TEXT: Traveller
  The PiraTes of Drinax
  Written By Gareth Hanrahan
  The Game of sun anD shaDow
  ‘Once every few years, we head out on patrol, Fly the sunburst, 
  catch the dumb pirates, and send the smart ones running for 
  the shadows. It doesn’t put a stop to piracy, but it’s the Reach. 
  Nothing will ever make those stars safe. We just play a game, 
  a game of sun and shadow. And that’s all right – because the 
  real game hasn’t started yet. That game begins when the Aslan 
  cross the border.’
  - Captain Lenat, private conversation.
  The Game of Sun and Shadow is the sixth adventure in the 
  Pirates of Drinax campaign. If you are a player in this campaign, 
  STOP READING NOW! If you’re a Referee, then you should 
  first read The Pirates of Drinax Campaign document to get an 
  overview of the campaign.
  This adventure takes place throughout the Trojan Reach sector. 
  The year is assumed to be 1105. The adventure begins on Pax 
  Rulin.
  Note that this adventure refers to ship designs from Supplement 
  2: Traders and Gunboats, Supplement 10: Merchants and 
  Cruisers, and Book 6: Scoundrel. The referee may also benefit 
  from a copy of Adventure 2: Prison Planet, although this is by 
  no means required. Should any of the listed supplements be 
  unavailable, the referee should substitute his own designs of 
  equal tonnage. 
  aDvenTure synoPsis
  This adventure is divided into two strands. In the primary strand, 
  the Pirates of Drinax must deal with an Imperial incursion into 
  their space – an Imperial punitive fleet, sent to hunt down pirates 
  and corsairs who prey on trade convoys. Normally, such fleets 
  sweep through the sector like a summer storm, sending any 
  pirate bands fleeing to marginal systems, but making no lasting 
  change. This time, though, it is different. The commander of 
  the fleet is an ambitious young noble eager to make a name 
  for himself, and he is not leaving the Reach until he brings 
  every pirate captain back in chains. Do the characters run and 
  hide, or try to take advantage of the threat to rally the pirates 
  of the Reach to their banner, or do they even risk attacking the 
  Imperial fleet directly! 
  In the second strand, the players take on the roles of personnel 
  in the fleet. They roll up mid-ranking naval characters and 
  participate in pirate-hunting operations. 
  You can intersperse the events of this adventure with those of 
  other adventures in the campaign, either published segments 
  or your own creations. The Game of Sun and Shadow unfolds 
  over the course of nearly a year of game time. The suggested 
  order of events is described in the table below.
  Pirates
  Navy
  Pirate Hunters (3)
  The New Captain (1)
  Sun and Shadow (5)
  Transiting the Reach (2)
  In Chains (6)
  The Grand Design (4)
  The Duke’s Niece (7)
  Planetary Assault (8)
  Ending the Game (9)
  1. The New Captain: The Naval Campaign begins; the crew 
  of the 198th Punitive Flotilla learn of their new commander, 
  Vice-Admiral Krond.
  2. Transiting the Reach: The 198th moves out and crosses 
  the Reach. En route, the crew must deal with internal 
  dissent and troublesome civilians.
  3. Pirate Hunters: The Pirates learn of the approaching 
  Flotilla. From now on, they are in danger of being hunted 
  by the Imperium.
  4. The Grand Design: The Naval characters are sent to find 
  the origin of the pirate attacks on shipping in the reach.
  5. Sun and Shadow:… and so the Pirates must ensure their 
  base of operations remains secret.
  6. In Chains (Optional): The pirates attempt to rescue their 
  imprisoned comrades.
  7. The Duke’s Niece (Optional): Krond’s betrothed visits the 
  Reach – do the characters risk kidnapping her?
  
   
  2
  8. Planetary Assault (Optiona): Vice-Admiral Krond has his 
  target, and the full force of the Imperium is brought to bear 
  upon it.
  9. Ending the Game: The Pirates deal with the naval 
  problem, and the Naval characters decide their futures…
  CreaTinG The naval CharaCTers
  Before commencing this part of the campaign, the players 
  should create a group of naval characters using the conventional 
  Traveller character generation rules. All characters should end 
  up in either the Marines, the Navy or a career from High Guard. 
  Characters may attempt other careers first, but any characters 
  that do not finish in an approved career may not be used. Any 
  rolls for the Draft send the character to the navy. 
  When determining Connections, any character may take 
  a Connection to the Old Woman, Captain Kaja Lenat, the 
  commander of the Planet-class Heavy Cruiser Eurisko, or to 
  any of the other key NPCs of this section. Characters may also 
  choose to roll on the Eurisko Tour of Duty events table instead 
  of the normal Navy events table.
  The naval characters are all crewmen, officers or marines on 
  board the Eurisko or one of her escorts. 
  The Eurisko
  The Eurisko is a Heavy Cruiser (see High Guard, page 119) 
  – 75,000 tons of superdense armour and titanic drives, with a 
  crew complement of nearly 1,200 souls. Her primary weapon is 
  her spinal mounted particle beam, but she also carries a wealth 
  of smaller cannons, torpedo barbettes and meson bays. Her 
  home port is the Imperial Naval Base at Pax Rulin. While Pax 
  Rulin does have larger warships berthed there, as befits the 
  mainstay of Imperial strength in the Trojan Reach, the Eurisko 
  is one of the most honoured and feared fighting ships in the 
  sector.
  Unlike a conventional Heavy Cruiser, the Eurisko carries fighters 
  – she sacrifices two modular cutters, a pinnace and some cargo 
  space for a flight of twenty 10-ton multi-purpose fighters. 
  Key nPCs
  Captain Kaja Lenat, the Old Woman: The commander of 
  the Eurisko and a veteran of skirmishes and pirate hunting 
  expeditions along the Reach, Lenat’s reputation as a harsh 
  taskmistress and dogged fighter underestimates her charisma 
  and leadership ability. She knows what her ship and crew are 
  capable of at their best, and does not tolerate anything less 
  than that. Those looking for a lazy assignment do not last 
  long on board her ship. She will never be counted among the 
  great strategic minds of the galaxy, but when it comes to small 
  engagements, her courage and understanding of her ship make 
  her extremely formidable.
  Playing the Old Woman: Talk in a croak. Never back down.
  Age 68, 12 terms
  STR 6 
  DEX 5 END 10 INT 10 EDU 11 SOC 11
  Admin 3, Astrogation 3, Battle Dress 1, Broker 1, Carouse 1, 
  Comms 2, Computers 2, Deception 2, Diplomat 1, Engineer 
  (power planet) 2, Gambler 1, Gunner (turret) 2, Gunner (bay) 
  1, Gunner (spinal mount) 2, Gun Combat (pistol) 1, Heavy 
  Weapons (man-portable) 1, Investigate 2, Jack of all Trades 2, 
  Leadership 5, Mechanic 4, Melee (blade) 3, Pilot (spaceship) 
  2, Recon 1, Remote Operations 1, Sensors 2, Space Science 
  (planetology) 2, Steward 1, Tactics (naval) 4, Vacc Suit 3, 
  Zero-G 3
  Commander Steyland: Lenat’s executive officer, Steyland 
  is a solid, by-the-book sort. Doggedly loyal and proudly 
  unimaginative, he applies naval doctrine to the letter. He loathes 
  pirates, considering them the worst sort of space-faring scum. 
  runninG This aDvenTure
  Unlike the other adventures, the Game of Sun and 
  Shadow is not a semi-linear narrative composed of 
  scenes and encounters. Instead, it is a collection of 
  potential events and subsystems that expand on the 
  standard rules for this campaign. A larger amount of 
  improvisation may be required on the part of the referee 
  than usual as a result of this greater scope.
  Timing
  Alternate between the two strands of events. You could 
  switch on a session-by-session basis (‘this week, we’re 
  playing navy, and it’s back to the pirates in two weeks 
  time’) or as events dictate (‘ok, your naval characters 
  arrive back at the Flotilla and report in. Cool. Let’s switch 
  to pirates for the rest of the evening’). A talented referee 
  could even weave events together with dramatic cliff-
  hangers (‘the pirate ship fires again just as you’re about 
  to jump. The missiles come at you, closer and closer….
  and… meanwhile on Drinax, your pirates are having 
  dinner with the Princess…’)
  Don’t Cross the Stands
  The primary player characters of the Pirates of Drinax 
  campaign are, of course, the pirates themselves. 
  The Imperial navy characters exist to give a different 
  perspective on the events of this adventure. The players 
  play both sets of characters at different stages, but if the 
  two ever come close to meeting, then the players revert 
  to playing the pirates and the referee takes over the navy 
  characters.
  
   
  3
  Playing Steyland: Never show emotion that does not seem 
  scripted.
  Age 42, 6 terms
  Admin 3, Advocate 2, Astrogation 2, Comms 2, Computers 1, 
  Engineer 0, Gunner (turret) 1, Investigate 2, Mechanic 1, Medic 
  2, Pilot (spaceship) 2, Recon 1, Remote Operations 1, Sensors 
  3, Tactics (naval) 2, Vacc Suit 2, Zero-G 3
  ‘Fixer’ Brell: If Brell was not a mechanical genius, he would 
  never have lasted on board the Eurisko. He is a con artist. He 
  slacks when it comes to his duties, spending his time organising 
  gambling rings, smuggling dust-spice, or fulfilling the crew’s 
  baser needs. Fixer Brell always has what you need. The Old 
  Woman would have got rid of him long ago if it was not for 
  Brell’s uncanny talent for battlefield repairs – he can reroute 
  around a damaged system in seconds, or unjam a clogged 
  nuclear torpedo by kicking it. Lenat has occasionally threatened 
  to turn Brell into a one-man frozen watch, but so far the Fixer 
  keeps on fixin’.
  Playing Brell: Slouch, leer, give the impression of being slimy.
  Age 34, 4 terms
  STR 8 
  DEX 8 END 5 INT 9 
  EDU 7 SOC 6
  Broker 2, Carouse 2, Deception 1, Engineer (jump) 3, Gambler 
  1, Mechanic 4, Persuade 1, Streetwise 2
  Rhoda ‘Red’ Voidborn: ‘Red’ was born on some pirate station. 
  Under Imperial law, piracy may be punishable by death, and so 
  at the age of eleven, Red’s whole family were arrested, tried and 
  thrown out an airlock. An Imperial naval officer – long rumoured 
  to be the Old Woman – took pity on the child and brought her 
  back to the Imperium. Red grew up as an orphan on Pax Rulin, 
  hanging around the fringes of the Naval bases. Today, Red’s 
  one of the best pilots on the Eurisko. 
  Playing Red: Talk fast, be aggressive.
  Age 30, 3 terms
  STR 7 DEX 11 
  END 7 INT 8 
  EDU 6 SOC 5
  Astrogation 1, Comms 1, Gunner (turret) 2, Pilot (small craft) 3, 
  Recon 2, Tactics (naval) 2, Vacc Suit 2, Zero-G 3
  Vice-Admiral Krond: Family counts for a great deal in the 
  Imperium – especially in Tobia sector, where the noble families 
  trace their lines back to Capital and the core worlds. Krond’s 
  rise in the Tobia Planetary Navy might be seen as meteoric from 
  the outside; those inside can see the rocket booster strapped 
  to his back, in the form of his name and family connections. He 
  was recently betrothed to the niece of the Sector Duke, and he 
  parleyed this increase in influence and social status into his own 
  fleet command.
  Krond may come across as a wealthy idiot, and certainly he 
  ticks all the checkboxes, with his gang of sycophantic hangers-
  on, his drinking binges, his disdain for the lower classes, and 
  his planet-sized ego. However, he is not to be underestimated. 
  Ambition keeps his mind sharp, his spirit hungry. 
  Playing Krond: Play the wealthy idiot, but remember there is 
  an iron fist behind it.
  Eurisko Tour of DuTy
  2D
  Event
  2
  Disaster! The first time you roll this result, describe 
  how Captain Lenat saved you. 
  The second and subsequent times, roll on the mishap 
  table, but you are not ejected from this career.
  3
  Pirate hunting in the Outrim Void gets dangerous. 
  Gain Gunnery (any) 1 or Gun Combat (any) 1. If you 
  wish, throw that skill 8+. If you fail, roll on the Injury 
  table and gain a named Pirate as an enemy. If you 
  succeed, gain a +4 DM to your next advancement roll.
  4
  The Captain gives you a special assignment. Gain 
  any one skill.
  5
  A border skirmish goes hot. Gain one of Tactics (naval) 
  1, Mechanic 1, Engineer (any) 1 or Sensors 1.
  6
  Another day, another one of the Captain’s training 
  drills. Throw Education 8+ to gain any skill.
  7
  Life Event. Roll on the standard Life Events table.
  8
  War games hone your skills on the border. Do you 
  push your luck? Throw Recon 8+ or Tactics (Naval) 
  8+ to succeed. If you fail, skip your next Advancement 
  roll. If you succeed, gain any skill and a +2 DM to your 
  next Advancement roll.
  9
  You discover some of your crewmates are involved in 
  illegal activity. If you turn them in, gain an Enemy and 
  a +1 DM to your next advancement roll. If you conceal 
  their crimes, gain Gambling, Deception and a bonus 
  Benefit roll. 
  10
  The Eurisko is reviewed by the Sector Duke. Gain 1 of 
  Carouse, Diplomat, Steward or Perform. 
  11
  The Captain sees promise in you. Gain Tactics 
  (naval) or Leadership and gain a +4 DM to your next 
  advancement roll.
  12
  You serve the Eurisko well. You are automatically 
  promoted or gain a commission.
  
   
  4
  Age 34, 4 terms
  STR 8 
  DEX 8 END 10 INT 6 
  EDU 10 SOC 13
  Admin 2, Carouse 3, Comms 1, Diplomat 2, Leadership 1, 
  Persuade 2, Tactics (Naval) 1
  Ogleby: Ogleby is Krond’s best friend, his chief servant, his 
  advisor, his jester – and his monster. Ogleby looks absurd next 
  to the handsome and dashing Krond; he looks like someone tried 
  to cram a hippopotamus into a vacc suit. The hulking Ogleby 
  clawed his way up from the streets of Tobia by dint of his utter 
  lack of conscience – and his secret telepathic abilities. Ogleby 
  influences enemies of Krond, driving them into madness. His 
  primary target in this campaign is Captain Lenat, but once she 
  dies (see A Verdict of Accidental Death), he turns his attention 
  on the player characters. 
  Playing Ogleby: Stare more than talk and when you speak, 
  use a low, slow voice.
  Age 42, 6 terms
  STR 12 DEX 7 END 14 INT 10 EDU 7 SOC 4 PSI 12
  Clairvoyance 2, Deception 3, Gun Combat (pistol) 2, Melee 
  (brawl) 2, Stealth 2, Steward 3, Streetwise 2, Telepathy 5, 
  Teleportation 2, Zero-G 1
  
   
  5
  Pax Rulin is the lynchpin of Imperial defences in the Trojan 
  Reach. This port was founded when the Imperium was young; 
  these asteroids have seen nearly a thousand years of loyal 
  service by generations of Navy spacers. As this segment 
  of the campaign begins, the Eurisko is docked at one of the 
  supply depots, refuelling. All the player characters are on board 
  the ship, deep in some cargo bay. Some may be engaged in 
  maintenance or minor repairs; others may be off duty and just 
  hanging around. The ship currently has only a skeleton crew, as 
  most personnel are onshore at the base.
  Fixer Brell approaches one of the characters (ideally, a low-
  ranking officer or someone with Engineering skill), and asks for 
  a favour. 
  ‘Here, sign off on this,’ he says, offering an electronic pad. 
  The form declares that a fuel pump is irreparable and must be 
  replaced. Examining the pump with a successful Education 
  + Mechanic roll reveals that it is functioning perfectly, but the 
  monitoring panel that displays the pump’s status is suspiciously 
  faulty. If someone wanted to fake a pump failure, they could do 
  so by reprogramming the monitor. If this is pointed out, Brell 
  says that he has a buddy in the Pax Rulin junkyard who’ll pay 
  good credits for a working pump. The pump can be replaced 
  from Pax Rulin stores in a matter of hours, and no-one will ever 
  be the wiser. Brell will even cut the character in for a thousand 
  credits if he signs off on the replacement request form. If 
  challenged, Brell acknowledges that there is a chance that the 
  monitor might be faulty, and ‘fixes’ it.
  The whistle of the public address system sounds, and the voice 
  of the captain rings throughout the ship. 
  ‘Attention all hands, this is the captain. We are about to receive 
  visitors. All officers, report to the docking bay in dress uniform. 
  All hands, attend to your sections.’
  As the characters scramble to make ready for these visitors, 
  one of them passes a sensor station. On the screen are several 
  new contacts – several small patrol and escort vessels, a titanic 
  30,000-ton megafreighter named Prophet Zomon that is nearly 
  as half as big as the Eurisko – and a 600 ton superyacht. The 
  superyacht, Sunspinner, approaches the Eurisko to dock with 
  her.
  New Orders
  Have each officer make a Routine (+2) Social Standing + 
  Dexterity check. Those who succeed make it to the docking bay 
  in full dress uniform with all expected accoutrements in time; 
  those who fail rush in at the last minute, and suffer a DM-1 to 
  their next interaction with Vice-Admiral Krond. 
  Krond arrives wearing an Imperial Navy uniform, not the Tobia 
  Planetary Navy uniform he is entitled too (see Library Data  for 
  why this is both significant and provocative). He s followed into 
  the docking bay by a gaggle of sycophants and ‘advisors’, some 
  of whom wear Tobia naval uniforms, but others wear absurdly 
  over-equipped vacc suits that have clearly never actually seen 
  vacuum, or even battle dress. Ogleby shuffles after them, 
  dragging along Krond’s baggage. After that ludicrous party 
  come a squad of Imperial Marines, and after them comes a 
  willowy young woman in a shimmering gown with a tiara on her 
  head. A successful Social Standing + Recon (or Streetwise, or 
  Social Sciences) recognises her as Eridana, the niece of the 
  Sector Duke, recently betrothed to Krond.
  Captain Lenat greets Krond stiffly. 
  ‘My lord, I was not informed of your visit – or your transfer to the 
  Imperial service.’
  ‘A temporary transfer, as part of our secret mission. Recall your 
  crew and make ready to depart, captain,’ orders Krond, as he 
  hands her a message-globe bearing the seal of the Duke of 
  Tobia. ‘We jump for the Outrim Void tonight!’
  The captain is too disciplined to show emotion in public. She takes 
  the globe, bows, then departs. Krond turns to his bride-to-be. 
  ‘Now, I must bid you adieu, sweet Eridana, until my task is done. 
  I beg you, think fondly of me, and give my regards to His Grace 
  your Uncle.’ 
  He is clearly putting on a show for the crowd. Eridana embraces 
  him and whispers something in his ear, then she too leaves. 
  Krond addresses the assembled crew. 
  ‘Brave souls! I am Vice-Admiral Krond, of the Tobia Planetary 
  Guard. By the command of His Grace the Duke of Tobia, 
  I hereby declare the Eurisko to be the flagship of the 198th 
  Punitive Flotilla. By the Iridium Throne, we shall rid the Outrim 
  Void of piracy once and for all!’
  The new CaPTain
  
   
  6
  The 198th flotilla, also known as the Eurisko and whatever 
  escort ships were available at that moment, along with the 
  Prophet Zomon, departs from Pax Rulin and jumps into what 
  Krond poetically called the Outrim Void. All the flotilla ships are 
  jump-3 capable, so their route is as follows:
  Pax Rulin > Caraz > Magen > (into Sindal subsector) Albe > 
  Realgar > Chalchiutlicu > Palindrome > (into Tobia subsector) 
  > Boulder > Exocet > (into Borderlands subsector) > Arunisiir > 
  Tech-World > Byrni.
  This is a journey taking twelve jumps and more than six months 
  of travel. 
  enCounTers en rouTe
  The player characters should be involved in as many of these 
  encounters as is plausible.
  Caraz
  The Caraz starport is officially Class-E, but has Class-A refuelling 
  facilities and can supply the thirsty fleet. The bigger problem is 
  the massive overpopulation; any ships docking at Caraz need 
  to watch for stowaways. The characters are assigned to guard 
  the Angel of Mons when she lands to refuel. Ask the characters 
  how secure they wish to make the refuelling station – do they 
  keep a low profile to avoid drawing attention, or do they station 
  armed guards everywhere and order them to shoot to kill. 
  Assign a DM based on their response from -4 to +4 (-4: minimal 
  presence, +4: shoot to kill, land mines, anyone who takes a 
  step towards the ship is considered a hostile target) and throw 
  2D. On a 4-11, everything goes smoothly. On a 3-, locals try to 
  rush the ship – do the characters open fire on civilians, or let a 
  few stow away? On a 12+, an over-eager marine shoots a local 
  child who was nowhere near the ship.
  Magen
  Magen is part of the Senlis Foedorate, an extremely minor 
  stellar power that rules three whole systems. Krond’s route 
  through the Foedorate is technically permissible, but like any 
  polity, the Foedorate tends to be upset when a fleet violates 
  their border. The characters are on board one of the smaller 
  flotilla ships when the flotilla jumps from Caraz, and through 
  the vagaries of jumpspace they arrive several hours ahead of 
  the rest. A Foedorate vessel – a 600-ton Corsair captured from 
  some pirate decades ago (roll three times on the Old Ships 
  table on page 136 of the Traveller Core Rulebook) challenges 
  TransiTinG The reaCh
  the ‘intruder’ and demands they leave Foedorate space. Do the 
  characters try to stall, fight back, or obey and risk losing touch 
  with the flotilla?
  Boulder
  Krond arranged for a fuel depot to be constructed for the fleet 
  at Boulder, which would normally be unable to cope with the 
  needs of a fleet this size. However, on arrival, the characters 
  spot an opportunistic Free Trader siphoning off a few dozen 
  tons from the 50,000 dton depot. Krond orders the Free Trader 
  destroyed as a pirate – do the characters deliberately miss?
  Exocet
  At Exocet, the flotilla runs into an Aslan trading expedition of 
  a dozen small ships, mostly Oukhaha bulk haulers, but a few 
  Eakhau traders too. One of them matches the description 
  of a raider that attacked an Imperial-registered Free Trader 
  four years ago, and Krond wants the raider captured and 
  investigated. How do the characters examine the raider? The 
  Aslan are not inclined to co-operate unless the characters force 
  them to comply, but firing on an Aslan ship without provocation 
  would be a diplomatic embarrassment. 
  shiPboarD enCounTers
  Run these encounters as needed.
  Proximity Alert
  While one of the characters is at the helm (either of the Eurisko, 
  a smaller spaceship, or a small craft), one of the Tobian Patrol 
  Cruisers realises it is out of position and accelerates to get back 
  into formation. The Patrol Cruiser’s pilot flies much, much too 
  close to the characters’ ship, risking a collision. The character 
  must roll Dexterity + Pilot to dodge the Patrol Cruiser; failing 
  means a collision that inflicts 1D+2 hits on both ships, with the 
  first hit being a triple hit representing the point of contact.
  Meeting Ogleby
  The grotesque Ogleby demands that one of the characters 
  install a holo-entertainment system in a lounge that has been 
  claimed by Krond’s circle of sycophants. The holo-system is the 
  latest thing from the core worlds, and installing it means rewiring 
  the computer systems on half the deck – a job that will take 
  weeks. If the characters refuse, Ogleby threatens them. If they 
  complain to Krond, he laughs, says that Ogleby can be ‘quite 
  blunt at times until you get to know his little ways,’ – then orders 
  them to install the holo-entertainment system immediately. 
  
  The 198
  Th
  •	
  Eurisko, Planet-Class Heavy Cruiser (75,000 tons, High Guard). The flagship of the flotilla.
  •	
  Prophet Zomon, Superfreighter (100,000 tons, High Guard). The Zomon carries supplies for the fleet. Oddly, she also 
  carries a large load of cargo webbing, the sort used to support smaller vessels for transport in a cargo bay. Her bay 
  doors have also been refitted to accept ships up to 1,000 tons.
  •	
  Gorluun, Ritchey-Class Escort (8,000 tons, Supplement 10: Merchants and Cruisers). While dwarfed by the Eurisko, 
  old Gorluun from the Subsector naval forces still outguns any pirate in the Reach twenty times over. The Escort’s 
  computer systems are notoriously fragile and prone to embarrassing malfunctions, so Gorluun is never deployed in 
  anything that might resemble a fair fight. 
  •	
  Petal, a dilapidated liner (1,200 tons, Queen Elizabeth class, Supplement 10: Merchants and Cruisers). The Petal was 
  bound for a breaker’s yard before Krond spotted it. The once-luxurious ship has been converted into a prison hulk.
  •	
  6 x Gazelle Close Escort (400 tons, Traveller Main Rulebook). Like the Eurisko, these ships (Sapphire, Morluun Lake, 
  Black Knight, Duke Alphonse, Ignel and Sentinel) are on loan from Pax Rulin.
  •	
  3 x Tender (1000 tons, Supplement 10: Merchants & Cruisers) Angel of Mons, Mastersmith and Excelsior are repair 
  and supply ships for the fleet. 
  •	
  1 x Escort Carrier (2,000 tons, Supplement 10: Merchants & Cruisers): Belonging to the Tobia Planetary Guard, Storm 
  of Arrows carries a swarm of small fighters.
  •	
  4 x Patrol Cruiser (400 tons, Supplement 2: Traders & Gunboats): Also from Tobia, the cruisers Courage, Conviction, 
  Lion Hunter and Tobia’s Bright Lance serve much the same role in the fleet as the Gazelles.
  •	
  1 x Watchdog-class Fast Picket (500 tons, Supplement 2: Traders & Gunboats) The fleet’s main scout is the Glint. 
  In addition to this core of a more than a dozen ships, the flotilla picks up and loses other ships as it crosses the Reach. Small 
  Jump-4 couriers bring messages back and forth between the flotilla and the Imperium, although with a communications 
  delay of several months, Krond is effectively lord of his own little pocket empire.
  While the player characters may be part of the Eurisko’s crew, they get moved around as required by circumstances. 
  Sometimes, they might be assigned to reinforce a Gazelle or Patrol Cruiser’s crew, or take charge of a fighter wing from 
  the Storm of Arrows. At other times, they’ll be sent on a mission on the Glint. 
  Stirrings of Dissent
  Red and some of the other members of the Eurisko crew 
  approach the characters. They are unhappy about Krond’s 
  command – he’s sidelined the Old Woman, he’s a Planetary 
  Navy dirt-sider, he’s a fop, his coterie of drinking buddies are 
  troublemaking idiots, he deliberately provoked the Foedorate 
  and so on – and want the characters’ support. They’re not 
  plotting a mutiny or anything so dramatic, but they want to have 
  the crew on their side in case things get… confused. Normally, 
  they’d go straight to the Old Woman with this sort of problem, 
  but she seems to have lost her nerve in the face of Krond’s 
  political support from his uncle-to-be, the Duke of Tobia. They 
  also ask that the characters express their concerns to Krond or 
  the Old Woman if they get the opportunity. 
  The Captain’s Table
  Seeking to take the temperature of the crew, Krond starts 
  inviting randomly selected groups to dine with him and his 
  friends once per jump, and the characters are asked to report 
  to the Captain’s Table. The Old Woman is there, but she is 
  overshadowed by Krond as he holds court for his friends and 
  supporters. Ogleby serves the drinks, and tastes Krond’s food 
  for poison.
  Krond puts forward a thesis to the player characters: 
  ‘The pirate problem is a fraud, a fiction. Consider – the 
  average pirate ship in the Outrim Void is a 200-ton Free Trader, 
  retrofitted with a few paltry lasers. And what do they prey on? 
  Other tramps and free traders! The merchant convoys are much 
  too hard a target for those scamps. Why, a merchantman is 
  more likely to fall victim to a misjump than a pirate. So, why do 
  we hear so much about them? Why does every convoy have 
  a naval escort? And why, I ask you, is the one hundredth and 
  ninety-eight punitive expedition?
  I shall tell you. It suits the navy to tolerate piracy. I am sure 
  Captain Lenat would agree that most punitive expeditions are 
  more effective as combat training exercises than as pirate 
  hunts. They sharpen their cadets as my valet sharpens my 
  sabre – but what good is a sabre if you never stab a chap 
  with it? Furthermore, taxes and escort fees from the merchant 
  
   
  8
  convoys pay for fine ships like the Eurisko – and without pirates, 
  those fees would be much reduced. 
  I beg you, prove me wrong. Can any of you really argue that 
  these vagabond raiders are an actual threat to the Imperium’s 
  interests?’
  The characters may argue with Krond if they dare, or even raise 
  the concerns of the crew. Krond will have none of it, and any 
  characters who defy him get assigned the most dangerous or 
  unpleasant missions for the rest of this adventure.
  If the characters raise their concerns with the Old Woman, she 
  counsels patience. She’s dealt with men like Krond before, men 
  who think that because they know one system, that they know 
  all of Charted Space. Trying to fight Krond means crossing the 
  Sector Duke’s current protégé. They need to wait for Krond to 
  screw everything up all on his own, and then pick up the pieces 
  when the Sector Duke withdraws his favour.
   
  Malfunction
  A fuel pump (the very one that Fixer Breen was meddling with) 
  threatens to blow at the worst possible time – seconds before a 
  jump, just as the hydrogen is being pumped to the jump engine 
  to inflate the jump bubble. One of the characters must make a 
  split-second decision. 
  •	
  Abort the Jump! The rest of the fleet jumps ahead 
  without the Eurisko’s protection. Worse, the battleship 
  must now find more fuel.
  •	
  Risk It: Have the player throw 2D. On an 8+, the Eurisko 
  jumps successfully. On a 6+, she jumps successfully, 
  but a compartment is flooded with high-pressure liquid 
  hydrogen that expands explosively, killing 3D personnel 
  and possibly injuring the character. On a 2, the Eurisko 
  misjumps, arriving 1D x 1D parsecs off course!
  •	
  Repair It! Fixing the pump is a Hard (-4) Intelligence + 
  Mechanic roll. If the character succeeds, the ship jumps 
  successfully. If he fails, resolve as per Risk It, but the 
  character sustains 4D damage from exploding hydrogen 
  regardless of the result. 
  on sTaTion
  At the end of its long journey, the fleet arrives at its destination 
  – the system of Byrni. According to Imperial Intelligence, the 
  government of Byrni loathes pirates, so Krond picked this 
  world as a base of operations. The Byrnese government are 
  not especially enchanted by the prospect of a small Imperial 
  fleet sitting on their doorstep, especially if Byrni has rejoined the 
  Kingdom of Drinax (see adventure 2). 
  Krond’s deployment schemes are as follows:
  •	
  The Eurisko remains in orbit of Byrni (until the events of 
  Planetary Assault or Ending the Game).
  •	
  Prophet Zomon offloads its cargo onto Byrni. Any captured 
  pirate ships are towed back to Byrni if possible.
  •	
  The Petal is used as a prison for any captive pirates.
  •	
  Gorluun is Krond’s heavy hitter. The 8,000 escort gets 
  sent to fly the flag or intimidate any troublesome worlds, 
  as well as smash any pirate bases or strongholds. 
  •	
  The Gazelles are his primary scouts and pirate hunters. 
  He deploys them in three squadrons of two ships each.
  •	
  Two Tenders remain at Bynri; one follows the Gorluun.
  •	
  The Storm of Arrows carrier is partnered with one Gazelle 
  pair. 
  •	
  One Patrol Cruiser remains at Byrni, the other three form 
  a hunting squadron.
  •	
  The Fast Picket goes in search of rumours and 
  information; it uses its advanced sensors to scan likely 
  systems for pirates. 
  Krond’s long-term scheme is to return home to Tobia in glory, 
  with the Prophet Zomon full of wrecked pirate sips and the Petal 
  full of prisoners. See In Chains, 
  
   
  9
  PuniTive aCTion
  Each month, roll 2D and consult the table below to determine how effective the pirate hunters are that month. Actions by either 
  group of player character may give a DM to the roll; for example, if the Pirates of Drinax reveal the location of other pirates to 
  the navy, that might give DM+2 to the roll. 
  Roll
  Result
  5 or less
  No captures
  6-7
  A handful of free traders, thieves and spacefaring thugs who barely count as pirates
  8-9
  A small number of pirate ships, none of special note. One port moves one step away from Haven.
  10-11
  A notable pirate ship (Corsair-class or larger). Two ports move one step away from Haven
  12+
  Pirate base or named pirate (Consult the named pirate table) or ally of the player characters. Three ports move 
  one step away from Haven.
  Apply  DM+1 per month of hunting after the first. (so, +0 in the first month, +1 in the second month, +2 in the third month and 
  so on.) If this DM ever reaches +12, see Planetary Assault. 
  On a natural 1 or natural 6, one of the Flotilla vessels is significantly damaged in the line of fire. It may be out of action for 
  some months, or continue to serve but with reduced capabilities (missing turret, reduced thrust etc).
  On a double 1 or double 6, a small vessel is lost with all hands, or the Gorluun suffers significant damage.
  nameD PiraTes
  Pick one of the pirates listed below; if that pirate is still alive and active in your game. Optionally, roll 1D; on a 1-2, the pirate 
  is killed by the Imperium. On a 3+, the pirate is arrested and imprisoned on board the Petal prison hulk.
  Pirate
  See Also
  Petyr Vallis
  Adventure 1, 5
  Admiral Darokyn
  Adventure 1
  Hroal Irontooth
  Adventure 1, 2
  Failokh
  Adventure 5
  Proactive Recycling
  Adventure 5
  Mira Silverhand
  Adventure 1
  Zheukvi
  Adventure 6
  Allies of the Player Characters
  If the characters have recruited other pirate bands or allies to their fleet, these allies may be arrested or killed by the Imperium.
  Pirate hunting of the player character is handled in Pirate Hunters.
  For example, the Punitive Fleet has been searching for pirates for three months, giving them a +2 to the Punitive Action roll. 
  The Referee rolls a 10, +2 for a 12. A Named Pirate is arrested, and three ports move away from Haven. 
  
   
  10
  Meanwhile…
  The infamous pirate Zhuekvi the Corsair (see Pirates of Drinax 
  Campaign Overview) contacts the Pirate player characters 
  (through some mutual contact – use Sal Dancet if you do 
  not have anyone more appropriate in mind). If the characters 
  are doing well and have at least six starports at Friendly or 
  Haven status, then Zhuekvi wishes to join them and offers 
  his fleet of four Corsairs to their cause. Otherwise, Zhuekvi 
  merely wants to arrange a non-aggression pact, to ensure 
  that the characters do not cross him and he does not interfere 
  with them. He suggests they meet on the system of Thebus 
  (Sindal/0309). There’s a lovely little hunting lodge in the jungle 
  near a big flat open plateau where they can land their ships 
  and meet face to face.
  Zhuekvi brings his favourite 400 ton Corsair, the Big Bad Wolf. 
  The characters may take whatever ship they wish. 
  meeTinG ZhueKvi
  It soon becomes evident that getting anything done with Zhuekvi 
  means listening to his endless store of anecdotes about the 
  good old days of piracy. Everything reminds him of another 
  story – why, did they hear about the time he won a planet in a 
  card game? Or how he stole this cutlass from Admiral Darokyn? 
  Or how this hunting lodge reminds him of a place owned by his 
  old drinking buddy Vlen Backett? Or… Have the characters roll 
  Endurance + Carouse and take the best result from among the 
  group. If a character succeeds, he gains information based on 
  the Effect of the check.
  1-2: Zhuekvi’s heard rumours about another Punitive 
  Flotilla. The Imperium sends these through every few years. 
  Just stay away from the Imperium trade routes for a few 
  months. Take a vacation. Zhuekvi intends to do just that! 
  3-4: Rumour has it that the leader of the flotilla’s some young 
  noble from Tobia. That makes a change – it is normally out of 
  Pax Rulin. Still, one fat Imperial’s the same as another, right?
  5-6: Zhuekvi lets slip that his base is hidden in the Exe system. 
  It’s an asteroid out near the seventh planet.
  7+: The character impresses Zhuekvi so much that he’s got a 
  friend for life. Add Zhuekvi the corsair as an ally.
  Making a Deal: If the characters are here to make a deal with 
  Zhuekvi, roll Intelligence + Diplomat, adding the Effects of the 
  Carouse check as a Task Chain DM. On an 8+, Zhuekvi offers a 
  mutually acceptable deal; on a 10+, he offers an excellent deal.
  inCominG!
  Zhuekvi’s second-in-command, one of his pups named 
  Zhuekaza, runs in. They have detected three ships in orbit, 
  and they are reading as Imperial Gazelles! They are clearly 
  scanning the surface for the pirates. Zhuekvi curses; his 
  Corsair is somewhat notorious. The Gazelles will be overhead 
  in minutes.
  If the characters take off and flee, they may be able to escape 
  without being seen. Have their pilot make a Difficult (-2) 
  Dexterity + Pilot roll, with the following DMs:
  + Ship’s sensor DM 
  + the operator’s Sensor skill
  +4 if the pirates are an Ally of the Imperium (Imperial Standing 
  of 21+)
  +2 if the pirates are Tolerated by the Imperium (Imperial 
  Standing of 6+)
  -2 if the pirates are an Irritant to the Imperium (Imperial Standing 
  of -6 or more)
  -4 if the pirates are Infamous in the Imperium (Imperial Standing 
  of -21 or more)
  -6 if the pirates are an Enemy of the Imperium (Imperial Standing 
  of -40 or more)
  Alternatively, the characters can stand and fight with Zhuekvi. 
  There are three 400-ton Gazelle Close Escorts, all of which 
  pack Smart Missiles. Zhuekvi’s in a 400-ton Corsair, with two 
  turrets containing two beam lasers and a missile launcher, and 
  the last carrying two beam lasers and a sandcaster. 
  If any of the Gazelles reaches Hull 0, roll two dice, adding DM+1 
  for each Structure Hit suffered so far by the Imperials. On an 8+, 
  they retreat. 
  The hunT beGins
  From now until the Punitive Flotilla leaves the Reach, the 
  following rules apply.
  Increased Patrols
  Apply DM+2 to the second dice when rolling for encounters 
  using Prey Encounter Table (see the Campaign Overview) in 
  any of the following systems:
  Borderland Subsector: Byrni, Ergo, Tech-World, Falcon, 
  Sperle, Inurin, Exe, Argona
  PiraTe hunTers
  
   
  11
  The characters’ Imperial Standing also modifies this roll.
  -2 if the pirates are an Ally of the Imperium (Imperial Standing 
  of 21+)
  -1 if the pirates are Tolerated by the Imperium (Imperial Standing 
  of 6+)
  +1 if the pirates are an Irritant to the Imperium (Imperial 
  Standing of -6 or more)
  +2 if the pirates are Infamous in the Imperium (Imperial Standing 
  of -21 or more)
  +4 if the pirates are an Enemy of the Imperium (Imperial 
  Standing of -40 or more)
  Remember that attacking Imperial ships or troops (even in self-
  defence!) will lower standing by at least 1D. 
  Effect
  Result
  1-2
  An informant reports on the movement of the 
  player characters. Apply DM+2 to the next roll for 
  Risk of Spies.
  3-4
  An Imperial detachment arrives in the system 
  2d6 weeks later and searches for the player 
  characters. If the characters left any clues to their 
  next destination, the Imperials uncover these clues 
  on a roll of 10+.
  5-6
  An Imperial detachment arrives in the system 
  1d6 weeks later and searches for the player 
  characters. If the characters left any clues to their 
  next destination, the Imperials uncover these clues 
  on a roll of 8+. 
  7-8
  An Imperial detachment is in system and arrives 
  1d6 hours after the characters land. 
  9+
  It’s an ambush! Roll three times on the Imperial 
  detachment table three times!
  Imperial Detachment Table
  2D
  Space Vessels
  Ground Troops
  2
  Storm of Arrows + 16 fighters
  100 Marines
  3-4
  2 Patrol Ships 
  50 Marines
  5-6
  1 Patrol Ship
  20 Marines
  7
  5 10-ton fighters + modular cutter 10 Marines
  8-9
  1 Gazelle Close Escort
  20 Marines
  10-11
  2 Gazelle Close Escorts +4 
  fighters
  50 Marines
  12
  Gorluun, 8000 ton Escort Cruiser
  100 Marines
  Re-roll any results that are contradictory. For example, the 
  Flotilla has only one Storm of Arrows, so multiple results of 2 
  should be re-rolled.
  Tliowaha Subsector: Asim, Drinax, Torpol, Clarke, Blue, 
  Pourne, Hilfer, Paal
  Sindal Subsector: Oghma, Marduk, Thebys, Number One, 
  Salif, Palindrome, Vume
  Dpres Subsector: Acis, Hecarda, Tyr.
  If you are not using the Prey Encounter Table, then assume 
  there is a greater chance of a naval encounter in those systems.
  Imperial Spies and Informants
  Whenever the Pirates of Drinax player characters visit a port, 
  remember to roll for the Risk of Spies (see the Campaign 
  Overview). Under normal circumstances, that roll merely 
  determines the chance that some scoundrel rats on the pirates 
  to their enemy, but with Imperial Pirate Hunters in the region, the 
  results become much more important and dangerous. Cross-
  reference the Effect of the roll with the Hunter Threat table.
  The actions of the player characters may apply DMs to this table. 
  If they travel in disguise, keep a low profile and so on, apply a –
  DM. If they break the law, cause massive property damage, draw 
  attention or hang around the spaceport suspiciously, apply a +DM.
  The TraiTor
  During the events of The Grand Design and the 
  corresponding period for the Pirates of Drinax, Sun and 
  Shadow, a private letter from Vice-Admiral Krond to his 
  betrothed mysteriously gets sent to Drinax instead. This 
  letter contains vital intelligence about Krond’s intentions. 
  Someone in the fleet – the Traitor -betrayed their oath to 
  the Imperial navy. There are several possible traitors – 
  choose one.
  •	
  Captain Lenat: Lenat believes that Krond is 
  endangering not only the Flotilla, but also the stability 
  of the Reach and the future of the Imperial Navy. She 
  diverts the letter, then commits suicide to avoid the 
  shame of breaking her oath.
  •	
  Fixer Brell: Brell sold the letter to make a quick 
  buck.
  •	
  Red: Red’s disillusioned with the Navy and now 
  dreams of returning to piracy.
  •	
  A Naval Player Character: If any of the Naval PCs 
  have expressed the desire to turn pirate, then the 
  Referee should dangle this opportunity before them. 
  Ogleby shoves a piece of paper into the character’s 
  hands, and orders him to run down to the shuttle bay 
  and get this letter onto the next courier ship home.
  
   
  12
  Alternatively, instead of rolling on the Imperial Detachment 
  table, the Referee may choose to raise the Suspicion Rating  
  of Drinax by 2. 
  For example, the characters visit the world of Sperle, which 
  is Hostile. They travel there in disguise, and succeed at a 
  Deception check, so the referee applies DM-1 to the roll. Their 
  Imperial Standing gives another DM-1. The Risk for Spies at a 
  Hostile port is 2+. Rolling, he gets a 7. With DM-2 applied, that’s 
  a 5, so he passes by 3. An Imperial detachment will arrive at 
  Sperle in 2D weeks. Rolling, he gets a 4 – they’ll be here in a 
  month.
  Unfortunately for the player characters, their return journey 
  coincides with the Imperial presence in the system. The 
  Referee rolls on the Imperial Detachment table, and gets a 10 
  - 2 Gazelle Close Escorts + 4 fighters! The characters have a 
  fight on their hands!
  
   
  13
  Once the Punitive Flotilla is in position, Krond sends out patrols 
  on pirate hunting duty. He also sends out smaller elite teams 
  to gather intelligence about piracy in the Reach. If the player 
  characters have impressed Krond (or, perversely, if they have 
  annoyed him), they are assigned to this duty. The Flotilla is 
  short-staffed, so officers may be obliged to take part in missions 
  they are not ideally suited for (i.e. a gunnery officer might be 
  issued a boarding vacc suit and told to report for a boarding 
  action). 
  Krond is not satisfied with merely arresting and airlocking pirates 
  – to solidify his reputation and position at court, he needs an 
  epic victory. There are wild tales and rumours about a ‘pirate 
  planet’, a system that does not merely tolerate pirates, but 
  actively supplies and outfits them. Some call this planet Theev, 
  others Outrimer, others the Dark Planet. Persistent rumours 
  connect this pirate kingdom to the old Empire of Sindal. Krond’s 
  grand design is to find this planet and blast it from orbit.
  And if doing so takes the lives of half the crew in the 198th 
  Punitive Flotilla, so be it!
  GaTherinG rumours
  The characters are issued with a captured pirate ship, a 200-ton 
  Far Trader with two double turrets (Missile Launcher/Sandcaster 
  and twin Pulse Lasers) named the Dirty Beast and sent to 
  gather intelligence about pirate strongholds in the Borderlands 
  subsector. This will be a three-month tour of duty, starting at 
  Byrni. That’s time to make up to six two-parsec jumps, enough 
  to get the characters to worlds like Acrid or Argona. Krond issues 
  the characters with Cr. 2,000,000 for expenses and to purchase 
  supplies for the flotilla. Specifically, the flotilla needs Polymers, 
  Advanced Machine Parts, Advanced Weapons and Vehicles 
  and Luxury Consumables. Failure to return with a cargo hold 
  full of such goods is not acceptable.
  At each world, ask the players how they intend to gather 
  rumours and intelligence about piracy. They might hang around 
  starport bars with Carouse, cultivate underworld contacts using 
  Streetwise, capture some pirates and interrogate them with 
  Persuade, hack into planetary networks with Computers or 
  pursue whatever other tactic they wish.
  Next, the character rolls using the appropriate Characteristic 
  DM and Skill (Endurance + Carouse, Intelligence + Streetwise 
  and so on). Each attempt to find information takes 1D days. 
  Compare the Effect of the check to the table below.
  The GranD DesiGn
  Effect
  Information Gleaned
  -6 or less
  The character runs into big trouble (a pirate band 
  or criminal syndicate, an Aslan ihatei raid)
  -2 to -5
  The character learns a Wild Rumour. Roll on the 
  Rumours of the Reach table in the Pirates of 
  Drinax Campaign Overview.
  -1
  The character gains one Accurate Rumour if he 
  pays some cost (a bribe, a favour) or overcomes 
  some added danger (a mugging, dealing with 
  loan sharks, a run-in with local authorities).
  0
  The character gains one Accurate Rumour.
  1-5
  The character gains D3 Accurate Rumours.
  6 or more
  The character gains D3+1 Accurate Rumours 
  and is pointed to another world where they can 
  gain more information (DM+2 to next attempt to 
  find information)
  Accurate Rumours are relatively accurate information about 
  piracy in the Reach. They fall into six categories – roll 1D to 
  determine the type of rumour.
  1. Rumours about pirate bases, refuelling points, and worlds 
  that are Tolerant of Piracy.
  2. Recent events in the Reach (such as the results of recent 
  adventures in The Pirates of Drinax campaign)
  3. Information about specific pirate bands, including the 
  player characters. Remember to include amusing or 
  exaggerated accounts of past events in the campaign!
  4. Information about one of the other candidate worlds. 
  Raise the Suspicion rating of the following world by 1. Roll 
  1D: 1-2: Oghma; 3-4: Tyr, 5: Wildeman, 6: Any other world 
  of the Referee’s choice. 
  5. Information about Theev. Raise the Suspicion Rating of 
  Theeve by 1.
  6. Information about Drinax’s sponsorship of piracy. Raise 
  the Suspicion Rating of Drinax by 1.
  Getting into Trouble: Optionally, the naval characters can 
  become involved in random encounters or patron missions on 
  any world they visit. 
  Reporting Back: If the characters have not gathered at least 15 
  Accurate Rumours during their expedition, Krond is extremely 
  displeased. If they gather more than 30, or if a world now has a 
  Suspicion Rating of 10 or more, he promotes them all one rank 
  on the spot. 
  
   
  14
  duty, especially in the Reach, the stress of pirate hunting and 
  the lack of leadership from Krond or the Old Woman has eroded 
  morale to dangerously low levels. 
  The arrival of a supply convoy from Tobia does temporarily lift 
  spirits, though. The convoy brings spare parts, consumable 
  supplies, and news from the Imperium. All hands are called 
  down to help transfer the supplies onto the Eurisko, and a 
  curious thing occurs when one or more of the player characters 
  is present. 
  An over-eager crewman who has clearly not yet obtained any 
  ranks in Zero-G fumbles one crate of luxuries meant for Krond 
  and his circle of friends. The crate tumbles lazily across the 
  weightless cargo bay and bounces off a bulkhead. It pops open, 
  revealing a secret compartment beneath the lid. Inside are a 
  dozen phials of an unfamiliar pharmaceutical. If the characters 
  analyse this substance, they discover it is a Psi-Drug (see the 
  Traveller Core Rulebook, page 157). 
  Someone in Krond’s circle is a psion…
  The reD Zone
  When they return to duty, the characters are sent pirate hunting 
  on board the Morlunn Lake, one of the six Gazelle Close 
  Escorts. Her regular crew were injured when a pirate rammed 
  her. Instead of a launch, she carries two 10-ton microfighters, 
  one of which is piloted by Rhoda ‘Red’ Voidborn. They are to 
  engage in a patrol of the worlds of Sink, Fantasy, Burgess, then 
  return via Vorito and the World – a total of 6 jumps, or nearly 
  another three months. 
  iDenTifyinG The PiraTe worlD
  There are two leading candidates for Krond’s target – Drinax 
  and Theev. Other potential target worlds include Oghma 
  (Sindal/0410), Tyr (Dpres/0608) or Wildeman (Tobia/0400). 
  Each planet has a Suspicion Rating, which starts at 3, with 
  the exception of Drinax, which starts at a value dependent 
  on the character’s Imperial Standing. 
  -6 if the pirates are an Ally of the Imperium (Imperial 
  Standing of 21+)
  -3 if the pirates are Tolerated by the Imperium (Imperial 
  Standing of 6+)
  0 if the pirates are Ignored by the Imperium (Imperial 
  Standing of 5 to -5)
  3 if the pirates are an Irritant to the Imperium (Imperial 
  Standing of -6 or more)
  6 if the pirates are Infamous in the Imperium (Imperial 
  Standing of -21 or more)
  9 if the pirates are an Enemy of the Imperium (Imperial 
  Standing of -40 or more)
  The world with the highest Suspicion Rating after this 
  section gets targeted for the Planetary Assault.
  The referee should inform the players of the existence of 
  Suspicion Ratings, and even display the current scores 
  visibly. However, the purpose of Ratings remains obscure 
  until the Pirates of Drinax players receive the Letter or the 
  Planetary Assault begins. 
  Drinax? Who Cares!
  If the characters have adopted a different system as their 
  primary base of operations, then move Drinax to the list of 
  secondary targets, and put the characters’ base in Drinax’s 
  original place.
  The fix
  On returning to the Flotilla, the characters are given two weeks leave 
  on Byrni. Fixer Brell, however, has other ideas for their free time. He 
  tells them that the Flotilla is running low on many key components. He 
  wants the characters to take the Dirty Beast to Paal (Tliowaha/0805) 
  to purchase Basic Consumables and Uncommon Raw Materials. 
  To pay for these goods, he’s ‘borrowed’ some weapons from the 
  Eurisko’s armoury – ten tons of Illegal Weapons! He wants the 
  characters to smuggle the weapons onto Paal and buy the supplies 
  Fixer needs. He promises them a cut of the profits…
  Growing Dissent
  The mood on the Flotilla is strained when the characters return. 
  While navy personnel are used to hardship and long tours of 
  your CharaCTer woulDn’T 
  Know ThaT!
  The naval characters have no knowledge of the activities 
  of the Pirate player characters or the Kingdom of 
  Drinax’s schemes to establish a new empire. If a player 
  acts out-of-character knowledge, ask them to justify their 
  character’s actions. Why, for example, did your character 
  suggest checking out Drinax over all the other worlds in 
  the Reach? If the player can come up with a plausible 
  excuse, run with it. If the player says ‘it’s just a hunch’ 
  or ‘my character has a feeling’, then run with that too – 
  the character has latent Psionic abilities. Over the next 
  1D weeks, the character has more precognitive flashes, 
  including visions of his own death from a massive brain 
  bleed. Unless the character finds a Psionic Institute and 
  remains there for training, he dies horribly as his brain 
  overheats and boils within his skull.
  
   
  15
  In the Fantasy System, the characters detect two known 
  pirate ships – a 300-ton Pirate Carrier (see Scoundrel, page 
  99) named the Skull and an Armed Far Trader (two triple 
  turrets with Pulse Lasers and Missile Racks) called the Happy 
  Accident. The pirates were refuelling by melting an icy asteroid 
  down and cracking the water for hydrogen. The pirates attempt 
  to warn the player characters off; they do not want a fight, but 
  will give one if they have to. The carrier’s fuel tanks are full, but 
  the Happy Accident has only half-full tanks.
  When the Carrier sustains more than three Hits or loses more 
  than three fighters, it tries to flee by jumping. It recalls its fighters 
  and prepares to jump to a secret outpost in The World’s system. 
  Red recognises the flying style of one of the fighters – it is her 
  older sister Una! Just before the Carrier jumps, Red flies her 
  fighter right up to the Skull, so close that she is inside the jump 
  bubble when it forms. Carrier and fighter vanish.
  If the characters cripple the Happy Accident, they can interrogate 
  its crew. The captain is a Vargr who gives her name as Yowler. 
  Under interrogation, she reveals the existence of a small pirate 
  outpost in The World. 
  Rescuing Red: The characters can return to Byrni and the 
  Punitive Flotilla with the location of this base, or follow the Skull 
  to The World and attempt to rescue Red. 
  The Pirate Base: The base in The World is another hollow 
  asteroid. Calling it a pirate base is a misnomer – it is a waystation, 
  a refuelling point for raiders, traders and refugees. It has an 
  internal biosphere, built by biological engineers from Burgess. It 
  is unarmed, but at any time there are 1D+1 small ships docked 
  here, some of which have engaged in piracy in the past. The 
  base has a population of 100 + 2D per ship docked. The ruler 
  of the base is an eccentric computer system that claims to 
  be a renegade AI from the Strend Cluster named Minister. If 
  you believe Minister, it was on a long-range automated probe 
  that was launched in search of Ancient sites; it crashed into 
  an asteroid and built the base around itself centuries ago. The 
  locals ignore Minister’s ramblings, but take advantage of its 
  technical skills.
  Red’s older sister and family live here. If the characters follow 
  her here, then Red asks them to help conceal the existence of 
  the base from the Punitive Flotilla; failing that, she asks for their 
  help in smuggling her sister and nephews to safety.
  asTeroiD assaulT
  If Krond learns of the existence of the asteroid base, he sends 
  the Gorluun (or the Eurisko) together with the Storm of Arrows 
  and three Gazelles to destroy it. His plan is simple – the 
  battleship rains down hell from its missile bays (or its spinal 
  cannon) to ‘shake’ the asteroid, then the Gazelles, fighters and 
  marines capture any fleeing or surrendering pirates. Then the 
  base is destroyed by another barrage, killing anyone who tries 
  hiding in the deeper caverns. 
  The characters might participate in the storming of the base, 
  or chase down fleeing ships. If Red is on the base, she tries to 
  sneak her sister and family out in a scout ship; the characters 
  may choose to let her go, or follow Krond’s orders and treat her 
  as a pirate.
  a verDiCT of aCCiDenTal DeaTh
  When the characters return to the Eurisko, the Old Woman 
  contacts whichever character has the closest relationship 
  with her, asking him to meet with her privately. En route to her 
  quarters, the character passes Ogleby, Krond’s servant, who 
  sneers at him. 
  The character discovers the Old Woman dead in her quarters. 
  Her body is still warm, and there are no signs of injuries. An 
  autopsy will conclude she died of a sudden stroke (a character 
  with Medic 3+ or Life Science (psionicology) 1+ knows that 
  damage from Telepathic Assault attacks often looks like 
  a stroke). On the captain’s desk is a copy of an Imperial 
  Intelligence report on Aslan activity in the Trojan Reach. The 
  report stresses the importance of not provoking the Aslan 
  Hierate with an excessive Imperial military presence, as it 
  could unify the warring clans by providing them with a common 
  enemy. The Old Woman intended to use the report to convince 
  her superiors that Krond had put the Flotilla at risk by remaining 
  at Byrni instead of following the usual ‘sweep through and return 
  home’ pattern of previous Punitive Flotillas. 
  muTiny! assassinaTion!
  While the crew do not like Krond, and loved the Old Woman, 
  the characters are unlikely to be able to start a mutiny – or 
  certainly not a successful mutiny. Murdering Krond is more 
  plausible, but that puts command of the Flotilla into the 
  hands of Commander Steyland, who will follow Krond’s last 
  orders until they are countermanded. Any such skulduggery 
  on the part of the Naval player characters should ultimately 
  result in them being forced to flee the ship and turn pirate.
  
   
  16
  The funeral
  At the Captain’s funeral, Krond pays tribute to Lenat’s leadership and 
  heroism, but also takes the opportunity to rally the fleet to his plan. 
  ‘We have waited here on Byrni because I intend to be thorough. 
  We have waited here on Byrni because I intend to be sure. We 
  have waited here on Byrni because I intend to find the Pirate’s 
  World and destroy it once and for all – and I tell you, I have 
  found it!
  And now, in Lenat’s name and in Lenat’s memory, the Eurisko 
  will burn that world to cinders!’
  
   
  17
  With Imperial Patrols passing through the Drinax system, 
  pirates getting arrested on a daily basis, and a trigger-happy 
  admiral with a 75,000 ton warship sitting four parsecs away 
  from the Floating Palace, King Oleb is understandably nervous 
  about the future of his scheme. How do the characters ensure 
  Drinax is spared?
  The leTTer
  Through covert channels (like the merchant Rachando, or their 
  own informants), the characters meet a scoundrel called Lang 
  Fossa, who has a proposition for them. Fossa recently came 
  into possession of a very interesting document, one he will sell 
  to the characters for a mere 50,000 credits. It is Handout 1 – a 
  letter from Krond to Eridani. 
  From the letter, it is clear that Krond intends to stay in the Reach 
  until he has found and destroyed his ‘pirate world’. The letter 
  also hints at the possibility of several countermeasures that the 
  characters could take to defeat or delay Krond’s plans.
  •	
  They could rescue the captured pirates – see In Chains,.
  •	
  They could intercept and kidnap Eridani – see The 
  Governor’s Niece
  •	
  They could try various tactics to make Krond’s position 
  untenable – see Ending the Game
  First, though, they need to ensure that the hammer does not fall 
  on Drinax by deflecting suspicion away from their base.
  DefleCTinG susPiCion
  In effect, the Pirates of Drinax characters must do the opposite 
  of what the naval characters were doing – instead of gathering 
  intelligence and searching for clues about piracy, they need to 
  start hiding their tracks and spreading false rumours. How the 
  players accomplish this is up to them. They might:
  •	
  Find Imperial spies and informants and bribe them, or give 
  them false leads
  •	
  Have their allied governments and friends mislead the 
  Imperium
  •	
  Plant evidence ‘proving’ the pirates did not come from 
  Drinax
  •	
  Prey on ships coming from Drinax
  •	
  Offer gifts and tokens of appreciation to the pirate hunters 
  for ‘saving’ Drinax from the scourge of pirates
  •	
  Sneak onto the Eurisko and alter the computer records
  •	
  Mount ‘false flag’ attacks – launch a series of raids, and 
  broadcast a false identity loudly to everyone in the system. 
  For each of these schemes, the referee should assign a 
  suitable task. For example, misleading an Imperial spy might be 
  a Task Chain using Intelligence + Investigate to identify the spy, 
  then Social Standing + Deception to lie to him. Convincing the 
  government of Torpol to lie to the Imperium might require Social 
  Standing + Diplomat; planting false computer files might involve 
  Intelligence + Computers. These tasks take, on average, 1-6 
  weeks to take effect, and reduce the Suspicion Rating of Drinax 
  by the Effect of the check.
  Note that while the characters flit about the Reach, they still 
  need to dodge imperial patrols and spies as described in Pirate 
  Hunters.
  movinG The Crosshairs
  Each time the characters deflect suspicion, they must choose 
  whether to simply make Drinax less suspicious (reducing that 
  system’s Suspicion Rating) or to deflect it onto another world. 
  They could, for example, arrange events to make it look like 
  raiders from Theev are responsible for all the pirate attacks. 
  Doing so raises the target world’s Suspicion Rating by an equal 
  amount. 
  sun anD shaDow
  Guess who’s CominG To Drinax
  Drinax is one of the better-known worlds in this part 
  of Charted Space. The wonders of the eccentric 
  Floating Palace are well known and there is an Imperial 
  ambassador at King Oleb’s court. At some point, Krond 
  and his courtiers simply have to pay a visit to the Floating 
  Palace.
  You can run this encounter with either group of player 
  characters – the naval characters can tag along as 
  bodyguards and escorts, or the Pirates can be introduced 
  as ‘courtiers’. The characters might use the dinner as 
  cover to investigate Drinax for signs of piracy, to deflect 
  suspicion, or to launch some crazed scheme like trying to 
  kidnap or assassinate or mind-control Krond. 
  
   
  18
  If the characters try to deflect suspicion onto an obviously 
  improbable world – say, a TL1 wasteland – then the Suspicion 
  Rating is raised by only half the Effect. 
  The characters can deflect suspicion onto the Aslan Hierate. 
  Even Krond is not going to start a punitive war with an entire 
  star empire. 
  
   
  19
  Over the course of the Punitive Flotilla’s operations, Krond’s 
  force arrest dozens of pirates, adventurers, thieves and 
  scavengers. These reprobates get thrown in the Petal prison 
  hulk. Their ships – if they can be captured intact or at least taken 
  whole – get thrown into the cavernous cargo hold of the Prophet 
  Zamon. Krond intends to return to Tobia with a truly impressive 
  monument to his own heroism in the form of a few thousand 
  tons of pirate ship and a few hundred chained prisoners. 
  Of course, if the Pirates of Drinax could break those prisoners 
  out, then they’d have hundred of pirates who owed them a big 
  favour.
  movinG The Prisoners
  Six months after establishing a base at Byrni, the Flotilla’s 
  supplies run dangerously low. Krond therefore decides to send 
  the Petal and the Prophet Zamon back to the Imperium, escorted 
  by two of his Gazelles. The four ships are to link up with an 
  Imperial trading convoy at Tech-World, then travel from there 
  to Exe, Cordan, then into Tobia subsector at Wildeman – and 
  then they are to detour to the independent world of Iilgan, where 
  the Zamon drops the wrecked ships in orbit and the pirates are 
  interned in a special camp built in the wilderness. The Petal is 
  then to wait while the Zamon restocks at Tobia, then they return 
  to Byrni to fill up on more prisoners and wrecks, respectively.
  If the characters keep watch on the Flotilla, they can anticipate 
  this movement, and could intercept the ships en route to Iilgan. 
  Alternatively, they can follow them all the way to Iilgan, then 
  break the prisoners out of the camp there. 
  The Prison hulK Petal
  The Petal is almost unarmed (three double turrets with twin 
  pulse lasers). She has a crew of nine, plus some thirty Imperial 
  Marines as guards for the prisoners crammed into her stripped-
  down staterooms. The Petal was supposed to be able to handle 
  around two hundred guests in her role as a hotel, but as a hulk, 
  the wardens will cheerfully cram in far more prisoners, even 
  though the air becomes hot, stale and mildly poisonous. 
  The prisoners are kept locked in their staterooms except at 
  mealtimes. Key prisoners, or dangerous ones, are chained. The 
  whole prisoner deck is rigged with anaesthetic gas dispensers. 
  Individual staterooms or the whole deck can be flooded with 
  knock-out gas at the touch of a button, and the marines always 
  wear rebreathers when on duty.
  The ProPheT Zamon
  Zamon is a smaller version of a standard megafreighter – 
  her crew section sits like a little bubble atop gargantuan 
  fuel tanks, titanic jump drives, and a mountain of 2,000-dton 
  cargo containers. She has a crew of 40, plus another dozen 
  marines. All the captured pirate ships are kept in support webs 
  inside cargo containers; freeing a ship takes thirty minutes per 
  hundred tons of ship and a Zero-G roll, unless you are willing to 
  try blasting it free, which inflicts 1D Hits on the ship and 2D Hits 
  on any other ships in the container. 
  For each pirate ship, roll two dice. On a 10+, the ship is ready 
  to fly once freed from its webbing, with cargo tanks that are 
  1Dx10% full. On an 8 or 9, the ship can be repaired in a matter 
  of hours, and again has tanks that are 1Dx10% full. On a 7 or 
  less, the ship is wrecked and may never fly again, or requires 
  months of repair work.
  in Chains
  PiraTe’s honour
  If the characters successfully rescue the pirates, then 
  one of the characters may make a Social Standing + 
  Leadership roll. A number of pirate bands equal to the 
  Effect join the characters’ fleet. The other pirates owe 
  a considerable favour to the characters – they gain 1D 
  Allies, 2dD Contacts, and 4D Favours. A Favour may be 
  cashed in for DM+2 to any interaction roll with a pirate in 
  the Trojan Reach. Alternatively, 5 Favours may move a 
  Tolerant or better port one step towards Haven. 
  The inTernmenT CamP
  Iilgan is a peaceful agricultural planet. The camp is located in a 
  savannah region near the equator. It consists of many rows of 
  prefabricated shelters, with the guard building on the south side 
  of the encampment (optionally, the referee may wish to use the 
  prison from Adventure 2: Prison Planet, in which case move the 
  camp to the tundras of Iilgan’s south pole).
  The camp is guarded by some forty local troops, armed with 
  TL7 weapons. While the starport is on the far side of the planet, 
  there is a smaller regional spaceport only a few kilometres 
  away, where giant agricultural transports launch for orbit and 
  the lucrative Imperial trade routes. The freed prisoners can steal 
  a transport, head to orbit, and then reclaim any functional ships.
  
   
  20
  Eridani, the young niece of the Duke of Tobia, is engaged to 
  Vice-Admiral Krond. Theirs was a whirlwind romance and an 
  impetuous engagement. As a member of the ducal family, 
  Eridani’s hand in marriage is a significant asset, not to be 
  squandered. While Krond’s family are of good standing and 
  considerable wealth, in political terms, it is far from an ideal 
  match; Krond may be a dashing officer in the Tobia Planetary 
  Guard, but planetary navies have little cachet outside their 
  home systems. Eridani accepted his proposal out of a sense 
  of excitement and adventure, and certainly Krond seemed 
  much more interesting than some boring planetary baron or 
  megacorporate executive. If Krond cannot solidify his reputation 
  in the Reach, then the Duke may ‘arrange’ for the engagement 
  to be cancelled. His tolerance for his niece’s ill-considered 
  romance only goes so far.
  As described in Krond’s letter, Eridani intends to secretly visit 
  Byrni. 
  Behind the scenes, of course, the telepath Ogleby ‘pushed’ 
  Eridani into accepting Krond’s engagement. He also planted the 
  seed of the idea that she should visit Byrni, so he can reinforce 
  the telepathic conditioning. Krond has no idea just how much 
  his lackey manipulates those around him with psionic powers.
  eriDani’s rouTe
  Eridani and her retinue travel on board the Sunrise, a Long 
  Trader (see page 77 of Supplement 10: Merchants and 
  Cruisers), refitted with luxuries and staterooms appropriate to 
  a woman of her rank.  Another Gazelle, the Leopold, escorts 
  the Sunrise. They follow the usual J4 trade route from Tobia 
  (Fist>Cordan>Tech-World) before branching off for Byrni. They 
  travel as part of a trade convoy as far as Cordan, but leave that 
  system in haste before the other ships are ready to jump.
  She travels with four bodyguards (elite ex-marines with battle 
  dress) as well as a few servants, all of whom are combat-
  trained. She is also accompanied by a TL15 android duplicate 
  of herself. In addition, the ship has a single escape pod with an 
  advanced stealth coating (DM-4 to detect the pod). If the ship 
  is boarded, then Eridani flees to the pod and ejects, leaving her 
  The DuKe’s nieCe
  
   
  21
  android counterpart to pretend to be her. The escape pod heads 
  for the Leopold, if that ship is still flying; otherwise, it makes for 
  the nearest habitable planet. 
  The android’s programming is excellent; spotting that it is not 
  actually Eridani requires an Intelligence + Investigate roll. 
  Of course, a medical exam or densitometer scan would also 
  instantly give the game away. The android is programmed to 
  protect Eridani’s life as long as possible; if she is safe or it can 
  no longer protect her, it switches to combat mode. The android 
  can be reprogrammed if disabled; doing so is a Formidable (-6) 
  challenge to the character’s Computers skill. 
  Bodyguards
  Age 34, 4 terms
  STR 10 (16) DEX 10 (14) END 9 INT 7 
  EDU 7 SOC 6
  Battle Dress 2, Gun Combat (energy rifle) 3, Heavy Weapons 
  (man portable artillery) 3, Melee (brawl) 2, Recon 2, Zero-G 2
  Equipment: Battle Dress (armour 18), PGMP-14 (damage 
  12D, Auto 6) or Laser Rifle (damage 5D+3)
  Eridani
  Age 22, 1 term
  STR 7 
  DEX 7 END 9 INT 6 
  EDU 10 SOC 14
  Carouse 1, Diplomat 1, Social Science (history) 1
  Android
  STR 12 DEX 9 END 15 INT 4 
  EDU 6 
  Deception 2, Melee (brawl) 4
  Armour 6, Claws (damage 1D+4), Self-Destruct (12D)
  Note that any attack on Eridani reduces the character’s Imperial 
  Standing by 3D.
  usinG eriDani
  Should the pirates kidnap Eridani, they have several options:
  •	
  Hold Her For Ransom: They could ransom her to 
  Krond for some of his prisoners, or to the Duke of Tobia 
  for credits (MCr. 100 is not unreasonable). Ransoming 
  Eridani reduces their Imperial Standing by a further 2D.
  •	
  Use Her As A Bargaining Chip: Instead of a formal 
  ransom, they can contact Krond and come to an 
  arrangement. Krond’s political support for his punitive 
  fleet is dependent on his engagement to Eridani, just as 
  he needs the punitive fleet to succeed to be able to marry 
  her. 
  •	
  Convince Her To Stop Krond: If the characters show her 
  that Krond’s mishandling the whole situation, attacking 
  innocent worlds, committing atrocities and so on, they 
  can convince her to use her influence to turn the flotilla 
  around.
  •	
  Break The Telepathic Conditioning: Telepathically 
  scanning Eridani or observing her with Social Science 
  may reveal her telepathic conditioning. 
  •	
  Convince Her To Turn Pirate: This last option is unlikely 
  – but she does secretly long for adventure…
  
   
  22
  If the Hunting DM for the flotilla reaches +12, if the Suspicion 
  Rating for a world hits 25, or at the Referee’s discretion, the 
  planetary assault begins. The Flotilla departs Byrni and heads 
  straight for the target world, which is the world with the highest 
  Suspicion Rating. 
  Once the flotilla arrives, the Gorluun and the smaller ships 
  engage the planetary defences, if any, while the Eurisko opens 
  fire on the ‘pirate port’. Marines and landing craft swarm in 
  to ‘make arrests’ and find proof of piracy, but Krond is more 
  interested in making a big, dramatic blast than in actually 
  capturing criminals.
  The TarGeT worlD
  Drinax: The Floating Palace is a hard target to hit, but the 
  Eurisko has plenty of firepower. If Drinax is hit, then this 
  campaign is effectively over in its current form. Adventures 
  2, 3, 4 and 7 may still be salvaged, but the annihilation of the 
  Floating Palace kills key NPCs for the other adventures, along 
  with the dream of a renewed Kingdom of Drinax. 
  Theev: Port Blacksand has plenty of ships, but none that are 
  big enough to take on a warship. The Windows of Blacksand 
  may be dangerous foes on the streets of that town, but all the 
  cybernetic and genetic upgrades cannot stop ortillery. The only 
  thing that might save Theev is if Failohk’s company got hold of 
  The Treasure of Sindal (see Adventure 5). If they did, then at the 
  height of the battle, an atomic planet-killer bomb explodes right 
  on top of the Eurisko. 
  Oghma: Icy Oghma has only TL9 ships. The infamous slave-
  taking raiders possess insane courage, hurling their ships into 
  the teeth of enemy fire, but they inflict only minor losses on 
  the Flotilla. On the cold wastes of the surface, though, it is a 
  different story – the Oghman Clans are vicious fighters, and the 
  Imperial forces must battle guerrilla attacks and snipers amid 
  the blizzards.
  Tyr: Tyr is already only a shadow of its former self. A few 
  centuries ago, Tyr ruled a pocket empire of a dozen worlds, 
  until it was shattered by Aslan mercenaries. The capital world, 
  though, still has extensive automated satellite defences, making 
  it a hard target for an understrength flotilla.
  Wildeman: The asteroid miners of Wildeman know the system 
  better than anyone, and their ships – while only TL13 on 
  average – are still a cut above most civilian ships. They still 
  lose, but they do manage to accelerate a rock into the prow of 
  the Gorluun, destroying the whole ship in the process.
  runninG The PlaneTary assaulT
  Focus on a smaller-scale engagement for the player characters 
  – they might be assigned to take out a particular defensive 
  satellite, or to pursue a specific suspected pirate. Making them 
  part of the ground assault is ideal; have them hunt their target 
  in the midst of ruined, burning buildings as missiles rain down 
  from orbit.
  If the characters have clashed with Krond or Ogleby, then they 
  are deliberately assigned a suicide mission. Having the naval 
  player characters die in the line of duty might be a suitable 
  conclusion to that side narrative, if they do not choose to turn 
  pirate.
  afTermaTh
  If one of the minor targets (Tyr, Wildeman or Oghma) is 
  destroyed, then the Pirates of Drinax campaign is largely 
  unaffected. 
  The discovery and destruction of the pirate stronghold of Theev 
  may be a boon for the player characters. Theev was the primary 
  repair yard and market for stolen goods in the whole Trojan 
  Reach. Drinax could easily step into this role. (Note, however, 
  that Theev is secretly backed by the General Development 
  Company, who will not take kindly to the destruction of a major 
  investment. Furthermore, if the characters’ involvement in the 
  destruction of Theev is ever revealed, their reputations in the 
  underworld of the Reach will be ruined.
  If Drinax is destroyed, then the campaign is effectively over.
  PlaneTary assaulT
  
   
  23
  Some possibilities for the end of the 198th Flotilla are outlined 
  above – the Pirates kidnap Eridani, or the Flotilla bombs a 
  target world before leaving the Reach. However, there are ways 
  that a proactive band of player characters could hasten Krond’s 
  defeat.
  aTTaCK lines of suPPly
  The Flotilla needs around MCr. 8 worth of supplies every month. 
  Some of these can be obtained from Byrni and other nearby 
  systems, but others have to be shipped down from Tobia. The 
  Pirates cannot take on warships, but they can blow up freighters 
  and cargo haulers en route to Byrni, as well as use their networks 
  of contacts and friendly governments to cut off local sources of 
  spare parts and consumables. Attacking the supply lines forces 
  Krond to allocate more and more of his ships to defending his 
  freighters, and less to hunting pirates. If the characters can pull 
  off a big heist – say, by crippling the Zomon as it returns from 
  Tobia – then the Flotilla will be forced into ignominious retreat. 
  The Treasure of sinDal
  If the characters found the Treasure of Sindal in Adventure 5, 
  they could use the weapons on the Flotilla. Smuggling a nuclear 
  weapon onto the Eurisko would be challenging in the extreme, 
  but could destroy the warship if successful. Alternatively, they 
  could drop a virus bomb on Byrni, which would also infect the 
  fleet. Using weapons of mass destruction like this is an atrocity, 
  reducing Imperial Standing by 4D. 
  PoliTiCal Pressure
  As Captain Lenat pointed out, one of the reasons that past 
  Punitive Flotillas have just swept through the Reach and 
  returned home was to avoid the impression of a military build-
  up on the border with the notoriously touchy Aslan. If the 
  characters were to make contact with an Aslan noble, and draw 
  the attention of the Hierate to the growing Imperial presence 
  only four parsecs away from the key trade world of Tyokh, they 
  could spark a confrontation. The Pirates might not be able to go 
  toe-to-toe with the Eurisko, but the Aslan have plenty of capital 
  ships of their own…
  enDinG The Game
  
   
  24
  Punitive Flotillas: The first punitive flotilla was launched in 
  Year 115 of the Third Imperium, to put down a pirate king in 
  Gazulin subsector. In the intervening years, a Flotilla has been 
  dispatched roughly every four years. These flotillas vary in 
  size and composition, but normally consist of a mix of Imperial 
  Navy and subsector ships. They usually follow the trade routes 
  between the Imperium, the Aslan Hierate and the Florian 
  League; they sweep through those systems and neighbouring 
  ones, looking for pirates and other threats. Sometimes, a flotilla 
  is formed with a specific target like a pirate stronghold as its 
  target, but more often they just go ‘cruising for trouble’. 
  Many in the navy, especially those of Pax Rulin, consider the 
  flotillas to be a useful training exercise. An Aslan naval officer 
  may engage live-fire combat in a clan war every year or so; with 
  the Imperium at peace, a human officer is much less likely to 
  have a similar opportunity. 
  Types of Navy: There are several types of naval force in 
  the Imperium. The Imperial Navy is the most powerful and 
  prestigious. Its role is to defend the Imperium as a whole, and 
  to deal with internal dissent or other major threats. They are 
  the Emperor’s sword amid the stars. Subsector navies, under 
  the command of the capital world of each subsector, are local 
  defence forces and law enforcement. They also serve as 
  auxiliaries to the Imperial Navy. Finally, planetary navies are 
  effectively private forces in the employ of a planetary ruler or 
  government. Their size, skill, equipment and prestige varies 
  wildly from world to world. In general, an officer of the Imperial 
  Navy outranks a subsector officer, and a subsector officer 
  outranks a planetary naval officer.
  Imperial Culture in the Trojan Reach: There are two distinct 
  ‘poles’ of Imperial culture within the Reach. Worlds in Tobia and 
  Gazulin profit greatly from trade with the Aslan; citizens of those 
  systems tend to be cosmopolitan, mercantile, status-obsessed 
  and consider themselves closer to Deneb, Corridor and the core 
  worlds than to the backward Spinward Marches. On the other 
  side, there is the naval base at Pax Rulin and the world around 
  it; those citizens see themselves as being right on the frontier 
  and surrounded by enemies like the Aslan, Vargr and Zhodani. 
  They prize martial discipline, frugality and strength. To those of 
  Tobia, Pax Rulinites are xenophobic, militaristic martinets who 
  jump at every shadow, and do not appreciate the importance 
  of commerce or social standing. To those of Pax Rulin, Tobians 
  are pretentious, shallow fops who think that the Trojan Reach is 
  as safe and secure as Capital. 
  aPPenDix 1: library DaTa
  
   
  25
  My dear Eridani,
   
  I write this letter in my quarters, illuminated by the lights from a dozen pirate ships that burn like torches. The litany of my 
  victories here is already too long to recite, and it will not be long before I return to your uncle’s court to be acclaimed the Victor of 
  the Outrim Void – and on that day, none shall gainsay our marriage. ‘When!’ I hear you ask as if you were here in the room with me, 
  our souls entwined across the parsecs. When? When I find the fabled Pirate’s World, that secret stronghold of villainy, and when I 
  blast it to cinders, thus putting an end to piracy amid the stars forever!
   
  I pray you, go to the world of Iilgan, and look upon the prison camps. See the vile rogues and scoundrels who daily preyed 
  upon the poor innocents, until I put an end to their murderous ways. Then, if your courage holds, jump further rimward and join me 
  here on Byrni. My friends and I yearn for news from home, not to mention the comforts and provisions we were accustomed to on 
  Tobia. Supplies run thin. Erick demands Tobian brandy, Vasher wants cigars, and why, I think even dour Ogleby would be cheered 
  by some wine from home. For myself, all I desire is you. 
   
  Victory will come soon, but not, I think, soon enough to soothe my aching soul. Rest assured that I strive daily to find the 
  Pirate’s World, and when I do, why, it shall be the pyre that lights your route to me!
  A thousand adorations,
  Krond
  aPPenDix 2: KronD’s leTTer
  
   
  26
  Argona
  Every MCr. 1 worth of Luxuries or Illegal Drugs donated to 
  Argona moves it one step towards Haven.
  Boulder
  Boulder was once a mining belt like Wildeman, but is now worked 
  out. The population numbers in the tens of millions, clustered 
  into a few large hollowed-out asteroid cities. While Boulder has 
  a Class-B starport, it is unused as the natives dislike contact 
  with the outside universe. This prejudice is cultural, the result 
  worlDs of The reaCh
  of several epidemics brought by visitors that flourished in the 
  hothouse conditions. 
  Patron: Jopple Ort, Administrator
  Reward: MCr. 2 or access to the Class-B starport on future 
  visits
  Mission: Imperial miners in the Wildeman system have 
  developed a new processing technique that could make mining 
  some of the asteroids in the Boulder belt economically viable 
  again. However, this technique is a trade secret of the Wildeman 
  
   
  27
  Mining Consortium. He wants the characters to capture a 
  Wildeman ore processor and steal the technology.
  Cordan
  Cordan is a GeDeCo waystation on the Imperial trade route; 
  the only settlement on the planet is around the starport. Cordan 
  was once home to a much larger population, but the planet was 
  depopulated by raiders.
  Patron: Uht Vamos.
  Mission: There is a secret civilisation on Cordan. They are 
  the descendants of the original population. They fled into 
  the extensive cave network beneath the surface to hide from 
  the raiders, and remained there for centuries. They have 
  become a barbaric, low-tech people, but they want their world 
  back. General Development Corporation troops protect the 
  waystation, and shoot the barbarians on sight. What Uht Vamos 
  needs is weapons. Lots of weapons.
  Reward: Cordan drops to TL2 and Low Tech, but becomes a 
  Haven. 
  Exocet
  A recently-established colony on the fringes of Imperial space. 
  Exocet’s tainted atmosphere comes from volcanic emissions. 
  The colony is located on an island, but the planet’s true wealth 
  is in the volcanic soil of the main continent.
  Patron: Terraforming Engineer McGrath
  Reward: Exocet moves two steps towards Haven.
  Mission: McGrath believes that it should be possible to ‘cap’ 
  some of the more active volcanoes, cutting off their sulphurous 
  fumes and making the colonisation project much more valuable. 
  To do so, he needs two things – nuclear weapons, and a pilot 
  crazy enough to fly into an active volcano and drop a nuclear 
  weapon at a precisely calculated location to collapse the 
  mountain on top of the volcano. McGrath needs high-yield 
  atomics of tremendous destructive power (aka Illegal Weapons 
  on the trade table). 
  Hilfer
  A hot desert world, Hilfer was once part of the Kingdom of 
  Drinax. The rebellion cost Hilfer dearly, as the planet lost the 
  technology to maintain the water reclamation technology that 
  kept the desert at bay.
  Allocating a ship to drag water ice asteroids to Hilfer moves the 
  planet one step towards Haven.
  Every MCr. 5 spent on water reclamation moves it one step 
  towards Haven.
  Iilgan
  The estates of Iilgan are mostly owned by Imperial citizens, and 
  this system – along with its neighbour Wildeman – are likely 
  candidates for incorporation into the Imperium within a few 
  years. The planet was previously overlooked for development, 
  but recent advances in biotechnology created artificial bacteria 
  that makes Iilgan capable of producing food and other 
  agricultural products. 
  Patron: Lord Selwyn haut-Bizlant
  Mission: One of haut-Bizlant’s neighbouring landowners, 
  Poetachus, has ordered a new shipment of the artificial bacteria 
  from Tobia. Bizlant wants Poetachus ruined, so the characters 
  are to intercept the shipment and secretly replace the bacteria 
  cultures in the cargo hold of the transport with different ones. 
  The bacteria will render Poetachus’ estates worthless and 
  barren.
  Reward: MCr. 1, plus the use of haut-Bizlant’s land as a hideout.
  Paal
  Paal’s association with Drinax is an old one – this rich world 
  once supplied Drinax with its produce. Many of the dukes and 
  kings of Paal still covet the technology of Drinax.
  Every MCr. 1 worth of Advanced Electronics, Advanced 
  Manufactured Goods, Advanced Vehicles, Cybernetics, Luxury 
  Consumables, Luxury Goods, Medical Supplies, Polymers, 
  Robots, Pharmaceuticals or Vehicles donated to Paal moves it 
  one step towards Haven.
  Scaladon
  See Alien Module 1: Aslan, page 187 for a description of the 
  bizarre theocracy of Scaladon.
  Patron: Themis Bioplastics
  Mission: The natives of Scaladon believe that only those who 
  dwell on their world will be saved when the apocalypse comes. 
  Their world is almost uninhabitable, as the caustic seas force the 
  population to cling to a small few overcrowded islands. Themis 
  Industries has developed a new bioplastic that could be used to 
  create artificial islands cheaply and effectively, expanding the 
  living space on Scaladon. The problem – the Chosen cult shoot 
  down any ships that enter their airspace, making testing the 
  bioplastic a dangerous business.
  Reward: Cr. 500,000. 
  
   
  28
  Sperle
  This planet is best known for the practise of hunting titanic amoeba 
  colonies called ‘Sperle Whales’, which can be processed into 
  valuable Biochemicals. The General Development Corporation 
  invested in Sperle Whale processing factories, and now exert 
  almost total control over the government. 
  Patron: Free Sperle Society
  Mission: Establish a smuggling route off Sperle so they can 
  bypass the GeDeCo-owned shipping companies.
  Reward: Sperle moves three steps towards Haven.
  Umemii
  Bypassed by Imperial traders, Umemii is a parched world, with 
  most civilisation clustered around the salty brown lakes near the 
  southern pole. The Umemiites have an extremely strict caste 
  system based on age – anyone over the age of fifty instantly 
  drops to Social Standing 2. 
  Patron: Thona Zorn
  Mission: Disable the starport at Tanith, Acrid or Cordan, thus 
  forcing Imperial trade ships to stop at Umemii and bringing 
  prosperity to this barren world.
  Reward: Umemii becomes Friendly.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/08 - Mongoose Traveller/Third Party Materials/Adventures/The Pirates of Drinax - Adventure/Pirates of Drinax 6 - The Game of Sun and Shadow.pdf