Week 2: The Sand Pebbles
As the PCs journey upriver, they find that the river is treacherous and dangerous. They hire two Skink guides, who turn out to be decent sorts. They encounter several boats loaded with transplas or Neodymium. They also encounter a burned out boat.
They make steady but slow progress up the river until they reach a point about fifty miles away from Inner Station. There is a dock with a hut. The dock has a stack of jerry cans full of fuel with a note saying “Fuel for you, hurry up, approach cautiously”. The signature is illegible but it clearly does not belong to O’Brien.
Inside the hut is rubbish—empty food tins, MRE bags, etc., which indicates that the tenant was human. They find a filmbook concerned with astrogation and with some mysterious writing, which they decide is a code.
They are attacked several times; the attacks get fiercer the further they journey upriver. Their guides are cannibals and prefer to eat dead Skinks from the raids, rather than the MREs that the PCs carry. Occasionally, they here the sound of tiltrotor aircraft and small arms fire. Native drums and weird noises are heard at night. But mostly, the trip is hot and dull. They encounter a particularly dense fog just before reaching Inner Station. They can hear the hissing of natives, along with war drums. Their guides say they want to eat the attackers. When the fog lifts, they are attacked by a particularly determined group of natives. They get past the natives and make it to Inner Station. One guide is killed and the other asks to eat him. The PCs allow him to do so.
They arrive to find Inner Station intact, although run down. There’s a station house on a hill. A platoon of Khral sepoys is drilling in the square. As they tie up at the main dock, a smoking gunship crash lands in the nearby landing field. An ancient ambulance trundles out to the wreckage. A barge with 4 armed soldiers guarding it departs for Central Station.
On the path up to the center of the station, there’s a squalid tent hospital with about a dozen badly wounded Khral sepoys. Most are hissing and croaking. It’s mercilessly hot, unsanitary and as they pass a human doctor is hacking the leg off one sepoy. A pile of limbs buzzes with flies. Greg befriends the doctor and discovers that there’s a quite active insurgency going on. The doctor knows O’Brien and says he’s a “genius”.
On the shore stands a human whose clothes are patched all over in bright colors and he reminds one of a harlequin. He informs them that O’Brien is downriver. The man is Vladimir Belenko, a Free Trader who had left the fuel “for anyone who might need it.”
Marlowe is the controller of Inner Station. He introduces them to Captain George Colhurst, commander of Able Company, 103rd Native Rifles. Colhurst is enthusiastic and is the classic upper class English
. He served in the same regular regiment as Clayton and is actually somewhat brighter than he appears.
Neither man has seen O’Brien for some time. They believe that he’s probably near some ruins far upriver. O’Brien tends to send shipments of transplas down once per month ands one arrived yesterday. So the PC’s surmise he’s probably preparing another shipment.
Colhurst states that he could probably supply them with air transport if they want. As they talk a second tiltrotor lands near the tent hospital, smashing its undercarriage. That was their transport, so it’s back on the boat.
Repairs to the boat take the rest of the day. That night, it rains incessantly. Colhurst invites them for cards, brandy and cigars. Late that night a man enters the officer’s mess and walks up to Colhurst. Colhurst introduces him as Reverend Samuel Sayer, a local missionary. Sayer is very agitated and asks to speak to Colhurst privately. They go into an office and the PCs overhear Colhurst apologizing.
Colhurst walks out and offers them a job. The Pravus Light mission, located on an upriver tributary is in danger. Rebels have seized several boats and are blocking the tributary. Sayer wants the PCs to break through the rebel barrier and rescue the 4 remaining missionaries. As payment, Sayer offers cr5,000 and information on where they can find O’Brien. Colhurst lacks the transport to perform the mission with his troops. If the PC’s can’t help he’ll have to commandeer their boat. They quickly agree to the mission. In the meantime, Colhurst will also dispatch some scouts to recon O’Brien’s location.
They travel up a tributary and fight a large battle very reminiscent of the main battle in the movie and book The Sand Pebbles. They rescue the missionaries and return to Inner Station. One missionary, Holman, explains that he was an engineer in the Commonwealth Rim Squadron and left to be a missionary.
Sayer is true to his word and tells them to continue upriver to a collection of ruins visible from the river; O’Brien is outfitting an expedition there.
Colhurst gives them some additional rations, ammunition and armor, but it is clear that he’s low on supplies. And he’s awaiting reinforcements from the Outer Station garrison. 3 of his 4 platoons are committed to “Skink Smashing” operations, leaving one under strength platoon to guard Inner Station. Before he decides to commandeer their boat, the PCs decide to continue.
