Ex Astris, Scientia (Part 2)

Shore Leave

Captain's Log USS Suffolk, Stardate 57144.2
Location: Sector 2910, orbiting Risa
Captain Grant Wilson recording:

"We have arrived at Risa. I will be escorting Ambassador Kamen down to the surface shortly and have split the crew into two different shore leave parties. Each will have three days to enjoy what Risa has to offer. This is, by far, the luckiest Academy class that I've ever seen ...and I've seen quite a few."

Stardate 57144
Our soon-to-be heroes ride a shuttle down to Suraya Bay on Risa along with the Captain and an Andorian ambassador named Kamen. Midshipman William James generously pays for his friends Radar, Rick, and Tanev to stay in very nice accommodations. Of course, being young and on Risa for the first time, Bill, Rick, and Radar immediately purchase Horga'hns and set out to have a good time. Tanev, being Tanev follows and observes.

Rick decides he wants to go climbing and the rest of the group decides to give it a shot. Being untrained, Radar and Tanev immediately encounter difficulties. As the group continues to try to climb, two Human women flirt with Bill and Rick, then start climbing. Bill and Rick, being Bill and Rick, immediately ditch their companions and head up the rock wall after their quarry. Left behind, Tanev decides to explore a library to find information about Risan terraforming techniques and Radar decides to go find some fun on a catamaran tour.

Tanev goes off to the library. His research doesn't turn much up as the information around the terraforming of Risa seems sparse. While conducting the research, he meets an Andorian female named Vanar. She chats with Tanev for a bit, though Tanev is quite focused on his research.

Meanwhile, Waltera goes for a ride around some islands on a catamaran. During the tour, the catamaran is followed by pink dolphin-like creatures called Mer Daks. The catamaran turns out to be a sort of ferry to entice beach goers to a formal island party. Radar chooses to pay the entrance fee for the party, and promptly meets a beautiful Orion woman. Soon, the Orion and Waltera leave the party to the Orion's bungalow. Waltera is schooled in why the Orion women have their reputation, and the classes last all night.

Bill and Rick make it to the top of the climb, and discover a bar and the human women they followed up the cliff. They have a few drinks and some laughs and decide to return to the hotel via shuttle with the women.

Stardate 57145
Cadet Belk wakes to find himself in his underwear, tied to his friend, Bill. They both have quite a headache and it's obvious they've been had. Rick decides that no one should find out and they unsuccessfully try to sneak through the kitchen. The concierge informs them that they checked out of their rooms last night, with all of their belongings.

Tanev and Waltera meet Bill and Rick in the lobby. While they are discussing yesterday's events, a portly, flamboyantly dressed man is overheard arguing with the concierge. Rebuffed, he sees the group of friends and approaches them. He introduces himself as Captain Leo Walsh, a temporarily inconvenienced trader. He is short on funds and asks the crew for a loan to pay for the room, promising to pay it back once his cargo is sold. To sweeten the deal, he hints at another proposition that he will share at dinner that evening. Bill decides to play along, assuming his money will be lost, and pays for the room.

Before they leave, the female Andorian that Tanev had met at the library walks up to him and caresses his back. She is dressed in a Starfleet uniform with the rank of Lieutenant. Vanar tries to convince Tanev to come with her for more research, but Tanev refuses. Instead, he chooses to head to the Capital city to attempt to do more thorough research on Risan terraforming technology. Vanar departs, visibly disappointed Waltera is reunited with the Orion from the night before. They leave together, agreeing to meet the others later for Captain Walsh's proposal at dinner. At this point, Rick and Bill each purchase another Horga'hn and head for the beach, drinks in hand. Finally, two Risan women approach the men and finally they get lucky.

Tanev's research attempts at the capital prove fruitless. The terraforming process is a closely guarded secret. Empty handed, he returns to Suraya Bay in time for dinner with Captain Walsh. Walsh explains that his ship has been impounded because of some difference of opinion over the rightful owner of some of his cargo. He has heard, however, of a nearby abandoned ship. He asks the cadets to retrieve the ship for him so that he can continue, and in exchange he will pay them well. The cadets immediately decline.

Stardate 57146
After dinner, the cadets talk it over and decide to inform their Captain. They interrupt his shore leave. Captain Wilson decides to return to the ship to search for the vessel. The Captain then allows Bill to take command of the Suffolk to conduct the search for the vessel in the system. Bill performs well under the guidance of Captain Wilson and the vessel is discovered in an extremely tight orbit around the innermost planet. Since they are recovering the vessel with the support of a Federation Light Cruiser, they tractor the ship to a safe orbit.

Captain Wilson resumes command of the Suffolk and decides to put Cadet Belk in charge of the away team to search and recover the vessel. After they dock with the Free Trader, Belk, leading the other cadets and a group of four security personnel board it. They are soon ambushed by a herd of razorcats, but Star Fleet firepower puts an end to their hunger.

Captain's Log USS Suffolk, Stardate 57151.8
Location: Sector 2910, underway to Earth
Captain Grant Wilson recording:

"I have sent the recovered Free Trader 'Star of the Northern Sky' to the fleet repair yards at Mars as directed by Star Fleet Command. I have assigned Lieutenant Ramirez to act as Captain of the vessel and will be waiting for her when she gets there. In the meantime, I am returning to Earth with this cadet crew so they can graduate.

It seems that the vessel was being used to transport razorcats to one of the more exotic locations on Risa and suffered a complete power failure. They spent months trapped in orbit around that planet. I can only imagine what it must have been like being preyed by your own cargo upon in the darkness of a powerless ship. Best not to think about it.

While we were searching for the vessel, I allowed Midshipman James, under my supervision, to command the Suffolk and conduct the search for the vessel. He performed quite well and deserves a commendation. Additionally, I allowed Cadet Belk, the doctor-in-training, to lead the away team that secured the vessel from the roaming razorcats. He too preformed well under pressure and kept his wits about him. To be honest, he would probably be as good at taking lives as he would be at saving them. I'm sure he would make a fine addition to any Marine unit and also deserves recognition when we return."

End of recording.

Game & Progression Notes:

This game was postponed heavily because of the holidays. We picked up a new player, Dave, playing the role of Tanev, a Vulcan research scientist. I pretty much just made the character with Dave's input to save time and Dave approved the result. Since the character was already known to the other three due to the Academy back story, it was easy to insert Tanev into the campaign.

My family was not present for most of the session. We decided to have a potluck dinner. Heather arrived first, followed by J.B. and Dave, and then Marlin. Everyone showed up within the start window and we got started right away.

I had made some notes and had a general plan for the evening. I left the romantic encounters of the first half of the session unplanned. Going off the cuff for the character development stuff is really fun because it is definitely collaborative storytelling, though not as liberal as FATE. I think perhaps we should spend some time coming up with some rules for GURPS that will enable a more FATE-like game. Since the beginning was unplanned and the characters have too much money, I started charging for things. I will have to remember to keep that up because money is somewhat meaningless in Star Trek and I'd like to try to explore what money means in a society where replicators exist.

During this, I resorted to using a plot element from an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, with some modification. I had just recently watched the episode "Two Days and Two Nights" and thought it would be fun to have Belk and James fall victim to a scam. Let's just hope I avoid the extremely predictable plots in the show in the future.

The dinner was great. We played and then my wife and children came home. I think that next time we play around my kids, we will start and end the game earlier because it got them crazy. We ended the game with a combat aboard a starship where the firepower of Star Trek weaponry became very clear. It reminded me of a GURPS Traveller game I ran in Austin where a player named Brian literally shot the plot device out of the sky during the exposition.

I left the players with a major decision to make which would have changed the course of the campaign. I was prepared for them to choose between recovering the ship for Captain Walsh, recovering the ship for themselves, reporting the ship to the Risan constabulary, or telling the Captain. I expected them to tell the Captain. Had they chosen to recover the ship for Captain Walsh, or take it for themselves, they would have had to deal with the razorcats themselves without much firepower. At that point, if they returned the ship to Captain Walsh, they would have ended up with an underworld contact on the down-low and a decent amount of money. Had they kept it for themselves, they would have a legal claim to the derelict spaceship but would have had to resign their commissions (if they wanted to become Free Traders themselves) and made an enemy of Captain Walsh. Had they informed the Risan constabulary of the situation, the Risans would take they ship for themselves and the characters would have received nothing at all. They chose to tell the captain, which resulted in the seniority points and professional reputation points being awarded, as well as the easy encounter.

All participating characters earned 2 character points, 2 professional reputation points, and 1 seniority point. Additionally, I granted William James 1 character point in Vacc Suit and 1 in Sex Appeal. Rick Belk received 1 in Acrobatics and 1 in Vacc Suit. Waltera O'Reilly received a point in Swimming and a point in Sex Appeal. Lastly, Tanev earned a point in Electronics Operation (Scientific) and another in Research.