Remember, you asked for it!
The PCs begin in the reception hall for their new supervisor’s office. They have an appointment in twenty minutes, and have been instructed to introduce themselves to each other. If they get done early, the supervisor is ready a bit earlier than expected. The supervisor is a Kalina woman, sort of a dryer Bwap, named Terin (“call me Terin. That’s the best you’ll pronounce it.). She tells them why they’re here, which is (generally) to act as “troubleshooters” for Intelligence. Their first mission is to find and retrieve a spy on Kasrinat. She says that he has discovered some valuable information that the Oshani Empire wishes to share with the Manische Consortium. Naturally, the two states are sharing information in order to bring about the political unity necessary to found a true successor to the fallen Republic. The information is concerns the location of a Regional Depot from late in the last ages of the Republic, and although the knowledge and equipment from this area is from a lower tech level (18) than that from the Apogee, it is still a major leap forward. Further information is about the spy, who is a Mirulu (a large avian). His name is uMali Setut, and he has been on the independent planet Gibraltar for the past six years, spying on the local government. Other than that, the information discusses the PCs’ mission, which is to meet him on-planet and extract him as quickly and quietly as possible. They are given their cover identities as businesspeople that are on vacation, as well as several other identities. Among the information is the location of a stored starship they can use (if absolutely necessary) to get off planet. Then they are sent to the supply depot, where they pick up weapons (pistols, blades and nothing heavier than a Gauss carbine), armor (concealable cloth) and equipment (medpacks, a medkit, hand computers, comms and possibly a portable computer [e.g. a laptop]) and then to a hotel at the starport. The subsidized liner, which is to pick them up, is several days late, and they can wander the starport to their hearts’ contents (though they can’t bring anything heavier than a pistol, and must have comms with them at all times). There are quite a few shops nearby, in two malls; there are three bookstores, other stores such as Filenes’, equipment stores and several restaurants, bars and dives as well. Two of the equipment stores sell civilian ammunition, and one sells military ammo to licensed government operatives. If they go to one of the seedier bars, they are accosted by a large, filthy brute who thinks that they are spying on him. It won’t give up until either knocked out or hauled off by the Patrol.
After two days, the liner shows up (early in the morning), sends its ship’s boat down and begins collecting passengers. The ship is being chartered by a group of middle managers, and their families (20 in total), who are going one stop further along the line. Also, there are seven other passengers, all of whom are embarking here at Dingir. When the liner, the Motile Eight, disembarks the charter at Tunmar (client state capital), it takes on fifteen more passengers. During the second jump, one of the “miscellaneous” passengers comes to the group. He is an Imperial Agent, and he gives the PCs the contact information for the spy. However, he warns, the spy may have been compromised – he has been on the same assignment for longer than the normal time and the local government has become openly hostile to the Oshani Empire. The rest of the jump goes normally, except for one of the passengers getting space-sick halfway through jump.
When the PCs arrive, they go to a small hotel just on the other side of a river from the starport. The info packet suggests that they wait at least a day before trying to contact the spy, to see the sights and try to get the feel of the place. There are small stores, hole-in-the-wall restaurants and a shopping district nearby, as well as several museums and a library. When the PCs return to the hotel, the desk staff will give them a message with a comm number and a message “1830 – 2200 local time” on it. This is Setut’s number, and when contacted, he will tell them to meet him at the library the next day at 1430, and to get lunch first. Also, he recommends that they be cautious since the local law is fired up, ostensibly due to “rebels” in the desert of the Southern Continent. Nothing else really happens that night, but on the holovision and radio there are patriotic shows about how the Kastrinat Civil Service is supreme on its own planet, which it will hold against all opponents.
The next day, the PCs should prepare to meet Setut, getting their gear together and such. When they go to lunch, a section of APCs will rumble past in the direction of the library. If there’s an inquiry, a police officer will explain that the military has uncovered “dissidents” in that direction. However, security prevents telling more.
A platoon of local Army personnel (equipped at tl10) will be at the library when the PCs arrive. Apparently the spy has just been uncovered, and just managed to escape as the Army got there. A librarian will approach the PCs after ten minutes, or as they’re about to leave, with an electronic book about the city. A section about an ancient crypt will be on the screen as the volume is started. This crypt is in the public commons, and is where the spy is hiding (he discovered it about a year ago and found tunnels from Republican times underneath). When the PCs arrive, they will discover him waiting there, very distraught. Someone should notice that the floor is rather unstable. The first thing he says is that the information the PCs need is in his head, in a sealed computer. He is to be taken to their supervisors so they can remove the information and deal with it. However, the local military is on to him, and may be closing in on him – and has captured his very-late-pregnant wife. She is in a hospital under guard. At this point, a section of the local military arrives and surrounds the crypt. They try to break in, which causes the floor to collapse. The tunnels lead just about everywhere in the city, including the starport, but nobody here seems to know about them (except possibly some local gangs, who wouldn’t tell). The spy insists that the group hurry to a safe place, which he will lead them to. Unknown to the party, the spy was tagged with a homing beacon. The party has to figure out about the homing device, and then take the tunnels to a small armory which was hidden here by the spy. From there they must go the hospital, where they will rescue the wife. From there, they must go back through the tunnels and avoid Army patrols while going to the starport. However, the wife, Shirnu, goes into labor by the time they reach the starport – necessitating that they reach the starship as soon as possible.
