The Inquisitor's mission seemed to be going better than possibly expected. They were prepared for a month's long search for something, the crew (like Billy) were never informed what. The Inquisitor was an armed exploration and survey cruiser based on the proven Broadsword class Mercenary cruiser.



Onboard were an group of scientists and academics. Some had expertise in different space sciences (Dr. Goezghae, Dr. Heinrich Chandragora, Dr. Lurushar GIlenkaar and Dr. Vledistart Mirost). The expedition head was an archaeologist (Prof. Lorain Messandi) and her 2nd in command, Dr. Talian McKenzie, was a Xenobiologist. They expedition brought along a miscellaneous support crew with personnel hard to classify but probably ex-military or scouts of some kind and "interstellar travellers" of some unspecified sort.

Billy himself was a new hire to the crew. He'd been hired on contract as a crewmember for the Inquisitor. The Captain was an old Imperial ex-scout, Cyrus Shagguurap. Most of the crew knew each other and stayed together for the 7 weeks in transit. A few newcomers like himself were also new and kept themselves apart. "Lucky Jack" McIntyre was a belter, Lexi Garcia was a cutter gunner and Jeri Marrenda was a cutter pilot. The Inquisitor carried 2 Eagle-class modular cutters:



All Billy knew was that the expedition aboard Inquisitor was looking for something, something very old and archaeology-related. Not the semi-mythical Ancients but something relating to a minor human race nicknamed the "Sky Raiders" that preyed on the worlds of this area. They were a common myth among the scattered worlds of the Vlazdhumecta in Far Frontiers dating back several thousands of years. Many Worlds in this sector were settled by the Vlazdhumecta, a minor human race that was descended from and split off from the Zhodani, then for some reason went into steep technological and social decline. More recently, waves of Imperial colonists arrived and so many planets now had majority Solomani, Vilani or mixed Imperial populations. The Worlds of Far Frontiers were a mixture of Zhodani and Imperial clients with several independent star empires and neutral planets, and the Consulate border ran through the coreward subsectors.

Strangely, the scientists of the expedition didn't seem to be looking for the Sky Raiders on planets but were instead scanning deep space with powerful telescopes and sensors. They seemed to know where to look and quickly located their target, jumping into interstellar space. What they found was a massive asteroid ship, a nickle-iron body ten kilometres long, slowly spinning on its axis as it continued along a lonely course at a fraction of the speed of light that in less than a century would take it straight across the Zhodani border. It seemed fantastic but this ship had been travelling for thousands of years. Once it had held a population of millions in uncounted chambers and tunnels bored through the asteroid. Drives were not just Bussard ramjets supplied by (now-absent) electromagnetic fields but actual mammoth Jump drives likely fed by millions of tons of hydrogen gathered from from the ramjet intakes and water ice collected en route by small craft. There was likely a fantastic treasure trove aboard. Some power sources seemed to still be functioning, possibly nuclear and fusion backup generators.

Thomas had gotten the feeling something was off. Just before the final Jump from Saulente in the Memnosyne Principality, a joke from Ken about Zhodani space marines being smuggled aboard provoked a paranoid reaction from Captain Shaggurap. Unfortunately, they couldn't prove anything. Investigations into ship's records was stymied by intrusion security and while the cargo bays assigned to the expedition were open to inspection others for ship stores were off limits. Although Billy was unaware of this, as a crew-member had access to most ship areas but couldn't access the secure storage bay, locked out by a code possessed only by the Captain and senior ship's crew. The Inquisitor matched course with the massive Sky Raider mothership and a preliminary landing party was formed.

Some of the expedition boarded Cutter 1 and descended to the surface: Lucky Jack, Jeri Marrenda, Lexi Garcia, Prof. Messandi, Hanno Sakawa, Ken Jenkins, Neva Morosova, Linus Spruance and Blake Renfield. Talia, who Thomas first met on the expedition to Mirayn, asked him to hold back, to help keep an eye on the ship while Lorrain and the rest of his crew were down there. At first, things proceeded according to plan. Because the Sky Raiders were thought to have commonly booby-trapped all all air locks and ship locks, plus automatic defenses could be active, an impact crater deep enough to allow access to subsurface tunnels was selected to provide an entry point.

GM Note: Ok, where do you want your characters to generally be located? Talia is on the bridge.

Hand comp and clipboard precariously balanced in one hand Billy had made a point of pausingto see exactly what he needed to check and the easiest way to get to it.  With a muffled apology, he passed through the bridge and squeezed into one of the maintenance and access areas that dot all parts of the ship.

Then screwdriver and meter in hand he settled down to listen to what was going on in the bridge.  The maintenance screen, normally hidden behind one of the walls,  was much smaller and less sophisticated than those in the bridge,  but Billy was still able to switch between most of the feeds that the others were watching .

No point being buried in the bowels of the ship when something interesting was happening, and he could watch.

In reply to Billy (msg # 2):

The bridge was humming with excitement. Most excited were the scientists, although most were above in the converted astronomical research and observation deck. Even the crew seemed to be anticipating something. Although they tried to hide it a few glanced at Talia, who was 2nd in command of the expedition with Lorain being in the landing party.

Kikur Dushguunguzi, an ex-Scout and the ship's Navigator and First Officer,  stuck his head around the partition and said quietly, "Ok, good, it's you. Billy, I need you to come with me right now. No time for questions, understand?"

Standing behind him was the ship's medical officer, Dr. Fkeming. He had been a ship's surgeon in the Union of Garth's Space Navy state but rumoured to have been cashiered for some kind of substance abuse. The Dr. looked a little nervous and he carried his medical bag.

In reply to GM (msg # 1):

Walker was finishing cleaning his shotgun in his quarters.  At this stage in his life, he spent more time opening and closing the lubricant bottle than anything else.  His hands moved as though they knew what to do, without much conscious thought.  His pack remained untouched, as he had packed it before they left, living out of a ditty bag, so as to not change anything in his pack.  The last thing he wanted to do was get off this ship with a pack that wasn't in good order.

While his hands closed the shotgun his brain was listening to what was going outside his quarters, through the open hatchway.

Billy’s eyes narrowed slightly, annoyed that he was being pulled away from the excitement -  but just mumbles an indistinct ”OK.”  while his head is still stuck inside the inspection hatch.  It is a quick flick to put the screen back to a diagnostic channel and switch it off before leaving the clipboard inside and clipping the panel closed.

Sliding the hand comp and meter into separate pockets, Billy starts to put the screwdriver blade back into its slot alongside the other, as he falls in behind the  first officer and Doctor.

The First Officer (Kikur) and medical officer led Billy down to the secure storage bay. Opening the armoured hatch, they entered to find that inside were stored three low berths. Unusually, they had self-contained power supplies and were not connected to the onboard computer system. The secure storage vault was one of the few places onboard that was off-limits to all crew. This was not all that unusual for security reasons, although he wouldn't have guessed this kind of mission required such restricted access. The low berths were even more of a mystery.

GM Note: Secure Storage vault is labeled compartment 28 on Cargo Deck 2 (G Deck).

Without explaining, Kikur simply said, "Billy, I need you to hook up all three low berths to the ship power supply. And the computer. You'll need to run cable in here, there's no wireless connections in the vault. You got 10 minutes to do it. Get going."

The expedition support staff were quartered in berths on Cargo Deck 3 (I Deck). Bunks were housed in partitioned-off areas (flimsy walls, curtained doorways) around a common area.

On his bunk, Thomas heard the hatch open. Down climbed Talia. It was unusual to see someone not using the lift to get around.

"Thomas, something strange is going on. The Captain's been acting strange. I've founds some suspicious-looking files relating to the expedition which I can't open, but seems to suggest he knows something he's not saying. I've called a meeting of the science group in the lab (Area 31) to discuss setting up the base camp and analyse data. But I think we need to take the other cutter and make a break for the asteroid while we have a chance. Come on!"

GM Note: Thomas' bunk is in area 29. The lab is Area 31. There are cargo locks leading into the cutters on this level.



The Inquisitor was a variant on the Broadsword class Mercenary Cruiser called the Explorer class Survey Cruiser and was arranged as such:

A. Owner's Cabin (Converted to Astronomy/Astrophysics Lab)
B. Gunnery Deck
C. Bridge
D. Mess Deck
E. Medical Deck/Crew Quarters
F. Crew Quarters
G. Cargo Deck 2 (Areas 27 Converted to Lab space)
H. Cargo Deck 1
I. Cargo Deck 3 (Former Muster Deck, 29 is expedition quarters, 31 is converted to Lab space. Expedition cargo is stored in Area 32)
J. Engineering Deck 1
K. Engineering Deck 2

For added security the topmost series of personnel hatches were converted into a dual elevator shaft. Floors can be locked off and keyed into crew/passenger ID. The bottom access shaft remained for emergency use, sealed by hatches (lockable but normally kept unlocked).

Somewhat surprised by the task, Billy doesn't say anything, just  nods and opens up a couple of inspection hatches.  After a moment or two he half mutters.  "Power and data ...."  and starts to track cables and ducts back to a suitable take-off point.

In reply to Billy (msg # 7):

With a little maintenance the three low berths began cycling under the supervision of the ship's doctor. There was much hissing and outgassing. Within a minute all three lids were opening hydraulically.

The men inside climbed out. They looked big and beefy, lots of unidentifiable tattoos. To Billy they looked like someone's hired muscle, a bad sign. These were not additional "mission specialists" from the Institute! Very possibly they were hijackers or even space pirates. The First Officer dismissed the doctor and then retrieved two duffel bags stashed outside the vault door. Inside were sets of tactical clothing and suits of cloth armour.

"All right. Pylory, you take your men and get your weapons from the armoury. This access card will let you in. Take Gildinkur and detain the scientists. Dr. McKenzie is on the bridge and the rest are on the Observation Deck above. Take them back here where we can hold them until we turn them over to the authorities.

"Broundya, take crewman Billy here and get the expedition bodyguard. He's in his cabin, should be unarmed. Just lock him in, no need to detain him until the others are in custody. Billy can do that manually from the panel in the hall.

"Billy, we are acting on orders of Captain Shaggrup. He has information that the expedition members will try to hijack the ship now we've found what they're looking for, and space the crew that aren't with them. That's why they brought their own crew along. We have all the evidence we need. Remember, we want them alive to stand trial."

The last seemed to be directed solely at Billy, the other mercenary types ignored what he was saying. And Billy wasn't too reassured by the mention of Captain Shaggrup. The captain was an ex-Imperial Scout, true, but there was something shifty about him and he wasn't as smart as he thought he was.

"Yes sir." Billy says meekly.  "Armoury first then the cabin ...  lock the door ..." he mutters as he prepares to follow the new men to the Armoury.

In reply to Billy (msg # 9):

When they disembarked from the lift, the group's obvious leader ("Pylory") waited for Billy to direct him to the armoury. Then sauntered over to the door and used the access card from the First Officer to open it. The layout was of a thick blastproof outer door, then a small foyer and then an inner wall with another door and a Lexan window and opening through which weapons were dispensed. Both outer and inner doors could be locked.

Billy knew the expedition berthing area where Thomas was located was only 5-6m away, and not sealed off except for light walls. While they were out of sight they could still be heard.

The outer door swung open with a hum of an electric motor. Inside the inner area were the expected racks of rifles, SMGs, shotguns and autorifles. As well, there were hard cases Billy hadn't seen in the armoury before. Both inner and outer doors could be opened from the inside. As well, there was an intercom. This way in an alert the armoury could be manned while sealed off. The three men strode inside and again Pylory used the access card to open the inner door. Whatever play Billy was going to make needed to happen soon!

The man named "Gildinkur" eyed Billy suspiciously. He was a weaselly-looking guy, untrustworthy and shifty-eyed.

Not too far away, Talia heard the men exiting the lift and put her finger to her lips so that Thomas would know to be silent. They heard four men exiting the lift and go over to the armoury, unseen. They could also hear but not see the outer door to the armoury being opened, then the men going inside,.

GM Note: While the Broadsword doesn't have lifts as a paramilitary vessel, the civilian Inquisitor does. There are 2 lifts, 1 each adjacent to the hatches/ladders. Note,
 you are in the same general area but do not have LOS.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:50, Thu 29 June 2017.

"His berth is just down there ..." Billy says helpfully as the new 'guards' use the First Officer's key to access the armoury.

In reply to Billy (msg # 11):

The big leader whirled around and pointed a finger at Billy's face. He said in a low, threatening voice, "shut the fuck up, asshole. Stay here. Keep watch."

His reaction was a little unfair; after all, Billy had given him useful and necessary information! It didn't seem that little details like this were important to him.

Billy shrinks down slightly in his overalls, and nods silently.

In reply to Billy (msg # 13):

Pylory nodded and turned away, apparently satisfied by his reaction. Behind him, Billy could see the other men opening the cases. Inside were Advanced Combat Rifles, green, plastic and deadly. Plus ammunition and RAM grenades.

In reply to GM (msg # 6):

Walker nodded.  There had been a "feel" to the ship, once the rest of his group was away, that hadn't added up.  He'd played enough poker to know that if you can't find the mark, then you're the mark.  Had a feeling that he was the mark.

Walker nodded, threw on his field coat and hat, and slung his pack and rifle case across his back.  Once he was ready, he pulled the slide on his shotgun and fed another round into the magazine, so it was full and one up the pipe.

"Lead." he said quietly.

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 15):

Peeking through the curtain that served as a door to the expedition support crew berths Talia said, "there's one of the crew standing outside the Armoury. I think he saw me!"

In reply to Talia McKenzie (msg # 16):

Billy saw the expedition's doctor and xenobiologist (he couldn't remember her name) peeking out through the curtain at him.

Billy steps back slightly so that he is out of sight from the guards and makes a beckoning motion towards Talia.  Then puts his finger to his lips to indicate quiet and points towards the elevator that leads to the second modular cutter.  He'd just have to work out how to fly it, when it was time ...

They might have a better plan, but the only thing Billy can think of is to get to the other Cutter and make a break for it.  That might mean he was stranded out here -  but he was beginning to think that the chances of him dying were higher if he stayed on the ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:36, Fri 30 June 2017.

In reply to Billy (msg # 18):

Talia looked at him for a second, then nodded and looked back at Thomas with a quizzical look.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:28, Fri 30 June 2017.

Slowly and carefully Billy pulls out the large screwdriver that he keeps in the long thigh pocket of his overalls reaches around the door and drives it into the intercom.  Without waiting for a reaction from the guards, he half turns and drives the same screwdriver into the  internal door controls, before stepping back around the corner and activating the control that closes the door from the outside.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:49, Fri 30 June 2017.

In reply to Dr. Talia McKenzie (msg # 19):

Walker thought a moment, then shrugged.  He raised his head, and nodded for Talia to go forward.

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 21):

They made their way, quietly, past the closing armoury's heavy door as it closed. There were muffled shouts from inside!

Nearby was the cargo lock for the remaining modular cutter. Gathered inside the detachable passenger module were the expedition scientists: Dr. Goezghae, Dr. Heinrich Chandragora, Dr. Lurushar GIlenkaar, and Dr. Vledistart Mirost.

In reply to GM (msg # 22):

"Talia! We were just about to leave without you! I think the way were all locked out of the computer system a few minutes ago was a good sign something's not right here.

"Can anyone pilot this vessel? Or should we be trying to take a space walk to the surface?"

Like the other humans, the Vargr scientist was already almost finished putting on her vacc suit.

In reply to GM (msg # 22):

"I'm going to get a vacc suit on, just in case!"

She pulled a spare one out of the storage locker, made a face at the smell inside.

Once the door is closed, Billy drives the screwdriver into the outer lock mechanism.  While it wouldn't take a skilled person all that long to fix the thing - anything that keeps the thugs closed up inside for a bit longer has to be a good thing.  Then he follows the others.

"The first officer had three thugs in secure low-berths,  but I shut them in the armoury," Billy tells Talia and Walker as they head towards the cutter, "the doctor is in on it - and I think the captain is as well."  He adds everything he has learned so far to the general information pot.

Hearing the conversation in the Cutter, Billy chimes in "We probably need to get this thing away now.  It won't be long before those thugs get out of the armoury, armed to the teeth ..." Billy waits to see if anyone has the  skills to pilot the vessel. If not he will shrug, almost as if to say if you want something doing, do it yourself and makes his way to the control panels.

"No point having a vacc suit on if there are armed thugs beating away at the door.  Or the captain suddenly decided to disable the cutter's controls."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:43, Tue 04 July 2017.

Walker dropped to one knee, took what cover was available, and shouldered his shotgun, as a defensive position.

Quietly, he says,"Grab a suit for me, too, please, and grab some extras.  I'd prefer to have a spare suit should one that's occupied get holed.  When we're ready, can any of you guys handle a shotgun?  I need to suit-up, too."

In reply to Billy (msg # 25):

"There is a rather big point to having a vacc suit on if they hull the cutter once we're gone," the Vargr scientist pointed out. "But yes, let's get out of here!"

None of the scientists were small craft qualified, although a few of them had some familiarity.

Heinrich Chandragora had some grounding in Sky Raider small craft controls as part of his being the expedition technologist.

"If someone wants to pilot, I can maybe handle being a copilot."

"Oh, as soon as we are out of here." Billy replies to the Vagr and then nods at Dr. Chandragora.  "That is about my level too." the handyman says as he starts the process to separate the cutter from the main ship and move her out into space.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 21:51, Wed 05 July 2017.

In reply to Billy (msg # 29):

There was a little uncertainty but Billy had observed cutter takeoff many times, and Jeri, one of the pilots, had explained to him what to do in order to undock the cutter and launch. This time there was no helpful instructor, nor was ship command on the line to provide guidance.

The vast majority of the pre-launch checklist needed to be abandoned. All they could do for now was to boot up the computer and follow the basic checklist. Ignoring all navigation, sensors, and comms, he turned on internal auxiliary power and life support, sealed all cargo locks and airlocks, detached the umbilicals, unclamp the cutter and then, no wait a minute, fire up the power plant, check fuel, ok, spin up the engines, get an error message that the computer wasn't running the Maneuver program and was in a diagnostic mode...

But the manual controls were clearly labelled and as he started to handle them Jeri's words came back to him and his tentative movements became more confident.  Once the cutter had launched, and had started on a slow trajectory towards the asteroid, Billy turned to the scientist, "Your turn.  I need to suit up."

In reply to Billy (msg # 31):

With Billy at the helm, the cutter slid backwards out the docking well. Very little paint was lost although there were a few bumps and scrapes along the way.

Then they were free! Billy quickly changed into his personal vacc suit, which had been located in the converted cargo deck they just left.

He got back into the cockpit to see they were still drifting backwards, but faster as they accelerated. In front was the spherical Inquisitor. Behind them was the massive asteroid ship, hidden by the hull of the cutter.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:28, Thu 06 July 2017.

In reply to GM (msg # 32):

Beside him in the copilot seat, Heinrich said somewhat nervously, "uh... you better take over. I think I got us decelerating... or maybe now we're accelerating into the asteroid ship? Either way let's get turned around and try to find the crater where the landing party is located with the other cutter."

Billy nods as he slides back into the pilot seat, a slight grimace on his face as he takes the controls again.  Frowning in concentration he makes small adjustments to the manual flight controls.

"Can anyone sort this computer out?  It's running diagnostics and we need to help with  manoeuvring." Billy asks, reasoning that there must be someone with computer skills among the scientists.

In reply to Billy (msg # 34):

Dr. Mirost poked his head in the cockpit. "I have a lot of experience with computers. Let me try." He strapped into the engineering station, pulled up a display. "Ok. I see the right program. Executing now!"

In reply to Dr. Vledistart Mirost (msg # 35):

The cutter's HUD and instruments came alive with maneuver vectors and other readouts.



One screen began tracking the ship ahead of them. The other locked onto the other cutter, which was lifting off from a crater on the surface.

In some ways all the extra screens made it more confusing, but Billy focused on those that plotted vectors and paths, and selected one that would take him in the right direction.  It didn't really matter what the fuel, safety and ancillary readouts said, there was one simple objective - get to the same crater as the other cutter.

Then, with a bit more confidence, Billy starts to follow the lines on the screen.

"Anybody want to try to get in contact with the others?" Billy asks noting that the other cutter is returning to the Ship.  "They don't know the situation ..."

Once on board, Walker cycles the round out of his shotgun, safes it, and slides the round into a loop on his vest.  Then he places the pack with his primary rifle on it on the deck, and fumbles his way into the suit.  "This was easier when I didn't think I needed to do this in a hurry."

He looks at the others, and carefully closes his helmet.  He didn't want to suck up his tank, but if they got hulled, he'd fumble it.  Then he uses the sling on the shotgun, muzzle down, and moves his pack out of the way, into a seat.

In reply to Billy (msg # 37):

"Right, I can try and call them."

Putting on a headset he started almost randomly throwing switches. He listened intently.

"Oh no, I am getting something from a suit radio on the gunnery deck. Some kind of violence has broken out!"

He pressed a few more switches. "I hope this works.... hello, Cutter One, can you hear me? This is Cutter 2. Come in please."

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 38):

This being a scientific and more utilitarian craft, there were umbilical life-support hookups built into all passenger seats. Once Thomas plugged himself in and switched on exterior LS, others started doing the same.

Outside, the other cutter continued to lift off out the crater. There was a bright flash of light and sparks. The entire engine pod at the end of the cutter was sheared off and began spinning away into the darkness, trailing gas and an expanding and dispersing cloud of hydrogen fuel. As well, the other cutter began slowly spiralling back down into the crater.

The most logical explanation was that laser fire (which was invisible to the naked eye) from one of the ship's dual laser turrets had caused catastrophic damage to the other cutter's engine.
This message was last updated by the GM at 09:25, Mon 10 July 2017.

In reply to GM (msg # 40):

From the Engineering station Dr, Mirist exclaimed, "my word! The other cutter's been hit! I believe it's going down!" He spoke in a tone of disbelief, not quite realising they were probably in the same situation.

"Make sure your suits are properly secured."  Billy calls as he realises the implication of the other cutter losing its engines.  "Doc, we need  the evasion software running on the computer now as well ..." he adds through the suit coms as he checks his own suit over.

"They always zig-zag in stories ..." he says trying to do the same while maintaining control of the cutter.

In reply to Billy (msg # 42):

The cutter dropped towards the surface. Billy barely maintained control. Perhaps his erratic maneuvering threw off the gunner's aim. They were not hit. There were flashes and then fountains of pulverised dust and gas boiling away from the surface below them, indicating the ship was shooting at them (although the laser beams were invisible) and missing badly.

Soon, the surface of the asteroid loomed in front of them. They could try to continue across the surface of the asteroid and put the horizon in between them and the ship, or else try and make it to the crater into where it seemed the other cutter was now crashing (this would also put them out of LOS from the ship).
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:50, Thu 13 July 2017.

In reply to GM (msg # 43):

Billy heads towards the crater and tries to land.

Off to the side there was a flash as the other cutter's engine pod impacted the surface, sending up a plume of pulverised regolith.

The cutter began slewing to the left as they descended into the crater that had been selected as a base for entry. Different warnings began sounding off. Radar and Lidar altitude and collision alerts, attitude anomalies, many more that Billy couldn't begin to identify.

"We're going too fast, hit the retro's!" shouted Heinrich. He fumbled around, trying and failing to trigger the landing jets.

The grey and black regolith rushed up to meet them. Cracks on the crater bottom became larger and larger. In the last few seconds before impact they could see, a short distance away, the hull of other cutter, wrecked but surprisingly intact. Gear and equipment was scattered around the former intended landing site. They landed hard on the crater bottom, everyone jolted around in their seats. Saved from serious harm by their crash harnesses.

In fact, they landed so hard and the gravity was so weak then slammed into the surface in a cloud of dust, then bounced up a half-dozen metres, then drifted back down to settle the fresh impact crater they themselves had just made. The ringing of alarms and warnings was a cacophony of shrieks, buzzes and sirens.

GM Note: Make your final posts here if you like, then switch to the other thread please! Extinguish all smoking materials and return your tray to an upright position. Welcome aboard the main adventure, I hope you had a pleasant journey so far.

As soon as they are properly down. Billy starts the sequence to close down the dives and anything else that he can find and climbs through to the back of the cutter.  After a quick look around he grabs anything that might appear useful , checks his suit.  Once he is sure that his suit is secure, he checks with the others and starts to open the airlock.

"The sooner we are out of here the better ..."

When the bouncing stops, Walker grabs his shotgun and pack, and heads with the rest of them, out of the shuttle.