Author: Graham Spearing

Perseus Expansion – Episode 6

Smashing through the stargate the players are in another system. Beyond sensors pick up the signs of a closing fleet. Discretion required so off to a nearby gas giant with two rocky moons and observe Proceedings. The good Doctor starts to work on the problem, divising a plan to build a remote switch to turn off the gate. This is going to require some spare parts, as even cannibilising the ship will be insufficient.

Interrogating their Harmonious Future prisoner reveals that the faction has been colluding with stranded elements of the Gallach an ancient warlike people who are seeking to explore and conquer beyond their stargate.

Tempted by the inner system garden world, Tyrrell scans the nearest rock giant and picks up an energy spike. What they discover astounds them. The moon has the remains of a long dead city and civilisation. To the north of the ruins lies a functioning gate with a window onto a beautiful and lush garden world. Nothing like this has been encountered before. It appears to be a miniature version of the stargate. After the traditional, ‘throw a rock through first’ gambit the players risk everything and walk through.

This instantly transports them through to the inner system garden world of Tartaros ii. After a rather tentative negotiation with the discovered natives, they are befriended. As a servile race to the Gallach, the indigenous people helped the players and took them to the old ruins of the Gallach not far from their settlement.

A battle with a Gallach war droid sentinel, released some unexpected spare parts that would do the immediate good. After a building scene and a switch created, the players set off to sabotage the gate as best they can and return to Perseus space and warn the worlds of an encroaching alien battle fleet.

And so they do. The switch will be discovered and rendered out of action at some point, but what the hell. They act as couriers of doom right through to the capital, Phaedra. With copious evidence, their story has credence and the system fleets are readied for action.

A breathtaking pause and a good place to hold the game for another possible few sessions in the future.

Perseus Expansion – Episode 5

Yes, morning arrived for them and they were treated to breakfast, warm breads and a discussion about their plans. The evening before had been an exploration of the treatises of Harmonious Future, an organisation committed to the eradication of social injustice and a levelling of opportunities, education, health and wealth. Links were discussed between the Outer Territories Alliance (the failed rebellion of 15 years ago) and Harmonious Future.

A tourist interlude took them to nearby ruins with Tamara, a student on sabbatical who enjoyed reading at the ruins. The players discover a set of structures that could be aged to greater than 40 thousand years old, constructed for a humanoid species and involving some subtle but powerful molecular manipulation of the granite based building materials.

The players decide to visit the huge structure and understand what it is. They are reluctant to tell the Harmonious Future of it and mention an ‘anomaly’ instead, deep in system. Unphased, Saran Gumai offers two of her people to accompany the heroes: Joe-ann a space scientist and Derrat a spacer handyman.

Arriving at the structure they find it is enormous but inactive. Whilst approaching there was a power spike in the cargo hold. Shielding the two new crew members from the truth they went to investigate. It seems the sphere they picked up on Near Dark was in contact with the gate structure. Something was going on. Some heroic assessment and EVA later the sphere was inserted into the structure which seemed to be powering it up!

The gate came online, exhibiting the same behaviour as the two other known forerunner gates. A probe was sent in to assess safety and determine where the other end of the gate might be. It returned to confirm that it had travelled to another sector of space thousands of light years away, though its power systems were run down. As they debated taking the gate power spikes indicated that something was coming through! Five huge warships of unknown configuration emerged through the shimmering veil of the Star Gate. Run away!

In the upper atmosphere of the nearby gas giant they duelled with a huge bulk freighter that had been lurking there. I say ‘duelled’, the jo Lynn freighter they are flying has some point defence blasters, this converted Class 3 was armed with energy cannons. Heroic Shields Up prevented any meaningful damage but the point defence guns just ‘impacted on the surface’ of the targeted engines. Tyrrell was using his ace pilot skill to great effect, using the ‘escape from pursuer’ option they headed back to the gate to find an enormous war fleet was now on this side with one Class 4 vessel lurking above the gate.

As they approached the gate the defending vessel spewed forth a dozen fighters to intercept our intrepid heroes. Hurtling through the gate in the wrong direction, all they could see were the bright blue lights of the arriving war fleet with the enemy star fighters closing on their tail and into combat range. There was nowhere else to go. Undertaking a neat 180 degrees power turn, our heroes flew straight through the gate.

Good place to close the session… 😉

Perseus Expansion – Episode 4

We left our heroes escaping the Near Dark system in their Combine registered tramp freighter, accelerating out of atmosphere and heading for the one safe jump point. Unbeknownst to them they had a stowaway in the shape of Darius Blaze (Military-Starfarer-Crowded), and a new player for a session or two. Darius was on the opposing heist team and speculatively stowed away to follow the trail of the successful team of PCs.

Dr Krieger investigated the data cube and found out [prompted and asked the Dr to tell us what he found] that the data had all the hallmarks of the ESU’s infamous Delta Directive, and rather than being the antidote to the virus, it was a sophisticated placebo and no more, masking the true structure of time delayed biologicals with a limited lifetime, a containable infection with a shelf life, a dirty weapon. Was Near Dark the victim of a controlled test of this disease? A deep dive into the data structures revealed a digital signature that pointed to the location of a laboratory.

Meanwhile the liner Sumptuous sprays out some small craft that speed out system, alerting a waiting ship to intercept the PC freighter. The Independent bulk freighter Hagan lumbers into scanner range. It is a hired privateer working a faction that want to reclaim the data disk? Or maybe the hyper dense silver globe? Or probably both. The globe resisted all scanning attempts.

As the Hagen sprays out two wings of attached starfighters I limber up ready for a very one sided starship combat battle. As Tyrrell and the interloper Darius square up to each other on the bridge, Dr Krieger storms in and initiates a sudden exit to jumpspace, yep he went straight for the Wild Jump! (7 result). A new uncharted world ! A strange signal in a hard to decipher alien protocol, talking of a gate in power down and not able to support transfers until restored. The signal was traced to a structure an hour away. It was of vast size, and possibly of the same construction of the two known functioning forerunner gates’ If this really is a third gate then it is a momentous discovery.

Speeding in the other direction the characters encounter a planetary system, with an atmospheric make up identical to old earth’s. How strange… Orbiting the planet was a large upstation, which needed to be explored. What they found within the partially powered structure were the remains of Arzurak humanoids and a station that never recovered from a crisis. The multi limbed wyrm like creatures within ensued a quick gun battle, with Darius finishing off one with his dress sword.

Down below, on planet there is suddenly signs of life, just as the orbital station starts to come back online. They are representatives of the peaceful and benevolent Harmonious Futures, whose lead representative, Saran Gumai, invites the PCs down to the surface of Traxic III, to visit their monastery, a prefabricated beauty on the edge of a lake.

Greeted warmly, they enjoy the clean fresh air around them, with just a hint of sweetness. Food and drink is consumed heartily, and the entire western tower is at their disposal. Setting up a watchdog sensor, the characters recline in soft sheets and sleep soundly, waiting for the morning to come. It will won’t it?