TEXT: By Filamena Young
  A Twilight Sector Adventure
  Traveller Guy (order #10464794)
  
  CREDITS
  AUTHORS
  Filamena Young
  EDITING & LAYOUT
  Michael J Cross & Matthew Vercant
  CARTOGRAPHY
  Ashok Desai
  INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS
  Earl Geier
  COVER
  NASA/ courtesy of nasaimages.org
  SPECIAL THANKS
  To my husband David, and my girls
  Tina and Crimefighter.
  Ancient Trails
  So It Begins
  A Twilight Sector Adventure
  CONTENTS
  REMNANTS OF THE PAST 
  2
  INTRODUCTION 
  2
  THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. MARY OF MARS 
  2
  PROFESSOR ELSIE ITCHER 
  4
  TRAVEL WITH THE EQUIPMENT 
  6
  CHILDREN OF ORION 
  7
  MASSIVE PIRATE/SMUGGLER OPERATION 
  7
  STEWART WYATT - PIRATE CELEBRANT 
  10
  THE GAEAN GROUP 
  11
  DOCTOR MIRIAM SOPHIE 
  12
  TO THE JUNKYARD 
  14
  HEADING TO THE EXPERIMENTAL MINE 
  17
  THE SMUGGLER SHIP 
  18
  REACHING THE EXPERIMENTAL MINE 
  20
  CASH AND PRIZES 
  20
  “Traveller” and the Traveller logo are Trademarks owned by Far Future Enterprises, Inc. and are used according to the terms of the
  Traveller Logo Licence version 1.0c. A copy of this licence can be obtained from Mongoose Publishing. The mention or reference to
  any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.
  Product Identity:  The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a,
  Section 1(e) and are not open content: All trademarks or registered trademarks, proper names (characters, organizations etc.),
  dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open
  Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.)
  Open Content:  Except for material designated as product identity (see above) any game mechanics are Open Game Content as
  defined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a section 1(d).  No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open
  Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
  Twilight Sector: Somnium Mundus is published by Terra/Sol Games LLC under the Open Game License version 1.0a section
  Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast Inc. Terra/Sol Games LLC, the Terra/Sol Games logo and the Twilight Sector logo are
  trademarks of Terra/Sol Games LLC © 2009 Terra/Sol Games.
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  Introduction
  This adventure takes place in the VanKilla Kiertotahti system in
  the Twilight Sector of the Twilight Sector Campaign Setting. It is
  meant for a Player Character group that either has or is in charge
  of a ship. Beyond the initial scene where the Players are
  presented with the job and store the cargo this is a non-linier
  adventure. Although the layout of this adventure is linier the
  encounters can be employed by the Game Master in any order.
  The University of St. Mary of Mars
  Orbiting on the outer belt of the VanKilla Kietotahti system is the
  secondary campus of the University of St. Mary Of Mars. Designed
  and built after the first campus – located in Kansas City on
  Terra/Sol – this campus is more modern through necessity and
  design (it is a space station after all), yet most of the students
  and faculty prefer the venerable main campus with its limestone
  buildings and old European feel.
  The secondary campus features most of the school’s higher level
  engineering classes and anyone who’s anyone in the Twilight
  Sector mining industry graduated from St. Mary of Mars. Their
  classes in mining technologies are so competitive that students
  often wait years to get in unless familial donations to the school
  or internal connections get them preferential treatment. Every
  year the Dean of Engineers hands out a special grant to one
  disadvantaged student in the sector. The grant pays their tuition
  in the Engineering program and carries a built in internship with
  one of the major mining companies in the area. The program has
  come under scrutiny in recent years since not one of these special
  students have graduated, there has been one suicide attempt,
  and in the grant’s history, it has never gone to a Natural Mutant
  or a Scientifically Induced Mutant.
  Despite the air of intense competition among the engineering
  students and some political disputes over school policy, St. Mary’s
  itself is actually quite beautiful. At its conception, a renowned
  architect was brought in for interior design, and many of the
  school’s corridors, classrooms, and dorms are designed with
  ascetics in mind. Bright walls fill the space with light, and though
  St. Mary’s is a space station, the rooms are so carefully lighted
  they give the impression the station is on a planet perpetually in
  the midst of its brightest spring day. Greek-style mosaics and
  columns live harmoniously with the most advanced computer
  technology. Everything has a feel of otherworldly disconnection.
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  Like Athens in an alternate dimension, these halls of learning
  challenge both old ideas and new concepts.
  The result is staggering and quite impressive to a new visitor. The
  staff and long term student body have their own opinions, of
  course. Because it is a closed system, cleaning and dusting seems
  to be a constant problem thanks to a hiccup in the ventilation
  system and grime seems to build up quickly in the complicated
  architectural features, keeping the cleaning bots perpetually one
  step behind. The technology of the communications systems
  traveling between parts of the station is cutting edge. So cutting
  edge, in fact, that much of it hadn’t been well tested before it was
  installed. Much of it was installed just to say that the university
  has the highest tech available. That said, maintenance teams are
  regularly scrambling to keep up with the bugs in the system and
  it sometimes leaves students and staff living rather primitively as
  a consequence.
  Professor Elsie Itcher
  "You have to understand, son, that when you dig into the heart of a planet, you will find the value
  and wealth of its heart blood. But that is not all you will find."
  Professor Elsie Itcher will contact the characters through usual
  channels offering them a job as they pass through the system.
  She has some valuable mining equipment, very delicate, that
  needs to be transported to a mining facility on the other side of
  the Outer Belt. She impresses upon the characters the need for
  care in transporting the equipment as it is highly sensitive and
  handling often disturbs the precisely calibrated sensors.
  Personality
  Itcher is a shockingly intelligent woman, which is evidenced by
  her massive vocabulary, fluid manner of speech, and extensive
  knowledge in her own field as well as many others. She is not one
  to bore people with useless details; in fact she is rather to the
  point, knowing exactly the right words to describe a situation for
  maximum verbal efficiency. Still, there is something distant and
  dreamy in her eyes and left to her own she will wax poetic about
  art, literature and history. She comes across somewhat ‘touched’
  or living in two worlds, making her strangely suited to the odd
  setting of the University.
  History and Motivation
  Itcher is a SIM with an experimental intelligence based gene
  modification. As a child she was diagnosed with a type of early
  onset Alzheimer’s that would eventually rob her of her intelligence.
  Her parents sought out the modification in the hopes that it would
  save her diseased mind. It did, and then some. Her mutation is a
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  custom blueprint with some odd side effects. She dreams
  strangely. More than that, she dreams in words. These
  disconnected collections of poetry or verse have no human record
  that she can find and she is certain she didn’t create them herself.
  She’s no poet. She seeks their source, and though she will not go
  venturing off wildly to chase leads, she has been known to put
  proxies into some dangerous predicaments all in the name of
  satisfying her curiosity. By sending the characters on this very
  simple delivery run through treacherous space, she is testing the
  characters to see if they might be valuable in the future.
  "...Why do you assume the things that you cannot know must sleep,
  But if so, then sleep we do,
  and in sleep we hunger.
  Hunger is the root of creation,
  and so we are [at] the root of creation..."
  –Transcribed by Professor Elsie Itcher
  Travel with the Equipment
  Ask the player characters what methods they’re using in order to
  secure the equipment within their ship’s cargo hold. Most of the
  cargo’s bulk is three desk-sized computer units that have not
  been crated or otherwise packed. When the equipment is loaded,
  the loaders say that’s the professor’s orders so that the
  equipment can be regularly checked in transit. One particularly
  fragile piece, a special kind of laser measuring unit is little more
  then an incredibly expensive laser mounted on a tripod-like a
  video camera. The cost of this particular piece to mining
  companies could buy and sell a small fleet.
  Let the players come up with their own plan for securing the cargo.
  Helpful skills would include Engineering, Jack of All Trades and
  Mechanic with a task difficulty of Very Difficult (-4). Or in lieu of
  those skills an Intelligence Characteristic roll with a task difficulty
  of Formidable (-6). The plan should be played as a Task Chain
  (Traveller Core Rule Book pg. 51) of at least 2 or 3 steps.
  Encourage players to Aid one another (Traveller Core Rule Book
  pg. 50). The Game Master should feel free to give positive or
  negative Situational Modifiers (Traveller Core Rule Book pg. 49)
  based on the quality of the Players plan or any aids (for example
  tools) they can bring to bear on the situation.
  Once the characters have put their plan into action and taken care
  of storing the equipment, it’s off to the mining facility at whatever
  speed the players deem appropriate.
  They are not, however, alone.
  Sometime after breaking away from the University’s region of
  space, and outside of any security the University might have, a
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  ship begins to follow the characters. They are patrolling the area
  outside of University space hoping to pilfer new technology from
  outgoing ships.
  In this situation give the characters a chance to notice the fact
  that they’re being followed. Depending on rolls, they might even
  be able to identify the ship as a Child of Orion’s ship (if they roll
  an Exceptional Success, Traveller Core Rulebook pg. 50), in which
  case they may decide to tip the scales in their favor. On a
  particularly bad roll (an Exceptional Failure), the characters may
  assume the ship is sent from the school to insure they aren’t
  going to steal the equipment. In the last case they will be
  completely surprised when the pirates attack. Appropriate skill
  rolls might be Sensors or Engineering; Electronics to gain detailed
  info on the trailing ship, or Comms skill to overhear the ship’s
  communications back to other Children’s ships.
  Again, this is a chance for the characters to try creative tactics to
  get an edge over the pirates. They might utilize near by asteroids
  to duck behind or a magnetic field coming from a group of
  asteroids as a means of evading the trailing ship and exhibiting
  some real daring-do. GMs might want to run this portion of the
  encounter as opposed checks between the players Pilot (Pilot;
  spacecraft) skill against the pirates pilot’s skill. Perhaps give the
  winning side in the opposed check a point for a success (or 2 for
  a formidable success) against the other and when one side gets
  to +5 they have either evaded or caught up with the other’s ship.
  Feel free to let the players be creative. Using Sensor skills to
  accurately track the pirate ship or communications to try and jam
  their sensors, a GM could give the players’ pilot pluses to his or
  her skill roll.
  If the characters manage to avoid the pirates entirely, it will only
  be their first brush, and they will be hunted for some time. Game
  Masters should feel free to keep bringing the Children’s ship back
  into play whenever the action lags. The fight is all but inevitable,
  but in the meantime, the characters can have a run in with the
  Gaean Group.
  Children of Orion
  Massive pirate/smuggler Operation
  The Children of Orion are, as they like to call themselves, a
  ‘planet-free political and ethnic nation.’ Most planet or system-
  based policing forces see them as roving gangs at best, or more
  commonly as a dangerous criminal enterprise with so many heads
  and such a complicated structure there is simply no good way to
  stop them entirely. Like a hydra, if a family head  is brought to
  justice, two more appear to replace and avenge him.
  Rev. Ezekiel Okafur
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  They are brutal and violent in piracy, but also in politics. Most ship
  captains and fleet admirals (or as they call them, family heads,)
  are law savvy and know just how to protect themselves in case
  of arrest and find ways out of even the most dramatic legal
  trouble. Most authorities see the Children of Orion as such
  nuisances that they let them slip through the system rather then
  get into the legal nightmare of trying to hold them. Less legally
  minded systems tend to shoot first and would rather destroy a
  Child’s ship than hassle with the law.
  Of course, the Children have a means of combating that as well.
  Being politically-minded, when such attacks are leveled against a
  Child’s ship, they often start on a media-based attack on the
  planet or system involved, crying out against the ‘racially charged’
  assaults and accusing their attackers of attempted genocide. This
  sort of assault has caused reparations be paid to the pirates and
  many worlds just won’t risk having to deal with such an onslaught.
  The Children feel no guilt in using any of these tactics, physical or
  political, because they truly believe that they are the spiritual
  inheritors of the Terra/Sol system. They believe that they are the
  decedents of Orion, and that they were wrongly chased from their
  home world long ago. Much of their patchwork ‘culture’ is based
  on an elaborate myth of the planet. They attempt to stylize their
  clothing, ships, and even their elaborate tattooing to remind
  anyone looking at them that they are ‘ancient natives’ to the
  region.
  It is, of course, a lot of bunk. There is no scientific evidence of
  any original inhabitants of the world and all but fringe
  anthropologists are certain that if there ever was prior human
  habitation of Terra/Sol it was certainly not the Children (though
  the media backlash the Children render to anyone foolish enough
  to publish or speak about it is often not worth the effort to
  demonstrate that fact.). It is far more likely that early in
  Terra/Sol’s history, ancestors of the pirates squatted in system.
  Most likely they were driven off as the system developed and
  willfully chose to create the myth of their origins in order to give
  credence to their criminal activities. While there might be
  Children alive who are in on the gag, most believe in their fake
  heritage with religious fervor.
  Children of Orion Ships
  The Children are flying a Corsair (Traveller Core Rule Book, pg.
  129) named Bloom of Terra.
  Stewart Wyatt
  Pirate Captain
  S: 10(+1) D: 9(+1) EN: 6  I: 11(+1) ED: 9(+1) S: 6
  Skills: Gun Combat, Energy Rifle 1, Leadership 2, Gunner;
  Turrets 1, Astrogation 1, Computer 0, Advocate 0, Vacc Suit 1,
  Zero-G 1
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  Finances: 738,000 cr
  Equipment: Hostile Environment Vacc Suit (TL12, protection 8)
  which is equipped with Magnetic Grapples/Computer Weave
  (TL11)/Medikit/Laser Com (TL13). Laser Carbine (TL11), 2 Stun
  Grenades
  Pirate Crewman
  Pirate Spacehand
  S: 9(+1) D: 8 EN: 7 I: 8 ED: 8 S: 5
  Skills: Gun Combat; Energy Pistol 1, Pilot 1 or Navigation 1 or
  Gunner; Turrets 1, Jack of all Trades 1
  Finances: N/A
  Equipment: Laser Pistol (TL11), Vacc Suit (TL12 Protection 6), 2
  Stun Grenades
  Pirate Crewman
  Pirate Marine
  S: 11(+1) D: 8 EN: 8 I: 7 ED: 8 S: 4
  Skills: Melee (Bludgeon), Stun Baton 0, Gun Combat Rifle (slug)
  1
  Finances: N/A
  Equipment: Stick, Assault Rifle, Vacc Suit (TL12 Protection 6), 2
  Stun Grenades
  Children’s Tactics
  While there are instances of Children Captains deploying any
  number of tactics to get to their quarry, some general guidelines
  apply, especially when it comes to attacks the characters will face
  in this encounter.
  Do it fast
  The longer a combat goes on the more chance that the quarry
  ship will escape. Extended chases do happen, but the longer that
  chase goes on, the more likely other matters will confound the
  Children. Authorities or allies might get involved. Something on
  the Child’s ship might break down. As such there are no warning
  shots. No early messages for surrender. The Children follow, and
  when they have an opening— as soon as they have an opening —
  they swoop in and empty everything they have on their quarry.
  That said, most survivors of a Child’s attack survive because they
  withstood that first strike.
  Cut and run
  If the first strike was unsuccessful, and the Children believe they
  were not recognized for what they are, they may back off entirely,
  letting the ship move on and harry the quarry until a more ideal
  time and place to attack arises. If none does the Children’s ship
  still lives to fight another day.
  The tech is all that matters
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  Ransom and slavery are little used tools in the Children’s
  philosophy. When the Children attack their interest is in their
  quarry’s ship, its cargo and technology. Usually all other concerns
  are forgotten.
  Leave no trace
  Survivors create a witness to the crime, so misdirection is crucial.
  Massive casualties would demand a reaction from the authorities
  so it’s imperative for the Children to leave no trace of their actions.
  So identification of ships or personnel has to be avoided.
  Electronic detection methods like video or scanner recordings are
  wiped immediately. Personal recording devices like Neural
  Computers are more problematic and that’s where the Children’s
  expertise in Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) technology serves them
  well. No captured ship is ever freed without being subjected to an
  EMP blast. Other security measures like never revealing faces or
  leaving DNA evidence are observed. And given the nature of Child
  culture they always have someone to provide them an alibi. If no
  one can provide any evidence as to their guilt any accusations
  cast against the Children must be lies or more likely prejudice,
  right?
  Stewart Wyatt - Pirate Celebrant
  “What is there to fear from their illusionary authority? We are the inheritors of the Galaxy. Now,
  blow a hole in their port side, let's give 'em something to think about.”
  Once Stewart is sure that the characters are carrying valuable
  technology, he will close in for the kill. Evasive maneuvers or just
  doing nothing at all are all the ‘proof’ he needs, so he will close in
  no matter what the characters do.
  Stewart Wyatt lives by a ‘shoot first and pick apart the bones for
  answers’ creed. If someone has something he wants, or he
  believes they have something he wants, he will not hesitate to
  hunt them to the end of the universe to take it. His methods are
  all out, every time. His current ship, “The True Believer,” is not his
  first as he has lost ships and crews to his quests. His no-holds-
  bared attitude makes him a revered figure among the Children,
  though he has never risen too much political power because he is
  simply too careless to be given authority over anything larger
  than one ship at a time. He is a poster child for how a Child should
  behave while at the same time held up as an example to outsiders
  of just how dangerous they can be.
  Motivation
  Stewart lives from one single-minded quest after another and so
  in times when he has nothing to fixate on he will find something.
  In this case, discovering what the characters are transporting and
  stealing it is his newest quest. He will not stop pursuing, though
  he will be careful to only confront them in space where they
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  cannot hope for backup from local law enforcement. His passion
  is singular, but should the characters realize who he is, they may
  be able to use his methods and madness against him. Killing him
  is only one method to get rid of him once and for all, and the
  characters should be encouraged to find other ways to sate his
  madness.
  The Gaean Group
  The Gaeans are a group of females who founded a society in 2138.
  The original Gaean colony was established on a space station in
  orbit around Earth’s moon. Perhaps unsurprisingly, A group of
  women living without benefit of men raised suspicions and fear
  among many. This was compounded when it was discovered that
  the Gaeans were reproducing through the use of exo-wombs.
  Many men were frightened by a human society in which they
  ostensibly had no role. Rumors began to spread of a radical
  agenda being surreptitiously promoted by the Gaeans advocating
  the elimination of males in human society. Even wilder rumors of
  kidnapping of males for biological experiments and worse spread
  through the solar system. As time went by most of these were
  chalked up to urban legend, but even today there is distrust
  among a significant number of people regarding the Gaeans.
  Since the first widespread development of natural mutations,
  there have been mutants saddled with flaws that make life more
  difficult. Not all mutations are a positive thing, after all, and
  because they are effectively a part of the person’s genetic
  makeup, there are some problems that cannot be fixed if they are
  indeed fixable.
  Testosterone allergies in female mutants are not common, but it
  is ubiquitous, and tragically it is a side effect of other mutations
  that nearly always pass from mother to female offspring. At it’s
  most mild manifestation, this allergy is undetected, leaving the
  female mutant in question to suffer mild flu-like symptoms in the
  presence of any being giving off testosterone. Because these
  women produce little or no natural testosterone they are often
  small in stature. Combined with sick frequently their condition
  can be passed off as just a part of their ‘fragile nature.’
  Forty years ago, a group of Gaean doctors studying mutational
  trends as they related to women’s health noticed the percentage
  of female mutants who regularly suffered bone and ovarian
  cancer and how those cancers came after a lifetime of illness. This
  led to the discovery of the testosterone allergy. Because in many
  cases the allergy is a double whammy, effecting only minorities
  (mutants) who are also women, many female doctors and
  scientists worried that the illness, which often resulted in
  premature and ghastly deaths of its victims, wasn’t being taken
  seriously. That’s when the Gaeans stepped in.
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  Twenty five years ago the Gaean group established an orbital
  research colony around VanKilla Kietotahti where women could
  live in an environment mostly free of testosterone while helping
  to bring about an end to the mutation. Over time, fewer and
  fewer purely human scientists and doctors became involved with
  the studies as even their low-level of testosterone might harm
  truly sensitive mutants. A generation of women have lived and
  worked together at the colony, with donors, cloning and exo-
  wombs used to create the next generation of females for the
  station.
  In fact, for the station, male DNA and testosterone samples are
  a regular import as they are used in clinical studies, careful
  reproduction, or in an attempt to find a strain of DNA that
  produced testosterone the mutants can stand.
  After years of accusations of man-hating and insults many Gaeans
  have developed a level of indifference toward men that borders
  on dislike. This is most common among the Gaean Research
  Vessels that must most closely deal with the outside mentality in
  order to collect DNA or bring mutants suffering from the allergy
  to the colony.
  The Gaean Research Ship
  The Nightingale is a Research Ship (See Traveller Core Rule Book
  pg 121 for stats) outfitted with all the latest scientific bells and
  whistles. Visitors are not given the run of the ship. They enter
  through the bridge and are quickly whisked to Cargo Bay 3 where
  they fill out a questionnaire and then to First Lab 5 where any
  medical or other procedures necessary are done.
  Doctor Miriam Sophie - Gaean Researcher
  "Yes, yes. Very clever. I've certainly never heard that vulgarity before. Your puerile sense of
  humor has once again left me speechless. Now, do we have a deal, or will I have to contact the
  advocacy group to sue you for malicious breach of contract?"
  When the characters encounter the Gaean group, the woman they
  will encounter is Doctor Sophie. Like many other effected mutants,
  she is diminutive and child-like at first blush. However, she’s
  pushing a hundred and fifty now, and has suffered enough slings
  and arrows as the commander of a research vessel to carry
  herself with far more menace and stoicism then might normally
  fit her small frame. Over the years she has been harassed,
  mocked and even assaulted all while trying to seek a better life
  for women like her. She lives daily with the clock ticking away
  moments of her life before some part of her mutation brings on
  a slow and agonizing death. She is driven like few people.
  Personality
  In interactions with peers, the ill, women, and mutants she has a
  soft if sad bedside manner. When dealing with authoritarian men,
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  dismissive scientists and anyone behaving crudely, she is short,
  cold and harsh. She’s been at this a very long time and does not
  engage in pleasantries nor can she be baited into a fury by slurs
  or insults. There are women on her ship who through training or
  mutation are quite capable warriors. Sophie is not and knows it.
  When she comes to a table to deal with anyone less then receptive
  to her bargains she leans on outsmarting them and is not above
  blackmail, legal threats, or other intellectual aggression to get her
  way. In at least a few instances, she has sent particularly brazen
  and misogynistic men away from her ship who later met their end
  at mercenaries she secretly hired. She has taken an oath not to
  kill, but does believe in the preemptive self defense that has
  saved her life more than a few times.
  Goals
  As it stands, the doctor is on a quest for medical Eldorado and she
  has no illusions that her goals will be reached in her lifetime. Her
  goal is, instead, to lay the groundwork for future generations of
  women to be rid of this debilitating mutation. She has collected
  samples far and wide and has taken her ship into war-torn space
  to transport a single mutant safely back to the colony. Her crew
  is loyal to her unto death. Her contacts are widespread and so
  moved by her sad mission that they are greatly and easily
  influenced by her requests. People all over Known Space will
  practically kill for her, a thing she is well aware of. When she first
  meets the characters, if they are receptive to her proposal of
  exchange and behave in a respectful manner she will make a
  fantastic contact both in the medical/scientific fields and in the
  political arena. If they are crude, cruel, or violent in their
  response they will have made a very powerful enemy indeed.
  Complications
  Ÿ If the players find themselves on the Gaean ship (or anywhere
  else for that matter) providing samples or for any other reason,
  they could be approached by a young girl. She seems a little
  taller and more robust than the average Gaean. The girl will
  approach one or a group of Player Characters when they are
  alone. Her name is Diana and she will ask the Player Characters
  to take her with them. She’s only 17 and is desperate to get
  out and see the galaxy. The situation calls for clever diplomacy
  and a little fast talking no matter what the players decide.
  Ÿ The Player Characters could become involved when a guy who
  had originally agreed to provide a biological sample (either on
  the Gaean ship or off) decides not to go through with it and
  gets violent. A fight could erupt when the Players come to the
  Gaeans defense and some of the guys friends come to his
  defense.
  A variation of the above could involve the guy having already been
  subdued by the Gaeans. They offer the Player Characters a
  thousand credits to take him to the nearest station or the Players
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  next stop the Gaeans don’t really care; they just want him off
  their hands. All the way to where ever the Players are taking him
  he complains about “those lying, thieving bimbos” (feel free to
  insert any colorful language of your choice here) and how they
  stole his mining claim.
  Irate Miner
  S: 9(+1) D: 8 EN: 9 (+1) I: 9 ED: 7 S: 7
  Skills: Melee; Unarmed Combat 1, Comm 1, Computer 0, Pilot 1,
  Broker 0
  Finances: 28,500 credits deposited in the Miners Belt Bank, a
  branch of which is located here in the outer ring of VanKilla
  Kiertotahti
  Equipment: Cloth (TL10, Protection 5)
  To The Junkyard
  After fighting with, or avoiding the Children of Orion, the
  characters should come across the unfortunate fact that some
  part of the laser measuring system in the professor’s delicate
  equipment has bumped a bulkhead, another piece of equipment
  or seemingly nothing at all and has therefore broken.
  At that point they might contact the professor to explain, or she
  might contact them in order to see how things are going.
  Professor Itcher isn’t as angry as the PCs might expect. She
  states that some amount of breakage was anticipated and that
  they’re not far from a place they can pick up a replacement sensor.
  She gives them coordinates and thanks them for only breaking
  just the one sensor.
  The coordinates are to a small dense planetoid at the edge of the
  outer belt. It creates just enough gravity to serve as a good ship
  graveyard but too small to have much value on its own. Huge
  robotic towing ships drag abandoned refuse and abandoned ships
  or part of ships into the planetoid’s gravity as a means of
  containing the debris and keep the rest of space uncluttered.
  Ships of every make and model float in the junkyard from a
  hundred years back or more and a clever scrounger could likely
  find just about any kind of part a ship might need.
  With a sky full of pirates, smugglers, mercenaries and other
  desperate souls with a shoot-first philosophy what keeps the
  junkyard from being completely stripped of its value? In part, it’s
  because a preponderance of the floating junkyard is just that –
  junk. It takes a clever eye to find the pieces of value in the mess,
  and most just don’t have the time to find and track the debris.
  Only the caretaker has a good tracking system established to
  follow the valuable or possibly valuable wreckage. But more than
  that, the junkyard’s caretaker has his own unique approach to
  security.
  Traveller Guy (order #10464794)
  
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  Traveller Guy (order #10464794)
  
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  All throughout the debris the caretaker has planted chargers.
  Whole ships or parts are rigged to blow for the most massive
  damage possible to anything around. The theory goes that trying
  to plunder the yard may result in nothing happening, or it may
  result in the caretaker spotting you and blowing up several ships
  around you adding your ship and your corpses to the yard. It’s
  happened, at least enough times that the caretaker’s tactics are
  widely known. For that reason even the Children of Orion deal
  with the caretaker rather than risk their ships.
  Beyond its use for spare parts, smugglers frequent the yard to lay
  low or regroup after or before a good run. More than a few
  smuggler ships in the region are designed in a way that they can
  float into the yard and power down most of their external power
  to appear like just another derelict. The Children of Orion have
  used this specific technique to ambush targets coming to poke
  around the yard. The caretaker has never hindered such an
  ambush though he has never specifically endorsed the practice
  either.
  Buddy Bricker - Junkyard
  Caretaker
  Buddy is a peculiar kind of trade rat. Since childhood he had a
  fascination with technology, though, specifically with taking
  technology apart to see how it works. Unfortunately for Buddy, he
  did not have a fascination with putting devices back together or
  improving on design. Mostly, he just liked picking things apart.
  His family didn’t have much in the way of money or standing, but
  his uncle ran a salvage operation out of the junkyard and by the
  time he was a boy able to handle space flight his parents pawned
  him off to his uncle so he’d stop picking apart their home
  computer.
  Buddy took to junk and salvage like a fish to somewhat-oil-
  slicked-water. He thrived with a keen eye for what value might
  still exist in any sort of wasted space trash. In short order, his
  uncle was looking to him for advice and shortly after that, retired
  in luxury from the business leaving Buddy in charge.
  However, a lone salvage ship wasn’t quite enough for Buddy. He
  imagined a future where he was the Emperor over an empire of
  trash, knowing it like a lover. From the moment he laid eyes on
  the junkyard, he knew it had to be his and began a jealous plot
  to be the go-to-man there.
  In a few years time he had the run of the yard, and hoped to pass
  his empire on to his eldest son someday. Now he’s a benevolent
  dictator of trash, however, and should the characters approach
  him to help them find the sensor equipment he’s happy to give
  them a good price. Laughing at his jokes go a long way with
  Buddy, and having a few good ones he hasn’t heard yet goes even
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  farther. If pushed, he will blow up any threat to his control,
  however, but with fair warning to the characters before it happens.
  Heading to the Experimental Mine
  After working with Buddy, the characters have made a good ally
  for future repair work or augmentation of their ship. The professor,
  if reported back to, will be pleased that they got such a good deal
  on the sensor parts and will reimburse them in kind.
  It all looks like smooth sailing to their final destination and be rid
  of all this delicate equipment once and for all.
  But things never go that smoothly, now do they?
  A little while before the characters’ ship leaves the area of the
  junkyard, a lone smuggler’s ship left, heading to a small asteroid
  with a clear shot at VanKila. Three months ago the captain’s
  brother had been sent there on what might be an indefinite
  sentence, and the smugglers think they can break him out. Their
  plan is only halfway thought out and will lead to nothing but death
  and collateral damage as they have little understanding of how
  the prison planet actually functions. They have three resupply
  torpedoes that they intend to fire towards the area where the
  captain’s brother told them he’d be. They are bio-locked so only
  the brother can open them. They contain guns and other weapons,
  a large supply of Oxyre, some computers and several data
  crystals with details on the Captain’s plan to swoop down on the
  planet and rescue the brother. They have also drastically
  underestimated the planet’s defenses.
  That’s not going to stop them from doing it, however.
  The first clue the characters get that something is amiss comes in
  the form of a problem with their communications system. Long
  range communication will fail suddenly, cutting off any local ships
  from contacting nearby authorities. If they look for the source of
  the block, the characters can trace it back to a smuggler’s ship
  putting out a signal. They’ll note a few other ships in the area as
  well, but with no way to contact these other ships, they won’t be
  able to tell what those other ships are doing.
  An astute search of the smuggler’s ship will indicate pretty quickly
  that they are setting up a platform on a nearby asteroid from
  which some sort of missile might be launched towards the prison
  planet. It isn’t going as quickly as the smuggler’s planned
  however, leaving the characters with a few choices.
  If they think their ship is fast enough, they could conceivably get
  to VanKila and warn the authorities in person. That’s a gamble,
  since there’s no good way of determining how long the assembly
  will take to create. They can also assault the smugglers head on
  if their ship is equipped for that. However, they have an idea that
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  the ship might be carrying some heavy fire power and it might be
  too much of a risk. Give the players a chance to discuss some
  creative alternatives to the problem, of course, but a GM can
  heighten the tension by setting an egg timer on the game table
  with no explanation, or keep checking her watch in order to give
  the appearance to a time limit without actually stating one is in
  effect.
  The Smuggler Ship
  The smugglers’ ship is called the Emerald Dawn and she’s a Fat
  Trader (Traveller Core Rulebook pg. 119). She has a basic military
  sensor array instead of the basic civilian array that is standard in
  this type of ship. She also has two single turrets with a beam laser
  in turret #1 and a sandcaster in turret #2.
  Rince Manc, Smuggler
  Rince loves his brother Tate more than life itself, and before Tate
  got pinched, he called the shots on the ship even though Rince
  has long been the technical captain. He’s good at managing a ship,
  managing the smuggling business is another thing entirely.
  Worse still for Rince, Tate’s wife had long ago gotten very used to
  living a certain lifestyle thanks to her husband’s business. Now,
  she is demanding the same quality of life from Rince. She is a
  woman with a loud, imposing personality and Rince doesn’t know
  how to tell her ‘no.’ He’s run himself ragged trying to please her
  while having only half of a good idea on how to run the business.
  It was his first mate’s suggestion that maybe they needed Tate
  back. Tate’s wife latched on to the idea and has been dogging
  Rince endlessly to rescue her poor husband. She’s never seen
  VanKila and knows little about it, assuming it to be an easy matter
  to land on and grab Tate. Rince knows a little better, but not much,
  and at this point he’s far more afraid of his sister-in-law than he
  is of the authorities on the prison world.
  That said, there is a small chance that the characters can talk
  Rince out of his plan, but only if they can find a way to contact
  him.
  Rince Manc
  Smuggler Captain
  S: 8 D: 9(+1) EN: 9(+1) I: 10(+1) ED: 9(+1) S: 7
  Skills: Pilot; Spacecraft 3, Navigation 1, Engineer; Jump Drive 1
  – Manuver Drive 0 – Electronics 0, Vacc Suit 1, Zero-G 1, Tactics
  1, Sensors 1
  Finances: 2.7 million credits in the Bank of Athena in the
  Terra/Sol System
  Equipment: Vacc Suit (TL14, protection 8) which is equipped
  with Magnetic Grapples/Computer Weave (TL11)/Medikit/Laser
  Com (TL13).
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  Traveller Guy (order #10464794)
  
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  Smuggler Crewman
  S: 9(+1) D: 8 EN: 7 I: 8 ED: 8 S: 5
  Skills: Gun Combat; Energy Pistol 1, Pilot 1 or Navigation 1 or
  Gunner; Turrets 1, Jack of all Trades 1
  Finances: N/A
  Equipment: Laser Pistol (TL11), Vacc Suit (TL12 Protection 6), 2
  Stun Grenades
  Reaching the Experimental Mine
  After dealing with the smugglers in one way or another, the
  characters reach the outer belt and are able to be rid of the
  equipment. Professor Itcher thanks them for their time and
  promises them work in the future. She then pays them whatever
  remainder of their pay may be waiting. She also says that one of
  the pieces of equipment looks unfamiliar to her, and she’s not
  sure where it came from. She’s happy to leave it with the
  characters to use as they like.
  Cash and Prizes
  Professor Itcher wants to reward the Players for their good work
  in the delivery of her cargo. She makes arrangements for the
  players to choose one of the following items for their ship:
  Ÿ A repair robot
  Ÿ A probe drone
  Ÿ An expert 2 computer program
  Ÿ A TL 12 Vacc Suit
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  Traveller Guy (order #10464794)
  
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  Traveller Guy (order #10464794)
  
  Traveller Guy (order #10464794)
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/08 - Mongoose Traveller/Third Party Materials/Campaigns & Settings/Twilight Sector/Ancient Trails/Ancient_Trails_So_It_Begins.pdf