Darkfin

Darkfin

Location	Allegiance	Starport	Climate	Atmosphere	Hydro %
(5.54, -12.57, -2.52)	Independent	III	Frigid	none	86%
Gravity	Diameter	Moons	Avg. Orbit R	Stars	Day Length
0.47	3,727	N/A	N/A	G6 IV	N/A
Population	Government	CR	TL	Resources	Year Length
920,000	AthDem	1/4	9	Abundant	N/A

Languages

Chinese Derived Dialect (“Darkfinese”), Esperanto

Background

The original colony expedition arrived in what would be called the Darkfin system only to find it devoid of readily inhabitable worlds. Their hyper-light drive was failing, and the prospect of returning to stasis for what might be centuries in their already broken down vessel seemed riskier than establishing a colony on a lifeless chunk of rock. Their choices were slim – two tiny planets close to the star or the largest moon orbiting the gas giant. They chose the latter.

The colony struggled at first, having to excavate the moon in order to create a small living space for themselves. The moon itself has more than sufficient resources for construction, and they soon found that basic organics were plentiful and metals were sufficient for tehier needs. Even so, the original colonists themselves had a hard time adapting to the environment, and many died due to living and working conditions.

The first generation lived a hand-to-mouth existence, each new project representing life or death to them. They suffered from bone degradation and muscle loss as well as along term radiation poisoning. They soon realized that, while they could survive, they could not thrive. Not wanting this for their children, they created a genetic upgrade for them, effectively creating a new race within a few generations.

It took several generations, but it was this new race who transformed Darkfin from a subsistence colony into a thriving enterprise. Although their technology had declined over the intervening centuries, they were able to enter into trade with other systems almost immediately after first contact.

 
Today, Darkfin is a well established world with regular trade. Although their base TL is 9, their starport facilities are TL10, and they use a fair number of TL10 items regularly. Their cloud skimmers - the gas mining ships used to obtain rare elements from the gas giant - no longer use fusion rockets, instead relying on imported reactionless engines.

The inhabitants of Darkfin are generally outgoing and friendly. They enjoy meeting offworlders, though they rarely leave their home system. In spite of their openness, there is a deep rooted conservatism to their society, which has contributed to the stagnation in their technological progress.

Darkfinners have a passion for competitive martial arts, enjoying both low-G and zero-G matches. Most of them have at least dabbled in it, as it is part of the physical fitness curriculum in their schools. There are three main styles practiced, and competition among the schools is intense.

Their other passion is for racing old fusion-rocket skimmers. Other systems have similar traditions, and Darkfinners host a race every 5 standard years which usually draws as many as 20 ot 30 foreign skimmers. The occasional Darkfinner will travel for outside races, in which they generally perform well.

Local cuisine is derivative of Chinese food, though all of the protein is plant-based. Most offworlders find at least some of it appealing, and, while it can often be very spicy, there are many dishes which are best described as flavorful rather than hot. The local spirit of choice is a marijuana infused gin.

Port of Darkfin (Class III)

Darkfin has only a small, class III downport. There are surface installations, but the bulk of the port is subterranean. It is sufficient to handle their modest trade volume as well as their skimmers. The facility itself is TL10, though its resources are limited, particularly in the parts it maintains. Common parts are readily available. Rarer parts are unlikely to be had, though there are limited facilities to produce or modify specialty parts.

Government

Darkfin is technically a corporate state. The colony mission was founded as a corporation, with each member having a certain number of shares. Over the first two generations, the corporate charter was revised, and shares (which amount to citizenships) were held equally by everyone who has reached the age of majority.

Every major, and most minor, decisions are voted on collectively. The populace debates individual issues and determines policy. They do have leaders, vestigially given corporate titles. There is a CEO, who is responsible for making global “strategic” decisions on how to implement policy (often subject to approval of the masses), a COO who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Darkfin, and a CFO, who is responsible for their financial welfare. Administrators are appointed for certain operations. There are administrators in charge of port operations, agriculture, mining, and processing.

Not everything is run by the corporation or subject to direct approval of the citizenry. Small businesses, in particular, are independent (though still subject to regulation and legislation). Most of these are in the service industries, providing entertainment, luxuries, etc., to the populace.

The local laws are generally lax, allowing freedom of action wherever possible. However, there are strict regulations on weapons, particularly those which could damage facilities.

Religion

Most of the populace follows a local variant of Zen Buddhism. Even those who do not subscribe to the religion itself tend to follow the philosophy.

Darkfin Racial Template (59 points)

The Darkfin racial template evolved over several generations through a series of genetic upgrades. As a result, Darkfinners are not compatible with most human-descended races or sub-species. Darkfinners are tall, with vaguely Asiatic features.

Attributes: ST -2 [-20]; DX +1 [20]; HT +1 [10].

Secondary Attributes: HP +1 [2].

Advantages: Compact Frame [1]; Double Jointed [5]; Long Arms [20]; Long Legs [10]; No Muscle or Bone loss in low-G [1]; Radiation Tolerance 2 [5]; Resistant (Disease +8) [5].

Features: Increase height by up to 2’ over the norm for the lowered ST, but weight is

15% to 25% lower than normal. Their compact frame allows them tosqueeze into places that normal people can’t fit, but this is balanced by their extra height (needing to duck under

doors and so on).

5-April-2019

4 XP awarded

Session Notes:

The session began just after the Dog jumped in-system. Their inbound eta to Berertovsk colony was 4 hours. En route, they used passive scanners to search for the Raven. Mr. Misu's skill with sensors enabled them to not only spot the Raven, but also to note that its auxiliary craft had launched. Shortly after that launch, the boat disappeared, apparently after activating some sort of cloak.

 

After about an hour, the Raven docked with Berertovsk Highport. They decided to follow the Raven into the station. A vessel like the Dog has little legitimate business in a corporate owned system such as this. They chose resupply as their ostensible purpose.

 

Once docked, Mr. Misu was able to use his superlative hacking skills to obtain security feed of the Raven's docking bay. Station security prevented most weapons and armor, which included placing a “blocker” in the cell-port of Hallgrim's plasma weapon. Irving had more luck smuggling in a couple of minor weapons along with a slew of drugs.

 

Once inside, they tracked one member of the Raven's crew who had left the vessel. They identified her as Kae Akaki, the ship's engineer. She went to an odd place called Kenjak's Ladel, which server many types of soup as well as liquor. Ms. Akaki went to the bar and began drinking.

 

The party took turns watching her from the inside, while the rest lurked in an indoor park which provided a decent view of the entrance to Kenjak's Ladel. After 3 hours, Halgrimm decided to approach her.

 

Halgrimm tried a series of terrible pick-up lines which seemed somehow increasingly endearing to her. They shared a couple of drinks, and a handful of even worse lines, before she asked Halgrimm back to her ship. As a show of being tough, he removed the “blocker” on his cell-port and replaced the cell once they had passed through security.

 

Halgrimm then endured what he considered to be somewhat unpleasant sex; Kae seemed satisfied, however. Afterward she fell asleep. He drugged her to ensure she remained that way. He then scoped out what appeared to be the main living area, where he found a room with 4 nano-stasis chambers. He dragged Kae to one and put her into stasis.

 

He then found a trio of doors. The center, he reasoned, was the access port to the bridge. After trying the single button without success, he decided to blast a hole in it. Very shortly thereafter, a bot came to repair the damages.

 

Meanwhile, the crew of the Dog headed to the Raven. They breezed through security and decided to take the ship. After a brief battle – in which they disabled two heavy combat robots and removing the ship's AI physically – they had the ship. Without hesitation, they took off.

 

As they debated whether or not to go after the crew, the aux craft hailed them – it was returning from “a successful mission.”

That is where the session ended.

Berertovsk

Location	Allegiance	Starport	Climate	Atmosphere	Hydro %
(4.06, 7.7, 5.62)	Mittelsohn	IV	Infernal	Very Thin	71%
Gravity	Diameter	Moons	Avg. Orbit R	Stars	Day Length
0.76	6,027	None	0.88	G1 V	22 h
Population	Government	CR	TL	Resources	Year Length
200 million	Corporate	5	11	Average	295 d

Languages

Amerish, Esperanto

Background

Berertovsk was passed over during the initial waves of expansion as various long-settled systems began searching for worlds to colonize. With its very thin atmosphere and extreme temperatures, it would take centuries to terraform, and its resource value simply did not justify the expense in either time or resources. That was until a sizable pocket of relatively accessible radioactives was found.

The mining interests on Beretovsk were claimed over 200 years ago by a small prospector. They quickly sold out to the highest bidder, which happened to be Mittelsohn. Mittelsohn wasn’t simply interested in the radioactives, but also in the native flora. They used the mining income to fund research into potential agricultural and pharmacological uses for the local flora.

Settlement of Berertovsk was divided into two colonies. The first and oldest is the mining colony of Trevolia. The second is the research colony of Purgatorio. While Trevolia is filled with offworlders of many origins, Purgatorio is inhabited mostly by Berertovsk Lightworlders.

The Berertovsk Lightworlders, or “Lizzies,” were genetically engineered to survive on the surface of Berertovsk to aid with the research mission of Purgatorio. They are a mixture of local, reptile, and human DNA.

The Lizzies are a dull gold and silver scaled humanoids with long tails. Their faces resemble a cross between a human and a spiny lizard, with independently focusing eyes and sharp teeth. Their fingers and toes end in nimble blunt claws. Some of them work in the mines, but most remain in their home “gardens.”

In recent years, there have been labor disputes between miners in Trevolia and Mittelsohn. There is also an underground movement to free the Lizzies known as the Bright Sun, which has been blamed for a number of recent terrorist attacks. It is not clear as to whether Bright Sun is connected with the labor disputes.

Port of Berertovsk (Class IV)

The Port of Berertovsk is really three separate installations. The first, and most commonly visited, is the high port. It is typical of corporate run ports: ships with business on Berertovsk are asked few questions beyond those required to collect duties and point them in the correct

direction. Ships without any obvious business are treated with suspicion and closely watched, as are their crews.

The second installation is the busy downport in Trevolia. Transport vessels are constantly coming and going. Trevolia itself is the startown, as it is the central hub of, and eponym for, the colony. Passenger traffic is low, as is usual for a corporate-run facility. For most residents (employees), travel must be authorized by the company.

The amenities in Trevolia cater more to the rough-and-tumble stereotype of miners; Trevolia is not a tourist destination. Brothels, saloons, etc., are common. However, there are also several fine dining establishments, decent hotels, dance clubs, theaters, and the like, in sufficient quantity to meet the demands of the locals and offworlders combined.

The third installation is at Purgatorio. It is restricted to Mittelsohn traffic, though there are sufficient exceptions made for there to be accommodations for offworlders. It is fairly utilitarian in nature, serving local needs only.

Government

Berertovsk is run by Mittelsohn, AG. Locally, administration is broken down from SOO (System Operations Officer), VP in charge of Trevolia, and the VP in charge of Purgatorio. The official corporate offices, and therefore the seat of government, are in Trevoilia.

Religion

Mittelsohn has no corporate or official religion. They are very tolerant of individual choice in religion (so long as that religion isn’t too vocal about any objections it might have to Mittelsohn, its policies, or its actions). As a result, there are houses of worship for most major faiths. It is also rumored that the Lizzies have developed a religion of their own, though little is known about it at this time.

22-March-2019

5 XP awarded

Session Notes:

Still in the office, they decided that their best chance of figuring out where the Raven went would be to determine the nature of the cargo they took on. Naturally, there was no record of the type or nature of the cargo, merely how much duty had been collected. Their brilliant hacker was able to find the customs officer (Harvey Weewax) who collected port duties as well as the foreman (Marina Oginoya) of the crew which loaded the cargo. Even better: they managed to get the addresses for both. They decided to pursue Mr. Weewax first.

They spent some time scoping out his apartment building before talking to the robot doorman. They found out that Harvey spends a fair amount of time at a local dive bar called the Roxy Dumpling. They then proceeded to insult the bot, who somewhat impolitely asked them to leave and never come back.

At the Roxy Dumpling, they found Harvey, and approached him boldly. He proved to be quite helpful – for a price. He told them that the cargo had been guided missiles and mortars. The warheads carried nanoweapons of some kind.

Their next stop was to find an arms dealer who might know something about their cargo as well as who the buyer might be. The arms dealer was a dead end, so they called it quits for the day.

Wracking their brains, they came up with a few possible destinations for the nanoweapons. The candidate they thought the most likely was Berertovsk. It's owned by Mittelsohn, but there's a group of dissidents who have undertaken a few terrorist attacks against Mittelsohn facilities. It was a good possibility, but they wanted to be sure – going to the wrong system meant losing the trail entirely.

The days on Limossos are 14 hours, their respite brief. In the morning, they tracked down the freight loader foreman. They caught her as she was heading to work, and insisted that she speak with them. Marina approached the situation shrewdly. She took them to a coffee house and gave them until she finished the coffee they had bought for her. She managed to get more than a few dollars out of them. She, too, was a dead end.

Mostly.

The one piece of valuable intelligence she had was the name of the ground crewman who hooked up data and power to the ship. For just a few dollars more – making the day of the nameless, faceless mook of a technician – they were able to confirm that the Grandaughter Raven was, in fact, heading for Berertovsk.

Without delay, they returned to their aircar, returned to Paphos, where some comedy ensued over its return – they had violated the rental agreement by going to the Bazaar – then departed for Berertovsk.

The session ended just as they entered the Berertovsk system.

Notes: Merchants & Mauraders Session 2

8-March-2019

5 XP awarded

Session Notes:

After landing in an aircar parking garage, the party was confronted by a group of would-be aircarjackers. In a handful of seconds, all but one of the thugs were very dead. The lone survivor was aggressively interrogated.

The carjackers worked for a minor boss by the name of Jimmy deGrassi. It turned out that their relationship with deGrassi required them to kick 10% of their take up to him. Not wishing to deal with the carnage, the party moved the aircar.

They parked it in their hotel parking garage, which offered much better security. They rented two rooms, then set out for the spaceport. They decided to proceed as a group, recognizing that the Bazaar is a dangerous place and they don’t know the locals’ rules.

At the spaceport, they went to the administrative office. With a bit of social engineering, they were able to get the hacker into position to do what he’s best at. He found out that the port received $350,000 in duties (they usually take a 10% cut) and left the previous day after 4 days at the Bazaar.

The party is still in the starport admin office.

Note:

I apologize for the disjointed nature of the session. With my dad in the hospital ICU, it couldn't be helped. The only other choice was to not have a session, and I really wanted to give everyone the chance to test their characters in a gratuitous combat.