Saturday, June 21, 2014

Traveller Session - The Alboor Odyssey

The last session ended with the characters getting back spaceside and having a shower. In fact things started happening while they were having a shower. odyssey

They got a call from Admiral Ranowski, the head of the navy station in the Affran system to attend him immediately. When they met him, he was busy rushing from one meeting to another (he was on his way to meet with the captain of a battleship recently arrived).  He told the PC's that an exploratory XBoat had just returned from Aslan space where it had discovered a massing fleet of warships. With the planet below in a state of near rebellion and turned against the navy he had some delicate issues that he hoped the PCs could help with.

1) A professor Alboor Gloann, on Affran was as near an Aslan expert as exists in the system. His insights and knowledge could make all the difference in the upcoming situation. Unfortunately his broadcasts in support of the Navy and against the dangers of an Aslan incursion had made him a target of anti imperial rebels. He had been kidnapped. Ranowski needed someone non-navy to try and find him.

2) The Gedes, one of the ruling families on Affran, had been one of the leaders of the anti navy anti imperial movement and their media propaganda was stirring up the populous. However the navy had had word that the Gedes family members themselves were planning to jump off planet before the Aslan arrived. Ranowski suspected that if someone was to sabotage their personal spaceships, they might stop their anti navy broadcasts as they would have no way of getting off planet themselves. Ranowski would have been very happy if someone not a member of the navy were to carry out the sabotage.

The PC's opted to rescue Alboor. They shuttled over to the civilian station and picked up civilian clothing before dropping down dirtside. They were let off in Alboor's home town. Like all adventurers they headed straight for a pub. When they asked if anyone knew where Alboor could be found there was an ominous silence before a large thug stepped out of the crowd. They were strident anti navy and therefore anti Alboor people. Some clever word play managed to talk the crowd round and convince them that the PCs were old friends of Alboor's and were here to talk him out of his mad views.

They got directions from the drinkers and headed off. Their destination was the university. On the way they passed cops and a news crew outside a damaged house. The university was mostly empty but a receptionist was kind enough to let them know that Alboor was not in and hadn't been for a few days.

At a loss for what to do, they wandered into a student bar. They managed to stir up the drunken yobs they found in there until they streamed out, set on going to Alboor's home and lynching them. The PCs followed the crowd. Realising that the crowd might stop them actually retrieving the good professor, they set about splitting and misdirecting members of the group. This led them back to the cops and the house with the smashed in windows.

Unwilling to be filmed by the news crew (as the Killown family would still be after them) they tipped the newsies to a non existing newsworthy event back at the university. The crew left and the PCs turned their attention to the cops.

The cop they spoke to was singularly not interested in keeping them out of the house, he seemed more interested in appearing on the news. So they wandered into the house. A brief investigation led them though the house where they found and followed a blood trail out into the garden at the back of the house. There they found a discarded and blood soaked jacket under a hedge. A number of duplicate business cards were found in the pocket of the jacket. The cards were for a nearby club.

They headed to this club which was open day and night. They showed the cards which got them into the club and past the big guys on the door. Inside loud music was playing but there wasn't too many people. The dance floor was empty. The people that were there, were clinging to the bars. One of the doormen wandered over to the PC's and suggested calmly that they get themselves a drink quickly.

At one of the bars they mentioned the name of Alboor and the barkeep was rather and suddenly frosty. When he went for alarm button under the counter the ex-Army PC dived across the bar for him. Unfortunately he missed and slammed into the shelves behind the counter. The bar keep called out and the thugs from the door started to rush over. The other PC dropped his guitar case on the bar and opened it revealing the two laser rifles they had brought...

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