MODULE 7
The Mission - A Complication
Sooner or later the players should begin to realize that they
are not, in fact, the only aliens running around Greyp. But who are the
others?
Given its abundant supply of minerals, it is hardly surprising
that news of the discovery of Greyp and its riches has spread throughout
the length and breadth of the known universe - and probably beyond it too.
Unfortunately, this news has traveled just as quickly through the grapevines
of the galactic underworld as it has through more conventional channels.
Greyp has become an object of unhealthy curiosity and avarice for more
than one band of unsavory interstellar cut-throats, but only one group
has actually succeeded in sneaking past the Federation / Imperium patrol
cruisers in order to set up a covert base on the planet's surface - the
Interstellar
Craft Appreciation Society (the 'Incas' for short).
As can be seen from the detailed report on the Incas (see module
8), their primary aims are to subvert entire governments or, where
this is not possible, to at least stir up armed revolutions against governments
who insist on remaining loyal to the Federation / Imperium.
In some respects, they are several steps ahead of the players
in the present situation since most of what has happened has been engineered
by the Incas.
Firstly, the ambassadorial was forced down because of drive
failure brought on by a jamming device invented by Incas' R&D section.
Once the ship had landed it was Incas agents who led the townspeople out
to the 'crash' site. These same agents - whilst leading the mob against
the 'Invaders' - took advantage of the general chaos to break into the
ambassador's cabin and tattoo him with the sacred mark of the 'Wind from
Beyond' (a cloud shape like the object above the altar in the temple) which
convinced the headman that the ambassador was the long awaited 'He who
was sent'.
The players face a unique challenge in handling the Incas agents
since they occupy the bodies of members of the native Urthyknoi population
and are therefore indistinguishable from them. This is not an impossible
problem, however, though the players will need to attack the 'root' of
the problem, so to speak, rather than just dealing with symptoms. Naturally
the Incas agents will hold those positions which will do them the most
good - as guards at the 'Wind from Beyond' temple, for example. As long
as they survive, there is NO way that the players can hope to reach the
ambassador to save him. Once the agents have been removed, however, if
the players can reach the ambassador without causing a general free-for-all
in the process then they should be able to remove the tattoo without too
much difficulty, thus removing the biggest barrier to the successful completion
of their mission.
The Incas title is, of course, intentionally misleading - though
not entirely so. The purpose of the organization is to subvert the governments
of the planets within the Federation / Imperium on a gradual basis, at
the same time setting up a rival confederation headed by the Incas. The
title of the society is designed to divert suspicion from their true purpose
when, as they frequently do, they visit the many 'less advanced' planets
- supposedly in order to trade for hand-made goods, works of art, etc.
to be sold on the richer, inner planets.
Naturally the Incas do buy and sell craft to maintain their
cover, but most of their journeys are primarily concerned with placing
agents, arranging secret negotiations, arms smuggling and the like.
The Incas already control several of the outer planets, so they
enjoy an income which allows them to maintain a very high level of technical
progress (though their 'subjects' seldom if ever enjoy any benefit from
these developments). They also have extensive training facilities throughout
the area that they control - partly for general weapons / spacecraft drill,
but mainly for officers and men training with the items developed by their
R&D section. Very often these items are not weapons, as such, though
they are always for aggressive use of some kind. One such item which has
only recently been released for widespread use - and one which is certainly
being used by the Incas agents on Greyp - is the 'Personal Displacement'
machine (see module 9).
The personnel of Incas has been recruited from throughout the
Federation / Imperium. However, unlike some other organizations, it is
not composed entirely of criminals (wanted or otherwise). Many of the Incas
are simply self-exiles from their own society - some because they disagree
with the political system on their home planet and/or the Federation /
Imperium, some because they want adventure, and some (of a more scientific
turn of mind) because they want to be free to carry out their research
with almost limitless funds and no one to ask irritating questions like
'is it useful for anything except making war'?
Incas fall into four main categories:
a). Administration - responsible for running Incas itself
plus supplying aid in the running of any of the planets under their control.
The decision to 'aid' an Incas-controlled planet rests with the admin.
branch - Not the people of the planet in question.
b). Research & Development - this branch is responsible
both for devising / making / testing and supplying new items, and for the
maintenance of all existing equipment throughout the Incas organization.
c). Combat - the armed branch of Incas aids R&D in
testing new weaponry, as well as using it whenever necessary to enforce
Incas' power. Combat is primarily concerned with straight-forward 'conventional'
/ physical operations, though it does occasional work with and/support
operations mounted by 'Special Services'.
d). Specialized Scanning Services - the last and most
secretive branch of Incas. The SSS branch fields all of Incas' spies and
agents (ie. spies work in unfriendly territory, agents work in neutral
or friendly territory). The senior members of the SSS are constantly on
the look out for new recruits with unusual powers. It was one such recruit
who gave R&D the idea for the personnel displacement machine.
Finally, whatever their motives for joining Incas, its members
will have been steadily (and completely without their knowledge or consent)
brainwashed in order to instill perfect loyalty to the organization. This
knowledge, should it ever leak out, would be very upsetting (to put it
mildly) for many members of the organization - possibly even leading them
to desert. It should be pointed out, however, that like all efficient brainwashing,
the treatment includes instruction to the effect that the victims should
never believe that they have been brainwashed. So, if the players
want to 'turn' one of the Incas, they will have to do more than just grab
one of the enemy and explain that he/she has been indoctrinated.
MODULE 9
The 'Personal Displacement' Machine
The notion of building a 'personal displacement' machine came
as a result of the recruitment into 'specialized services' of a young Malathurk
(the secondary race of the planet, Aerabius IXg)
named Iyubi Sarognii.
For some strange reason (no amount of research has yet discovered
anything as simple as a straightforward genetic cause), the Malathurks
occasionally produce a youngster who shows some degree of ability towards
'personal displacement' (ie. the ability to transfer one's personality
into another body). In some cases, this ability fades away as the young
Malathurk grows towards maturity, in others the ability can only be applied
to individuals from Aerabius IXg (of
any race). But once in a while - a very long while - a Malathurk comes
along who can transfer him/herself into, and dominate, any other sentient
being within range. Iyubi Sarognii was the first Malathurk to show the
ultimate degree of displacement ability in six generations. Sarognii's
parents, only too well aware of the Vartiera's dislike of any signs of
undue talent amongst the Malathurks, concealed Iyubi's skill from everyone
except an old sage, who, though having only a very limited ability himself,
helped Iyubi to develop his ability as far as it would go (The Vartiera
are the dominant race on Aerabius IXg.)
As soon as he was old enough to leave home, Iyubi chose to join
an 'underground' group of Malathurk dissidents. His timing proved to be
pretty near perfect (from Iyubi's point of view, at least), as Incas agents
started to infiltrate various Malathurk groups only a few months later
as a preliminary to inciting a full scale rebellion. Iyubi's talents were
swiftly and accurately assessed by the Incas, and it wasn't long before
the young Malathurk was on his way to a SSS training camp on Piograt Minor.
It was during the particularly demanding SSS graduation test
that Sarognii first tried to use his powers of personal displacement away
from his home planet. The results were impressive, especially for Iyubi's
instructors when they found out exactly what he had done. Never one to
let a good thing go unappreciated, Sarognii's commanding officer at specialized
services sent him - with a covering letter - to his opposite number at
R&D. Just under one year, and many, many experiments, tests, dummy
runs, etc., Incas 'backroom boys' came up with a portable machine which
could allow anyone to simulate Sarognii's astonishing ability.
There will be at least three Incas agents (using Urthyknoi bodies)
in the vicinity of the town and/or the temple at any one time, with an
Incas ship within radio distance at all times. The Incas agents are, of
course, making use of the personal displacement machine - and are therefore
subject to one major limitation - they cannot move more than 9.76 Trossards
(equal to 3 Earth Miles) away from the place where their original bodies
are being stored, during the period of displacement. If they go even a
few yards beyond this limit, the host body will become progressively weaker
as the Incas invader loses strength. After approximately 25-35 minutes
outside the communication limit, the Incas invader will lose all power
and die - a couple of minutes later, the host's body will be restored to
its normal state, but with no knowledge or memory of the invasion it has
suffered (but the players won't necessarily know about that!). The players
have little or no chance of distinguishing the invaded Urthyknoi from their
normal colleagues, so the Incas agents can only be incapacitated by finding
their real bodies. These can be hidden (in their pale grey, tubular storage
capsules) anywhere the referee chooses, given that they are unlikely to
be more than three miles away from either the town or the temple.
Incidentally, whilst the Urthyknoi, being a low-tech society,
are unlikely to find the Incas' Storage Capsules - let alone damage them
- one of the agents will almost certainly (as a matter of policy) try to
visit the hiding place at every second or third day to check that everything
is OK.
MODULE 10
The Death Trauma of the Urthyknoi
The primary purpose of the Incas invasion of Greyp was motivated
by the rich supply of minerals which they are already mining in a couple
of remote areas. The kidnapping of the ambassador is simply intended to
discomfort the Federation / Imperium through the failure of the conference
that the ambassador is supposed to be attending. In other words, the Incas
aren't particularly interested in the ambassador as such, and have no plans
to harm him except if a change or circumstances means that it is advantageous
to them to do so. Indeed, they feel strongly that he is best left alive
- a living 'P.O.W.' is much more useful than a dead one!
Despite the limited scope of their operations, the Incas must,
of course, remove the mined minerals from the planet surface - probably
by 'short range' matter transmitters. Once the materials are on board an
Incas ship, they will be flown as quickly as possible to the nearest Incas-controlled
planet for refining, etc. When the mission starts, these flights will have
gone on totally undetected, of course, so this is something else that the
players must detect and deal with for themselves, in order to complete
the entire mission satisfactorily. And naturally, there is a catch.
In anticipation of the moment of the discovery, the Incas transports
carry half a dozen kidnapped Urthyknoi each - including the son of the
headman of the town where the ambassador's space schooner set down. These
hostages aren't really aware of what they are being used for - they are
literally just going along for the ride. Any attempt to interface with
an Incas ship will be met with a message concerning the presence of the
Urthyknoi. In case any of the players take the attitude that a few Urthyknoi
more or less isn't going to make much difference one way or the other -
especially when they are to die far from their own planet and with no-one
on Greyp any the wiser - the Incas will, if pushed, supply a second piece
of information.
From what the Incas say (and they are, in fact, telling the
truth) every member of the Urthyknoi race has the gift of thought transference
- but only at the moment of death! This ability - known as the 'Death Trauma
of the Urthyknoi' - means that they can transmit a thought picture in great
detail and clarity for just a few seconds at the moment of death, and over
the vast distances to be received by a special sub-committee of the High
Council of Greyp. So, if an Incas ship is attacked and damaged or destroyed
by the players, then, if only one Urthyknoi is killed as a result of the
attack, it will certainly pass that information back to the High Council
of Greyp - and bang go any chances of signing a peace and trade treaty!