You now take a deep breath as the shuttle leaves the shuttle bay of the Pegasus.  Its lights are flashing in a strange pattern.

General Ashe says, "It's in a self destruct mode.  Get us out of here!"

Desi gets the shuttle moving as fast as it can, sending anyone not strapped down flying to the back of the shuttle.  Out of the ports, you see the explosion.  It takes out not only the Pegasus but the entire Aurora space station.  You have to wonder how many made it out alive and how many perished.



Ashe and Shinsa sit in silence, awed and horrified.  Finally, Ashe says, "This data is too important to let them have died in vain.  We have to get it in the right hands."

"And properly translated and decoded," Shinsa reminds him.

Desiraye puts the shuttle on auto pilot as she swivels in her seat to listen to all of the information that was gathered, where they have to go and see and, a time frame of the susp[ected Sathar invasion.  "This person or excuse me, persons, on Kraatar will be able to help us with this stuff?  Won't that infect their sytems there as well?"

"It shouldn't," Shinsa says.  "That's what the alien datasphere should help block if we get help."

"I guess we're off to Kraatar then?

You're free to move about the cabin then and the smoking light has been turned off for your enjoyment," Desiraye kids as she sets course for the planet of Kraatar.

S'Krllk looks sideways at Desi, "I didn't know any of us were on fire."

Kri'lik takes a moment to check on the General and the rest, tending to any wounds they may have. Once they are looked after he turns to the rest of the group. "Whos in need of attention?" He says as he hold up his med kit.

Desiraye smiles as she tries to relax and looks to S'Krllk, "Nothing like that S'Krllk.  I guess it goes back in Human history for when you flew the old 'airlines' they called it and reached a certain altitude, you were able to smoke in the main passenger cabin.

Anything we should know about this place General before we land?" Desiraye asks the General and his staff.

OOC: Given our makeup of humans and Vrusk in the party, this adventure should prove interesting on a cultural/roleplaying standpoint.  Please keep that in mind as you read the following and after you reach Kraatar.

The general shrugs.  "I don't know much about it.  Shinsa, what can we find out in the data?"

"Well, since it looks like we have some time," Shinsa says, and begins pulling up information.  She says, "Kraatar is a small planet in the Tristkar system.  Most of the surface is covered by rugged, mountainous uplands and desert plateaus where the atmosphere is too thin to be breathable.  Only in the lowland depressions (flatlands) scattered around Kraatar's temperate zones is the air dense enough to breathe, and only here are there rivers and lakes. Human colonists from White Light came to Kraatar about 200 years ago, settling at Gozzorf on the shores of the Yatiz Sea.  When their early attempts at mining proved fruitless, they turned to farming.  It became largely ignored by the other planets.  About 80 years ago, the Vrusk found that it is in a good location for commercialization, and now Vrusk trading ships go in and out, trading tech goods for agricultural goods.  Now the planet is known for making computers and glassware."

She pauses.  "Some humans felt threatened by the Vrusk coming into their territory and urbanizing them.  This is a cultural phenomenon that was difficult for the Vrusk to understand.  The human reluctance was regarded as antisocial and lazy by the Vrusk."

"Apparently," she says, "the prosperity of the Vrusk was too much.  They even employed experts in human personnel management to sort out the problems.  But 30 years ago, a group of human idealists led by Jack Legrange and David Dever founded what they call the Kraatar Liberation Corps ("KLC").  It is a secret organization dedicated to freeing Kraatar from Vrusk domination by "direct action," including bomb attacks and sabotage directed against the Vrusk.  Recently, the Vrusk Commercial COunsel has taken a step of employing RIK, a Vrusk security tradehouse, to police the major population centers.  The other trade houses have also increased security.  Some have even taken their own clandestine reprisals against 'known agitators.'"

"Here," she says, "Read up on the system all you like."  She shows you the screen:

Kraatar

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colonizers: Vrusk/Humans
Population: Medium (60% Human; 38% Vrusk; 1 % Dralasite; 1 % Yazirian)
Trade: Farming, electronics, metal extraction and glassware
Climate Range:
Average Surface Temp.: Temperate zone: 20°C (day=30°C,night=10°C)
Equatorial Zone: 30°C (day=50°C,night=10°C)
% Water:  20%
Atmopshere:
Gravity: 0.6
Diameter: 9800km
Moons: 2
Length of Day: 18 hours
Inclination: 20 degrees
Length of Year: 272 local days
(68-day seasons, affecting ave. temperature by +/- 1O°C)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description

Kraatar is a small, mountainous world first settled by Human colonists from White Light 200 years ago. The planet lies in a close orbit to the star Tristkar and has a thin atmosphere. Water covers only 20% of the planet and there is very little cloud cover. Being near the inner edge of the system's life zone, Kraatar receives large amounts of stellar radiation and temperatures at the equator range from 0 to 60°C. As a result, deserts occupy most of the equatorial zone of the planet.

The majority of Kraatar is covered by high altitude deserts and jagged mountain ranges rising up to heights of 10,000 meters. The atmosphere in the mountains is too thin to breathe without the aid of breathing apparatus, but numerous "flatlands" exist around the planet, many of which are below sea level. These areas are very fertile and, more importantly, the atmosphere here is sufficiently dense to allow PC races to breathe without assistance. However, the air is not as dense as most people are used to, and characters attempting any strenuous activity (e.g. running, climbing or fighting) will lose 1 point of Stamina every 10 minutes. When a character's Stamina reaches zero, he/she will fall unconcious for 1d10+10 turns. For each turn of rest, characters regain 1 point of Stamina, although Stamina lost through wounds, poisons, etc. must be recovered in the normal way. Natives of Kraatar are not subject to these effects, but they cannot function in the mountains without breathing apparatus, where unprotected characters lose 1 point of Stamina per turn until dead.

History
The first Human colonists landed at Gozzorf, on the shores of the Yatiz Sea. Soon small communities were established here, at Quazzt's Depression and in the other flatlands. Searches were made in the planet's mountains for heavy metals, but no rich deposits were ever found, and only a few iron and copper mines were established.

Isolated in their communities many ofthe colonists took to a quiet life, tilling the land for crops and herding a few imported animals. As the years passed, the colonists lost many of their technological skills, and as machinery wore out, they were unable to replace it. Gradually they were reduced to a simple, self-sufficient existence where high technology was a thing of the past.

Enter the Vrusk
Few ships visited Kraatar until 80 years ago, when a Vrusk trade ship landed at Gozzorf. After a hesitant meeting, the two races struck up a rapport and the Vrusk traded technological hardware for agricultural produce. The Vrusk soon left Kraatar, only to return later with more machinery to trade with the Humans.

Equipped with the latest in farm machinery, the Humans were able to increase production, and buy more Vrusk goods. Soon more Vrusk ships arrived at Kraatar. Many came to trade, but others brought settlers and with them Vrusk trade houses eager for new markets. The trade houses began to establish manufacturing plants and to conduct comprehensive surveys of the planet. This research revealed that the sands of Kraatar's deserts could provide an ideal source of silicon for computer manufacture, as well as producing some of the most beautiful glass ever seen by Vrusk. If cut and polished, the glass scintillates and sparkles with all the colours of the rainbow. Soon Kraatar glassware was sought by Vrusk art lovers all over the Frontier, and rapidly became one of Kraatar's major exports. At the same time, the two seas were discovered to be rich in mineral deposits. As news of these finds spread, more Vrusk trade houses came to Kraatar to exploit its new found wealth.

In the early years, both races benefited from these developments. The Humans were supplied with much needed technology, and the Vrusk had markets both on and off planet with which to enrich themselves. The Vrusk trade houses established hospitals and a university at Gozzorf. They discovered the remains of the original Human settlers' ship, and set about restoring it. It would never fly again, but it was lovingly rebuilt by the Vrusk with a museum around it to honour the Humans on Kraatar and to display Vrusk art collections.

The Dispossessed
As more farm machinery became available, fewer Humans were needed to work the land, freeing them for other activities. Many of them journeyed to the new Vrusk towns and cities where they fou nd employment in the Vrusk electronics, glass and metal-extraction factories. Many others found work building the monorail which now circles the planet.

It was in the factories that dissension first grew among the Humans. As the Vrusk became more established, more of their racial beliefs were introduced. To a Vrusk it is second nature to allow a trade house todetermine one's life but, to many ofthe Humans of Kraatar, this was abhorrent. Used to a pastoral existence, with order imposed only by the seasons, many Humans refused to accept the full ramifications of Vrusk society. Dissatisfaction was first shown in a desire to return to the land, but Vrusk technology had changed the world. Now one machine could easily do the work of over a hundred labourers. A return to the old farming techniques was impossible, for Humans now relied heavily on Vrusk technology to maintain their farms and standard of living.

Unable to return to the farms, most Humans have now adjusted to their new lives and accept the presence of the Vrusk as employers; but attempts to impose Vrusk beliefs have not been very successful. Few Humans have adopted Vrusk company names, and attempts by Vrusk executives to instil in Humans the Vrusk sense of belonging to a trade house have met with little success.

Vrusk Attitudes
Many Vrusk executives are confused by these reactions; they see the situation as one of mutual interdependence - the good of the trade house is the good of all, Humans and Vrusk alike. The trade houses offer medical, educational and recreational facilities to both their Vrusk and Human workers. Surely this is the road to harmony and prosperity for all? Yet many Humans insist on moving from one trade house to another, requiring new housing and causing disruptions in daily life and production.

To help with this clash of cultures, many Vrusk trade houses have employed Human advisors in an attempt to sort out the problems as equitably as possible. For years it looked as though this approach was working; Vrusk and Humans began to work closely together and all benefited.

The Freedom Fighters
However, some Humans were determined to stop their fellows becoming ever more Vrusk-like, and 30 years ago the Kraatar Liberation Corps was secretly founded by Jack Legrange and David Dever

The Kraatar Liberation Corps (KLC) is dedicated to freeing Kraatar from Vrusk domination. It is an underground organisation which has been responsible for numerous attacks on Vrusk factories and installations. Until 3 years ago these attacks were small scale, but now Legrange is secretly supplying arms to the KLC and it has recently been able to stage a number of major attacks. A raid on a glass factory left eight Vrusk dead and disrupted production for 3 weeks. Another attack at the starport resulted in the destruction of a shuttle and the loss of seven Vrusk and 12 Human lives.

The Commerical Council
The group of Vrusk executives who form the Commercial Council are currently monitoring the situation, hoping for a return to harmony and a stabilisation of life on Kraatar.

The situation is very tense. Many Vrusk do not wish it to get any worse and hope that harmony will restore itself. Vist'Lat trade house is, however, intent on exacerbating the situation by cutting the wages of its human workers and by economically squeezing other Vrusk trade houses (see Major Trade Houses - below). All trade houses have increased their level of security and Ral'lk'Ka (the trade house specialising in security) is doing booming business. Acting under Vist'Lat instructions, Ral'lk'Ka has even carried out reprisals against some farms believed to harbour KLC members.

Major Trade Houses
With the exception of Vist'Lat, the various Vrusk trade houses on Kraatar all have a specific area of interest:

Adq'Bizz (AB) - metal extraction and refinement.
Clic' Aqat (CA) - glass manufacture and export.
Gst'Gar'St (GGS) - electronics and computer manufacture.
Ral'lk'Ka (RIK) - security and police functions. RIK personnel are contracted by the Commercial Council to act as Kraatar's police force. They are also hired by individual trade houses as security forces against terrorist attacks. With the recent increase in KLC activity, business for RIK is booming.
Sik'Triksta (ST) - General: controls all transport services on Kraatar including the monorail and the hire or sale of ground vehicles. ST used to own the starport but 6 months ago, it was bought out by Vist'Lat.
Vist'Lat (VL) - General: main company involved in finance and off-world trading. VL is expanding, and has recently bought the starport from SikTriksta.


This message was last edited by the player at 17:05, Fri 20 Jan 2012.

Shinsa takes over the navigation.  "I've sent a distress beacon.  They are sending emergency transport to take us in to Kraatar.  We probably have a day together."

Kri'lik helps heal the wounded.  Everyone is back to normal stamina again.

S'Krllk examines the readout on Kraatar, performs his usual shrug-like motion, and moves off to maintain his body-comp and associated peripherals. He mumbles, "Of all the trade houses on all the planets in the known universe, why do i always crash near Adq'Bizz."

Hammer says only half-jokingly, "Being of the robotic species myself, I must say that metal extraction and refinement makes me nervous."

Desiraye comments on her take on the current situation on Kraatar, "Looks like we're heading into a planet that has a lot of internal issues and clashing parties that are resorting to terrorism and straight out racism.

Good thing is, we're not going there for that.  We're here for this Matrix issue and then maybe we can get on with our lives if these people here can help us.  And, if I read it correctly, this guy LeGrange, is the leader of what one could call a terrorist organization?  I'm not here to judge anyone of their problems but, is this going to be a problem?

We're going to have to watch each other backs very carefully when we travel out together and try not to go ut alone.  They way things seem, we could be asking for trouble from both sides!  We should also check the CCW (Carrying Concealed Weapons) rules and regs to see what we can or cannot carry on us."

"I guess you have a problem with that house S'Krllk?"

Somewhat reluctantly, S'Krllk responds, "It's nothing. I fixed some of their machines, once."

Professor Kri'lik reads through the system dossier. "Ral'lk'Ka...I have some history with them. Several years back, no not several more like 20. On Ken'zah-Kit in the K'aken-Kar system. In my earlier carrier as a field medic I was part of that house. This of course was long before I felt the urge to go out on my own. Thats a very odd feeling for a Vrusk I must tell you. Not many do. The loyalty to a house is very strong. There is a chance I may know someone with in Ral'lk'Ka still. Ill have to investigate that."

With that said he begins to formulate a greeting message within his commlink to Ral'lk'Ka. Once they arrive on the planet he will be better able to send the message and perhaps find a long lost friend or two.

"Contacts are good!  If we have the time, please feel free to make them.

We're going to have to watch one another's backs down there.  Just so that's clear to everyone."

Your shuttle travels toward Kraatar, and you send transmissions.

When you inquire about Dr. LeGrange, you find that a vid has been forwarded to you.

It starts by showing a stately hall with a podium at one end. A man there says, "Today, the distinguished scientist and philanthropist Dr. Jack Legrange was awarded the Fulbourn-McCoy prize for his contribution to bio-engineering."

As applause erupts, Dr Legrange, a middle aged Human, approaches the podium and accepts the prize from one of the officials. As is customary, he turns to face the crowd to make a speech. "Thank you for the honour you have bestowed on me, I am most grateful and pleased that my work has been recognised. I would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to the planet of Kraatar, my home-world, where the Humans are being ruthlessly exploited by the Vrusk. These creatures have been undermining Human rights on Kraatar. They must be stopped, this cannot be allowed to go on, for the galaxy..."

The picture is suddenly blanked out as an official-sounding Vrusk voice makes an announcement, "Due to technical failure, we are unable to continue this broadcast, we will meanwhile play you some music."

There seems to be a lot of garbled transmission and facts where LeGrange is concerned.

When you finally arrive on Kraatar, you are met by the UPF contingent.  It seems like the UPF has little more than lax security guards here.  You are led to an office to fill out the official "paperwork" regarding the incident on the Pegasus, your other encounters, and even Volturnus.  You can see it will take several days to complete this process.

The UPF "security guards" seem to have little interest in your fantastic story.  When Desi mentions communicating with the UPF, the security guard says that communications have been really bad lately, especially since the incident with the LeGrange guy.  One of them mutters about the terrible decline in the quality of service recently.

You are given access to Spartan rooms and the ability to go into the city.  The UPF contingents promise your reports will be filed and looked at closely by "top officials" at the UPF.  You realize that the UPF has little more than an outpost here on this small planet, and that the Vrusk Starport Security is really in control of things.

The UPF guards point you generally in the direction of bars and shopping.  They say they will work on fixing your escape shuttle and anything else you want repaired.  That seems about right to you.  They appear to be more like dirty mechanics than soldiers of the UPF.

OOC: You are all fully healed now.  You may want to put together a short list of equipment you are taking with you out on the town.

In reply to GM Heath (msg #17):

OOC: Anything back on what can be brought into town as far as weapons, screens, small nuclear devices, etc>?

I didn't read anything about restrictions.  I'm sure they would be more suspicious of humans than Vrusk.  I'll look at it again, but until then, I'd say just to be discreet.

OOC: Okay, I see where I went wrong.  You guys are already on Kraatar and the printed adventure has a few minor plot unravelings before coming here.  I will merge the two and adjust.

You are currently at Gozzorf starport, which is owned and controlled by Vist'Lat trade house, who deal with the administration of the starport.  At present only pistols and melee weapons are allowed on Kraatar.

You will have to go through a customs process before being given entrance into Kraatar itself from the starport.  You can freely roam the starport, however.

You are shown to your cabins at the starport.


You feel like you have barely settled in when you are approached by a human female who says she is Charletta Komitz. After introducing herself and offering to buy you drinks, she informs you that she works for Pan-Galatic Holo-News, a reputable frontier-wide news agency, and that she is trying to obtain an interview with Jack Legrange.

She has heard about your travails and wants to interview you about them as well, but the timing is right to get an interview with Legrange.  Following his outburst at the awards ceremony, Legrange has refused to speak further but a press statement has been issued by him.

Charletta wants evidence for an exposé of Legrange's illegal connections with the trustees of the Fulbourn-McCoy prize.  However, Legrange is notorious for his dislike of journalists and since he travels everywhere with his bodyguards, Charletta wants to hire you as a back-up in case of trouble. She explains that Legrange is actually going through the same customs process as you, having recently arrived on board the spaceliner "The Golden Dawn".  His cabin is not too far away.

"Since you're stuck here for a day or two anyway, it would really help me out," she says.

In reply to GM Heath (msg #20):

Desiraye will accept the drink and invite the woman to sit down at the bar/table the group is currently sharing.  She listens to the story the Charletta gives them and sips on the drink (something decent but, not too expensive) that the news reporter purchased for them.  Desi has a couple of questions;

1). Does she think that LeGrange is some kind of terrorist, if so, to what extent and is there any proof?

2). How bad is the situation here between Humans and the Vrusk?

3). Did the Vrusk shut down LeGranges ceremony becuase of what he said?  Maybe he has a point about Humans rights being violated?

"You want to hire us?  I think since we have a day or two to kill, what kind of pay we talking?

What do the rest of you think?" Desiraye she asks the others.

OOC: That's all I got for now.