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--- game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:adventure_journal [2025/10/06 14:26] – [The Exploration] Bryan Stephens
+++ game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:adventure_journal [2026/08/22 13:32] (current) – [“The entire battle lasted only a few minutes.”] 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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 ==== Pushing Buttons – Sort Of ====
-{{:game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:lore:globe_room.png?400 |}}
+{{: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 1722: / Line 1722: @@
+==== 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**
+===== 16 Steel Shenanigans =====
+|Game Date|7/30/26|
+|Campaign Dates| 360-365, 1100 – 001-273|
+==== Eight Months Later ====
+The Duchess has been gone for nearly eight months. Even aboard the fastest available Imperial vessels, the journey to Capital is measured in seasons rather than weeks. It will take her more than five hundred days to travel to the heart of the Imperium, secure an audience with the Emperor, conduct whatever negotiations await her there, and return to the Spinward Marches. For now, whatever consequences may come from Dawnworld are moving through distant corridors of power.
+Here on Avastan, life has continued. The crew of the Wandering Providence has spent these months training alongside the Mandala group, the Brethren of Sol. The upgraded //Wandering Providence// has become familiar to its crew. And the crew themselves deal with the changes upon them. Those with new psionics are learning to use their telepathy.
+Even Maria and Ama-gi have honed their abilities. And their old companion. Sorrel has changed as well.
+For perhaps the first time since they met her, she seems genuinely content. The constant tension behind her eyes has eased. She sleeps more peacefully. She laughs without immediately looking over her shoulder.
+Maria can see the changes beneath the surface. The psionic surgery performed upon Sorrel did not repair everything, but it has stabilized structures that once seemed ready to collapse. The damage remains. The scars remain. But the wounds are no longer widening.
+Sorrel remains a devoted member of the Brotherhood. Her fierce religious certainty has not diminished so much as found a new focus. Where once her faith was directed toward distant stars and forgotten revelations, it is now centered upon Sol.
+To Sorrel, humanity’s birthplace is not merely another star system. It is sacred ground.
+This has given her a particular reverence for Maria, who, as a native of Terra, grew up beneath what Sorrel calls //“the holiest of all stars.”//
+She occasionally asks Maria questions about Sol with the solemn intensity of a pilgrim speaking to someone who has personally walked through heaven.
+Beyond Avastan, however, the galaxy has noticed their absence.
+The private message boards used by scholars, treasure hunters, conspiracy theorists, and self-proclaimed experts on the Ancients are filled with speculation concerning Doctor Lucas vin der Volk and the crew of the Wandering Providence.
+A few selections have made their way through the Brotherhood’s data network.
+==**r/AncientHunters**==
+**u/ChartedSpaceTruth//**
+**Title: Vin der Volk has disappeared. Again.**
+Eight months without a conference appearance, paper, interview, academic dispute, or drunken argument in a university bar. That man could not remain quiet for eight days before Dawnworld. Something happened.
+**u/SpinwardScholar**
+He is probably writing.
+**u/ChartedSpaceTruth**
+He wrote an entire paper while trapped on Dawnworld. Do not tell me he suddenly developed professional restraint.
+=== u/JumpShadow77===
+**Title: The Wandering Providence does not officially exist**
+I have searched every publicly accessible registry in Glisten, Mora, Regina, and Rhylanor. No legitimate ship with that name matches the sightings. Either the registration is falsified, the ship is operating under an Imperial seal, or it is not constructed using standard technology.
+**u/NavalBrat1100**
+Or your database access is terrible.
+**u/JumpShadow77**
+My database access is excellent.
+**u/NavalBrat1100**
+That is exactly what someone with terrible database access would say.
+===u/DroyneEnjoyer===
+**Title: The Dawnworld team found a functioning Ancient ship**
+They did not vanish. They left. Everyone is assuming they are hiding somewhere in the Imperium. What if they are no longer in the Imperium? What if the ship can travel farther than ours can?
+**u/OccamsCutlass**
+Your evidence?
+**u/DroyneEnjoyer**
+They found Ancients on Dawnworld. What more evidence do you need?
+===u/ThirdImperiumWatch===
+Title: Duchess is covering up the Dawnworld expedition
+The Duchess departed for Capital shortly after the Dawnworld revelations. Vin der Volk vanished at almost the same time. Coincidence?
+**u/ImperialArchivist**
+Yes.
+**u/ThirdImperiumWatch**
+Found the Ministry of Information account.
+===u/SolomaniGhost===
+Title: Has anyone checked Terra?
+Vin der Volk’s crew included a Terran. The ship vanished.
+The Duchess went to Capital.
+People are looking in the wrong direction.
+**u/RedZoneRomantic**
+You think they went to Terra?
+**u/SolomaniGhost**
+I think Terra came to them.
+===u/DefinitelyNotZhodani===
+**Title: Entire crew consumed by psionic space entity**
+No further questions.
+**u/Moderator**
+This is your fourth warning concerning psionic space entities.
+**u/DefinitelyNotZhodani**
+That is what the entity wants you to say.
+The stories grow more elaborate with each passing week.
+Depending upon which post one believes, you have been recruited by Imperial Intelligence, abducted by the Zhodani, murdered by the Duchess, transformed into energy beings, trapped in an Ancient pocket universe, or secretly placed in charge of a lost fleet awaiting the return of the Ancients. The truth remains safely buried beneath the sheer volume of nonsense, as much at Twilight’s Peak is buried under lava.
+Then, eight months into the year 1101, something changes.
+An Imperial cruiser emerges from jump space at the edge of the Avastan system. The vessel identifies itself as the //INS Sharik Uruk//, (an old Vilani name meaning Guardian of the Distant  Road). It proceeds inward under standard power and assumes orbit above Avastan. The cruiser makes no general announcement beyond the usual navigational declarations. It requests no formal audience with the Brotherhood and dispatches no shuttle. Instead, two messages move through the ordinary communications network.
+They are carried through public systems, routed through the standard relays, and buried among thousands of mundane transmissions. But the messages themselves are heavily encrypted. One appears only upon the secure communications system belonging to Vincent Wiess. The other appears upon the private terminal of Doctor Lucas vin der Volk.
+Both carry the seal of the Office of the Duchess of Mora.
+The explanation is simple. Mail and official correspondence have been accumulating in Glisten. No one in the Imperium seems entirely certain where the Wandering Providence has gone, and Glisten remains the last reliable destination associated with the expedition.
+The Imperial cruiser has brought that correspondence to you. Vincent’s message is from his father. It requests that Vincent return to Regina for a formal family discussion concerning future investments. His father has apparently developed a particular interest in a world which, by remarkable coincidence, bears the name Wiess. The family wishes to consider what opportunities might arise there once Dawnworld is eventually opened to controlled travel, research, commerce, and settlement. The message is polite. It is respectful. It is also written in the unmistakable language of a father who expects his son to come home.
+Lucas’s message bears the insignia of the University of Regina. His Dawnworld paper has spread throughout the subsector. It is being debated in lecture halls, naval academies, scientific societies, private clubs, and government offices. His conclusions have been praised, attacked, expanded upon, misquoted, simplified, sensationalized, and, in at least three cases, denounced by scholars who do not appear to have read the paper.
+The university formally invites Doctor vin der Volk to return to Regina and present a brief series of lectures concerning Dawnworld, the expedition, and the implications of his discoveries.
+They offer an honorarium. They promise academic security.
+For eight months, Avastan has offered safety, training, and something approaching peace. Now the Imperium has found them again. And somewhere beyond the borders of the Brethren Regina is waiting.
+==== The Steel Skimmers ====
+The crew of the //Wandering Providence// bid their goodbyes to Sorrel and the Brethren.
+VP Operations “Oracle” Hera Colee gave Lucas a particularly fond sendoff. The older Vargr, still reveling in the vigor of his restored body, had finally given in to her advances during their months on Avastan. What began as curiosity about an interspecies kink had become something they both thoroughly enjoyed, and Hera made no secret of being sorry to see him leave.
+Several of the younger women were equally sad to see Vincent depart. He had enjoyed his time among the Brethren considerably more than he might ever admit to himself.
+Lucas and Vincent were not alone. Anson and David had also discovered something unexpected during their eight months on Avastan: telepathic sexual intimacy could be far more powerful than any of them had anticipated. Sharing sensation was one thing. Sharing desire, anticipation, pleasure, and the unguarded emotional experience beneath them was something altogether different. It had changed the way each of them understood the possibilities of psionics.
+Head of Security “Pad Boss” Arthul Ganer and Maria were simply cordial when they parted. Neither expected anything else.
+Like Maria, Arthul had once lived on the pointed end of the stick. Their time together over the past eight months had been intense, private, and deliberately uncomplicated ... the release of two professionals who understood violence, responsibility, and the necessity of compartmentalizing parts of themselves from everyone around them.
+They shook hands, exchanged a few quiet words, and left things there.
+Ama-Gi felt the impact of that departure for Maria more keenly than anyone else.
+He had known her mind since the crew first found him, and with PSI 12, there were depths of communication between them that few others aboard the //Wandering Providence// could approach. Maria was more powerful still, but power was not the same thing as connection.
+Ama-Gi understood displacement. Three hundred thousand years ago he had been human. He had lived a life on the world now called Dawnworld. He had loved a mate, raised children, known grandchildren, grown old, and approached death before the Ancients preserved ... or more likely copied ... his mind into the system that administered their project.
+Now he existed within the heart of the //Wandering Providence//, housed in a dodecahedron scarcely larger than a child, more intimately connected to the ship than any biological being could ever be.
+But Ama-Gi had memories of belonging. Maria did not have that refuge.
+Through their long conversations, and through the extraordinary access their psionic abilities allowed, Ama-Gi had come to understand how profoundly alone she could be. She remained connected to humanity, yet had been remade into something beyond it. And unlike Ama-Gi, there was no lost lifetime behind her in which she had once simply been one person among many like herself.
+The crew loved her. She had companions, purpose, and a place aboard the //Wandering Providence//.
+Yet Ama-Gi knew there were regions of Maria’s experience into which none of them could truly follow.
+As the //Wandering Providence// prepared to leave Avastan, the ancient human mind at the heart of their ship felt something very simple for her: Sadness.
+==== Steel Skimmers ====
+It takes only hours for the first Jump. This is going to be a long series of jumps. Ama-Gi has plotted the fastest route. Nine weeks with no stops at all.
+The route takes them up along the metal worlds of the Sword Worlds. They stop in Steel. a marginal system where the Class E starport offers little more than a marked landing area and a navigational beacon. Visiting starships cannot expect reliable fuel, repair facilities, or meaningful technical support. Most transient vessels refuel at one of Steel’s gas giants instead.
+A small commercial platform known as the **Steel Outer System Service Cooperative** offers navigational assistance, atmospheric forecasts, emergency towing, and replacement fuel-processing supplies near the system’s most commonly used gas giant.
+The platform offers:
+  *Current gas-giant weather information.
+  *Suggested atmospheric-entry and skimming routes.
+  *Emergency towing and orbital recovery.
+  *Temporary storage of unrefined hydrogen.
+  *Replacement filters and common fuel-processor components.
+  *Basic food, water, and life-support supplies.
+  *A communications relay toward the mainworld.
+  *A place for crews to wait while their ship processes fuel.
+The Cooperative cannot perform meaningful starship repairs. Its equipment is TL9 to TL11 and poorly maintained.
+The //Wandering Providence// is traveling incognito as //Far Horizon//. It’s outer hull is not set to stealth or reflective. When they approach Steel IV the Cooperative broadcasts:
+//“Inbound Far Horizon, this is Steel Outer System Service. Class E facilities at Steel Downport currently report no commercial fuel availability. We can provide current atmospheric data, skimming profiles, emergency support, and certified fuel-processing consumables. State vessel identification and intended service.”//
+The voice belongs to Halla Venn, the Cooperative’s senior operator. She sounds tired but professional.
+Vincent answers and they are given directions.
+//“The attached profile is the most commonly used route. Naturally, a vessel with unusually capable sensors may find an independent descent solution more suitable.”//
+Vincent is immediately suspicious, feeling she sounds under duress. Lucas takes this information and scans the comms. A single tight signal was sent directly upon their flight path.
+Maria immediately goes to get her vacc suit on and returns.
+As they descend into the gas giant, Lucas conducts extensive scans. They get another message.
+//"Your current approach is acceptable. At nine thousand kilometers, roll twelve degrees to port and begin descent toward pressure layer four. The region is showing stable hydrogen concentration and minimal electrical activity.”//
+Except it doesn’t. It shows normal activity. It also shows four ships: A 400 ton now above them, two 200 tons below, and an 80 ton closing on them.
+David puts the ship into battle stations. Lucas lights up the ships with a lock on one at a time. Anson starts to fly the //Wandering Providence// out of the trap. The rest of the crew mans the guns and missiles, with Ama-gi and Aurther on guns, and Vincent and Gwith’in on missiles.
+Maria simply puts her chair back into interface mode. Her face plate is open, and Vincent notices her eyes close. The circles at either side of her head light up with patterns of colors.
+//Let’s be organized about this.”// Commands David. //”We will keep our lasers active for point defense. I will designate targets: Alpha for the 400, Bravo and Charlie for the 200s, and Zulu for the ship’s gig.”//
+//”One other thing,”// says Lucas with a feral grin. He was showing more energy these days. Of the whole crew, the de-aging was most apparent on the older Vagr. //”Amai-Gi, change our ID to default”//
+//”Are you certain, Professor? Captain?”// Ama-Gi was always formal in combat.
+//”Yes!”// hissed Lucas, //”I want them to know who we are.”//
+David nodded. //”Yes. And set the hull to reflective as we do it”//
+This is the first sign that something might be off on the would be pirate ships.
+Those same ships, of course, are not using transponders, but they are (A) //Skeldar’s Claim//, (B) //Hrotti// & (C) //Fafni//, and the (Z) //Needle//. David’s orders and calm helps the crew be organized, but they do take extra time and the Steel Skimmer pirates are ready to go.
+The (C) //Fafni//spat out six missiles , well within immediate impact range, as did (A) //Skeldar’s Claim//. The salvo from //Skeldar’s Claim// would take time to reach them, even as they rose up. Anson was already using erratic maneuvers. Even before the //Fafni’s// salvo could reach them, pulse and beam lasers from (B) //Hrotti// struck through the thinning atmosphere. But the shots that did strike glanced off of the reflective hull.
+David waited on the ships to strike back and ordered Aurther to deal with the immediate Salvo, even as he ordered both missile turrets to concentrate on the most dangerous target, the //Fafnir//. Even as Anson takes their ship through maneuvers, she lines up the turrets. Six of the //Providence’s// own missiles race through the atmosphere of Steel IV towards the //Fafnir// even as Aurther able knocks down every shot in the close salvo. Then she rotates again and Ama-Gil eliminates the longer range salvo.
+All of the enemy ships try to break the weapons lock. All of them fail. Their technology and skill is no match for Tech Level 18 systems being run by one of the greatest minds alive in the Imperium.
+In two minutes, the //Wandering Providence// is no longer under immediate threat and it is unharmed.
+The same cannot be said for //Fafnir//. The salvo separates just as it closes. //Fafnir// is a missile boat. All teeth and no scales. Every missile hits, each for maximum damager.
+//Fafnir// simply come apart amid the explosions. Its debris simply fall down into the depths of Steel IV.
+This prey has spines.
+As this is going on, Maria asks Lucas to find the command ship. He is pretty sure it is the 400 ton //”Target Alpha”//.
+That is all she needs. The chair, integrated with the ship and Ama-Gi, greatly extends her range. Her mind reaches out and finds the leader of the enemy forces. Captain Arvid Skeld.
+As David comms on an open frequency, //”This is David Swift of the Wandering Providence. You are order to call off your attack and assume a stand down position.”//, Maria gives the Captain a single suggestion: //Surrender//. It is not a verbal thought. It is a subconscious command.
+Now the pace changes. //Skeldar’s Claim// simple stays on its current course. Captain Skeld is in shock, with his own mind telling him to do the unthinkable. //Fafnir// is just … gone.
+The (Z) //Needle// just keeps closing. It is desperate to get into dogfighting range, where the missiles and turrets of its prey would be less effective.
+Anson just keeps the range.
+//”If they don’t give up, we have to keep teaching them”// David says, as //Hrotti// fires its pulse, but not beam lasers at them. //”Aurther, Particle Beams at Alpha. Ama-Gi stay on point defense. Vincent, salvo-3 at Baker.”//
+The salvo strikes (B) //Hrotti// despite its efforts to shoot them down. While not destroyed, the ships is badly damaged enough that it can only worry about feeing itself from the atmosphere of Steel IV.
+The particle beam does not do serious damage to //Skaldar’s Claim// but it is enough to push Grant over the edge.
+//”ALL SHIPS SURRENDER!”//.
+Things moved more swiftly now. The pirate ships assumed a positing dictated by David. Every order had the authority of a former Imperial Officer. He has them take a space where //Wandering Providence// can stand between them and the Steel Cooperative platform.
+//’Now, we order them to surrender,”// David started but Vincet interrupted him.
+//”That woman was under duress. We might get a lot of people killed. Maybe we can find out what is going on.”// His eyes fell on the supine Maria. Her chair’s mental interface were already flickering.
+//”The commander of the base is Halla Venn. There are two pirates in her command center. Both have guns. She is both elated and terrified.”//
+There is a pause and Maria decides a risk. She sends a thought to Halla.
+//Don’t let them see use come closer.//
+//”David, stealth us and get us close. I will teleport in and deal with the pirates.”//
+//”Sounds good. Lucas, keep those three ships pinged. We want them to know we mean it. If the move, we salvo-6 Alpha and hit it with particle beams.”//
+Their ships goes from reflective to stealth. Suddenly, the //Wandering Providence// drops from sensors. All three ships and the platform loses it. No one sees it move to match the relative orbit of the platform.
+Maria’s chair rises up to a standing position. With her head still bracketed by the interface, she pulls her sword and her face plate snaps shut. Blue-white energy pulses along the outside of the suit. There is a flash and she is gone.
+On the station, the pirates are talking. They have no idea what to do next other than hold the command crew and the station hostage. They have the only guns.
+Maria appears behind one.
+She has her sword.
+That pirate suddenly does not have a head.
+As the geyser of blood sprays the room, the suddenly appearing figure points her sword at the other pirate. The armored figure before him looks like a nightmare. The armor is smooth. Alien. Glowing lines flow along it.
+And it just … appeared and cut of Mehal’s head.
+//”Drop your weapon of die!”// the voice was female. And utterly cold.
+The laser pistol clatters to the floor.
+//We are good here// Maria sends back through their telepathic link, not even thinking about comms.
+After that the clean up is easy. The four men, David, Lucas, Vincent and Aurther board each ship and disarm and secure the pirates. The pirates see strangely armored figures, with alien rifles. It is terrifying. The are subdued.
+The ships and pirates are tuned over to the locals. This is an odd case where David would very much like to give in to Maria’s thought: Space them all. This ends up being a boon for the Cooperative. They still mourn the loss of their lost tech, Alvin.
+Lucas makes sure to edit the logs on the ship so there is not direct proof of the power of the //Wandering Providence//.
+But there will be rumors.
+They bid their good byes and continue their journey.
+=== Arrival ===
+Assiniboia fills their screens. It is the gas giant that the moon Regina orbits. This means the 1000 diameter limit is further out for them. This gives each of them more time to ponder what is ahead of them
+It was Day 150 in the year 1098 when they departed Regina. It is now day 273 of year 1101. Nearly three and a half years. So much had happened in that time. So many experiences and changes.
+David finds himself wondering about his role. This was a sign up to take command of a ship for an archeological dig. Now he is acting to secure the Imperium in ways he never imagined as an Imperial Officer.
+Lucas wonders at his homecoming. Finally respect. Respect from people who rejected him. Yet his world is larger than the University now. Does this even matter?
+Vincent has been summoned by the family, back into the very business he sought to leave over three years ago. Is he going to be pulled back in? Can he not escape it?
+Maria is the most troubled, but shows it the least. Despite leaving, she is effectively working for Mandala again. They helped them for 8 months. Now she is all but back on the payroll. The organization that took her in and gave her purpose. An orphan on the run from Solomani forces. She left. And now she is back.
+The //Wandering Providence// slides towards Regina and their future.
+===== 17 Triumphant Return to Regina  =====
+|Game Date|8/6/26|
+|Campaign Dates|1101-274-294|
+=== Arrival ===
+The //Wandering Providence// approaches Regina as an ordinary vessel until traffic control receives the ship's identity and the names of the arriving passengers. Weiss Mobil's regional office has already placed a priority reservation on a private corporate slip.
+Regina appears first as a bright moon beneath the vast ruddy curve of Assiniboia. Long before the world fills the forward screens, the traffic display comes alive.
+Hundreds of ships move through the system. Small traders and packet boats weave between bulk freighters, while enormous megafreighters from the Core drift toward the highport like artificial continents. A formation of Imperial warships glitters beyond a military exclusion zone.
+Regina Highport itself grows from a distant light into a sprawling sphere surrounded by docking rings, warehouses, shipyards, fuel depots, defense satellites and thousands of smaller craft. Traffic control assigns the Wandering Providence a holding vector several hours from the station.
+Then the controller asks for confirmation of the vessel's identity and passenger manifest.
+There is a pause after Vincent Weiss's name is transmitted.
+//"Wandering Providence, Regina Control. Weiss Mobil Regional Operations has confirmed your arrival. You are cleared for priority approach to Weiss Slip Viridian-Seven. Navigational package follows. Welcome home, Mr. Weiss."//
+The new vector cuts directly through the waiting traffic. Freighters that arrived before you remain in holding orbits while the Providence is guided toward the inner docking ring. The assigned slip bears the Weiss Mobil emblem in dark navy and gold. It is large enough for a corporate yacht, equipped with its own customs office, freight access, secure passenger bridge and private shuttle bay.
+Vincent remembers the slip. The family's ships have used it for as long as he can remember.
+Corporate customs officers and household security meet the ship. The crew is processed privately rather than routed through the public concourses. Their weapons and unusual equipment are logged without intrusive inspection under Weiss Mobil's corporate guarantees.
+A Weiss Mobil orbital shuttle is waiting in the adjoining bay. The shuttle is a polished executive craft with comfortable acceleration couches, a small conference compartment and panoramic viewports. It flies directly to the estate rather than using the public downport.
+The Weiss shuttle drops away from the highport and turns toward Regina.
+Assiniboia dominates the view. The gas giant fills half the sky, banded in ochre, rust and muted gold. Regina hangs beneath it, a blue-green moon streaked with cloud and scattered ice. As the shuttle enters the atmosphere, the glow of re-entry washes across the viewports.
+The cities of Credo and Atora appear on the nightside as two great concentrations of light joined by highways, transit lines and expanding districts. They are becoming less two cities than a single immense urban corridor.
+The shuttle banks toward Atora. Towers rise through morning haze, their upper levels linked by grav traffic and elevated transit ways. The city gives way to lower, older districts and then wooded ridges preserved from development.
+The estate appears on one of those ridges. A long, low house of dark stone, pale metal and glass follows the crest above the city. Several kilometers of private woodland surround it. Local trees turn green leaves toward the sun while a second growth of pale grey fronds angles toward the reflected light of Assiniboia.
+A private landing lawn opens below. The shuttle settles silently onto a marked pad beside the main house.
+The doors open before Vincent reaches them.
+The Weiss family's Regina residence is known locally as Dorrin Heights. It began as a country property outside Atora, but the city has expanded around it. The estate now forms a private wooded enclave overlooking one of the most important urban centers in the Spinward Marches.
+The house is not an imitation of a palace on Capital. It is distinctly Reginan ... built for severe weather, broad views, privacy and the constant presence of Assiniboia in the sky. Its wealth appears in scale, materials, silence and flawless service rather than ornament.
+The main house is broad and low, constructed from dark local stone, pale composite and recessed structural glass. Steep rooflines shed seasonal storms. Covered walkways connect the residence to guest wings, staff quarters, the security pavilion and service buildings. The grounds contain mature local woodland, formal gardens, an old landing lawn and terraces overlooking Atora.
+Public rooms use dark navy textiles, restrained gold fittings, polished blackwood and Vilani art associated with travel, continuity and trade. Antique star charts and models of important Weiss Mobil vessels line the major corridors. The private family rooms are warmer and less formal.
+The group exits the shuttle and are met by Karina Duval ... Chief of Hospitality, Human Female, 51
+Karina is warm, observant and one of the few people who still treats Vincent as the boy who used to sneak into the kitchens. She immediately classifies the crew as Vincent's guests rather than employees. Within a day she knows everyone's preferred meals, drinks and sleeping arrangements.
+//"Your father has explained Weiss to twelve different people. That means he is either fascinated or terrified. With him, those are often the same condition. Your parents are in the west salon. Your mother instructed me to ensure that you greet her before your father begins discussing business. I believe she anticipated that he might forget."//
+It is first thing in the morning on Regina and they are invited to breakfast with Vincint’s parents, Maxmillian and Alexandria.
+After introductions, and Vincent notes Maria is polite enough not to read his parents minds as she sits down, they have a pleasant breakfast. The whole group is very aware of the strength of personality of Alexandria. It is clear where Vincent gets his skill. Maxmillian is less forceful and more stoic. A man of few words and many plans. It is clear why this formidable team has been able to grow the already sizeable family fortune.
+After breakfast, Lucas calls his old mentor, Dr. Atule Azlow. The old Vagr is delighted to hear from his former protégé. He has been following Lucas’s efforts. They catch up and plan a time to meet in the next week.
+Then the call to Professor Mariel Tann head of Comparative Archaeology and Ancient Migration at the University of Regina. She is happy to hear that Professor vin der Volk is dirt side and they arrange for a time to meet.
+Maria tours the estate. She likes the peace of being away from others for a while. David and Anson also stroll, but they take dinner in the city.
+=== The Weiss Proposal ===
+Late morning, Vincent is on the way with Lucas to meet with his father. Aurther approaches him to ask about places to gamble. Vincent is able to steer him right, but warns him about the Assumption of Custody law.
+Under Regina law, the Public Order Commission has the power to detain suspects for up to a month without trial. Assumption of Custody is a process where multiple suspects of a crime are detained and questioned; these ‘suspects’ might just have been in the area of the crime, or match a profile, or even be randomly swept off the streets. Those Assumed into custody are innocent until proven guilty. Assumption is held to be a civic service and while a small stipend is available to those who are Assumed, it can still cause considerable inconvenience. Critics of the policy note that most citizens of Regina are never Assumed but certain groups – known criminals, transients, uneducated youths, off-worlders – are regularly detained by the POC.
+Vincent and Lucas meet with his father in his study.
+Maximilian Weiss’s private study is deliberately old-fashioned for a man whose fortune rests on interstellar transport. The walls are paneled in dark native Reginan wood, polished to a soft sheen, with built-in shelves holding physical books, ship models, route maps, and a few pieces of restrained Vilani art. A broad desk of the same wood faces a wide window overlooking the landscaped grounds of Dorrin Heights, with Atora only faintly visible beyond the trees.
+The room is luxurious without being ostentatious. Deep chairs sit around a low table near the window, and nothing in the room looks disposable or recently purchased. It feels less like a corporate executive’s office than the private room of a man accustomed to making decisions that affect worlds.
+When Maximilian is ready to speak seriously, he touches a small control recessed into the edge of his desk.
+There is no dramatic alarm. The room simply changes.
+The comm indicators on the desk go dark. A faint pressure hum passes through the walls as a privacy field activates, cutting off wireless transmission and disrupting outside surveillance. Heavy shutters slide silently across the window, sealing away the gardens and Assiniboia beyond. The door locks with a soft mechanical click.
+Only then does Maximilian turn back to Vincent and Lucas.
+//“Now,”// he says, //“we can discuss Weiss.”//
+//"You have told me Dawnworld may open sooner than expected,"// Maximillian says. //"You have also made it clear that you cannot tell me why."//
+He folds his hands over the Highport projections.
+//"I accept that there are confidences you must keep. I do not accept that this makes the business question disappear. If I begin construction now and you are correct, Weiss Mobil secures the principal route into a developing world. If you are wrong, I build a Highport in anticipation of traffic that may not exist for another generation."//
+He studies Vincent for a moment.
+//"I am not asking you to betray anyone. I am asking how much confidence I should place in my son's judgment."//
+The two men are candid as they can be about the fact that the sterility on Dawnworld can be fixed.
+//”Mr. Weiss,” Lucas begins,
+//”You are my son’s friend, Please, Maximilian.”//
+A brief nod.
+//”The sterility issue is solvable. We gave Lady Muktheswara information that will help them fix this issue. Most likely a vaccination of sorts. Dawnworld will be openable. It is a garden world. There is no reason why that district will not become an incorporated subsector with Dawnworld as a strong planet.”//
+Lucas and Vicent present some more evidence. Weiss has had enough.
+He rises and pressed an intercom button.
+//”Allison, active the plans for Weiss Highport.”//
+//”Gentlemen it is time to celebrate. What is your drink?”// and he moves to a wall that is already sliding forward. Behind it is a full wetbar that puts the one on their ship to shame.
+//”I am old fashioned. I’ll have one.”// says Vicent.
+//”Scotch for me,”// says Lucas.
+The three men drink a toast to the future. Lucas asks //”Is there any way for me to invest in this?”//
+Maximillian Weiss chuckles, //”I had already thought to include you in profits as my son’s friend, but yes, we can work something out. You pick excellent companions, Vincent.”//
+=== Lunch ===
+Lucas meets Mariel Tann for lunch at Collegium, a long-established restaurant and bar just off the University of Regina campus, popular with faculty, graduate students, and visiting academics. It serves dependable food, strong coffee, and decent drinks in comfortable booths worn smooth by decades of arguments over papers and departmental politics. Nobody comes there to be impressed, which is exactly why Professor Tann likes it.
+Mariel settles back into the booth once the date is agreed upon and the lecture time is fixed, the administrative business finally out of the way. From there the conversation slips easily into old rhythms ... colleagues who have known one another long enough to skip the formalities, trading stories about fieldwork, university politics, mutual acquaintances, and the sort of academic gossip neither would ever put in writing.
+At some point Mariel pauses and gives Lucas a more careful look.
+//“You know,”// she says, //“this is going to sound ridiculous considering what you’ve been doing, but the field seems to agree with you. You look younger than the last time I saw you. Years younger.”//
+Lucas smiles, but it takes him a moment too long.
+It is a compliment, and part of him enjoys it. He feels better. Stronger. More confident. After Twilight’s Peak, he has stopped feeling quite so much like the academic tagging along behind people who actually matter when things become dangerous.
+But Lucas also knows that Mariel is more perceptive than most people.
+So he shrugs and reaches for his drink.
+//“Fresh air. Exercise. Near-death experiences. Apparently, I should have left academia years ago.”//
+Mariel laughs. Lucas does too.
+He just does not tell her that he has occasionally wondered exactly the same thing she has.
+=== Lecture ===
+The Lecture is well attended. Alexandria makes sure to be there. Her husband is not. This is not his interest. Everything is Alexandria’s interest if it makes a splash. This is making a splash. Lucas does well with the material. Even his detractors are impressed.
+Especially impressed is Kfouzorra Rraeg, She is Graduate Student in Archaeobiology. She is a young female Vargr. Kfouzorra is clever, energetic and unusually charismatic. Other Vargr students naturally orient themselves around her, and she knows how to give someone her complete attention. She is strongly interested in Lucas's work and also in Lucas himself.
+She happens to approach as Alexandria is congratulating Lucas. She gets swept up in the invite to her celebration dinner. This includes Dr. Tann as well.
+//”But, I have reservations at Collegium.”//
+Alexandria looks genuinely apologetic.
+//“Oh, Mariel, cancel them. I’ve already sent word to the Aureate Crown.”//
+There is a tiny pause.
+Mariel knows exactly what that means. So does anyone at the University who is listening.
+And there are some open mouths.
+Alexandria has just casually acquired a prime table at one of the most exclusive restaurants in Atora with less than an hour’s notice. Then she turns toward Kfouzorra.
+//“And you’re coming too, of course.”//
+Kfouzorra blinks.
+//“I... am?”//
+Alexandria gives her a warm smile that somehow makes the question sound absurd.
+//“You were just telling Lucas how impressed you were with his work. I can’t possibly send you away now.”//
+Lucas gets just enough time to see Mariel suppressing a smile before Alexandria continues.
+Vincent watches his mother with awe. Every time he feels he has people manipulation down, he just has to remember his mother.
+Lucas’s detractors have just watched one of the university’s major patrons attend his lecture, congratulate him publicly, and immediately gather his strongest supporter and a promising graduate student for dinner at a restaurant most faculty members could not get into.
+Maria came to the lecture in disguise.
+A different face. Different hair. Different posture. Different smell. Even Lucas would not recognize her at a glance.She was not there to listen. She was there to watch.
+Most of the room looked exactly as it should. Faculty. Students. Alexandria Weiss. A few obvious journalists. Then Maria noticed the young man in the front row. Too neat. Too controlled. Hair too clean for a college student.
+//What is he thinking?//
+Maria let //telepathy//  brush across him.
+**Harrah Ming. Imperial Intelligence.*8
+Her tension eased slightly.
+//At least it isn’t Omicron.//
+He was not watching Lucas alone. He was watching the crew.
+After the lecture, Alexandria swept Lucas, Tann, Kfouzorra, David and Anson into dinner plans.
+Maria followed Ming.
+He took public transit to an ordinary apartment in an ordinary building. Inside, he sat at a secure terminal and began his report. Maria caught enough from his thoughts.
+SUBJECT GROUP CONFIRMED ON REGINA. WEISS CONTACT ESTABLISHED. LUCAS PUBLIC APPEARANCE COMPLETED. NO INDICATION SUBJECTS AWARE OF ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE.
+Maria watched for a moment longer.
+They were being watched. Deliberately. Systematically.
+//Damn.//
+She left without contacting the others until she was sure she was clean. Then she sent one short message.
+//“Enjoy dinner. We need to talk when you get back.”//
+=== Messages and Messages ===
+The group knows they are being monitored and spend more time in the compound. Lucas has some follow up meetings, and Maria always tails him in disguise.
+Then Lucas gets a missive from Professor Iaros Ujinka, Department of Archaeology and History asking him to come talk.
+Professor Iaros Ujinka is an elderly member of the archaeology and history faculty at the University of Regina. She is an expert on the Ancients civilization and was highly respected in the field until an incident 12 years ago. There is an Ancients site on the planet Inthe, six parsecs trailing of Regina. This site is officially a state secret, although its existence is common knowledge among researchers and tourists. Ujinka and several of her colleagues fought a high-profile legal battle with the Scout Service to have the Inthe site opened up to civilian researchers; the case dragged on for years until it was eventually resolved by the Archduke of Deneb himself, who sided with the Scout Service. Relations between the University and the government were severely scarred by the whole affair and Ujinka’s reputation suffered greatly. There were even allegations that she helped thieves break into the Inthe site to steal buried artefacts.
+Lucas knows she has been offworld on a research mission for three years; the University of Regina has several offworld dig sites related to the Ancients. The two of them have never worked together or even met in person. They always managed to be in the field when the other was at the University. Now they are here at the same time.
+Lucas arranges a meeting, but as they are getting ready to leave that morning, another message comes through for Vincent. It is from Pallod Norrim, Chief Inspector, Regina Public Order Commission:
+//It is my sad duty to inform you of the death of citizen Vlen Backett, late of Regina/Alell, who died in Credo City, Regina. Before his passing, Backett had left instructions on file with the Public Order Commission that you should be considered his next of kin for the purposes of resolving his outstanding affairs on Regina, for taking possession of his belongings, and for the transport of his remains back to Alell. A sum of money has been deposited with the First Ducal Bank to cover any expenses.//
+//In the name of his grace the Duke and in accordance with the Public Order Act of 527 (Amended), I hereby require and enjoin you to travel to the Credo Downport with all due haste to deal with the affairs and estate of Vlen Backett. In the event that you are unable to do so, you must reply to this message at soon as possible so that alternate arrangements may be made.//
+//I wish to extend my personal condolences on the death of Vlen Backett. His body is being stored in a cryogenic facility in Credo City and will be transferred to your possession as soon as possible.//
+//Given certain irregularities with Vlen Backett’s affairs, it is vitally important that you contact me at the Public Order Commission upon arrival in the city. (Address Attached)//
+Lucas calls to put off his meeting with the Professor. They have another issue to deal with.
+Vlen Backett is dead.
+===== 18 Body Snatchers=====
+|Game Date|8/13/26, 8/20/26|
+|Campaign Dates| 1101-295-XXX|
+==== Inspector Norrim ====
+The group heads to the Public Order Commission (POC) office in Credo. The Credo Public Order Office; it is a colossal building, made out of black synthstone. Vincent knows it is a perfect copy of the Imperial Ministry of Justice headquarters on Capitol. There are always huge crowds outside the POC Office, thanks to the Reginan custom of Assumption of Custody. Normally, the group would have to queue behind angry citizens, offworlders demanding compensation for wrongful arrest or people trying to cope with the choking bureaucracy of Regina. However, in this case, they have an official summons and they don’t even have to present it. As soon as they approach they are welcomed in and directed to the office of Inspector Pallod Norrim.
+The group is shown into a blandly functional office , with a large holoportrait of Duke Norris on the wall – and sits down behind his desk. The hardwood desk is an imposing antique and must have cost a small fortune to ship into orbit. The inspector activates a privacy seal as he addresses them.
+Norrim is portly but light on his feet, the mark of a man who has spent many years in the slightly lower gravity of a space station. He is dressed in a POC uniform, a green militaristic outfit with crystal-blue epaulets and a blue cap; hanging at his side is a personal computer, which he hardly ever uses. He speaks slowly and deliberately, enunciating every word of his Galanglic to ensure offworlders can follow his accent. He is the chief representative of the POC at the highport, so his job exists in the tangled grey area between Imperial and planetary law.
+//“It is the belief of the Public Order Commission that Vlen Backett was murdered. The circumstances of his death certainly suggest foul play; Backett was found in the Traveller’s Aid Hostel in Startown. He had been shot with a low-calibre projectile weapon – presumably a silenced one, as no-one heard anything. He was taken to the Tan Shalve Medical Centre, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.”//
+//”No weapon was found at the hostel and the room was sprayed with an aerosol chemical solvent that destroys most forms of forensic evidence. The case is under investigation, of course, but such things take time.”// Norrim pauses and taps at his personal computer for a few seconds, bringing up a document on screen.
+//“According to the physician, tests on the blood of Vlen Backett showed a high level of Tusal, an illegal narcotic. Traces of the drug were also found on Backett’s clothing and in his luggage. His belongings were scattered across the hostel room, implying a hasty search”.//
+// “If you have any information pertinent to this case, now would be the time to volunteer it.”//
+Maria is unimpressed with this apparatchik. And as she is fully back in working mode, she scans his surface thoughts.
+Pallod Norrim privately thinks of himself as a beekeeper. The offworlders swarm around him, buzzing and flitting back and forth in what seems like chaos, however really they are following very simple rules as they search for what they need and defend against threats to their hives. He must wear protective garments – the strict application of Regina law – to defend against their stings but as long as he takes basic precautions, the bees are essentially harmless. He has dealt with tens of thousands of cases over his long career and no matter how strange the circumstances are (aliens and off worlders seem to delight in bringing in added complications to quite simple cases), he has found that they almost always boil down to one of a handful of problems. Someone lied, someone got drunk, someone quarreled with someone else. Just let the bees buzz until they have exhausted themselves, then sweep them up and fix the problem.
+Then, in Pallod’s private classification system, there are the wasps. Wasps look like bees at first glance but they are more aggressive and keep stinging. He suspects Vlen Backett’s case might be a wasp; more complex and more damaging than a simple murder enquiry. Therefore, he intends to swat the case as soon as possible.
+//Great. So what does he know?//
+Meanwhile Vincent is in full obsequiousness mode. He is a master of speaking a lot and saying nothing. He answers any questions that Vincet poses very reluctantly. But what the inspector knows about the case is top of his mind.
+  *Backett was an infrequent visitor to the hostel; he would show up every few years, stay for anything from a few days to several months and then vanish again. • He arrived three days before his death.
+  *On the night of the shooting, Backett returned to the hostel with three other men. TAS members are allowed to receive visitors at the hostel, so long as they vouch for their guests. All three provided identity cards; the POC have since confirmed that all three cards were forgeries.
+Backett seemed nervous but not intoxicated or especially worried.
+  *Poor-quality security camera footage of the three is available. Two of the figures are clearly visible; they are big, dangerous-looking thugs. The third visitor was standing behind the other two and no details can be made out, other than his reddish hair.
+  *They ordered drinks to be brought to the room.
+  *Two of the visitors remained in the corridor outside, as if on guard. After an hour, one of them left the hostel and returned 45 minutes later.
+  *Two hours later, the three visitors left in a hurry. Before they left, one of the visitors called the front desk and reported a spillage in Backett’s room. When the cleaning robot arrived, it discovered Backett’s corpse and raised the alarm.
+  *Around the same time, there was an unexplained power surge that knocked out computer and surveillance systems in the area. The origin of this surge has yet to be discovered.
+Marie shares all of this with her friends via a mental link. Having the psi-crystals to store energy is a luxury she could really get used too.
+Norrim suspects that Vlen Backett was a drug smuggler and that he was killed when some deal went wrong. Vincent is clear they obviously have no idea about Vlen’s recent movements. Once the inspector is convinced that they have nothing useful to tell him, he sighs.
+//”You can collect Backett’s corpse and belongings from the morgue here. There is a travel bond in Backett’s name for the sum of Cr100000; more than enough to take the body home to Allel.”//
+==== The Body and the Site of the Crime ====
+Normally, the bureaucratic nightmare would have taken them hours to get to the body. A mix of charm and influence from Vincent meant it took them minutes. Dr. Bastan Dasren leads them to the cryotube where Vlen’s body is held. The report and the body line up under Lucas’s review.
+The forensic report shows that Vlen Backett was killed by a gunshot from close range, probably a
+low-velocity snub pistol.
+Blood tests show a high level of Tusal in Backett’s bloodstream; at that level, he would barely have been able to stand, let alone fight back
+The shot itself is very clean. Just took out the heart. Did not even exit out the back.
+No one understands it.
+Why not a head shot? A heart shot is hard to set up.
+Why summon a robot to uncover the crime?
+Something is wrong. And all four don’t like it.
+They have the body taken to the //Providence// on a Weiss transport.
+//”I want to put that body into our autodoc.”// David said, meaning one of the two Ancient technology autodocs. Everyone knew what he meant.
+//”Let’s do that when we are all there,”// Lucas noted. Right now we have to work on things moonside.
+They go to the old TAS hostel. Normally, a TAS hostel is well kept and nice. Here, though, things are different. This is the oldest TAS site on Regina. There are so many visitors to Regina that the Traveller’s Aid Society operates several hostels. The largest and most prestigious is on the highport station but there are four more hostels located in other cities on the surface. Most of the Regina hostels are exceedingly well-equipped and comfortable, on par with high quality hotels. The one exception is the Regina Down TAS Hostel. Technically within Credo city limits, this hostel is really part of Startown. It is hundreds of years old and looks it – the building’s exterior is shabby, the concierge computer outdated and forgetful. This is kept open for purposes of nostalgia.
+It is in a bad part of town and TAS membership is needed to get into the lobby. Maria vouches for Vincent. Inside they meet Joren Vask the Receptionist. He is a run down and tired looking man who is more than willing to accept a bribe from Vincent to let them look at the room where Vlen died.
+The room has no real answers.
+Leaving, Vincent asks around the streets and finds a lot of tusal was sold by a man called Darrian Jak. This lead does not help. Nothing is adding up.
+But while he is apart from the others, Vinent is approached by an odd man.
+//”Don’t look over.”//
+There is a man leaning against the wall nearby. He has got a hat drawn down over his eyes and he is facing away from Vincent, talking into his hand-held comm – but he can see that the comm unit is turned off.”//
+ //”I know who killed Vlen Backett. I can help you find him. There is a bar down in Startown, the Flotsam. Meet me there at 10pm. Make sure you are not followed.”//
+//”I’ll be there”// Vinent nods. Delightful! Intrigue and a chase.
+As Vincent rejoins the group he has notices that they are being followed.
+//”Has anyone noticed the men following us?”
+David and Lucas both say //”Yes”//
+Maria give detailed descriptions of them.
+//”They have been with us all day. I have not scanned them yet”//
+That earns raised eyebrows from Vincent.
+//”It’s a TL 15 world. You never know when they have psi-detectors”//
+Vincent tells them he has a meeting and the group decides on a plan. David and Lucas will go to a a bar adjacent to Flotsam. Maria will change her appearance and head to Flotsam early. David and Lucas will watch the tails.
+Things go smoothly. Their tails linger outside of the two bars across the street. Lucas sees the strange man come down from a nearby building and go into Flotsam a bit after Vincent has.
+The Flotsam is a run-down spacer’s bar in the shadow of the downport; it smells of spilled beer and that curious metallic tang that clings to people who have spent months in recycled atmospheres.
+After he comes in, the strange man shuffles over to Vincent’s  table, shooting glances over his shoulder. His eyes dart around the room, as if marking the exits. He grabs a chair and moves it over to one side, so he can sit with his back to the wall.
+//”The name’s Odoy. Detective First Class. I’m armed, by the way, don’t make any sudden moves.”//
+He grins suddenly, as if his face just spasmed.
+//”Have you ever heard of a man called Ven Yasha? He’s got his finger in every cargo that comes through Regina. I’ve been trying to find a way into his organization for years, looking for him to slip up. He’s bribed half the Commission and he’s got spies everywhere. I think he killed Vlen Backett, or ordered his death anyway. I don’t know what Backett was up to – maybe he was one of Yasha’s couriers, or something, but he was involved. I’m not on the case – and isn’t that interesting, no ulterior motives there I’m sure – and you can’t rely on the rest of the POC. They couldn’t find Assiniboia at midnight.”//
+Maria scans the man from across the bar. She is only a little troubled about how easy it is to fall back into this mode. She had lied to herself that she had changed. She was passed this sort of thing.
+She clearly is not.
+Odoy is unstable and jittery; his skin is pock-marked, a side effect of the mood stabilizer drugs he takes to stay functional. He is extremely paranoid and nervous, and takes absurd precautions against being overheard. His condition has deteriorated in the last year, his delusions growing worse. He is an embarrassment to the Public Order Commission and has been placed on leave while the legal machinery is put in place to force his retirement.
+He believes this. He is paranoid.
+And Ven Yasha is real.
+//”Drugs? You think Ven Yasha is dealing drugs? You have no idea of the scale this guy operates on, none whatsoever. The only drug he deals in is power. Yasha’s interested in politics and technology, not getting high.”//
+He takes a swig of his drink.
+“//Damn bureaucrats! They’ve got me on medical leave. Psychologically unstable. Paranoid. Mood swings. Delusions of persecution and conspiracy. Violent tendencies. Lying bastards.”//
+He slides an actual piece of paper to Vincent It has a comm number on it.
+//”Get a burner.”//
+Then he leaves without paying for his drink.
+On the way out, the tails follow the three men. Maria again reads their minds.
+Hargid Voss
+Stej Lanner
+Imperial Intelligence.
+They work for Gand Holcess
+Their orders are to watch the Lucas vin dr Volk and his companions and not to interfere unless absolutely necessary.
+Maria’s loathing catches her off-guard. These are men. Patriots doing their jobs. Like David in the navy.
+Too many encounters. People dead because they did not understand what they were dealing with.
+As Maria walked to join the men to take the aircar back to the Weiss estate, small changes happened between the panopticon of cameras. Her hair slide from brown back to its brilliant white. Her eyes shifted. By the time Maria reached the car, she was herself. And Lanner and Voss had to watch them fly to a secure spot they could not be watched from.
+==== Professor Ujinka ====
+Lucas awakes to his AI telling him about the rumors that have reached Regina:
+Rumors from Steel
+===“The Wandering Providence can cloak.”===
+Several people at the Steel Cooperative swear the ship simply vanished from every sensor at once. The respectable version is that it has a military-grade stealth system nobody has seen before; the less respectable version says it can turn completely invisible.
+===“They destroyed a Sword World squadron.”===
+The story has already grown in transmission. Four pirate vessels at Steel have become “a Sword World raiding squadron,” and some versions claim there were six or eight ships. The Providence supposedly destroyed half of them before the others surrendered.
+===“Vin der Volk hacked their ships remotely.”===
+This is especially popular in academic circles. According to the story, Lucas penetrated the pirate command network during the battle and shut down their weapons, drives, or fire-control systems one vessel at a time. Some people point to the oddly abrupt surrender as proof.
+===“The pirates fired first and never landed a meaningful hit.”===
+This one is nearly true. The Providence was hit, but its hull shrugged off the attacks and its point-defense systems destroyed incoming missile salvos. The rumor has simplified this into, “They fought four ships and came out without a scratch.”
+===“One salvo blew a 200-ton warship apart.”===Witnesses insist the Providence launched six missiles and Fafnir simply ceased to exist. This is the rumor naval officers and weapons specialists find hardest to dismiss because it matches what debris analysis at Steel would suggest.
+===“Their targeting systems are impossible.”===
+Every pirate vessel reportedly tried to break the Providence’s targeting locks and failed. One version claims the ship tracked every hostile vessel simultaneously through the atmosphere of a gas giant.
+===“They changed their transponder in the middle of the fight just to tell the pirates who was killing them.”===
+This has become one of the most repeated stories because it is dramatic and, inconveniently, essentially true. The ship entered the system as Far Horizon and deliberately switched back to Wandering Providence once the ambush began.
+===“David Swift made the entire pirate force surrender over an open channel.”===
+The popular version has David calmly identifying himself and ordering the enemy squadron to stand down... after which they did. Nobody can agree on why hardened pirates obeyed him.
+===“The Wandering Providence has particle weapons.”===
+There are scattered reports of an unusual beam striking the command ship after the missile boat was destroyed. Some claim it was a particle accelerator; others insist no ship that size could possibly carry one.
+===“The Steel pirates had hostages and the Providence rescued the station without killing them.”===
+The basic rescue is known, but the details are confused. Some say a boarding team infiltrated the platform under cloak. Others claim the crew bribed someone inside. One especially popular version says they deployed a previously unknown stealth commando unit.
+===“The entire battle lasted only a few minutes.”===
+This may be the part spacers find most unnerving. The pirates had positional advantage and numerical superiority; shortly afterward one ship was destroyed, another crippled, and the rest had surrendered.
+===“The crew edited the evidence before handing the pirates over.”===This is conspiracy-board material, but it is circulating. People note that the surviving sensor records are frustratingly incomplete and conclude that vin der Volk or someone aboard the Providence deliberately sanitized the data.
+Lucas just howls with glee.
+Before they leave they hear from the Inspecter. Apparently the case has been solved. Chief Inspector Norrim has important news – a standard Assumption of Custody sweep has identified Backett’s killer. The inspector explains that they used the security footage from the TAS Hostel to create a profile of the likely murderer – short, red-haired, involved in the tusal trade, and potentially violent. The Public Order Commission pulled in a score of suspects and questioned them all, and one of them is going to be charged with the crime. The accused killer is a small-time tusal smuggler and thug called Darrian Jak; he is not actually a Darrian but has elfin features reminiscent of that race. He denies murdering anyone in the TAS Hostel but the POC can tie him to half-a-dozen other violent incidents and he has no alibi for that night.
+None of them believe this for a moment. This is getting the case solved. Vincent notes,
+//”This is about the truth. I don’t doubt this man should be punished for his crimes, but killing Uncle Vlen is not one of them”//. They head for their appointment.
+Professor Ujinka has a large home in the countryside outside Credo City, in the region called Dancado. Technically, Dancado is the private property of the Duke of Regina but a few respected families are permitted to lease land in the estate and live there. The house has been in Ujinka’s family for generations.
+As the Dancado region is part of the Duke’ s private domain, grav cars and other flyers are restricted to a limited number of flight paths. The standard mode of travel is by charmingly old-fashioned ground car or even by riding. Vincent hires a ground car in Credo City; once they are out of the press of the multilevel city, the drive is a pleasant one, winding its way through the forests of Dancado. The trees here have adapted to their environment; each has two sets of leaves. One set is for absorbing sunlight from Regina’s primary star, the other set of grey fronds is for feeding on reflected light from Assiniboia. This is unsettling for non-natives, as the trees squirm sometimes to pick up more of the wan light from the gas giant.
+Vincent finds he has missed it.
+They all see the ground car following them.
+Ujinka’s home is surrounded by a high fence enclosing several square kilometers of garden. When the four drive up to the gate, they are scanned by an automated security system that confirms their identity. They cannot help but notice the presence of armed drones lurking in the trees; such weapon systems are illegal on Regina without extensive special permits and are certainly an impressive amount of firepower for a private residence.
+A robot servant opens the door.
+“//Professor Ujinka will be with you momentarily. Please follow me to the lounge. Please mind your step.”//
+It is not possible for a robot butler to sniff snootily but this one makes a good attempt. The hallway beyond is packed with shipping crates and boxes; it is like a small freighter dumped its cargo on the mansion. They are led into a large room, one where the whole east wall is transparent, overlooking a lake. On the wall are holos of planets the professor has visited. She has been all over the Marches.
+The Professor greets them all warmly. It is clear she has followed the growing legend of the crew of the //Wandering Providence//.
+The Professor  is at least 100 standard years old but moves with the energetic hyperactivity of someone who has just undergone a course of anagathics. She seizes the hand of Vincent and squeezes it with her callused hands.
+//”My sincere condolences. Vlen was a remarkable fellow, truly remarkable. Please, sit down. Can I have the machine get you something?”//
+After refreshments and hearing about their, edited, adventures she talks about her work.
+//”Finding Ancients sites has traditionally been a rather hit-or-miss affair. Either the site is so large that it is obvious from orbit, or so well hidden that they are discovered only by chance. All of the surviving intact sites are virtually impossible to detect using conventional sensors – there are no electromagnetic emissions, no thermal signatures, no gravimetric traces. They’re effectively invisible.//
+“//Some years ago, I obtained a spacer’s diary, where he described an anomalous disturbance in the G-band of his ship’s communications system when they were in orbit of Yori – and there’s an Ancients site on Yori. I looked into the matter and there are a handful of other cases where other vessels reported similar G-band problems that all correlated with known Ancients sites. I believe that under certain conditions, a G-band signal can be distorted by some aspect of Ancients technology.//
+“//Now, it’s not as simple as just tuning your ship’s radio to the G-band. It’s only under certain conditions and I’m not sure what those are. I applied for funding but the university said my proposal lacked evidence. So, I went ahead anyway, of course.//
+//”There’s another dig on Beck’s World. My assistant Juni is there now and she’s working to isolate the G-band conditions. I contend that with funding and time, we will be able to develop a workable method for finding asyet-undiscovered Ancients sites. I mentioned this to Vlen... four years ago, I think. He said that he might be able to provide a ship and funding for the initial phase of experiments – in exchange for a share of the bounty on any sites found. Now, I’m not sure if you are in a position to keep to this arrangement but if you have access to a ship, then we can see about continuing the project.”// Ujinka claps her hands together enthusiastically.
+Ujinka’s energy is irrepressible. She is quit enthusiastic! Jumping from topic-to-topic, and interested in everything. Ujinka  appears unable to talk without using her hands, often gesturing  wildly. And she occasionally has to stop to catch her breath. She is still 100 years old, despite the life prolonging drugs.
+They talk with her about Ven Yasha.
+//” I only know him  by reputation. He’s a collector of Ancients artefacts. An unscrupulous one, too. I know he tried to bribe one of the university dig teams back in ‘77, when we first opened up Beck’s World. I understand he lives here on Regina but I wouldn’t deal with him. I’d love to find out exactly what’s in his collection, though. Foul man.”//
+As the conversation goes on, she stand again and wanders over to the window.
+//”The conference on Deneb really showed how little we understand about the Ancients. Do you know they found a site near the Solomani sphere that had –“//
+The lightglobes in the walls dim. The holoscreen on the wall goes dark. Outside, something falls into the lake with a splash.
+Every cybernetic device also dies. David thinks //I thought I had these hardened.//
+The room is not dark. Light floods in from the large window.
+The window that Professor Ujinka stand in front of. A perfect silhouette.
+=== Assassins ===
+|Game Date|8/13/26, 8/20/26|
+Marie moves first.
+She leaps up and takes Ujinka to the floor.
+Glass explodes over her head as a gauss shot cuts through where her head was a moment ago.
+David falls from the couch, feeling the shock of his cybernetic systems failing.
+Vincent stands and pulls his revolver.
+//”This will still work.”//
+Maria shouts //”Room without windows now!”//
+Lucas says, //”Down the hall on the left!”//
+As Maria carries the startled professor back, David recovers and stand. He hands his gauss pistol to Lucas.
+//”Can you reactivate it?”// Lucas shrugs and goes to work as they move.
+//”Vincent how good are you with that thing?”// Vincent looks at the gun in his hand and then back at David.
+//”Here”// is all he says handing it to David. Then he starts to work on his gauss gun as well. Unlike Lucas, it takes his far longer and while the others act, he struggles with the gun.
+As Maria gets the processor into the other room she tells her //”Lay on the floor. Keep down and here. We have this”//
+Professor Ujinka looks into the eyes of Maria. The calm, casual woman of moments before is gone. The eyes looking back at her are deep and cold.
+No fury. No fear.
+Just eyes of a mechanic looking to fix a problem.
+//I guess I really am back// Maria thinks as she pushes her mind out with //sense life//
+...and the world suddenly becomes crowded.
+Not visually. Not as shapes or faces. As life.
+Maria reaches outward with Sense Life...
+...and the world suddenly becomes crowded.
+Not visually. Not as shapes or faces. As life.
+Every living thing around Professor Ujinka’s home registers at once, layered by size, complexity, motion, and proximity. Maria does not have to search for anything. With an effect this strong, the entire area simply unfolds before her.
+The professor is there, a bright human presence nearby. The others around her are just as distinct.
+Beyond them, smaller lives are everywhere.
+Birds perch in trees and flit between branches. Insects move through grass, soil, and air in numbers too great to count individually, becoming an almost shimmering background of tiny living sparks. Small animals shelter beneath bushes and buildings. Something rodent-sized moves beneath the edge of the house. Fish drift beneath the water near the dock. Aquatic life clusters along the shoreline. A larger fish moves slowly through deeper water.
+And among all of it...
+two human beings are moving toward the property.
+One approaches the front door: Human. Adult. Walking deliberately. His movement is too direct to be someone simply passing nearby. Maria can follow him continuously as he closes on the house.
+The second is approaching from the water side, moving toward the boathouse: Another adult human. Separate from the first. Deliberate movement. He is not wandering the shoreline. He is coming in.
+Farther away, beyond anything Maria could normally see from the house, are two more human lives.
+They are stationary, sitting close together inside something that itself gives no life-sign at all. A vehicle. Maria cannot see the car, cannot make out who they are, and has no way to know that they are Imperial agents.But she knows they are there.
+Two people. Waiting at a distance. Watching from somewhere beyond the immediate property.
+Maria does not see weapons through Sense Life. She does not know their names, their intentions, or what they are thinking. But there is absolutely no chance they surprised her.
+Then, with a flick of thought, Maria passes what she senses to the others.
+Every morning, almost without thinking about it anymore, the crew establishes the telepathic link through their Ancient necklaces. Years ago, those strange artifacts were objects some of them regarded with suspicion. Now they are something no one takes off.
+Maria pushes the pattern through the link.
+For an instant, everyone experiences the world the way she does. The house. The professor. The living clutter of birds, insects, fish, and animals.
+Then Maria narrows it for her friends, stripping away everything irrelevant until what remains is something almost absurdly familiar...
+A psionic minimap, like something out of a video game.
+The house is the center point. Around it, living presences become simple contacts. Most fade into the background. Four remain highlighted.
+One approaching the front door. One moving toward the boathouse.
+And, farther away, two more stationary contacts sitting together beyond normal visual range.
+No faces. No names. No weapons. Just position, movement, and distance... updated continuously in all of their minds. And everyone linked to Maria knows exactly where the incoming threats are.
+The man coming from the boathouse stagers as a Maria strikes him with a telekinetic punch. She can feel he is wearing armor.
+The other man comes up the stairs and Daivd fired to slow his movement.
+The stunned man in the boathouse hears the shooting, but he has no idea what is going on. That is his last thought as Maria simply assaults his mind. In a scream of pain, the man drops. Blood starts to flow from his ears and nose.
+Lucas faces breaks into the feral grin that has been on his face more and more. He fires through the wall at the figure he can see in his mind. The gauss round slams into the man. David fires again.
+The man staggers, but his body armor has kept him standing.
+Maria strides out towards him psi-blade in hand. Glowing with the blue-white energy, the startled man stands there as this woman moves towards him. In this moment, Maria does not look human. She looks like a cold killing machine.
+Without passion her blade swings. The energized blade passes through armor, flesh, and bone.
+The man’s head is separated from his body.
+She watches him fall, apparently oblivious to the spray of blood.
+She turns to the others and says,
+//”That is all there is. I am going to probe the other one.”// Maria says flatly. Like it is a statement on where she will have lunch.
+The man left alive is Galus Labre. Maria knows everything about him.
+  * Worked for Ven Yasha irregularly for **15 years**, usually as a guard or legbreaker.
+    * He has **never met Ven Yasha directly**.
+    * Jobs always came through Ven Yasha’s aide, **Harlen**.
+  * Several weeks ago, Harlen contacted **Kinson and Labre**.
+    * They were ordered to keep an eye on a Traveller named **Backett**.
+    * Their job was to watch over him and make sure he was **not being followed**.
+  * On the night Backett was murdered:
+    * Kinson and Labre accompanied Harlen to the **TAS Hostel**.
+    * They met Backett there.
+    * Backett and Harlen appeared to know each other quite well.
+    * Kinson and Labre stood guard outside while Harlen spoke with Backett.
+  * During the meeting, Kinson was sent out to buy a considerable quantity of **tusal**.
+    * He has no idea why.
+    * Harlen did not normally use the drug.
+    * Kinson knew a dealer named **Darrian Jak** and bought the tusal from him.
+  * Soon after Kinson returned:
+    * He resumed standing guard outside.
+    * Harlen **shot Backett**.
+    * There had been **no obvious argument beforehand**.
+    * Harlen, Kinson, and Labre fled the scene.
+  * Harlen stole two items from Backett’s room:
+    * A **statuette**.
+    * A **datatape**.
+  * During their escape, they used a device that suppressed nearby electronic systems.
+    * They simply called it **"the gadget."**
+    * Kinson does not know where it came from.
+    * He does not know how it works.
+    * It was one of Harlen’s most prized possessions.
+  * They also used **the gadget** during the attempt to assassinate **Professor Ujinka**.
+  * Kinson does not know why they were ordered to kill Ujinka.
+    * They were told to make the death **look like an accident**.
+    * They were also ordered to **steal whatever they could from the house**.
+  * Kinson does not know:
+    * Where Harlen is based.
+    * Where the statuette is now.
+    * Where the datatape is now.
+  * Kinson contacted Harlen through a contact in **Startown**:
+    * A Llellewyoly named **Exceedingly Discreet**.
+    * Exceedingly Discreet operates out of a brokerage called **Winter Shipping**.
+    * The password for gaining access is **"17 tons of flax."**
+    * Mentioning the phrase at Winter Shipping will get someone admitted to see Exceedingly Discreet.
+Then they decide what to do with Labre.
+Maria simply raises her sword.
+Vincent speaks.
+//“Now are we just going to kill him? Shouldn’t we turn him over to someone?”//
+For the first time, Maria’s face shows something other than cold detachment: incredulity.
+//“Turn him over to whom? Imperial Intelligence, who is following us?”//
+Vincent looks to David and Lucas. Their minds are still connected. They do not need to say anything. They are siding with Maria. Vincent sighs. His shoulders fall.
+Another head gets removed.
+Then it is back to normal. The bodies go into the incinerator, less two gauss pistols. And the “gadget”.
+//”We take the Professor to my parents.”// Vincent says as if it is already decided, because of course it is.
+//”The agents will want to follow us and they will wonder.”// David notes.
+//”No. They won’t.”// Maria notes.
+In the past, before Twilight’s Peak, they would have had to guess with Maria was using her telepathy. Not now. Now they could since it. Maria was adjusting the mind of one of the agents. They would not ask any questions.
+//”Let’s go.”// The flat voice was back//
+They easily get back to air car territory and fly the Professor to the Weiss estate. Alexandria understands without any explanations required.
+Then they head to The //Wandering Providence//. Safety. Home. Maria goes to recharge her psi-battery crystals and sleep. Anson comes up with David. They spend the night here.
+Tomorrow will be time for scouring the streets of Startown for more answers. They have leads:
+  *Winter Shipping in Startown
+  *The Station someplace amid sloughed off cargo in orbit
+  *Vlenn’s Body.
+What next?

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