu can do nothing but look stunned as he is enveloped in the blast and erased from.
+{{:game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:lore:monster_omicron.png?600|}}
+There is a moment of stunned silence broken when Lucas pops up and blows the head of the remaining technician. Now all is quiet other than the beeping of the controls. Lucas feels his shoulders sag. The geothermal rod as scrammed into the earth. The base is going to self destruction. If Tellsadiu’s master cannot have it, no one can.
+//”This mountain is going to be gone! We need to leave!”//
+//”What about Omicron?”// asks Maria, though it is clear she would be happy for them to die. With their link, she knows that they will have to say something. David goes to link to the base comms, and then Vincent jerks upright from grabbing one of the other fusion rifles.
+//”The cryo-vault! It’s full of kidnapped people! We have to do something!”//
+//”Whatever we do, we have less than two hours to do it, based on these readings.”// Lucas notes.
+The group gathers their “loot” and discusses what to do as they move to the lower part of the base. Maria suggests telling Omicron they can go through the teleporter to the far planet. That is a non-starter for the rest of the group. David says,
+//”We are taking them with us,”// and contacts Omicron
+//”Captain McGuffin, this base is self destructing. Meet up at our ship in docking bay 1. You may come with us, but you will leave your weapons behind. Keep your suits for emergencies.”//
+He and Maria head down to manage Omicron, with David going to the Captain and Maria the //Wandering Providence//. Lucas and Vincent head to the cryo vault. The pods themselves are in a semi-airless area. They decide to use the one use rods that produce goop suits, transparent goop at each endangered person. This expands almost instantly into what appears to be a soap-bubble covering their clothing with a larger bubble for the head. Lucas easily cycles them out, one at a time, while Vincent not only goops them, but masterfully soothes them as he puts them onto a floating disk to be whisked to the //Wandering Providence//. They save 36 various species of imperial citizens. The mass of dryone from the past are going to be casualties.
+Maria flies up to the ship seeing Aurther standing outside arguing with a Omicron shocktroop. She floats up behind him, her sword drawn. She orders him to disarm and wait outside while the get the refugees inside. She then heads into help with that, afraid of what she might do if she is left to guard him.
+The ship is packed. Maria locks herself into her room, her mind and body still aflame. Omicron is an old foe, and one that’s first purpose was the hunt down people who’s only crime was having psionics. This is not forgivable in her heart.
+David has the 12 surviving Omicron stay in the planning room. He directs Ami-gi to put a feed of the mountain up for everyone to see what is happening. He then roars into space as the whole of complex collapses in earthquakes and eruptions from deep within Lydia.
+Twilight’s Peak is no more.
+A brief stop at Lydia City, the only outpost, allows them to off load their survivors, including Omicron. Captain McGuffin notes that Omicron has an Imperial Warrant, but that he appreciates the rescue and will make nothing of it. David promises they will send someone here after their next port of call.
+The //Wandering Providence// heads back up to jump. The crew debates where to go from here. They need to get a message to Mercades, but that can be from anywhere. Should they run, head out of Chartered Space? They decide they will report to Her Grace the Lady Avaraja Astaarte Muktheswara, subsector Duchess of Glisten.
+===== 15 the Cost of Knowing =====
+|Game Date|10/30/25|
+|Campaign Dates| 320-359, 1100|
+==== The Trip to Glisten ====
+The //Wandering Providence// races away from Lydia to a safe jump point as fast as they can travel. They all want to put as much space behind them as possible. Weiss is their next destination—a port of call where they are on good terms, even intimate in the case of Miria and Vincent. They chart the jump and leave behind Lydia, its new scar visible even from this distance.
+Once they are in jump, everyone can let go. No one has even taken off their vacc suits. It is time to clean up. To rest. Ama-gi is enough to monitor everything. Anson takes David in hand to help him clean up. Gwith’thin, as a medic, checks on the rest of them. Exhaustion sets in for everyone, and the ship drifts into the silence of background operations as sleep overtakes them. Saving Chartered Space is hard.
+Over the week, everyone who is still biological suffers from illness at various times. Lucas and Gwith’thin monitor the effects on everyone. They come in waves:
+..*Tingling in the spine and nerve endings.
+..*Nausea and aches in lymph nodes and various internal organs.
+..*Weakness, trembling hands, and sudden loss of control over extremities.
+..*Blinding headaches and temporary vision loss.
+Each time the process goes on for a few hours. Their Ancient Tech autodocs show changes in musculature, neural connections, and even organ resilience. It is not pleasant, but as they recover from each episode, they find they are… enhanced. Thoughts flow a bit more smoothly. They have more energy. Things seem a bit lighter and their nimbleness is higher.
+Perhaps even more strange, for everyone but Maria, they keep finding snippets of thoughts. At first they think it is imagination, but soon they cannot ignore their minds touching one another. Maria and Ama-gi have a growing awareness of this communication. Even Vincient experiences some of it, as his psionic state stabilizes. None of them are powerful, but each of them has limited abilities.
+Lucas feels violated by the effects and grabs a bottle. Several bottles. And walls himself off in his cabin. David is worried about the effect, and that ancient tech can “uplift” others. He broods on the effect this could have on the Imperium. This is not a technology he wants being sought as it is too destabilizing. After all they have been through, the retired Captain of the Imperial Navy can no longer fully trust his old command. Service to the Imperium is greater than orders.
+Gwith’thin and Aurther are both disturbed by the changes, but the logical Bwap is not prone to the anxiety of Humans, while Aurther decides to focus on using his newfound intelligence to hone his skills and teaching the Gwith’thin, who reluctantly agrees, how to use a gun.
+Vincent frankly feels what he calls “Big Damn Hero” energy. He knows he did not seek this, but here it is. His own psionics are now more stable and more powerful. Anson agrees with him, and the two spend some time like siblings with talking about their new toys. This works well for Anson, as her lover is spending time brooding.
+Maria is the least affected of all. This is what happens with Ancient technology. This is what she did with Mandala. She is already used to being, well, frankly, //better// than everyone else. Even among her peers at Mandala, no one else mastered all the psionic disciplines. No one else was a P15. If anything, she feel more aligned with her past life, as violent and sometimes tragic as it was, than she has in years.
+But the former psion agent feels bad for her friend Lucas. The two who started out with friction have grown into a relationship of mutual respect. However, neither have a confidant among the crew. Lucas has always been proper as //Professor vin der Volk// to the rest. David has Anson have each other and Vincent is friends with everyone at some level, Maria and Lucas maintain a certain professionalism with everyone. It is in this space that Maria decides to act.
+Lucas is surprised when Maira walks into his cabin with a bottle of fine whisky she had been saving. She notes that he as been drinking the gut rot stuff. Maria sits next to Lucas and says nothing, simply being a presence. The old Vargr blearily stares up at her then collapse against her shoulder, sobbing. Time passes. Nothing is said.
+A layover is Weiss is called for as they refuel. The terrible Bwap and Human duo immediately head to the star town casino. Anson coaxes David into dinner and a room at the Highport. Vincent looks up Miria for an afternoon, evening, and then morning of fun. Even Maria gets in on the action, going shopping for gifts for the crew, and finds a handsome young man for her night of fun. He awakes sure he had a good time, but not quite able to recall what the woman from last night actually looked like. For Maria, old habits die hard.
+The next day reunites crew of the //Wandering Providence// and they proceed to Glisten. Lucas and David prepare their report and use Ama-gi to organize the notes. They plan a totally verbal report  - nothing written down.
+==== Good Evening, Professor ====
+As soon as the //Wandering Providence// makes contact with Gilsten control, they are immediately instructed to fly directly to the Ducal residence by a standing order. It seems they are expected. They are given a tight flight line, and make their way through to the Oneil cylinder that comprises the grounds, offices, and residence for Her Grace the Lady Avaraja Astaarte Muktheswara, subsector Duchess of Glisten.
+At least they don’t have to ask for an audience.
+They land inside the hanger and note that there are no living personnel: Refueling is being performed by robots. It is time to get dressed in their finest. David asks Maria point blank if she is coming this time. Maria is silent and heads to her room. At the last moment, she joins them, elegantly dressed. She has them pause and spends a few moments of telepathic contact. For each person, she fully reinforces the debrief they are going to deliver. They fully believe it. Even when there are parts where they may lie, their minds, for a time, will not trigger the anxiety of a lie.
+//”I am absolutely sure they will have sophisticated lie detectors. This will help you say what you need to say. I can adjust my own body.”// They leave their psionic connectors behind. Lucas even leaves his ring. There is no reason to take anything of the sort along.
+They are met as they walk off the ship by Ms. Sonesta and four members of Lady Avaraja’s personal guard. They are led, meeting no other souls, to the same anteroom as they have seen before. There are generous refreshments. Ms. Sonesta tells them they are waiting for Admerial Mohammad to arrive and then they can brief both him and her Grace on whatever it is they have been up too. The Duchess has left standing orders for the crew of the //Wandering Providence// to come straight here.
+They eat and drink. Lucas notes there is even Vargr food, but
+//”No one ever has the aromatic dishes”// in a somewhat surely mood. Vincent takes jovial offence
+//”Not ‘no one’. I have, on several occasions, served you food you said was like ‘mother use to make’. Granted, you had to eat it in your cabin alone so the rest of us could enjoy the more human flare. //
+This sparks a round of general laughter and a much needed release of tension. The four friends, bound by fire, actually relax just a bit, or as much as they can before a significant debriefing.
+They meet again with Lady Avaraja, Admiral Mohammad, and Dr. Isa Hill. Over the course of seven hours, they relate their experiences, emphasizing at least one Ancient is left alive and the significant threat posed to //all// of Chartered Space. They leave out details of their own ship’s upgrades with Ancient technology, especially the 300,000 year old Terran mind running it. Also left out are the upgrades to their own bodies. This has been by mutual agreement. And they are believed. No one calls them out for lying. Maria’s work was successful. There are several weighted looks between the Duchess and Admiral when Omicron is mentioned. It is clear neither is happy with that organization. When they are done, her Grace speaks,
+//”Thank you for your service to the Imperium. It is terrifying that such a threat could be inside the subsector We will need some time to decide what to do. In the meantime, you will be my guests here on my grounds. Have your crew join us.”//
+Ms. Sonesta takes them, and the rest of their crew, to several villas. It is beautiful, with a cluster of homes around a central “long house”. Servant robots tend to their needs. There is even old fashioned Vargr cuisine. For three days they are in a garden, with no contact with the outside world. Other than Maria, who keeps in contact with Ama-gi who confirms that no one is approaching the ship.
+At the end of this respite, their crew and luggage is shipped back to the //Providence// and they again meet. This time it is to hear the plan.
+//”Omicron’s fooling around has almost resulted in an threat being unleashed on the whole subsector, if not Imperium,”// Lady Avaraja begins, //”Imperial Warrant or not, this is unacceptable. I have decided to take my case to the Emperor directly.”//
+The room blinks. This will take a minimum of 27 weeks, with almost no stops. Closer to over 30 with her jump-6 ship.
+//”This will serve both the need to talk with the Emperor, but also ensure no one shows up to serve me with an Imperial Warrant demanding to know what I know. My immediate staff will be with me, also out of reach.”//
+The Admerial speaks up, //”And I will be going on an intelligence tour of the subsector. No filed flight plan for security reasons. Provides the same level of avoiding. Captain Swift, you might remember Nelson on old Earth putting his telescope up to his bad eye.”//
+//”Or Cunningham saying the message was distorted when it was out of date,”// David agrees with a chuckle.
+Her Grace continues, //”I am going to give you a Ducal Writ. This will get you service, fuel, and whatever else you need within this subsector or Regina. I have been in contact with the leadership there in the past, and I am sure this will be honored. However, I suggest you make yourselves scarce. District 268 might be a good choice. I will have word sent to you as I can.”//
+{{ :game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:characters:soral_at_brethern.png?400|}}
+//”We have a contact on Avastan,”// David notes, I’ll get you the information for secure transmission.
+With that, the meeting breaks up. They are escorted back to their ship, and Anson notes they are already cleared to leave. It appears their time is up! As they clear the dock, they see the 1,200 ton Duchal Yacht, //Glisten Queen// being readied for departure. It is easy to clear the 1,000 diameters from an Oneil cylinder, and the crew is on the way through Jump Space. First to Mille Falcs, then Collace, and finally Avastan.
+Hailed by Avastan control, Lucas tells them they are here to “worship” and the //Wandering Providence// flies down to its old “home” at the Temple of the Brethern of Sol. Even before they land, Maria reaches out to the Head Mandala Rep, Jenna Breeland, and gives her a taste of her report. This one will be unredacted. Mandala has stood between the Imperium and forces for which it has no defense for centuries. This is the job. Maria has returned to work.
+The hanger is still cold from opening to the outside air as the seven organic members of the crew disembark. Standing their to meet them, dressed in the robes of the Brethren, are Kellys, and their old friend, Sorrel. She throws back her hood and races to embrace Lucas. As the camera pans back from the ship, old friends surround Sorrel.
+End of Season. The Crew of the //Wandering Province// will return in **Secrets of the Ancients**

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