1105-001
The travellers are a group of friends who; having all recently left their previous careers, or in one case been released from an Imperial prison; have started travelling together, lately in the Outrim Void. They have done a few jobs together, and have just arrived on Marduk (C577436-5), having heard that they might be able to get a few months’ work. They buy passage on a liner and arrive at Marduk’s Highport.
The Highport is quite basic. There are a few shops, a bar, a hotel, and a restaurant. The seating is basic and uncomfortable. The group quickly tires of the Highport, and books passage on the next shuttle to the Downport, a flight that should take approximately two and a half hours.
The shuttle is quite basic. The main cabin consists of rows of four seats across separated into pairs by a central aisle, there are approximately fifteen rows. Behind the rows of seats is a refreshment area, with a coffee machine and vending machines for assorted other drinks and snacks. There is also a hatch to the hold. Apart from the travellers, there are three other passengers: A woman, who spends most of the flight reading a book and sipping coffee; a very smartly dressed Vargr, who consults papers from his attaché case, occasionally marking them carefully with his pen; and a slightly over-weight man, who seems to complain – he complains about the cabin temperature, he complains about the quality of the coffee, and he gives the travellers an annoyed look when they chat among themselves.
The flight proceeds normally for the first couple of hours. Suddenly, an alarm sounds loudly and a red light at the front of the cabin starts to flash. The shuttle goes into a steep dive, everyone is thrown about the cabin, desperately grabbing for something to hang onto to. After being knocked about, and most incurring injuries, all the passengers managed to get themselves into seats and strapped in. After levelling out, the shuttle starts violently manoeuvring, before making another, more controlled, dive. The is a rushed announcement from the bridge: ““Starport under attack… many ships, maybe from Oghma. Strap in, we’ll get you down safe….”
A few moments later, this is followed by, “Strap in NOW! Missile alert!”
The shuttle evades violently, they dodge two missiles, but the third explodes close by. Fragments are penetrate through the cabin, luckily missing all the passenger. The travellers hear explosions as other fragments of the missile damage the shuttle, and it stards to lose height rapidly, though it still seems to be under control.
Through the cabin windows the travellers see that they cross the coast and is now flying over a large land mass. The pilots seem to be keeping the shuttle barely under control, and bring it down in a controlled crash landing, after skidding across the surface for some distance the shuttle crashes into a rock formation. Luckily none of the passengers are suffer further injury, they quickly make their escape from the cabin.
They discover they have had a very lucky escape. The bridge was crushed when it hit the rock, killing both pilots. The small hold, located behind the passenger cabin has also been destroyed, possibly by the missile exploding behind the shuttle – all the travellers gear, with the exception of a few small items, was lost with the hold.
The travellers and the other passengers, conscious of the fires burning in the wreckage, quickly search the remains of tyhe ship for stores and equipment. They find the shuttles emergency survival kit, which includes food, breathing masks, a water purification kit, a number of personal survival kits, and a rifle. The pilots also had a shotgun in the cockpit.
There is a debate about burying the bodies, but this is cut short by the appearance of a ship high overhead. After briefly thinking it might be a rescue craft, they soon conclude they shouldn’t trust it and make for cover away from the crash.
With the light fading, the ship appears again, this time much lower. It does a low pass over the wreck and then seems to search around the area. It briefly lands and an armed man on a trail bike is unloaded, who starts searching the area. Two other men search the wreck, and seem to have concluded there were survivors, they consult with the man on the trail bike, and soon after re-embark on the ship and it takes off and resumes it’s search. The man on the trail bike does pass quite close to where the passengers are hiding, but not close enough to spot them. He appears to be well armed, and a couple of times takes shots at distant targets. I rides quickly over the landscape, in now virtual darkness. Meanwhile the ship leaves, powering off into the night sky. The passengers, after a debate head west, moving initially in complete darkness, away from the dim light where the man on the trail bike has stopped for the night.
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