			    TRAVELLER Digest 421

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Biological Warfare  Part 1 (2nd time)
	by "Bruce Johnson" <JOHNSON@tonic.pharm.arizona.edu>
  2) FF&S Excel spreadsheets?
	by Craig Berry <cberry@hollywood.cinenet.net>
  3) Shipping! (XBOAT digest 389)
	by Alvin Plummer <alvin.plummer@sheridanc.on.ca>
  4) Zho: Why to Subjugate the regency
	by Ted7@world.std.com (Mitchell K Schwartz)
  5) Imperial law & Imperial Rights
	by Ted7@world.std.com (Mitchell K Schwartz)
  6) Can you dig it?
	by aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
  7) Dark Century Campaign - Section I - Part 1 of 2
	by "Brendan O'Donovan" <Brendan@odonovan.demon.co.uk>

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

Date:          Mon, 18 Sep 1995 17:23:31 MST7
From: "Bruce Johnson" <JOHNSON@tonic.pharm.arizona.edu>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Biological Warfare  Part 1 (2nd time)
Message-ID: <EF363862DA@tonic.pharm.Arizona.EDU>

I missed the last several issues of TML, and I gather that others did 
too, so I'll repost this.  If you saw it just skip it.

Here's a stab at making biological weapons...these will be rare
events, folks, so don't throw one at your players every week!

Human Biowarfare Agent generation tables.

Agent Type	Vector Type		Lethality
Die 	Agent Type Die 	Vector	Die 	Death Rate*
1	Virus	1	Aerosol		1	Total (100%)
2	Virus	2	Aerosol		2	High (75%)
3	Virus	3	Aerosol		3	High (50 %)
4	Bacteria	4	Aerosol		4	Moderate (35%)
5	Bacteria	5	Water Supply	5	Moderate (25%)
6	Bacteria	6	Water Supply	6	Low (15%)
7	Protozoa	7	Water Supply	7	Low (10%)
8	Rickettsia8	Soil			8	Very Low (5%)
9	Prion	9	Insect		9	Very Low (1%)
10	Fungus	10	Animal	10	Non (0%)
					
Transmission Type	Contagiousness 	Systems Affected
Die 	Type			Die 	Chance 		Die 	System
1	Airborne		1	Very Low (1%)	1	CNS
2	Airborne		2	Low (5%)		2	CNS
3	Airborne		3	Low (10%)		3	GI Tract
4	Airborne		4	Low (15%)		4	GI Tract
5	Body Contact	5	Moderate (25%)	5	GI Tract
6	Body Contact	6	Moderate (40%)	6	Syatemic
7	Body Fluids	7	Moderate (50%)	7	Systemic
8	Body Fluids	8	High (70%)	8	Lungs
9	Insect		9	High (80%)	9	Skin
10	Insect		10	Total (100%)	10	Immune
					
Incubation Time	Acute Phase 	Recovery Phase 
Die 	Time			Die 	Time		Die 	Time
1	1 day		1	1 day	1	1 day
2	1 day		2	1 day	2	1 day
3	4 days		3	4 days	3	4 days
4	4 days		4	4 days	4	4 days
5	4 days		5	4 days	5	4 days
6	1 week		6	1 week	6	1 week
7	1 week		7	1 week	7	1 week
8	1 month		8	1 month	8	1 month
9	1 month		9	1 month	9	1 month
10	6 months		10	6 months	10	6 months
				
				
Morbidity (1 D10 + Lethality)		
Die Roll	Time		
2	Minor (still walking)	7	Major (Need Care)
3	Minor (need rest)		8	Major (Need Care)
4	Medium (bed rest)		9	Major (Need Care)
5	Medium (Bedridden)		10	Extreme (Hospital)
6	Medium (Bedridden)		11+	Extreme (ICU)

Explanations: 

Agent Type: What kind of infectious agent this diseased
is caused by. This will affect how these agents are encountered,
transmitted, etc. 

Vector Type: How the agent is delivered to the target area

Lethality: How many UNTREATED people die from the agent, randomly
spaced through the Acute phase time period.  This can be very
important...a high lethality over a very long acute phase, you get
something like AIDS, over a short acute phase you get something like
Ebola.  

Transmission type: Once the agent is introduced into the population
via the vector above, how is the disease transmitted from person to
person.  This will drastically affect the countermeasures taken. 

Contagiousness: the chance that someone will contract the
disease...this needs to have some time value associated with it,
which will depend on a lot of external factors. This, as it applies
to player characters will have to be determined by the GM on an ad
hoc basis.

Systems Affected: This is the major organ system affected by the
agent.  This will affect what physical effects, gory details, and
recovery effects there will be.

Incubation Time: The time, after initial infection, the person is
asymptomatic.  However, for many, if not all diseases, the patient
is contagious, though usually to a lesser degree than during acute
phase.

Acute Phase time: The time during which the patient has the acute
disease manifestation.  If the patient dies, it will most likely be
during this time, so this is when the patient must save vs
lethality, using the percent generated above.  For player
characters, the GM will probably want to introduce some
modification, based on CON, or medicval skill of other players or
NPC's.

Recovery Phase time: This is the time which is required for full
recovery from the illness, barring any optional permanent effects
imposed by the GM.

Morbidity: How sick you actually get during the acute phase.  This
is obviously going to be affected by the lethality...a highly lethal
agent is not going to make you only minorly sick, so it goes from
2-11 by adding the lethality roll.  I truncated this at Extreme
(ICU) because there's not really much higher you can get.  

	These tables are a rough draft. All are generated using one D10. 
The GM is left much to his/her own devices for any lingering effects
during recovery, and any and all gory details.  Permanent or
temporary loss of STR, perhaps CON, maybe even INT (Remember those
horrific 106 degree fevers burn lots of brain cells) are all
possible effects.  Certainly the character is affected somewhat
during the recovery process.

	Remember, while TL 15 medicine may be miraculous, most characters,
and indeed most of the affected populations were not able to avail
themselves of such care. It wouldn't take much of an pandemic to
bring the US healthcare system to its knees, and what happens when
your doctors are among the first to die (they are among the first to
be exposed...)?

Biological Warfare, some practical points.

	Biological warfare, in general, like chemical warfare, does not
seek to simply kill as many people as possible.  The ideal agent
will not only kill, but take long enough to do so that many more
people are involved in caring for the sick (and risk getting sick
themselves).  The object is to tie up as many enemy personell as
possible for the longest possible time.  An ideal agent will make
people very sick for a long time, BUT with a low lethality rate, but
high incapacitation rate, so you end up with a growing pool of
recovering but non combat worthy personnel.  This will further
strain the resources of your enemy, since, if the disease is
survivable with sufficient care, enemy morale will suffer greatly if
the resources for that care aren't allocated.

	Tactical uses of BW are also numerous.  If you could cause 60-70%
of the enemy to come down with a minor, but incapacitating stomach
bug 24 hrs before your assault, you'll be in good shape.

	BW also doesn't require nearly as high tech as nukes, even.  Once
the basic principles of bacteriology and virology are known (TL
4-5???) BW becomes a possibility.  In our history it was used even
before these principles were known, but I doubt some TED is going to
want to release a plague without at least being able to protect
himself from it. 

	This system can also be used to generate natural plagues on lower
tech level worlds.  The PC's could land on Boondock 1, a TL-3
planet, during the Black Death, for instance, or a cholera epidemic.
They could also become big heroes by `miraculously' saving locals.
However, the higher the TL, the less likely that large epidemics are
going to occur, due to improved medical care, understanding of the
disease process, and better sanitation, so if the PC's run into
something like this on a higher TL world, it will most likely be due
to a BW agent, either deliberately released, or, ever so much fun
for those salvage people, accidentally released agents left over
from rebellion era BW munitions: "Hey Joe! Ever hear of this Model
6745BW45-5-23-9 105 mm shell? It looks funny, like this little cap
here..." <snap> <hisssss> "...ooops!"

	Introducing BW into the Trav universe is a little like the endless
discussion in some circles about throwing big rocks...if it's so
effective and cheap, why doesn't everyone do it? The same reason it
isn't done here on Earth...fear of retaliation, and the even greater
fear of not being able to control it.  Biological weapons can easily
turn and bite the wielder, even more so than nukes or chemical
weapons.  After all, nukes and nerve gas doesn't mutate and become
immune to your carefully hoarded stocks of antibiotics, serums and
vaccines.

	It will only be used by someone desperate or fanatical enough to
not care anymore...how often did this happen, in the chaotic waning
days of the Third Imperium? 


Part 2 will detail the LS Crichton... a research vessel being used to 
develop these kinds of agents, before it was taken over by Virus.  
How interesting...a hobbyist Virus with a biowarfare lab at it's 
disposal...

Bruce Johnson
Information Technology/College of Pharmacy
The University of Arizona
johnson@tonic.pharm.arizona.edu 


As if this place HAD any opinions...

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

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 17:32:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Craig Berry <cberry@hollywood.cinenet.net>
To: Traveller Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: FF&S Excel spreadsheets?
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.91.950918172702.164A-100000@hollywood.cinenet.net>


Hello, all,

My brother (Douglas Berry) directed me to this mailing list as a good
source of Traveller-related information.  I was once an avid player of
first-edition Traveller (still have the little-black-box version tucked
away), and now find my interest in the game growing again.  Thanks in
advance to the readers of this list for the help I'm sure to find here.

My first specific question concerns spreadsheets for "Fire Fusion and
Steel" starship design.  Douglas told me he'd seen references to Excel 
sheets for this purpose, but couldn't recall the details.  Any pointers 
to online archives containing them would be very greatly appreciated.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Craig Berry                    "Any idiot can have the facts.  Having
cberry@cinenet.net              opinions is an art." - Charles McCabe
---------------------------------------------------------------------


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

Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 07:58:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: Alvin Plummer <alvin.plummer@sheridanc.on.ca>
To: xboat@MPGN.COM
Cc: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Shipping! (XBOAT digest 389)
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.950919072152.25811A@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>

From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>, during some discussions on  
      Steven Bonneville's economic figures... 

> 15.77 trillion, eh? That means that the naval taxes of the pre-Rebellion
> Imperium would pay for 78,850 trillion credit squadrons. That's a lot of
> ships...

Just as an aside, what would be a decent ratio to determine the dollar 
amount of civilian shipping to military combat vessels?  For those of us 
too lazy to fool with the World Tamer's Handbook (and I thought that FF&S 
was complex!)...

> But that's not really the essense of the matter. what seems almost 
> incredible to me is that the yearly profits (not the income) of all LIC 
> corporations is enough to support the population that creates the wealth 
> _127 times over_. What do the corporations DO with all that wealth? Stuff 
> it away in a sock?   
 
Well, in ancient Persia (Alexandrian era) they did percisely that! (well, 
maybe not a sock...)  When Alexander the Great conquered Persia and 
spent what their nobility had stashed away, there was a major economic 
boom...

[Not that I necessarily agree with Bonneville....  What we really need is 
a good quick-and-dirty model for interstellar economies.  Another thing 
that would be nice to see in that mythical Regency Sourcebook...]

> 
>       Hans Rancke
> University of Copenhagen
>      rancke@diku.dk
> ------------
>         "A  subsector  official  pompously states that the
>         subsector  armed  forces  have  four Kinunir class
>         ships in service,  each with enough troop strength
>         to put down any military operations that threathen
>         the peace of the Imperium."
> 
>                         ---Adventure 1, The Kinunir

This is irony, right?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alvin Plummer

"I can only conclude that I'm paying off karma at a vastly accellated rate."
                      - Ivanova, "Points of Departure", Babylon 5

Reply to: alvin.plummer@SHERIDANC.ON.CA                 
(...and when was the last time Trek produced such meaty quotes?)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------



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

Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 11:59:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ted7@world.std.com (Mitchell K Schwartz)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM (Traveller:TNE mailing list)
Subject: Zho: Why to Subjugate the regency
Message-ID: <199509191559.AA17340@world.std.com>

I know I'm several days behind in the Zho discussion, but...

>But even more important, why would the Zhodani even strive to
>     _incorporate_ the Regency as a client state or otherwise?

SURVIVAL!!!!!!!!
A quick view of the Regency shows them as aggressive culturally.
They have this deep desire to rebuild the Imperium - without some
of the underlying flaws that lead to its demise.

While I think they could easily enough win a war with the Regency
(especially in the 1140s or 50s long before a Regency policy of
technologic upgrade can take hold, they can flood the Regency's few
High Tech ships and centers with TL14 craft.  Also, at that time, they
would not have to destroy the regency - just weaken them enough to
allow the Virus in to do most of the gutting work. The Zho only have a
small border with the Regency, so its not much extra space to guard.
I wrote several lengthy notes a year or so ago describing why it's easy
as sin for Vampires to penetrate the Regency, coming close enough
to infect any reasonably populous world), careful cultural subjugation
could produce a local source for technologic improvement.

>     There are several reasons why the Zhodani would not want to.  Among
>     them:

>     1)  The Zhodani are an extremely orderly and homogeneous society.
>     While Zhodani governments vary as much as Regency or former Imperial
>     governments do, there are several elements that are the same across
>     the board for the Zhodani.  All governments are psionic dominated.
>     And all are ruled by pureblood Zhodani.

All the more reason to remove a bad example, I should think.

>     2)  The Zhodani are an extremely conservative society.  Expansion
>     throughout history has been orderly and at a uniform rate.  The
>     Zhodani Consulate extends at almost equal distances in all 
diolonization.

All the more reason to remove or harness an expansionist (by their own
Regent's words!) uncontrolled small power with a higher intent to grow
that is on their doorstep.

>3)  The threat of virus still exists.  Why not keep the Regency in its
>     present state as a buffer zone?

Let's see....
1) Virus is a short term (<100 year) threat.  The vessels will wear out
   until their numbers are too small to be millitarily threatening;
   electronics s>     themselves with the Regency.

By who?  Other than the Virus (and that decreases year by year as Vampires
die out from wear), there are no threats nearby.  Anyway, if the Regency 
is a client state (as opposed to absorbed into the Consulate), that can be 
used to limit Consulate involvement.

On the other hand, taken and digested, the Regency's resources could better
protect the Zho if they were under Zho control....

>     In short, I believe the status quo is the likely future.

I agree, but mostly due to a decision by GDW to keep the Regency like 
the Imperium used to be in an
attempt to keep some of their existing audience when they presented TNE,
(even though if the Virus is as bad as GDW said it is, the Regency would
have been infected and destroyed anyway).  GDW's approach worked on
some of you, so they were partially successful if internally 
inconsistent.

Otherwise, a long term view for survival would drive the Zho to remove the 
Regency before it could grow into a TL15 or more power capable of reforming the 
Imperium over the next 500 years.

>     The roleplaying opportunities are enhanced by this since we don't just
>     have to view the Zhodani as sneaky guys in the spinward subsectors.
>     They are now both friend and enemy:  goodwill diplomat and espionage
>     agent.

Sometimes, as a gamer, I rue the day that the Soviet Union fell.  Modern
military miniatures became rather boring.  TV, movies, espionage books,
and roleplaying lost a good setting where good and evil could battle things
out in very clear, obvious terms (Kirk's Klingons and the Zho were obvious
protrayals of the "Evil Soviet Empire").

As a human being, I do rather enjoy not living under the threat of immediate
nuclear annihalation - and having my son grow up that way.

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

Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 12:19:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ted7@world.std.com (Mitchell K Schwartz)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM (Traveller:TNE mailing list)
Subject: Imperial law & Imperial Rights
Message-ID: <199509191619.AA01450@world.std.com>

Again, I know this is a bit behind, but...

Alvin Plummer asks:

>And how do these rights interact with other interstellar governments,
>ie.
>     The Zhodani Consulate
>Does the local Zho ambassator have the right to be
>psionic?  
Not an imperium-granted right
>And surely he isn't an Imperial citizen, simply because he
>crossed the Border?
Not unless he voluntarily defects :-)

>     The Solomani Confederation
Obvious: All Solomani, as members of a wayward section of the Imperium
have full imperial rights.  Members of the rebel "Solomani Confederation"
government and military forces have the imperial right to be prosecuted
for treason, conspiracy to act against the imperium, various weapons 
violations, etc.  :-)

>     The Hierate
When they are within Imperial borders, they are bound and protected by 
Imperial law. "Clan government" is merely an extended family structure. :-)

>     The Hive Federation
(how does Imperial law handle the right to manipulate?)
"Right to manipulate?" Check your imperial laws - its not listed. Hiver
manipulation is not prosecuted unless show to have caused crimes.  Then 
it comes under conspiracy laws...  :-)

>     The Two Thousand worlds
>(how does the local embassy deal with Imperial citizens who happen to be
>carnivores?  Get the centaurs to expell him, rather than kill him?)
Huh? Not sure whose embassy you are talking about.  However, embassies are
generally legal extentions of the owning nation (ie US federal law and 
law 
enforcement hold sway in a US embassy).

>     Imperial Client States
>(What exactly can an Imperial Citizen do in a Client state that he can't
>do in a non-aligned world?)
Whatever he is granted by the Client State's law.  Imperial law does not
hold in a client state.  Though extradition to the Imperium might be a 
Client state law.....

Note that most Imperial law has to do with interplanetary commerce, 
travel, 
and technology limitations.  The rest is planetary law, which imperial law
generally respects.


Ted7,
Prosecutebot and legal computer :-)
"Show me the act and I'll find the charges"


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

Date: Tue, 19 Sep 95 18:31 BST-1
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Cc: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk
Subject: Can you dig it?
Message-ID: <memo.24225@cix.compulink.co.uk>

It just occurred to me that, considering how much information was lost
during the collapse, these cemetery worlds, trashed starports, etc that
PCs use for getting new guns and stuff, are priceless archaeological
sites. This could cause problems if, say, the widget the PCs are after is
buried in the middle of an area being excavated by the History Dept of the
University of Aubaine, (with their typically over-zealous security guards).
"I don't care if there *is* a virus-infected dreadnaught in orbit, this
meson gun is going back to the museum, where it belongs!"

There's gotta be a scenario in there somewhere...


---===---
Andrew Boulton

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

Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 18:13:07 GMT
From: "Brendan O'Donovan" <Brendan@odonovan.demon.co.uk>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Dark Century Campaign - Section I - Part 1 of 2
Message-ID: <88@odonovan.demon.co.uk>

Well, the TML seems to be working now, so I'll risk posting this. I hope 
everything's sorted out again because the second part of this which I'll post 
next week won't make so much sense without it.

The Reformation Coalition has moved on a fair way since I wrote this adventure. 
You may need to find some new frontier worlds to relocate the adventure to, but 
it fits fairly flexibly into any pre Regency contact time period.

This is a renovation and fleshing out of the first adventure seed I ever posted, 
which was really only the introduction to a campaign. The adventure centres 
around the Dark Century II which I posted a few weeks back, I'm afraid I'll have 
to rely on someone who gets digest mail to post the digest number that the 
design appeared in. Anyway, here goes with the first of six weekly (maybe, 
depends how much spare time I get) parts.

The adventure starts on Aubaine/Aubaine 0738. The exact date is not important 
but it should generally be early in the life of the Reformation Coalition, when 
they are still desperate for any ships they are offered. The adventure is 
suitable for any number of players, as the encounters can be scaled to match the 
size and talent of any party.

Referee's Background:
Austin Farlos is an extremely wealthy and greedy man. For many years, he was a 
member of the crew of a far trader, drifting from system to system, trying to 
make ends meet. Then, one day, while his fellow crewmembers were running sensor 
checks at New Martham/Thoezennt 0221, prior to jumping out of the system, an 
anomalous densitometer reading from a planetoid in the asteroid belt was 
recorded. The ship's launch was dispatched to investigate and a heavily damaged 
naval facility was discovered. On closer inspection, large warehouses of 
starship components were discovered undamaged. Virus had been unable to infect 
these stores, as sensor an comms antennas had been destroyed in the attack which 
led to the base's abandonment. The ship returned to Coalition space to stake a 
finder's claim on the cache. 
Back on Aubaine, Austin arranged for the other crew members to meet with a 
tragic and fatal grav vehicle accident (he believed), leaving him the sole 
recipient of a claim worth hundreds of megacredits. Fuelled by an insatiable 
greed and sense of ambition, Austin decided to invest his money in a venture 
calculated to bring returns tens of times greater than any stock deal. His time 
in the wilds provided inspiration, he had seen how small numbers of high tech 
troops could allow a TED to rule, so he reasoned that others would pay well for 
the services of high tech mercenaries to preserve or disrupt the status quo. 
This left him with one further problem, his mercenaries would need a starship 
for support and transport, but the only ones available were battered relic 
ships, as the Coalition had control of the shipyards and all new ship 
construction.
He decided to trick the Coalition into building the ship he wanted. He wrote a 
clause into his will, stating that on his death, the Coalition would inherit his 
fortune, one the one condition that it was used to construct a ship as a 
memorial to him, from ship plans he commissioned himself. This was done to 
prevent the questions that would have been asked if he donated the money while 
still alive, and prevents him from being a suspect when the ship is stolen from 
the Coalition.
After his death was staged (lost at sea on Aubaine, no body recovered), the 
Coalition was only happy to add another ship to its fleet, and so the Dark 
Century class Stealth Destroyer was constructed. As the adventure begins, the 
Coalition is recruiting the finest crew it can for the Century's shakedown 
cruise. Austin too is doing some recruiting, both among mercenaries and the 
shipyard security..........
Getting involved

"During the past few weeks, there have been rumours surfacing that the Coalition 
is about to launch the first of a new class of Destroyers. The media is saying 
little, but people you know who work for the Coalition and trusted freelancers 
are spreading the word. The Destroyer is being constructed secretly, word has it 
that it is some kind of memorial, which is to be unveiled as a surprise. At one 
of the Transtown bars you overheard an argument between two young naval hotshots 
as to which would be picked for assignment on the new ship. There's a sense of 
expectation in the air, and many RCES personnel are working far harder than 
usual, trying to get noticed."

The players are approached by a Coalition admin officer who offers them a job at 
+50% wages for a few weeks on a special assignment. If pressed she will raise 
this offer to double wages (difficult:bargaining), but no further. If asked for 
details of the assignment, she will be able to provide nothing, other than a 
time and place for a complete briefing. Players can be offered jobs as naval 
personnel, ship's troops, or 'trouble-shooters' for the Century's first tour of 
duty, depending on skills available. If characters are interested, they are to 
report for briefing at the underwater shipyards at 1900 tomorrow. Characters who 
are already active RC personnel may be told simply to report to the shipyards 
for briefing.

The Shipyards

The underwater shipyards were constructed with major Schalli assistance in NE2, 
to serve the growing needs of the RC. The shipyards nestle in a giant atoll in 
the temperate waters of the northern hemisphere of Aubaine. Above the water a 
500m diameter dome provides docks for passenger and freight ships and grav 
vehicles, and accommodations and some offices for the human component of the 
workforce, who largely prefer to live in the sunlight. From the surface 
facility, a large tower carries several freight and personnel elevators down to 
the under water facility. The hub underwater is very similar to the facility 
above water, although there is a much greater Schalli presence. From the hub six 
smaller tunnels fan out to the construction bays of various sizes located on the 
edge of the atoll.
The shipyards were built for capacity instead of luxury, so all doors except 
emergency bulkheads are manual, and although clean, there are places where the 
seals around tunnel joints leak slightly, allowing water to run through the mesh 
floor into drainage tunnels. This is not due to any lack of structural 
integrity, but instead to Schalli architects who believe in sufficient instead 
of absolute waterproofing, who look on in amazement at how human workers try to 
block up every last leak, where there really is no danger.

Maps don't really travel well in email, so I'll give some descriptions of some 
stock locations in the starport which you can join together to taste:

Construction Hangar:
The hangar space is about 100m x 400m, usually several ships are in construction 
at once in a single hangar. The hangar is filled with water, and the roof of the 
hanger is constructed of transparent plastic. This can be opened to allow ships 
to launch, but normally it remains closed to persuade the local wildlife to 
remain outside, while still aiding with the lighting of the space. On all sides 
of the hangar, 'walls' about 10m wide and 60m high contain offices and computer 
facilities for the projects underway in the hangar. These offices have large 
windows looking both out to the sea and into the hangar. Both the natural and 
artificial lights tend towards a green or blue colour which the Schalli find 
most comforting. This would make the place slightly depressing for the human 
workers, but the scale of the place makes it impressive and inspiring. The 
machinery constructing the ships gives a background sound of rhythmic thumping, 
very low and not so loud it can't be ignored, but there nonetheless if you 
listen. Although the offices and workspaces in the walls of the hangar are 
comparatively free of leaks, the air still has a slightly salty smell, and is 
cold and slightly damp.

Office
The offices in the surface facilities are decorated in warm colours, browns, 
beiges etc. The   floors are covered with tightly woven carpet, chosen more for 
durability than any comfort consideration. Most offices have a desk with a 
networked terminal, and two or three chairs. There is considerable variation in 
the state of the offices, some tidy with pot plants, others looking like a bomb 
just hit them, with papers stacked chaotically on desks, others give the 
impression that if a bomb was to hit them, it would probably tidy the place up a 
bit.

Briefing Room (surface facility) 
The briefing rooms are about 6m by 10m, with windows along one of the longer 
sides. Slatted blinds can be closed down over these windows as necessary, and 
projection equipment linked to the facility computers is embedded in the 
ceiling. Chairs are arranged in rows, to seat about 60.

The players arrive at the shipyards on one of the many commuter hydrofoils which 
carry workers to and from nearby islands. On arrival they are escorted a short 
way to a briefing room.

'The briefing room is already quite full when you enter, with several people 
standing at the back. You estimate that there must be about seventy people 
standing in on this briefing. Another small group enters the briefing room and 
stand next to you. The doors are closed and Sid Papagopolis takes the stand:
"You are all here because you are the best available. Don't let that go to your 
heads, the cream of the service are almost without exception engaged off world 
at the moment. Nonetheless you represent one of the better crew we have 
gathered. This is as it should be for the first cruise of the RCS Dark Century."
A video image is presented onto the wall behind him, showing an almost completed 
ship in a wet dock. There is a stunned murmur as the camera zooms out to show a 
scout courier undergoing a refit next to it, completely dwarfed by its 
neighbour. [Average:(EDU + INT)  to estimate the size at about 1000 displacement 
tons]. The video image shimmers in shades of blue and green from the light 
filtering through from the surface of the water above, but the ship is still 
clearly distinct. Black and streamlined, it looks like some monstrous predator 
of the prehistoric oceans. Sid continues, "The Century was a gift to the 
Coalition. Some of you may remember report's of Austin Farlos' death in a storm 
about a year ago. He was an extremely wealthy man, possibly one of the richest 
in the coalition due to a massive finder's claim on a cache at an old naval 
base. His will asked that his fortune be given to the Coalition, on the 
condition it be used to build this ship as a memorial to him. We had been having 
trouble funding enough ships to use the dock capacity here, so this was not an 
opportunity to pass up. Her first mission will be a routine patrol through safe 
systems, we wouldn't want to risk losing her to an unexpected malfunction in the 
wilds. Now ladies and gentlemen, any questions?".
Sid will answer any questions the players have.
-If the players ask about pay, they will find that some people are being paid 
double, allowing them to get that pay if they haven't already.
-Questions about the Century can be answered from the design. If the players 
aren't forthcoming with questions, then NPCs should ask questions so the players 
now some of the key facts about (eg. stealth design), but don't give everything 
away unless the characters specifically ask.
-Questions about the planned route cannot be answered until the Century leaves, 
for security reasons, but it lies entirely within safe systems.
-Questions about rank/position onboard ship should be answered as you wish. If 
characters merit it, there is no harm in allocating command positions.

Crew Breakdown for Dark Century:

Captain
First Officer
Tactical Commander
Flight Commander
	11 Flight Crew
Steward/Medic
Troop Commander
	2 Squad Leaders
		2 Squads:
		Lieutenant
		Medic
		5 squaddies
2 Electronics
2 Manuever
Gunnery Commander
	14 Gunners		
Chief Engineer
 	Senior engineer
		13 Engineering Crew
		3 Maintenance Crew

After the briefing, the character are assigned clean, if spartan accommodation 
in the shipyard facility before departure tomorrow. The accommodation is not on 
the Century, as except for the Captain's stateroom, the quarters are somewhat 
uncomfortable.

Things that go bump in the night....
The characters are woken in the middle of the night by an announcement on the 
intercom to their room. "We appear to have a situation here in the Century's 
Hangar. Could any available personnel report to the hangar immediately. This is 
the head of security, I repeat all available personnel to hangar four." 
Characters should try to get involved now. Any who don't will get included again 
in a short while, but at least a couple need to head for the hangar (repeat the 
message with threats of action against those who don't respond if necessary). 
Heading to the hangar the characters will be surprised by how few people there 
are around. One or two maintenance and security personnel are up and about, but 
even they don't seem concerned by the warning you heard. (The head of security 
put the announcement through only to their rooms).
	Some players may try to wake some more people. This is fine, but as 
they'll end up working with the players later in this scenario, limit it to only 
a couple of NPCs, the rest either don't want to know, or are sound asleep. 
Anyone trying to contact security about the message will be told that something 
must have gone wrong with the intercom. They will be told to continue directly 
to the hangar and not to bother waking anyone else. They will be told that some 
workmen have been attacked by a native creature which has somehow got into the 
hangar and then the line will fizz and go dead. When they arrive at the hangar, 
there is nobody around. The observation gallery the players enter looks into the 
hanger, but they can't see anybody working inside. Observation:Average to spot a 
pair of feet sticking out from behind some chairs in the observation gallery. 
The feet belong to a dead security guard, shot dead and crudely hidden, there is 
another similar body next to it. The body is still quite warm, especially 
considering the clammy cold of the air. There is no ID with the guard, but his 
weapon (a gauss pistol with full tranq clip) is still present. There is no sign 
of the killer, and the intercom is dead. Within seconds, the characters are 
distracted by further events:
'Looking through the window into the dark hangar, you can barely make out the 
shape of the Century, the spotlights shining through the water picking it out as 
a piece of more solid darkness. However, as you look, something seems wrong. 
External lights on the ship are flickering into life, and you can make out the 
rising whine of contra-grav powering up. As its weight is reduced, the Century 
begins to lift through the water like a rising bubble, smashing through the 
clear plastic roof of the hanger, leaving shards of plastic tumbling down in its 
wake, like rain in slow motion. Within seconds of its passing through the 
ceiling an alarm is triggered. Sirens split the silence asunder, and the blue 
and black of the hangar is lit by strobing red lights giving a hellish 
appearance.
(referee: The head of security, Trefin Galth is framing the players for helping 
with the theft of the Dark Century. As his word is widely trusted, and he has 
access to anywhere in the station, he makes a fairly good job of it. The 
evidence he will use against the players includes:
He supplied the starship thieves with copies of the player's door passes.
He has planted quantities of gold in the player's rooms.
He has spliced together footage of the thieves entering the facility with 
security camera footage of the characters answering his announcement.
Any incriminating evidence in the computers has been either deleted or tightly 
encrypted.
He has dispatched a unit of security guards to the observation lounge, where 
they will find the characters, and the dead guards)

continues.....
-- 
Brendan 

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End of TRAVELLER Digest 421
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