265-1103 – Herzenslust Orbital Space
Having left Herzenslust with the missing data cores in their possession, the crew of the Perfect Stranger were keen to minimise the risks that remained before they could claim their rewards in Zuflucht. After debating diving straight across the rift to Serendip, they decided to lessen the effects of fatigue and possible deep-space psychosis by making for Elysee first as an intermediate stop, while bypassing Besancon with its known Neubayern presence.
272-1103 – Besancon Outer System
Without pausing to even carry out gas giant refuelling, the party topped off the J1 fuel tanks from their duel-use cargo tanks and jumped immediately to Elysee.
279-1103 – Elysee Lowport
At Elysee, the party were able to relax somewhat in the knowledge that their popularity there knew no bounds: they had, after all, saved the planet from devastation not six weeks before (See A Dagger at Elysee). They were provided with hotel rooms and a free monthly maintenance for the overdue Perfect Stranger’s aging jump drives, and were able to unwind for a couple of days as a result.
Next came the long, three-jump leg from Elysee to Serendip Belt across the deep space of the Rift itself. Amusing themselves with quiz nights and movie marathons, the party tried to avoid the stress that builds up with weeks in jumpspace, trusting the astrogator to have plotted a course that avoids death in the depths of the void.
304-1103 – Serendip Belt
With relief, the crew of the Perfect Stranger emerged from their three-parsec odyssey precisely where they hoped, near to the main asteroid complex of Serendip Belt. The system contained two billion people across dozens of hollowed-out asteroids and hundreds of orbital complexes, its almost-limitless mineral wealth exploited over the course of a thousand years to make the occupants wealthy by New Islands standards.
320-1103 – Gloire
Arriving at Gloire after a two-hop journey, the party found it a great contrast with Serendip Belt, who controlled Gloire as a colony. Gloire was largely settled by Francophones, and was a sparsely-populated agricultural world that supplied Serendip Belt with the foodstuffs needed for their asteroid-based society to function. Another monthly maintenance was overdue on the Perfect Stranger’s jump drives, giving the crew a couple more days to relax.
Some time after departing Gloire Lowport, as the Perfect Stranger’s 1G engine clawed its way towards the hundred-diameter jump point, the sensor operator received a call from a freighter in high orbit, whose transponder identified her as the Imperium ship Ershi. She hailed the Perfect Stranger upon detection:
“Imperial Naval Auxiliary Ershi to Perfect Stranger.
Stand down for boarding and crew replacement.
Job well done. Time to go home.”
The party were politely non-committal in their reply, but were immediately suspicious. They had been given instructions to deliver the data cores and ship to Zuflucht, and enough Neubayern agents had tried to stop them for this late change of plans to strike them as highly suspicious. Swapping to Imperium codes, they hailed the Ersi, who responded first by bluffing then by launching a series of pairs of fighters and ordering the Perfect Stranger to cease manuevring and submit to boarding.
The Ersi – much larger than the Perfect Stranger and apparently more heavily armed – also accelerated to cut off the Perfect Stranger near the 100-Diameter mark. Manning the guns, the party started fighting the approaching fighters, which responded aggressively. Three of the fighters were destroyed, although the Perfect Stranger also took damage: luckily none of the hits damaged fuel or jump drives, or the situation would have become critical.
Finally, after almost an hour of dogfighting and defence, the Perfect Stranger entered an emergency jump, right at the 100-diameter point, and escaped, praying that the rapid calculations would not lead to a misjump deep into the heart of the Great Rift.
Leave a Reply