Freelance Traveller

Helzr’s Recovery/Salvage and Repossession Services

An Adventure in Making Money from Junk – Part 1

by Graham Bayley

This adventure originally appeared in issue 001 of Cepheus Journal and was reprinted in the May/June 2022 issue of Freelance Traveller.

Introduction

The following is for new players with new characters:

Fed up with the drudgery and boredom of your Home world, you sought employment at the local Star port. This quickly gave rise to an opportunity to work up in the High Port, and the promise of a chance to travel to the stars. After a couple of months though you start to think that at this is a promise that will never be fulfilled.

Now, after a year of backbreaking, soul destroying work, and having been moved from one High Port to another, often at short notice, and with increasing deductions to your already low salary, you and a group of friends have decided to try and create your own luck by signing on as a contract crew for a starship. Hauling ore in a beat-up ship has to be better than this, doesn’t it?

The following is for Players with existing characters:

It’s been a good while since your last contract and your finances have been slowly depleted.

The following is for All Players:

This is how you all end up sitting in the lounge of a cheap hotel on the main world’s high port, a ‘B’ class star port. Glancing around the lounge you see plenty of spacers like you. Some are grouped together and could be crews. Some are sitting alone, with all the ‘hallmarks’ of contractors or mercenaries.

An Opportunity?

When your comm sounds an alert you hear message tones from around the room. Everyone’s attention is suddenly focussed on their comm devices. Checking yours you see that it’s a message from one of the crew agencies you have registered with. Someone requires a ship’s crew, with the message showing a press for more details icon. Pressing the icon brings up the following ad:

There is a flurry of activity as the lounge empties.

Research

If the Players want to do some research into the company, they can find the following information:

• Helzr’s was formed at the end of The Third Frontier War (979-986) to salvage hulks and derelicts
• Helzr’s well known for employing veterans of the Fifth Frontier War and their relatives
• They pay a good rate
• They reward hard work
• They are known to help crews go freelance, often with cheap loans to get them started.
• There are rumours that Helzr is very old.

The Offices

The offices of Helzr’s Recovery/Salvage and Repossession Services are easily found in the commercial district of Realgar High port. The offices occupy five floors of one of the older, but far more impressive constructs.

The Reception Area

The Offices Reception Area consists of a large open area with comfortable seating for about 30 people, some of which is occupied by waiting crews, some of whom are wearing ships uniforms and coveralls, and a large reception desk. Some of those waiting you recognise from the hotel lobby.

The Reception Desk

Standing behind the Reception Desk are two Caniforms. The largest one has light brown fur and a black stripe running down his back, including his tail, while the slightly smaller one has distinctive Fox Red fur. Both are dressed in pale grey business suits with prominent name badges. When approached they will politely request the spacer’s names, but not their ship.

The larger of the two is called ‘Geoff Black Tail’ according to his name badge, whilst the smaller one’s badge has the name ‘Jeff Fox’ on it. The crew are shown to previously concealed double doors, with Geoff Black Tail leading and Jeff Fox following the group.

Observant players will notice that there is a rise in the level of conversation in the lobby and they receive sidelong glances from some of the other crews, whilst others stand up and leave.

The doors are opened wide to reveal a 30m-long corridor. The corridor walls are lined with art from across the Empire and beyond. There are also display cabinets on both sides containing artefacts’ and curiosities from a wide range of cultures. The corridor ends in an imposing set of doors about 2m wide each.

Geoff and Jeff walk slowly down the corridor, allowing the players plenty of time to examine the contents, and to ask any questions, which are answered knowledgably in only slightly accented common.

Referees should feel free to just make things up that match their universe, with any hints or rumours you want to throw in.

Upon reaching the doors sat the end Geoff Black Tail does not pause, but effortlessly pushes them wide to reveal a large room. He then steps aside to allow the players to enter.

Helzr’s Office

The players are now confronted by a large room, dominated by a 3m-long stone-topped desk, inset with screens. In front of the desk are enough chairs for the players to have one each. At each end of the room is a stairway leading up to a mezzanine. If the players look up they will see more display cabinets and numerous bookshelves filled with what look like real books.

Behind the desk is a comfortable office type chair, covered with exotic leather. To one side of the chair stands a smartly dressed, olive skinned, woman in her mid-30s. She indicates to the players to sit on the chairs in front of the desk. As they sit down she will introduce herself.

“I’m Kara Tlasche, Helzr’s Personal Assistant. Please hand all your weapons, communicators and any other recording or broadcasting devices over to one of the Jeff’s”.

Kara indicates the two Caniforms behind them with a nod of her head and it’s apparent from her tone that this is an instruction and not a request. The two aliens move to stand in front of the players, ready to collect any weapons and devices from them. Kara continues, “Your property will be returned to you at the end of our meeting.”

If any of the players refuse they will be treated to a low, menacing, growl from Jeff Fox. If they continue to refuse then they will be subjected to a full war bark from Geoff Black tail, at which point they will fall unconscious for 1D minutes. [Psionic attack]. When they wake their weapons and requested devices will be gone, to be replaced by a humdinger of a headache.

As each players rouses Kara will offer them a tumbler containing a pale blue liquid, saying, “drink this, it will help with the headache.” The players may suspect that they have been subject to a Psionic attack, and a powerful one at that. As Caniforms have no known psionic talent, it must have come from Kara. Any player who refuses and is knocked out will be subject to a DM -2 to all actions for the remainder of the encounter.

Any player glancing around the room will notice on the wall behind the chair seven holographic images showing the same human male with a number of dignitaries (empire leaders, kings or whatever regents are in your universe), spanning over 300 hundred years unto the present day.

Helzr’s Arrival

Kara will turn slightly to her right, saying, ”Helzr, these are the crew interested in the latest contract.”

At the top of the right-hand staircase stands a human male, looking to be aged about 50, dressed casually but smartly. He descends the steps and sits in the chair behind the desk, which Kara turns and holds for him. With a softly spoken “Thank you Kara” he turns and faces the players, fixing them with his steel-grey eyes. Astute players will notice that he bears a striking resemblance to the man in the holographs, but that would make him over 300 years old.

He asks some or all of the following questions, the softness gone from his voice. If nobody answers promptly, he repeats the questions more sternly.

“Which of you is the captain of this crew? And who are your pilots, your engineers and your navigators? Do you have a medic? What about a Gunner? Or, two?”

Helzr ends with “You are honest and enthusiastic….” He pauses and looks at Kara “if not a little under-skilled, but that can be addressed with some training. So, would you like to become a Salvage crew…?”

After the players answer he continues, “I can offer you paid work, at a good rate and, should you become injured, I will ensure that you are treated properly. All I ask in return is that you do your best, work hard and, most importantly, you are honest. As you are a little under-skilled, to say the least, go with Kara and she will oversee your training. In the future, she will be your point of contact. I am often away on business and such things and she deals with all my affairs during my absences.”

Training

The players now have eight weeks of free Intensive Training available (Refer to your game rules for training). All training will be closely supervised by Kara and she will ask the players if they have any further questions before proceeding to training. If the players ask for any advice she will tell them the following:

“If you are going to recover or repossess a vessel you are likely to need a couple of pilots, two Astrogators, two engineers and possibly some firepower, or at least crew trained in these disciplines. You need to be able to get your own ship back, as well as the repossessed or recovered one. Successful crews are the ones who can multitask and are always watching each other’s backs. So, use this time wisely.”

Upon completion, if the players have attained suitable skills, they will be offered Contract One.

Contract One: One of Our Scout Ships Is Missing

Background – Players’ Information:

A request has been received from the local scout service to recover a general-purpose scout ship named The Far Reach that is stuck on a nearby world and return it to Helzr’s yard for collection by its new crew at a later date. The ship has suffered a major problem with its electronics systems and needs a crew to deliver some replacement parts. They will also need to download a replacement operating system into the ship’s computers to ensure that any corruption caused by the failure does not endanger the vessel. Once the ship’s systems are up and running, it must be brought back to the high port where a proper systems overhaul can be made. There may be unexpected complications of course, so ideally the crew sent to pick up the ship will be multiskilled and flexible enough to deal with whatever crops up.

The scout service will provide appropriate documentation to allow the players to pick it up and bring it home. The scout service will also provide all necessary spares and software along with override codes that will allow the players to delete the ship’s operating system and install the new one. The old system may be badly corrupted, and in any case, it is still keyed to the old crew. Operating the ship with that system still in place would be hazardous if it were possible at all. The new system is temporary, for obvious security reasons.

The scout service also believes that the ship and crew had been engaged to perform a planetary survey. It is not known if this has been completed. If this is the case, they would like the survey performed to avoid tarnishing the service’s reputation.

The Contract Objectives are as follows:

1. Locate the Scout Ship.
2. Carry out any repairs and upgrades.
3. Complete the survey of that world.
4. Return the scout ship to Helzr’s yard.

The payout for the job, should the players accept it and complete all four objectives, is 367KCr minus Helzr’s commission of 10%. Kara explains the contract objectives and that transport to the world The Far Reach is on will be aboard the Sindal Queen, a Jump-2-capable trading starship that is a part of Helzr’s local fleet. The Sindal Queen will be arriving in two days’ time and will depart, after a short layover to load cargo, a day after that. Kara advises the players to settle their affairs in port and to purchase any personal equipment.

The Trip

The Sindal Queen is crewed by the Caniforms who are fiercely loyal to Helzr and have served him for 20 years or so. They are currently running small secure cargoes around local systems but can drop the players off at their target world. They will be able to wait in orbit for one day, to allow the players to disembark with their equipment and supplies.

The target planet was virtually annihilated in the civil war that brought the world empire crashing down. Today, the planet is a wilderness, home to only a few hundred settlers, mostly trappers, prospectors, and hunters.

It is immediately apparent that the crew of the Sindal Queen work as a team, as everyone can step in and do someone else’s job. Every crew member can fulfil two or even three roles. It is not unusual to find a gunner in the pilot’s seat, or the navigator checking something behind an engineering panel. During each jump the crew prepare the cargo for offload at the jump destination world.

Before exiting jump the ship is a hive of activity, sensors are brought online, drives warmed up, turrets manned, all unnecessary hatches closed and locked. The crew get into their acceleration couches and passengers are confined to their state rooms. During the trip into orbit the crew are fully closed up in their combat positions and the ship and crew are at a state of heightened readiness as this is when a ship is most likely to get attacked by pirates, etc.

Once in orbit the crew await the arrival of the shuttle, or whatever is going to receive the cargo. When this arrives, and docks, the crew deliver the cargo, whilst maintaining a heavy guard on the airlock. At one stop, only an air raft appears, and the crew deliver the cargo by Vacc suit and a tether.

Arrival at the Destination World

After an uneventful trip, the Sindal Queen arrives in low orbit around the world. From orbit it is apparent that the planet’s ecosphere has either recovered or avoided the worst of the devastation of the local conflicts. It appears quite verdant, with large lakes, water courses, savannah, and mountain ranges; both polar ice caps have also survived.

The players are told to don their vacc suits ready for transfer to the surface. A very basic 10-ton Utility Shuttle floats outside the cargo bay, into which the players and their luggage are loaded by the two gunners. As the players step off the loading ramp and into the void, they hear over the ships comms channel “mind the gap” and only what can be described as a canine giggle.

Planetfall

As the Shuttle touches down on a landing pad adjacent to the terminal building an official-looking gentleman in clean and pressed coveralls, and a peaked cap, walks briskly but smartly out to the players shuttle. He introduces himself as Mr Dovran, the Duty Customs and Immigration Officer for the local downport. This is confirmed by the badge neatly pinned to his chest. He requests the Travellers identities, the purpose of their visit, where they will be staying, how long they will be staying, and if they have anything they need to declare? While tapping away on his computer pad. What is immediately obvious is that The Far Reach is not on one of the landing pads.

Referee Note: If asked about the The Far Reach he suggests they speak to the Office of Interplanetary Traffic in the Port Authority office which maintains records of passing ships. These are freely available to anyone who wants to look, but the Port Authority has a policy of not placing such data on the general datanet.

The downport is only big enough to be a village on most worlds. Beyond the terminal building can be seen a couple of buildings bearing the names of well-known hotel chains, the sort the players have stayed at. One is a decent enough mid-priced hotel, the other a more modest hostel offering barracks-like accommodation and basic meals at a very cheap price. In addition, there are a couple of restaurants and a handful of shops selling local and of- world goods.

The shuttle crew finish offloading the players equipment and then head off back to orbit to the Sindal Queen.

The Search

The players will probably want to find out what has happened to ‘their’ ship.

Asking In Town: Pretty much anyone in town will suggest asking at the Port Authority office, which maintains records of passing ships. After asking in town at the Hostel or Hotel the players will hear one or more of the following rumours:

1. The crew were real jerks, loudmouthed and offensive. They apparently did not like anything about this world. They were displeased by the food and the beds in the hotel, hated the decor, and made a mess everywhere they went. Simple concepts like putting trash in a bin eluded these people, who seemed to think that they were better than everyone else put together and set about putting everyone they met in his place whatever they perceived that to be.
2. A couple of weeks later the crew turned up at the star port in an air/raft and hung around making a nuisance of themselves until a ship bound for a world three parsecs away came through.
3. They boarded the far trader Maverick Spacer, according to records.
4. Apparently, the crew of The Far Reach took passage aboard a vessel for world A via World B.
5. Their subsequent destination is unknown.
6. They took their air/raft with them but left behind a few thoroughly trashed hotel rooms.

Nobody was sorry to see them go. In short, the ship seems to have gone somewhere on the local world and met with difficulties. The crew seem to have dumped it and left the planet, though it is possible that they went in search of some critical spares they needed. What seems apparent is that the world government chartered The Far Reach to do whatever she was doing when the final systems failure occurred. Her location, or at least her destination, is almost certainly known to the Office of Geophysical Science in the Department of Planetary Affairs. Although the planet has a perfectly good communications net, the government will not release information unless the players go to the Office in person and meet with a government official.

Thus, it is necessary to go to the office (which is next to the port and thus within five minutes’ walk from any point in town) and look at the records in person. There is no fee for this. Going through the front door the players are confronted by a counter with a console on it, and standing behind the counter is Mr Dovran, now dressed in casual office wear.

On the front of the counter is a sign saying, ‘Office of Interplanetary Traffic Enquiries desk, please wait to be served’. If they approach the desk the players will notice that Mr Dovran’s badge now says, ‘Chief Enquiry Officer, Office of Interplanetary Traffic’.

After a couple of seconds pause, he will look up from his console and ask, ‘How can I be of assistance?’ If asked about The Far Reach he will tap furiously on his console and eventually he will give the players the information in Port Authority rumour No 3 below. He will also inform them that The Department of Planetary Affairs is located on the second floor of the adjacent building, but The Office of Geophysical Science is closed until tomorrow morning.

Checking the Port Authority office: After checking the Port Authority office the players may be able to ascertain some or all of the following information:

1. The Far Reach came through the port a couple of times in the past year. The last time was about 34 months ago.
2. The scout was in a fairly dilapidated condition when it came through but seemed flyable enough. In any case it came and went a couple of times over the months running up to its final visit. On that occasion The Far Reach spent a couple of days in port here before moving on.
3. The Far Reach’s destination is recorded as ‘InSystem’ but there are no details other than a note that the ship was on charter to the Office of Geophysical Science in the Department of Planetary Affairs, which is now closed.
4. After checking the Office of Geophysical Science in the Department of Planetary Affairs, the position given by Mrs Dovran, places The Far Reach next to a large Lake on the far side of the planet, in the foothills of a significant mountain range.

Office of Geophysical Science in the Department of Planetary Affairs: On entering the Office of Geophysical Science, the players will be greeted by a lady, with the name badge ‘Mrs Dovran Chief Surveyor, Office of Geophysical Science.’ Mrs Dovran is very chatty and excited about the opportunity to get the survey completed. She will happily provide the players with all the details they need to start searching for The Far Reach. She also mentions that there is still 2KCr available in her budget, for off-world Services, which she will pay the players if they agree to complete the survey.

She will tell the players the origin of the last data burst sent by The Far Reach, thereby giving them its last known location. The position given by Mrs Dovran, places The Far Reach next to a large lake on the far side of the planet, in the foothills of a significant mountain range. All they need now is some transport.

Referee Note: This can be made as hard or as easy as the Referee wants. Mrs Dovran could have an ‘official’ vehicle she could be willing to ‘loan’ the players. Travelling on foot should be heavily discouraged.

There’s the ship

As the players crest the final ridge, and over the lip of the depression, they get their first sight of The Far Reach. They will see that the depression is roughly 600 to 800 metres wide and has soil of a rather thin sort, covered in scrubby grass and in places a forest of waist-high bushes. The lake lies more or less at the centre of the depression and is about 500 metres in diameter, being roughly circular.

There is an island about 100 metres in diameter in the centre of the lake, with vegetation of the same sort as around the lake. The Far Reach is resting on its belly at the water’s edge, its landing gear having sunk into the soft ground. The players can see that The Far Reach’s hatches are all closed but just about everything inside it has been dumped outside in a huge mess made worse by some kind of animal raking through it looking for food.

It would appear (correctly) that the crew attempted a repair, then stripped everything of value that they could carry from the ship, dumped the rest, and took off in the ship’s small grav vehicle. Among the wreckage is a forlorn metal food bowl licked clean long ago. The name Kimbley has been hand-stamped into the metal of the bowl. Someone once cared for the poor starving beast now haunting the island, but not enough to take it with them when they left. Among the stuff that has been turfed out of The Far Reach are ration packets, all of which have been ripped open and the contents (plus a fair amount of the packaging) devoured. Most of the rest of the stuff has been destroyed by animals.

Getting In

Gaining entry to The Far Reach is not very difficult. Its reactor is powered down and the batteries are all but drained but there is sufficient power left to accept an entry code for the airlocks, although the doors will have to be manually opened. Inside, the ship is a terrible mess. The crew never took proper care of the ship when it was their home, and in the process of leaving they were not gentle. Virtually every access panel is open, the covers are off everything that has a cover and there are components strewn all over the deck. Putting it all back together will be a big job. Fortunately, some of the components can be bypassed or replaced with the gear the players brought with them. The resulting lash-up will not be pretty or safe for people walking past but it should suffice to get the ship to a dockyard where a proper repair and inspection can be conducted.

Repairs – Where are all the bits?

A number of quite important components such as air filters are missing and must be located – the crew dismounted everything they might be able to take with them, selected the most portable and valuable, and left the rest scattered throughout the ship and on the ground outside. Locating and replacing important parts will take 2 man-days to complete. Cleaning up properly will take even longer than that.

The first stage will be fixing up the power, life support and flight systems and running some simulations with the ship’s software. This is a job that really should not be rushed; a problem with the ship’s control electronics at the wrong time would be disastrous.

Repairing The Far Reach is a relatively straightforward task for players who have the right equipment, i.e., the spares they have been given. The repair mostly takes the form of removing a large number of demountable circuit blocks and either bypassing or replacing them depending on how essential they are. The portable download/diagnostic unit can then ascertain whether a given system is useable or needs further work. There are several tasks which need to be completed before The Far Reach is fit to fly:

• Flight controls and navigational systems bridge takes 1D+2 man-hours

• General shipboard electronics (dispersed throughout the ship) takes 1D+2 man-hours

  Referee Note: The general electronics systems dispersed throughout the vessel deal with things like life support, recycling and lighting, but there is also a fair amount of filth and mess that must be cleared out before the ship is really fit to live in.

• Power systems electronics (engineering) takes 1D+2 man-hours

• Drive systems electronics (engineering) takes 1D+2 man-hours

  Referee Note: Whilst checking the Drives, the players will discover that ship has jump-4 Drives fitted. Most of the work can be done by an unskilled person who has been shown how as it simply requires identifying a circuit block by its code number and a simple remove-and-replace procedure. However, the referee should ask for an Electronics check at the end of each job. The players should not be told the difficulty level, creating a degree of uncertainty about whether the job has been done properly. In fact, between the diagnostic unit and a suitably skilled person offering guidance to those doing the actual work, there is no real chance of a disaster.

• Computer takes 1D+2 man-hours. In addition, the ship’s computers need to be accessed and purged, and then the temporary control software uploaded.

  Referee Note: This can be accomplished by anyone with the Electronics or computer skill, and again a check should be made. In the event of a really terrible check, the players may want to redo the task, which takes another check. However, provided due care was taken there will be no serious problems with the ship’s systems when the time comes to fire them up. Nothing ever works properly first time however; it is all but inevitable that some sort of problem will appear and have to be fixed.

Testing

Referee Note: If the players are a prudent crew, they will undertake a series of ground tests and a low altitude shakedown flight before blasting off into the unknown.

At last The Far Reach is ready for a test flight. The players may be suspicious that the ship’s systems are not in perfect working order. This is a reasonable conclusion as no-one ever gets a complete overhaul of this kind right first time, especially ‘in the field’.

Referee Note: The players should use the training-mode simulators on the ship’s controls to make a dry run before takeoff and run low then full-power tests on the ground. A sensible approach of this sort will take a few hours but will iron out the worst of the faults before takeoff. However, a nervous crew may want to get off the mountain right away, in which case The Far Reach can be prepped for flight in a few minutes. However, it will function somewhat erratically. Uncalibrated controls, sudden faults in various electronic systems and the occasional burst of sparks from something will conspire to make the crew’s task very difficult. If proper tests are not carried out before flight, DM-2 applies to all Pilot and Engineer checks until the crew can find a couple of hours to fix the worst of the faults. Once the faults are fixed, The Far Reach can be operated without penalty, though it does not quite ‘fly right’. It is sometimes slow on the helm, sometimes erratic. Auto stabilisation is wayward at best, and power systems are not 100% reliable. All of this makes operating The Far Reach a nerve-wracking and tiring business.

Stuck in the Mud!

This is the final puzzle for the players. They may:

1. Dig the landing gear free. This will take D6+5 man-days to complete.
2. Raise the landing gear and risk damaging it.
3. Lift off and risk damaging the gear.

Referee Note: Any damage to the landing gear can be repaired at any class A or B starport and will not impact the flight characteristics of the ship. If the players inspect the landing gear, they will find that there is only easily-repaired superficial damage, which will cost 1000 Cr.

Completing the Survey – This is optional

Mapping the terrain will require a couple of overflights and a successful Electronics or sensors skill check.

Back to The Down Port

If The Far Reach returns to the Down Port and the survey has been completed, it will be greeted by an excited Mrs Dovran, who can hardly get her words out. Once she has finished thanking, and hugging, the players she will explain that all of the survey data has been received and currently being analysed. She will then lift her comm pad up and press a key with a flourish and a grin, saying “and that is your fee transferred”.

Homeward Bound

With a Jump-4 capable ship the return journey is significantly faster and takes half the time to complete. The players may want to consider completing the cleaning and tidying of the ship. If they do they will discover the following, hidden away in various nooks and crannies in the crew staterooms.

• Gauss Pistol, with 2 ammo clips
• Magrail Pistol no ammo clips
• Some alien Porn
• Some human Porn
• Tucked away in engineering is a box containing an Excavation Tool Set
• A Starship Engineer Tool Set

Back at Helzr’s Homeworld

On approach to the world you are hailed by Traffic Control

“The Far Reach…The Far Reach, this is Traffic Control, please acknowledge, over.”

If the players acknowledge:

“The Far Reach…The Far Reach, this is Traffic Control, please make your way to maintenance bay 3Kilo and prepare to dock, we have a maintenance cradle standing by. Over.”

The Payout

As the craft enters the docking bay and lines up with the cradle, the unmistakable figure of Kara can be seen at one of the large bay viewing windows. As The Far Reach is gently guided onto the cradle, and is connected to the High port’s services, the crew shut down the drives and onboard power. The bay doors are closed, and the bay begins to pressurise, she can then be seen to leave the viewing area, and head for the main deck of the bay. Descending the boarding steps of The Far Reach the players are met by Kara.

She approaches the player that was nominated as the captain during the first meeting with Helzr and says “Helzr sends his congratulations to you and your crew, captain.”

Referee Note: This grants the ‘captain’ player +1 to their Social Standing.

“He and the Scout Service are very pleased with your performance, and as such, not only have your contract fees been paid into your personal accounts, but also a bonus of 4kCr each , and don’t forget the salvage fee. “Take some time off, and, when you’re ready for some more work contact me. Of course, should the need arise, we will contact you”.

Referee’s Information

Feel free to change Caniforms to human if they don’t fit your universe.

The ship is downed at a world up to 21 parsecs away, where the previous crew abandoned it. The ship was a detached duty Scout/Courier assigned to them and has apparently been mistreated. There are penalties for abusing detached duty ships since they still belong to the scout service, so presumably the crew decided it was in their best interests to disappear. In any case the ship legally belongs to the scout service. The new system is temporary, and it will work for three months without an update and then ground the ship at the first planet fall after expiration, for obvious security reasons.

What Actually Happened to the Old Crew:

The crew of The Far Reach really were a bunch of obnoxious jerks, who managed to land themselves in jail on the world the ship was abandoned on. This is how the scout service eventually learned that their vessel was downed. The ship was on loan, and the scout service decided it would be more usefully assigned elsewhere. The crew explained the ship had problems but failed to volunteer information about its whereabouts. The scout service genuinely believes the vessel is parked at the down port.

The former crew are out of the picture now and their loan of the vessel has been legally revoked since they have allowed it to fall into disrepair. However, they see it rather differently and may someday show up wanting ‘their’ ship back…

Skills Required: Pilot, Engineer, Astrogation
Useful: Survival, Recon

Outbound Travel Schedule 21 parsecs, or 11 jumps in 11 weeks. It is up to the referee to fit this into their universe however they see fit.

NPCs

Helzr ?????BF
Species: Human Gender: Male Age: 300+ [appears 50]

Karatlasche ‘Kara’ ?????E?
Species: Human Gender: Female Age: 35
TL12 cloth armour [+4], Always smartly dressed in human style clothes.

Geoff ‘Black tail’ ?????70
Species: Caniform Gender: Male Age: 50
Gun combat 3, Tactics 3, Concealed Gauss Pistol [40rnds], TL12 cloth armour [+4], Grenades (2×Tranq Gas, 2×Stun), Light brown fur with black stripe running down his back including his tail.

Jeff ‘Fox’ ?????70
Species: Caniform Gender: Male Age: 26
Gun combat 3, Tactics 2, Concealed Gauss Pistol [40rnds], TL12 cloth armour [+4], Grenades (2×Tranq Gas, 2×Stun), Fox red fur.