Treacherous Waters
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Author: Gareth Hanrahan
Homepage: http://www.irishgaming.com/
System: Blue Planet
Type: Scenario
Category: Science Fiction
Requirements:

Introduction: Treacherous Waters is mostly set on a single research station, the Sable Bay Oceanographic Installation (also known as Geo Station 32). The top deck of the station floats in the waters of Sable Bay, and the rest clings to the ocean floor deep beneath the surface.

Officially, Station 32 is purely dedicated to research. Scientists take water samples, mine the seabed, plot tides, and capture and examine native lifeforms. However, Station 32 is located within sensor range of a number of Incorporate holdings, including the main Hanover Industries city-state of Lebensraum. The Station secretly monitors Incorp communications traffic, and the Station’s little hunts for wildlife happen to take their drones quite close to Incorp vessels and facilities. In short, Station 32 is a big irritation to the Incorporates of Poseidon, hiding behind the respectable mask of pure science. Just in case the Incorps ever get aggressive, the Station has a number of concealed torpedoes and an anti-aircraft gun.

The characters are six high-ranking members of staff on board Station 32. Some of them know about the Station’s secret purpose, others are unaware, others are Incorp spies. This scenario is all about who you can rely on, and how everyone has a price. The characters don’t get on, and as the scenario progresses, they should be getting more and more paranoid. The ocean is a clean and simple place; it’s humans that make killing complex and baroque.

The scenario is also a fairly high-octane chase across Poseidon. Keep the pace moving quickly during the action scenes.

Backstory: The tensions between the GEO and the Incorps have been growing for years. Any spark could start a war. Trouble is, in this day and age, wars are fought in the public eye. The aggressor will be vilified. The difference between the fascist uber-government of GEO crushing the innocent, job-providing corporations, and the heroic GEO battling sinister, ecology-killing megacorps is a matter of spin.

Certain elements within GEO Military want a spark, an excuse to take the Incorporates on. The Captain of Station 32, Walter Kiyamote, is a warhawk, and wants to be the man to create that spark. He’s leaked information about the true nature of Station 32 to Hanover, hoping that Hanover would be stupid enough to do something about it. Hanover took the bait – indirectly. Erich Kalbe is a Hanover covert operative. He’s infiltrating a native terrorist group disguised as a GEO agent, in an attempt to discover more about native terrorism. He passed the information on to his group. He outlined a plan for the natives to steal the weapons cache from the Station. If the plan works, the Station is neutralised. If it fails, well, the Incorporates won’t mind GEO cracking down on natives for once.

So not only has Kiyamote not started a war, he’s lost his smart torpedoes to a gang of barbaric tribesmen. He can’t “officially” call in the GEO Military to recover them, because he’s trying to start a war and most of the Military hierarchy wouldn’t approve of his methods. He’s got to use what he has to solve the situation, before it goes critical.

Characters:

· Commander Alan Baum: The assistant commander of Station 32, a career military man which a stable head and calm demeanour. He lacks the quick tactical reactions to make a good front-line commander, but he’s got a spidery patience and knack for mind games that will bring him to the top of GEO Intelligence. He’s loyal to Captain Kiyamote, but Kiyamote hasn’t confided anything definite about the plan. He’s been modified to the Diver Osmoform (breathes like a cetacean).

· Dr. Faith Tourmalene: the head scientist on Station 32. She’s a xenobiologist, and isn’t too happy with her spotter drones and subs being diverted to spy on Hanover. She and Baum have been feuding for months, and the pressure on the Station has been rising as a result.

· Dr. Tsung-Li: an oceanographer, and Hanover mole in GEO. She was born in a chaotic Free Zone on Earth, and was rescued by Hanover. She’s a nice person, but loyal to her “family” at Hanover. Kiyamote knows she’s a spy, and leaked the information through her.

· Lt. Feyd Al-Umarj: A GEO trooper, and Baum’s right-hand man. Officially, he’s on the Station as a lab assistant. In reality, he’ll be on the front lines if the Incorps ever act against the Station. He’s had his nervous system rewired and he’s full of implants, and he takes the GEO supersoldier mystique very seriously. He’s been modified to the Diver Osmoform (breathes like a cetacean).

· Vlad Olyah: A xenobiologist, and also in the pay of various native activist groups. He slips them tips on GEO movements and facilities, and they repay him with the decades of knowledge the natives have gathered on the ecology of Poseidon. He’s been modified to the Diver Osmoform (breathes like a cetacean).

· Marta Grosse: The pilot of the jumpcraft. She was an Incorporate agent, year ago, before she got blown up. She’s now contracted to a media group called Life+Scan Poseidon. Everything she experiences is recorded and replayed to millions back on Earth. She’s been modified to the Diver Osmoform (breathes like a cetacean).

Events in the scenario:

· The scenario begins with all the PCs in the upper section of Station 32, questioning Marta Grosse, who landed her malfunctioning jumpcraft half an hour before events begin. Meanwhile, unknown to the PCs, a small team of native terrorists approach the Station.

· Native saboteurs attack the Station, hoping to steal the weapons cache. The natives have hijacked one of the Station’s subs, and they ram it into the Lower Decks, which are partially flooded. The characters become aware of the attack.

· A native crosswires the Station power system. It blows, crashing the computers and communications system. They also fix a limpet mine to the fusion reactor, to cover their retreat.

· The characters are basically left to their own devices. The explosion and flooding kills many of the station crew. The natives, unable to open the arsenal, go hunting for the Station command crew. The natives steal the smart torpedoes.

· Kiyamote demands that the PCs track the natives down and prove Hanover is behind the attack. He wants his war…

· The characters might track the natives back to their village, or wait for communications to be restored. Kiyamote gets more and more desperate, and is not above forcing the situation.

· Meanwhile, the natives decide to use the torpedoes on Lebensraum. Kalbe protests, and a fight breaks out. He flees, and later sends a distress call.

· If Hanover find out about the attack (through the PCs, or from Kalbe’s distress call), they dispatch an assault jumpcraft, which wipes out the native village of Circumstance.

· Natives launch a smart torpedo towards a new underwater Arcology on the shores of Lebensraum. The characters must choose if they want to prevent a war, and work out how to stop an advanced military torpedo.

The structure of Station 32:

Station 32 is a fairly new installation, one of the few “Anemone” class stations on Poseidon. The station consists of two separate parts. One, the Upper decks, floats on the ocean surface. The lower section is anchored to the sea floor with pylons driven deep into the bedrock. A set of cables, including an elevator assembly, connects the two. The Station includes a jumpcraft pad, a small dock, airlocks, a satellite uplink, and is powered by a small fusion reactor in the lower section.

There are about 15 crew on the station, although at any time up to 12 can be off on various scientific or “exploratory” missions. 10 of the crew are Science, the rest are military. The Station can support around 50 people, but the staff haven’t been expanded that much yet.

The Upper Decks: The Upper Decks consist of three parts. Firstly, there is the main hull, a roughly hemispherical structure covered in walkways and pipes, like an oilrig wrapped around a football. Crew quarters and storage are in the main hull, along with workshops and cargo bays. The satellite uplink array crowns the main hull.

The inner section is a small tower block inside the main hull. There is an assembly of hydraulics and gyroscopes inside the main hull which support the inner hull, and counter the motion of the waves. The inner hull is totally steady in the worst storms. The inner hull contains labs and command centres, as well as the jumpcraft pad and commander’s quarters.

Finally, the floatation ring surrounds the main hull. It consists of a massive ring of bio-engineered super-buoyant gel contained in massive cylindrical tubes. The gel can be pumped around to help balance the hull. There is a small dock nestled in the midst of the floatation ring.

The Cables: The Upper and Lower Decks are connected by a set of cables. There are sixteen connecting cables, made from near-indestructible carbon fullerenes. The station would hold together safely with only four cables, so the cables have quadruple-redundancy. A woven set of power and data lines is threaded through the cables also.

There is an elevator connecting the two sections of the station. The elevator is a hollow, flexible plastic tube consisting of myomer rings. These rings contract when electrified. There is no elevator cable, objects are “squeezed” along the shaft. This system works no matter what angle the shaft is at, and can cope with many different load types. The cables are 400 metres long, but can stretch to about 425.

The Lower Decks: In contrast to the fairly open and airy structure of the Upper decks, the Lower decks are claustrophobic, cramped and hot. The pressure crushing the thick hull makes the structure groan like a tortured animal. The constant thrumming of the fusion reactor and the grinding of the shifting cables plays on the nerves of the Lower deck crew. It is not a nice place.

At the four corners of the deck there are the pylons, massive metal pins driven deep into the rock. On top of the pylons are airlocks. The entire station can be moved from place to place by withdrawing the pylons and docking tug-subs onto the airlocks to tow the station. The geology team have a lab built around pylon B, and take rock samples from the shaft.

The centre of the lower decks is a dome containing the fusion reactor. Surrounding this dome are labs, cargo bays, pumping stations, and a wildlife containment tank. There’s also a submarine dock.

Station 32’s Scientific role: The Station’s four science teams are working in the following fields:

· The oceanography team is mapping tides and weather patterns in the Sable Bay region. They’re also looking at the impact of Hanover’s development of the Lebensraum company town on water content.

· The exobiology team is part of the massive ongoing survey and cataloguing of Poseidon’s rich ecology. They have a fleet of automated drones and remotes. They also have a tank in the Lower Decks, which is used to store live specimens.

· The geology team is examining the sea bed and mineral deposits. They’re also doing some prospecting on the side.

· The astronomy team takes advantage of the fact that Station 32 is sitting in the middle of the ocean, away from sources of interference. They’re scanning the spectrum of Poseidon’s sun.

Station 32’s Military role: GEO Military use Station 32 as a covert base, monitoring activity in the Sable Bay region. Hanover’s company town of Lebensraum is the main target for observation, although the GEO keep an eye on everything they can. The Station is involved in:

· The satellite uplink contains any number of scanners monitoring incorporate transmissions. The Station computer runs advanced decryption algorithms constantly, trying to break coded signals.

· The exobiology’s survey drones are often diverted to spy on Hanover.

· The Station has a pair of military interceptor subs hidden in the Lower Docks, along with a dozen heavy smart torpedoes. There’s also an anti-aircraft gun hidden in the hydraulics underneath the inner section.

The Smart Torpedoes: These gadgets play a central role in the scenario. They are brand-new, top of the range GEO tactical weapons. They are 3-metre long missiles with an advanced AI guidance system. Smart torps are shielded from ECM (electronic counter measures) and EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) defences, and are intelligent enough to dodge enemy fire and come up with plans of attack. The torpedoes can be configured to deliver a variety of ordnance, from simple high explosive to nuclear warheads.

Kalbe has a Hanover Industries icebreaker program, which can break some of the torpedoes firing codes, allowing the native terrorists to use the torpedoes.

Kiyamote’s Headaches: Captain Kiyamote has been suffering from terrible stress-related headaches. One of the PCs, Vlad Olyah, has been supplying Kiyamote with a native seaweed extract which cures headaches. What neither of them know is that overdosing on the extract causes acute paranoia and schizophrenia. Analysis of the seaweed in the Station’s labs will reveal this, and may throw suspicion on Olyah.

Marta Grosse: Marta Grosse doesn’t know what happened to her. She is quite possibly an unwitting servant of some greater power. She could have any number of subconscious commands and triggers in her head. If you need to prod the PCs in some direction, Marta’s a good choice. She can have been brainwashed by Hanover Industries or the GEO, depending on what you need.

Scenario begins here

1. Interruptions and alarms.

It is twilight. 30 minutes ago, Marta Grosse’s jumpcraft nearly crashed onto the jump pad on top of the Inner Section. While two members of the Station’s technical team repair the damaged jumpcraft, the off-duty science staff (Tourmalene, Olyah, Tsung-Li) and the military staff (Baum, Feyd) and Kiyamote meet with Grosse in the dining room. There’s a storm blowing in, and the skies outside the slanted windows are dark. Massive waves wash over the undulating floating ring, and crash against the discoloured plastic of the hull.

Let the characters talk for a while. Kiyamote will be suspicious of Grosse, believing her to be a spy from Hanover. He will begin to suffer from a headache brought on by stress, and leave to retire to his quarters. He’ll tell Baum to keep questioning Grosse.

During the conversation, the computer announces “Submarine Solstice approaching. Docking in five minutes. Science staff, please report to Lower Deck in 15 minutes.” If anyone asks, Solstice is the largest submarine used by the xenobiology team. It’s been out on deep survey in the eastern bay. The warning is repeated at three minutes, then one minute.

Solstice has been hijacked by the native terrorists. There are a dozen natives on board. None of them have any real military training bar that given by Kalbe, but they are experienced hunters and are working to a well-laid plan. They plan to crash the sub into the docking bay, then blow open airlocks and storm the lower deck and steal the torps.

At 30 seconds, they abandon the sub. The computer warns “Unidentified objects in water. Collision alert. Collusion alert.” The sub accelerates and rams the station. The Inner Section is kept rock-steady by the hydraulics, but the characters see the Hull shake. “HULL BREACH! LOWER DECK DOCK 1. HULL BREACH!” As the Natives blow the airlock, the computer announces “EXPLOSION DETECTED. AIRLOCK BREACHED. SEALING SECTION 1.”

Hopefully the characters will do something. If not, have Kiyamote scream at them. The characters will hear shouts and screams over the station communications channels as the Natives slaughter the science crew and battle the security team. The characters will have to get down to the Lower Deck. They can swim (but Tourmaline and Tsung-Li will have to suit up first). There’s also the elevator, but the Natives will cut the power as soon as possible.

While eight of the natives secure the Lower Deck, one affixes a bomb to the fusion reactor, and the other three open the torpedo doors and start stealing the smart torpedoes. Kalbe’s hotwiring basically puts the torpedoes into simulation test mode, which disconnects the AI from the navigation and arming systems, then intercepts the AI’s simulation output and reroutes it to the navigation. The natives set the torpedoes to go to the native base in the bay and shut down.

Another native starts sabotaging the electrical system. If not stopped, he breaks the security controls and fries the communications and computer arrays. There are backups, but they’ll take time to activate.

The natives are wearing cheap mass-market black wetsuits, without markings. They’re armed with spear guns or large handguns. They don’t look like an Incorporate team, but their tactics will remind Feyd or Baum of Incorporate security movement. If possible, have Vlad meet with one of the natives, and have the native not shoot him (Vlad’s friend Almist is one of the terrorists.)

Assuming the characters make it into the Lower Decks, run a short firefight. The important thing is that a few of the natives make it out, and that at least four torpedoes are launched. Make the firefight as claustrophobic and tense as possible. The lower decks are a maze of tanks, pipes, cargo bays, and machinery. During the fight, the natives will disable the station’s two military subs, and cripple any torpedoes they don’t manage to launch.

The natives have average stats. They have a firearms skill of 65%, and are using small calibre handguns with damage ranks 1/15 2/40 3/65 4/85 5/95 6/100, standard ammo (grade 2). Two of the natives (Troels and Cobb) have firearms 75% and are packing assault rifles, (1/5 2/20 3/40 4/60 5/75 6/90 7/100, grade 6 armour piercing ammo, but they only have a few rounds) and the natives have half-a-dozen small grenades between them.

Once the natives have stolen at least four torpedoes, one of the natives affixes a small limpet mine to the housing of the fusion reactor. He then flees. The natives have a hydrofoil a few kilometres east of the station.

Disarming the limpet mine is a good idea. If the characters don’t notice the mine, have Dr. Chambers from the Geology team in Pylon B survive and bring it to their attention. Disarming the mine needs a Demolitions roll. The mine isn’t that sensitive, so characters can cut the section of housing off and tow it out of the station if they don’t fancy their chances with disarming the mine.

2. Aftermath

Once the natives have fled, the characters are left picking up the pieces of the station. Of the 11 crew on board when the natives attack, 5 are dead (3 military, 2 scientist), and rest are wounded (apart from the PCs). The crew of the Solstice (4 members of xenobiology team 2) are missing. Of the dozen attackers, six plus (however-many-the-PCs-took-down) are dead or wounded, the others have fled.

If the PCs spared a native, they can question him. His name is Hiro Makenzei, a 21-year old native. Vlad Olyah recognises him as an inhabitant of Circumstance village. Hiro fervently believes that the Incorporates are killing Poseidon, and that is the duty of those who love the planet to do whatever is necessary to clean the waters of the outsider’s taint. He will claim that the natives planned the raid themselves, and will do his best to hide Kalbe’s existence. Hiro doesn’t know where the terrorist base is at the moment– it’s moved regularly.

Hiro (or a native corpse, if they kill them all) has one of Kalbe’s torpedo over-ride gadgets on him. It’s a fairly high-tech device. Examining it reveals that it’s built of Hanover Industries-made parts. It locks the torpedo into simulation mode, then reroutes the simulation data into the navigation array. If any of the science crew examines the device closely in the labs, they’ll notice that the casing has a few microscopic Naylor’s Kelp strands caught on it. Naylor’s Kelp grows on reefs. (The terrorist base is hidden in reefs southeast of Circumstance.)

The storm has hit the Station with full force. The cables creak and scream as the Upper Decks ride up and down on 12-metre waves. The geology team and the surviving techs are working to repair the hull breach. Of the Station’s subs, the Solstice’s nose is wedged into the twisted wreckage of the main dock, and one of the two military interceptors has had its cockpit sprayed with bullets. The Station jumpcraft is away at Haven. The only active vehicles are the science sub Zenith and Marta Grosse’s jumpcraft. The Zenith is currently stowed in the dock, and it will take about an hour to ready it. The jumpcraft’s fuel line has been fixed, but it’s refuelling.

Even if the characters saved the communications array, Kiyamote will not call for assistance yet. He’s actually fairly happy with this turn of events – as long as he can force the natives to use the torpedoes on Hanover. He wants those torpedoes used, in order to start a war – but he can’t do this openly. Instead, he’s going to send the PCs after the torpedoes, hoping they’ll fail. The natives will blow up a chunk of Hanover, and Kiyamote will have the GEO/Incorporate war he believes must happen. If necessary he’ll lie to the PCs, telling them that a detachment of GEO Troopers are on their way, but that they have to locate the stolen torpedoes as soon as possible.

3. Chasing Torpedoes

Assuming the characters don’t disobey Kiyamote’s orders, they’re stuck with the job of locating the stolen smart torps. Give the PCs handout 1, the document describing the torpedo schematics. Then let them tackle the problem,

The torpedoes were programmed to travel north-east to a point in the bay about 5 kilometres from the base, and shut down there. The torpedo launch bays point south, but the course of the torpedoes was recorded by the Station’s short-range sensors. The Station cannot track the torpedoes once they leave sonar range. The torpedoes’ destination is contained in the over-ride devices.

The storm is interfering with satellite imaging, and there are no GEO vessels or jumpcraft nearby. With the Station’s communications relay down, all the PCs have left are personal communications with 10km range. Kiyamote warns that the next nearest relay is at Lebensraum, and will be monitored by Hanover.

The characters can all fit into the Zenith research sub, or take Marta’s jumpcraft, or split up. I suggest mentioning that the PCs can use remotes to keep in contact if they do split up.

If the characters are stuck, one of the station’s automated drones returns. It downloads photos of a wounded polypod floating in the bay about 12 kilometres from the Station. The polypod is wrapped around a damaged torpedo (it tried to catch and eat the unfamiliar object). If the characters haven’t picked up on the clue with the over-ride devices, they can retrieve the torp from the loving embrace of the still dangerous polypod, and see the black box attached to the torpedo’s computer.

Describe the travel scenes. Describe the cramped, dark interior of the sub, the murky waters, the incredible wildlife that fills the oceans. Describe the jumpcraft being hurled from side to side in the high winds, the rain beating off the canopy like a hail of bullets. The vast swell of the oceans and the overarching black clouds. Make them smell and taste Poseidon.

4. The Native village

The nearest habitation to the torpedo rendezvous point is the village of Circumstance. Circumstance is a small native settlement of about 200 people (note: this version of Circumstance differs from the description given in the Archipelago sourcebook). The village is built on platforms and tree-houses woven in the massive trunks of a huge mangrove forest. The island is a maze of treetrunks and creepers. There are few signs of modern technology – some of the boats have been repaired using plastics, and there is a single searchlight on the jetty. If the characters check the jetty, they’ll find a pair of damaged crates with Hanover Industries markings on them. These crates contained the components for the over-ride devices. They were washed up a few days ago (having been dumped in the ocean for Kalbe to find). There is no jumpcraft pad.

There is a small jetty where several native fishing boats are tightly moored, being rocked by the storm waves. The whole forest quivers in the winds.

Most of the villagers are sheltering from the storm in the most protected houses. The characters’ arrival will be noticed, but they will not be greeted unless they enter one of the longhouses.

The village elders will speak to the characters. They’ll be offered shelter from the storm, but nothing more. The villagers will not discuss the terrorists (most of them know nothing anyway). They will express sadness if told of the attack on the Station, and will murmur about the evils of the Hanover Industrialists. The village spokesman in named Marhaud. He’s a second-generation native, and extremely old. He’s seen more strangeness and sorrow than he can bear, and wants only peace. He distrusts outsiders though, and values the life of a single Native above any number of Outsiders.

Vlad Olyah’s native girlfriend Jessica is in the village. She’s in the infirmary. Once she hears that Outsiders have arrived, she comes running to meet Vlad. In the infirmary is one of the native terrorists who were injured in the raid on Station 32 – Almis. Native medical techniques are fairly primitive. Surely her friend Vlad can help? The first aid packs in the Zenith or Marta’s jumpcraft have the necessary supplies.

Play this scene up as a moral dilemma for Vlad and anyone he confides in. The military characters will likely interrogate Almis to locate the base. Vlad will have to get the medical supplies without Almis’ role in the attack being discovered.

5. The Transmission

Meanwhile, in the terrorist base, Kalbe and the natives have been arguing. The natives are overwhelmed with the success of their raid, and drunk with power. They’ve decided to strike quickly, launching the torpedoes at Hanover. There’s a new underwater Arcology there which is a tempting target.

Kalbe, being an undercover Hanover agent, isn’t exactly enamoured with this plan. An argument starts, which turns into a firefight. Wounded, Kalbe flees in a hydrofoil. He runs it aground in the reefs, and eventually crawls into a crack in the rocks to hide from predators and shelter from the storm. He then transmits a distress call in English, German, Chinese and Interspec. This transmission will be detected by the PCs.

“Mayday, mayday. This is…Erich Kalbe. I’ve run around on the reefs near Big Rock…4 degrees 35 minutes South, about 5 degrees East…appending GPS on the lower channel now…I’ve run aground, and I’m injured. I need…assistance urgently…please.”

On another channel, he transmits Global Positioning System data. If the characters run this data through any navigation computer, it’ll pinpoint his location on the reefs. The computer will also report anomalies in the signal. If any of the scientist characters analyse the signal, they’ll find that a text message has been encoded between the GPS pulses. The message reads:

++NATS HAVE TAKEN BIG FISH. LAUNCH ON ARC SOON. COVER BROKEN. HELP++

If the characters reply to the message, Kalbe’s signal will grow progressively weaker as he talks to them. He’ll plead with them to rescue him, posing as a GEO surveyor who ran into difficulties due to the storm. If they mention the torpedoes, he’ll claim to have seen three (or four) strange objects floating in the water near where he ran aground. After a while, the signal will fade to nothing more than the low-power beeping of the GPS.

6. Lebensraum

It’s possible that the characters decide to check out the Hanover Industries company town. Lebensraum is one of the largest cities on Poseidon, a hive of activity. Hanover is losing its holdings back on Earth, and is frantically expanding Lebensraum to accommodate the thousands of Hanover citizens who will be coming through the wormhole in the next few years.

As the characters approach Lebensraum, they see the massive new underwater Arcology, Drakon II, glimmering in the depths. Lebensraum is a steel and polymer fortress, embedded in the living rock of the island. Its shining walls defy the constant battering of the waters.

The head of Lebensraum is Werner Keinz. He is aware of the true nature of Station 32, but was opposed to taking action. Instead, he advocated improving security in the city. He was over-ruled by the paranoid board of directors. He will meet with the characters if they land at Lebensraum and make themselves known. He will not reveal Hanover’s involvement in the raid on the Station, although he will offer medical assistance. If they ask about the over-ride devices and the crates on the dock in Circumstance, he will tell them that a shipment of electronic components were lost overboard.

If the characters are in Lebensraum when Kalbe’s transmission is detected, they’ll see a fast VTOL air ambulance take off…followed by a military jumpcraft.

Kalbe’s coded transmission told Hanover that the natives (NATS) have the torpedoes (BIG FISH). Trouble is, he didn’t mention that the terrorist base had moved. The military jumpcraft is off to wipe out the village…

7. Burning Skies

If the characters are in or near Circumstance after Kalbe’s message is received by Hanover, they may be present for the attack. Hanover is determined that the torpedoes not be launched, and their involvement with Kalbe be hidden – so they’re going wipe out the village under cover of the storm.

The jumpcraft drops out of the clouds and opens gunports. Missiles tipped with hydrogen-based gel explode over the mangrove forest, turning it into an inferno. A hail of bullets rains down on the beach, smashing the jetty into matchsticks. The water fills with blood.

Any characters in the village are in severe danger. The Incorporates won’t fire directly on non-natives, but the village is still a killzone.

This scene is mainly to add impetus to the natives’ motivation for firing the torpedoes. It’s also nicely horrific, and should mess up the players’ feelings on the morality of the natives. Hanover just wiped out the village, aren’t the natives justified in blowing up the Arcology?

8. Rescue

If the characters do go after Kalbe, the GPS co-ordinates he sent lead them to a storm-battered section of coral reef. The shallow waters around the reef are full of Naylor’s Kelp. From the air, the wreck of a small one-man hydrofoil can be seen. Kalbe is currently holed up in an underwater cavern. He’s trapped there because of a stone snake, which scented his blood and is now lurking in the shallow waters by the cave mouth.

Once the snake is dealt with, then Kalbe can be rescued. Trouble is, he’s dead. He’s been shot several times in the back, and has bled to death from his injuries. Kalbe is dressed in native clothing, but he’s got GEO Military dog tags and ID. He’s also got an implanted computer. If a character jacks Kalbe’s corpse into a computer, they’ll discover schematics for the override devices, a long list of names and contacts of natives involved in terrorist activities, and a lot of Hanover Industries software and documents. The evidence suggests he was either a GEO or Hanover spy.

Also on the computer is a map pinpointing the location of the terrorist base – and outlining the projected course of the torpedoes.

9. The Reef

The terrorist base is a fairly watertight tow-able hulk, made out of recovered chunks of the Cousteau. It’s little more than a floating garage and workshop. It can be towed by subs. Currently, it’s lashed to the side of a reef.

Of the original dozen terrorists who attack the station, only four are still alive.

· Troels has become the leader of the cell after Kalbe betrayed them. He is the one restraint on their actions.

· Cobb hates the incorporates, and wants the torpedoes launched now.

· Asta goes along with everything Cobb says.

· Peter doesn’t know it, but he had an encounter with aborigines six months ago. The resulting emotional trauma from his memory-wipe has made him extremely unstable.

If the characters arrive before Circumstance is wiped out, then the terrorists are still arguing about launching the torpedoes. The torpedoes have been primed and the computers have been locked into simulation mode. They’ve been given the Drakon II Arcology as a primary target. All it takes to launch them is a single flick of a switch.

The terrorists will launch the missiles once they hear about the destruction of Circumstance. They have a satellite uplink in the base, and will notice the infrared trace of the inferno. Once they realise that Circumstance has been destroyed, Troels will bend to the will of the others, and the remaining torpedoes will be unleashed.

The characters’ intervention here will depend on when they make it. If you’re running out of time, or the players have been very efficient, then you can make this the final scene, and have the players try to stop the torpedoes from being launched. If you’ve still got time, or the pcs arrive after Circumstance has been blown up, then the missiles are gone, as have Cobb and Asta.

10. The Station again…:

During all this, the Station is being repaired. Kiyamote wants the Natives to start a war with Hanover. He’s got a GEO assault team standing by, but can’t deploy them except in the most limited manner.

Use Kiyamote to poke and misdirect the PCs. He’s trying to screw them over. He’s also going slightly nuts thanks to the seaweed extract. He’s worried that Hanover will recover the torpedoes and turn the situation back on the GEO. Hanover attacking a GEO Station and starting a war is fine. Hanover getting into a war with the Natives which the GEO can step into, fine. Hanover capturing dangerous terrorists who are armed with illegal GEO weapons isn’t fine.

11. Finale:

If all goes according to plan, the final section of the scenario should have the PCs chasing the torpedoes across Sable Bay as the storm blows itself out about them. The torpedoes are faster than the Solstice sub, but the jumpcraft can keep up with them. The torpedoes are intelligent, and capable of coming up with tactics and plans. They communicate using short-range microwave transmissions, and will co-ordinate their efforts. One torpedo will sacrifice itself to allow another to get through to the target.

If you need more chaotic elements, then Kiyamote can call in an assault jumpcraft packed with GEO Troopers, telling them that terrorists have hijacked whatever vehicle the PCs are in.

If the characters alert Lebensraum, six military subs will try to intercept the torpedoes. By the time the subs are within range, though, the torpedoes will be almost on top of the Arcology. Heroic PCs jumping on top of zooming torpedoes, or crack shots destroying the over-ride devices are possible endings.

Kiyamote has codes to remotely detonate the torpedoes, but he won’t give them up. He wants a war. A nice ending would be a debate between Kiyamote and the PCs, as he argues the need for the GEO to take control of Poseidon. It would turn Baum’s beliefs on their head, and allow each PC to put forward their point of view.

If the PCs fail, one or more torpedoes make it through Lebensraum’s defences, and destroy the Drakon II Arcology. Depending on the amount of warning Lebensraum got, between 50 and 1000 people are killed. This disaster will certainly raise tensions between the GEO and Hanover Industries, and may even by the flashpoint that Kiyamote wants.

If they succeed, the torpedoes are stopped or destroyed before reaching Lebensraum. The PCs have averted a catastrophe, or doomed Poseidon to the capitalist eco-rape of the Incorporates, depending on your perspective.

Don’t forget Marta Grosse’s recordings in the wrap-up. Her testimony will determine the spin the Earth media put on the events of the scenario.

Appendix 1: Non-player characters

· Captain Walter Kiyamote: The Captain of the Station, Kiyamote is terrified of chaos. He wants order and stability, and believes the Incorporates’ relentless greed will ruin humanity. Poseidon is a chance to impose a new world order. The possibilities offered by Long John cannot be realised unless the world is stable and controlled. He knows just how tense relations between the GEO and the Incorporates is, and is willing to sacrifice his career to ensure that the GEO does the right thing.

His plan isn’t the greatest, and the native attack throws him off balance. He’s as much in the dark as the PCs are during the initial section of the scenario. Once he realises that the natives can be used as the flashpoint, then he’ll do everything he can to help the attack on Hanover succeed.

· Erich Kalbe: Hanover’s spy in the native terrorist movements, Kalbe is part of a long-term plan to destroy the network of native resistance cells. He’s posing as a GEO Covert Operative, sent to train the natives in insurgency techniques. He’s been ferreting out information about the resistance movement, and has a long list of contacts.

When the information about Station 32 is leaked to him, he decides to prove himself to the natives by organising a raid. He never expected the natives to be so successful – or so willing to strike at Lebensraum.

· Werner Keinz: The head of Lebensraum. A diplomat, he’s been trying to build bridges with the GEO on Poseidon. He knows how vital the colony is to the future of Hanover Industries, and feels that he is the architect and defender of that future. He’s committed to the cause of Hanover.

· Troels: The head of the natives. Troels always felt over-shadowed by Kalbe, but he’s a very calm and level-headed man and never let his jealousy over-come him. Now he’s in charge, and the other natives are screaming for blood. Troels is fairly well-educated for a native, and can argue with the PCs. In the end, though, he wants the incorporates and outsiders off Poseidon, and will kill to achieve this goal.

Appendix 2: Timeline of events

Remember Poseidon uses a 30 hour clock.

Before the scenario begins: The Natives hijack the Solstice.Marta Grosse’s jumpcraft blows a fuel line, but manages to land on Station 32.
2600 hrs: Twilight, day 1: Grosse is interviewed by the PCs. The storm gathers.
2615 hrs: Twilight, day 1: The natives attack the station.
2625 hrs: Twilight, day 1: The torpedoes are stolen. The natives retreat to a hydrofoil.
2700 hrs: Night, day 1: The storm worsens. The characters are sent to retrieve the torpedoes.
3000 hrs: Midnight, day 1: Kalbe and the terrorists argue. Kalbe is shot and flees.
0100 hrs: Night, day 2: Kalbe sends his distress call.
0230 hrs: Night, day 2: Jumpcraft launch from Lebensraum.
0345 hrs: Night, day 2: Circumstance is destroyed.
0500 hrs: Early morning, day 2: The torpedoes are launched.
0600 hrs: Dawn, day 2: The torpedoes impact the Drakon II Arcology at Lebensraum.

HOW TO RUN Treacherous Waters IN FIVE MINUTES

Right. I’m assuming you know nothing about Blue Planet, or the scenario. Good luck.

BLUE PLANET is a hard-sf game set on a waterworld called Poseidon. The Poseidon system is linked to Earth’s solar system by a wormhole. The wormhole and Poseidon were discovered about a century ago. A colony ship, the Cousteau was sent off. Then, Earth collapsed into anarchy due to a genetically engineered Blight that wiped out food crops. Only the forces of the Global Ecology Organisation, a massive world government set up by the UN to fight the blight, and the Incorporate States (basically cyberpunk-esque corporations) brought humanity through the chaos.

Humanity returned to Poseidon, drawn by the lure of an ore called Long John, which allows massive genetic engineering and immortality. The GEO is still the world government, and is clinging to power despite possibly being obsolete. The Incorporates are mining Long John at a great rate. The Natives, the descendants of the original Poseidon colonists, have changed into a low-tech society aren’t too happy about all these Outsiders landing.

One of the Incorporates, Hanover Industries has a large company town called Lebensraum. The characters are part of the crew of a GEO Science station near Lebensraum. The Station is also a secret military listening post, spying on the Incorporates. Just in case a war starts, the Station is armed with smart torpedoes.

The Captain of the Station, Kiyamote, wants a war. He leaked information about the torpedoes to a PC, Tsung-Li, who was once part of Hanover. She passed it on to Hanover, who passed it on to Erich Kalbe, a Hanover spy infiltrating a native terrorist group. Kalbe decided to steal the smart torpedoes from the Station.

The scenario begins with five of the PCs, Alan Baum (military git), Faith Tourmalene (science head and anti-military), Tsung-Li (Hanover pawn), Feyd (GEO trooper) and Vlad (laid-back scientists and native sympathiser) interviewing the last PC, Marta Grosse, who crash-landed her jumpcraft onto the Station. Marta is secretly a media recorder (everything she experiences is broadcast back on Earth as a tv program.)

Anyway, the natives nick the smart torpedoes in the middle of a storm (cue combat scene and firefight). They steal the torpedoes using over-ride devices which fool the torpedoes’ computers into thinking everything’s a simulation. The pcs have to get them back. Their best bet is the nearby native village of Circumstance. Here, they get to talk to a whole village of people who don’t trust any of them.

Meanwhile, Kalbe argues with the native terrorists, who want to use the torpedoes straight away. He gets shot and flees. Once holed up in a cave, he sends a distress call, and also warns Hanover that the torpedoes are out of his control.

Hanover napalms the village of Circumstance. The natives are slightly irritated by this, and launch the torpedoes. The PCs have to track the torpedoes down and save Lebensraum –if they believe the Incorporates are worth saving, that is.

Add in the fact that Captain Kiyamote wants a war, and is also rather unstable.

Add in the fact that half the pcs hate each other, and none of them really know what they’re doing.

Add in a fuck-off storm of the sort Poseidon is famous for.

Add in a few encounters with Poseidon’s charming sea life.

There’s a handout which details the torpedoes, and a few maps. Everything else is fairly freeform. Good luck.

Character Handouts

NAME: Tsung-Li

AGE: 31 DATE OF BIRTH: Sometime in 2168

RANK: Doctor of Oceanography

POSITION: Oceanography Team, GEO Station 32

You’re a part of the crew of Geo Station 32, a science station anchored in the middle of Sable Bay on Poseidon. Poseidon is a beautiful, wondrous world. The ocean goes on forever here, an infinity of blue that covers ninety percent of the planet, a magical weave of currents and tides, a living, breathing animal. The ocean is alive, and sings you to sleep each night.

The ocean, and the drugs. If you don’t take the drugs, then you dream. You dream of home.

Some people think Earth is fine. Some people think that the Blight Years are over, than Earth has been rebuilt and the horror is over. They’re wrong. There are places on Earth which have never emerged from the chaos. The GEO has swept them into a corner and called them the Free Zones. They’re Free, the GEO isn’t responsible for anything that happens in them.

You were born in a Free Zone. You never knew your family. You think they were killed by bandits raiding the fortified town…or they could have been bandits. You don’t know. You were dug out of the pile of bodies by scavengers, who traded you at the next market day for a tank of diesel and case of ammo. You were taken in by merchants, and worked like a slave once you were old enough to walk.

When you were fifteen, your merchant owners took you on a long journey, to the edge of the Free Zone. There, waiting by the seashore, was an amazing silver jumpcraft, and people from outside the Zone. You took your life in your hands and broke free of your masters, and pleaded with the outsiders to take you with them. They were Incorporate staff, from Hanover Industries. Your owners had told them that a Hanover jumpship had crashed within the Zone. When it became evident your masters were lying, the Incorporates took you with them.

That was a lifetime ago. You joined Hanover Industries, staying there for 12 years, and studied science. The waterworld of Poseidon interested you, so you became an oceanographer. You left the horrors of Free Zone China behind you. You will always be grateful to Hanover for giving you a new life, but the GEO science contract suited you better, and you are now part of GEO Station 32.

You don’t talk much about your past life. You’ve learned to fit in, and you’re fairly quiet anyway. You don’t think anyone suspects that underneath your mild expression is the street fighter who survived knife fights and shootouts in the Free Zone. You enjoy working on Station 32, but in the past you also visited the nearly Hanover Industries company town of Lebensraum, where you have several friends. Lately, you’ve been kept on the Station more than usual.

You recently discovered hidden files in the computer core, revealing that there is a hidden store of torpedoes in the Lower Decks. Tensions between Hanover Industries and the GEO are always running high…the thought of Lebenraum being attacked terrifies you. You know what war brings, the Free Zones…

The other staff of Station 32:

· Captain Kiyamote: The Captain of the Station. You’ve never spoken to him in person.

· Commander Baum: He’s head of security. He’s rather standoffish, and strict. You don’t get on well with him. For some reason, the Station is really well-armed. You wonder exactly what Baum’s role is. You suspect that the GEO plans to use the Station as a launch pad in any conflict with Hanover (a terrible thought). You recently found data files hidden in the computer proving that the Station has a store of smart torpedoes in the Lower Decks. You passed this information onto your friend Gerhig.

· Dr. Faith Tourmalene: The head of science on the Station. She’s a very nice and positive person, and likes Baum a lot less than you do. Their arguments are legendary.

· Feyd Al-Umarj: A lab tech. He seems ordinary enough, but your old fighting instincts tell you to be wary of him.

· Dr. Vlad Olyah: A xenobiologist like Faith, Vlad’s a really charming man. He’s probably your best friend on the Station, and the only one who knows your background in any depth. He spends a lot of time on surveys.

Hanover employees:

· Luther Gerhig: You know him from your days with Hanover back on Earth. Now he’s an operations manager in Lebensraum. You passed on the news about the weapons payload of the Station to him. He’ll pass it on to Hanover security. They’ll deal with it. You feel a bit queasy passing secrets like this, but you’d prefer to have this kind of stuff in the open.

BLUE PLANET

It is the year 2199. More than a century ago, a wormhole was discovered on the edge of the solar system, leading to the Lambda Serpentis system. There, a habitable waterworld was discovered. A massive colony ship, the UNSS Cousteau was despatched in 2086 with a crew of genetically engineered colonists.

In 2090, a genetically modified virus, designed to kill a fungus troubling rice crops, mutated and leaped from plant species to plant species, wiping out Earth’s food supply. In the chaos of the Blight, national governments were unable to cope. Whole regions were devastated as rioting mobs turned on each other. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, the UN gave ultimate legal and governmental power to the fledgling Global Ecology Organisation. The GEO threw massive funding into research, and created its own elite Peacekeeping forces to enforce order.

Elsewhere on Earth, people turned to the corporations which had the private armies and resources to survive the Chaos. The GEO, pressed for resources, acknowledged the legal standings of the Incorporated States. Areas outside the protective auspices of the GEO or the Incorporates collapsed into apocalyptic, chaotic Free Zones. The Blight and the ensuing chaos tore Earth apart for 30 years, and rebuilding took almost as long. The GEO became entrenched as the de facto world government, and refused to return authority to the UN or national governments. It was a GEO ship that travelled to the wormhole in 2172 to recontact the Poseidon colony.

The colonists had adapted to life on the waterworld, having abandoned most technology when they could no longer repair it. The GEO began to systematically explore and colonise the planet, as did the Incorporate states. The discovery in 2185 of a xenosilicate ore sparked a massive colonisation effort. This ore, nicknamed Long John, made genetic engineering far easier and cheaper. Above all, Long John could be used to rebuild human cells. Immortality… The Blight years had taught humanity that life must be fought for. The desire for immortality has lead the Incorporates to sponsor massive mining on Poseidon. Some fear that the delicate balance of the waterworld will be upset by the massive influx of colonists and industry. The GEO watches the rebellious Incorporates closely, and a divide is forming at the highest levels of government. The GEO may be a relic from a past age…or the only force strong enough to save humanity from its own greed.

NAME: ALAN BAUM

AGE: 39 DATE OF BIRTH: April 3rd, 2160

RANK: COMMANDER

POSITION: Assistant Commander/Tactical Officer, GEO Station 32

Your grandparents told you of the horrors of the Blight years, when Earth was wracked by anarchy and war. Your parents taught you respect for the Global Ecology Organisation, the one government that took a stand against the Chaos and brought Earth back from the brink. Full of enthusiasm and a desire to serve, you join the GEO Military. They taught you that the horrors and chaos could come again.

The rapacious corporations whose genetic tampering caused the Blight are still there. The masses of humanity still stumble blindly, and cannot yet be trusted to choose their own destiny. It is only with the guidance and management of the GEO that humanity can prosper. You have accepted this burden. You will be one of the elite who will bring humanity along the right path, who will forge the destiny of the race.

You are assigned to GEO Station 32, on the new frontier of Poseidon. Station 32 was designed as a scientific installation, to map and survey the unspoiled water-world. Only a few kilometres from the Station, though, is the city of Lebensraum, a city owned and operated entirely by the Hanover Corporation. Hanover is the first corporation to lose its hold on Earth, and is likely to try to dig its claws deeply in Poseidon. Station 32’s secret purpose is to observe Hanover’s activity on Poseidon, and prepare for the inevitable day when the GEO will cleanse both Earth and Poseidon of the outdated and selfish corporations that have caused so much grief and suffering in their relentless hunt for profit. Station 32 is protected by a dozen advanced smart torpedoes, and an anti-aircraft gun. You also have a pair of military interceptor subs stowed with the torpedoes in the Lower Decks.

You have been trained in military intelligence. You have spent years listening to intercepted transmissions and analysing psychological profiles. Now, you listen to the voices of Lebensraum, and you form plans in your mind. You can see the elite teams of GEO Shock Troopers, you can envision the monolithic corporate towers burning…you prepare for that day, when you will bring the wisdom of the GEO to the oppressed corporate wage slaves.

You are a career military officer, believing that the GEO is the best hope for a new, better order. You’re fanatically loyal to the GEO, and often come across as some sort of near-fascist. You certainly don’t think of yourself as such, but your upbringing and training have both taught you that the vast majority of people cannot be trusted to make sensible choices, and that control is vital. You see the Incorporates as the enemy, but you do have a very military mindset. Poseidon is just another assignment to you, another six month tour of duty. You’ve barely left the Station, and have never been out in the Deeps apart from on exercises.

The other staff of Station 32:

· Captain Kiyamote: Your Commanding Officer. He shares many of your views, and you get on well with him. He has kept you on a tight leash though, keeping you from ever even thinking about acting against Hanover. Lately, he’s been irritable, and you’ve been taking charge of the crew more and more.

· Dr. Faith Tourmalene: You understand why Station 32 has a full scientific staff. The GEO has to hide the military aspects of the Station. You still don’t like sharing a base with civilians. Tourmalene is the head of the scientists, and is the kind of unfettered scientist who caused the Blight. You dislike her, and try to keep the science staff’s interruptions of the real work of the Station to a minimum.

· Dr. Tsung-Li: She was a Hanover citizen-employee for twelve years, and you suspect she’s still loyal to them. She’s an oceanographer, and spends too much time out of the Station for you to keep her under full surveillance. You hoped to bug her quarters, but Captain Kiyamote forbade it. You still don’t trust her, and watch her for signs of trouble.

· Lt Feyd Al-Umarj: You’re a military officer. He’s a GEO Trooper. You make the plans. He executes them. He’s hoping for a transfer to the elite Peacekeeper divisions. You doubt he has the skills to make it, but you keep supporting and pushing him.

· Dr. Vlad Olyah: A xenobiologist. He’s the scientist you get on with the best, and is genuinely interested in keeping a good atmosphere on the station. You can relax with him, although you occasionally worry he’s bad for discipline.

BLUE PLANET

It is the year 2199. More than a century ago, a wormhole was discovered on the edge of the solar system, leading to the Lambda Serpentis system. There, a habitable waterworld was discovered. A massive colony ship, the UNSS Cousteau was despatched in 2086 with a crew of genetically engineered colonists.

In 2090, a genetically modified virus, designed to kill a fungus troubling rice crops, mutated and leaped from plant species to plant species, wiping out Earth’s food supply. In the chaos of the Blight, national governments were unable to cope. Whole regions were devastated as rioting mobs turned on each other. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, the UN gave ultimate legal and governmental power to the fledgling Global Ecology Organisation. The GEO threw massive funding into research, and created its own elite Peacekeeping forces to enforce order.

Elsewhere on Earth, people turned to the corporations which had the private armies and resources to survive the Chaos. The GEO, pressed for resources, acknowledged the legal standings of the Incorporated States. Areas outside the protective auspices of the GEO or the Incorporates collapsed into apocalyptic, chaotic Free Zones. The Blight and the ensuing chaos tore Earth apart for 30 years, and rebuilding took almost as long. The GEO became entrenched as the de facto world government, and refused to return authority to the UN or national governments. It was a GEO ship that travelled to the wormhole in 2172 to recontact the Poseidon colony.

The colonists had adapted to life on the waterworld, having abandoned most technology when they could no longer repair it. The GEO began to systematically explore and colonise the planet, as did the Incorporate states. The discovery in 2185 of a xenosilicate ore sparked a massive colonisation effort. This ore, nicknamed Long John, made genetic engineering far easier and cheaper. Above all, Long John could be used to rebuild human cells. Immortality… The Blight years had taught humanity that life must be fought for. The desire for immortality has lead the Incorporates to sponsor massive mining on Poseidon. Some fear that the delicate balance of the waterworld will be upset by the massive influx of colonists and industry. The GEO watches the rebellious Incorporates closely, and a divide is forming at the highest levels of government. The GEO may be a relic from a past age…or the only force strong enough to save humanity from its own greed.

NAME: FAITH TOURMALENE

AGE: 43 DATE OF BIRTH: September 27th, 2156

RANK: Doctor of Xenobiology

POSITION: Head of Science, GEO Station 32

You were born on a transport en route to Mars. Your parents were both engineers, and you spent your childhood being dragged from one space station to another, one domed Martian city or terraforming installation to another. You were lulled to sleep by the sound of atmospheric processors and life support systems.

When you were eight, you visited Earth for the first time. You saw it with the eyes of a child who had never known a place where life flourished naturally, where the air didn’t come from a processing plant. The sheer verdant exuberance of life, the wonders of living things – it was overwhelming. You vowed to become a scientist, a biologist. Then, in 2174, the UNSS Admiral Perry recontacted Poseidon colony, and returned with a wealth of scientific data about Poseidon. You were in college, and were involved in examining the data. You became one of the foremost exports on Poseidon’s native life forms. Fifteen years ago, in 2187, you lay down in the cryogenic freezers and began the six month journey.

Poseidon was more of a revelation than your first visit to Earth. Poseidon is a wild, vibrant ecology. Its biology is so similar to Earth’s that most scientists believe that one world was seeded by material from the other (and some point to the mysterious wormhole as evidence of alien cosmic engineering), but Poseidon is a very different world. Humans aren’t on top of the food chain here by any means. There are creatures out in the oceans that can devour a submarine like you’d eat a peanut. Biology on Poseidon isn’t looking at slides in a lab, it’s all about getting out in the Deeps and surviving.

Which is why Station 32 is the worst place in the galaxy for you to be. You were ecstatic when your assignment to the Station came through. The Station sits in the middle of Sable Bay, a rich and interesting area. You expected the Station to be an active centre of science. It’s not. It’s a secret GEO-Military spyhole, keeping tabs on the Incorporate city of Lebensraum. Your xenobiology team wonders why the survey drones keep going offcourse – you’re not allowed tell them it’s because the Military are also using the drones to spy on Lebensraum. Your computer time is limited, because the computer is also used to decrypt intercepted transmissions. Most damning of all, your storage space on the Lower Decks is cut in half because the military are storing weapons down there.

Alarmingly, you’re stuck on Station 32 for a while. You’re a well-known xenobiologist, so your presence here makes the Station look like a real scientific institute. You’ve considered sabotaging your own reputation to get out of this, but that’s madness. You console yourself with long field trips in the Deeps (which are breathtakingly beautiful and fascinating out here) and long and bitter arguments with Alan Baum.

You have an immense appetite for life, and are incredibly enthusiastic about biology and science. You lead your science teams from the front, driving them to new levels of excellence. You want the military off the Station, and would do almost anything to get rid of them or discredit them.

The other staff of Station 32:

· Captain Kiyamote: The real head of the Station. Kiyamote is fairly quiet, but he’s obstinate as hell, and sees you and the other scientists as distractions to the real work. Lately, he’s been refusing to see you at all.

· Commander Alan Baum: Kiyamote’ little man, an irritating crypto-fascist military marionette obsessed with the GEO and regulations. You hate Baum, and take great pleasure arguing with him. You’ve vowed to make his life hell, and you’ve made sure everyone knows this.

· Dr. Tsung-Li: One of the oceanographers. A good technical person, but she doesn’t have the drive and conviction you like. Kiyamote has had problems with her in the past, and ordered you to keep Li on the Station whenever possible. You’ve ignored him.

· Lt Feyd Al-Umarj: A nasty piece of work, Feyd is the commander of the marines. He’s a genetically modified killing machine, nothing more.

· Dr. Vlad Olyah: Vlad puzzles you. He’s probably the nicest and most personable man on the Station, and gets on with everyone, even Baum. He’s also made massive progress in xenobiology, outstripping everyone. However, his work is sloppy and his previous papers are uninspired. He spends a lot of time on surveys.

BLUE PLANET

It is the year 2199. More than a century ago, a wormhole was discovered on the edge of the solar system, leading to the Lambda Serpentis system. There, a habitable waterworld was discovered. A massive colony ship, the UNSS Cousteau was despatched in 2086 with a crew of genetically engineered colonists.

In 2090, a genetically modified virus, designed to kill a fungus troubling rice crops, mutated and leaped from plant species to plant species, wiping out Earth’s food supply. In the chaos of the Blight, national governments were unable to cope. Whole regions were devastated as rioting mobs turned on each other. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, the UN gave ultimate legal and governmental power to the fledgling Global Ecology Organisation. The GEO threw massive funding into research, and created its own elite Peacekeeping forces to enforce order.

Elsewhere on Earth, people turned to the corporations which had the private armies and resources to survive the Chaos. The GEO, pressed for resources, acknowledged the legal standings of the Incorporated States. Areas outside the protective auspices of the GEO or the Incorporates collapsed into apocalyptic, chaotic Free Zones. The Blight and the ensuing chaos tore Earth apart for 30 years, and rebuilding took almost as long. The GEO became entrenched as the de facto world government, and refused to return authority to the UN or national governments. It was a GEO ship that travelled to the wormhole in 2172 to recontact the Poseidon colony.

The colonists had adapted to life on the waterworld, having abandoned most technology when they could no longer repair it. The GEO began to systematically explore and colonise the planet, as did the Incorporate states. The discovery in 2185 of a xenosilicate ore sparked a massive colonisation effort. This ore, nicknamed Long John, made genetic engineering far easier and cheaper. Above all, Long John could be used to rebuild human cells. Immortality…The Blight years had taught humanity that life must be fought for. The desire for immortality has lead the Incorporates to sponsor massive mining on Poseidon. Some fear that the delicate balance of the waterworld will be upset by the massive influx of colonists and industry. The GEO watches the rebellious Incorporates closely, and a divide is forming at the highest levels of government. The GEO may be a relic from a past age…or the only force strong enough to save humanity from its own greed.

NAME: Lt. Feyd Al-Umarj

AGE: 24 DATE OF BIRTH: May 1st, 2175

RANK: Lt.

POSITION: Trooper, 12th Offworld Rangers. Assigned to GEO Station 32.

You are a GEO Trooper.

That means so much. That means you are a protector of humanity, a heroic defender of law and order. It means you are one of an elite cadre of superior soldiers, genetically and cybernetically enhances to be better, faster, stronger than anything. The best of the GEO are the Shock Troopers, honest-to-God supermen. Only the most skilled and determined make the cut to join the Shock Troopers, only those who prove their worthiness to undergo the near-total viral rewiring and biosculpting that makes the Shock Troopers unstoppable and unbeatable.

You want that rank, that glory, so much you can almost taste it. You have to prove yourself. Ever since you first saw the GEO Troopers in holos as a kid in Burroughs, back home on Mars, you wanted to be one of them. You’ve been pushing yourself to the limit since then, yearning to prove that you were the best. When your body proved limited, you had it rebuilt and enhanced. You left home at fifteen to attend a military school on Earth, and joined the GEO Marines on your eighteenth birthday. Your assignment to Poseidon filled you with joy. Poseidon is the hot zone, the place where the GEO is stretched thinnest and the tensions are greatest. The Shock Troopers at Fort Solitude, Kingstone, and Prosperity Station are legends back home. Prove you’re up to it with this assignment, and you’ll join them.

Station 32 sits in the middle of Sable Bay. Officially, it’s a science station. It monitors tides and maps currents, and chases after weird-ass fish. In reality, Station 32 is also a military listening post, keeping tabs on Incorporate activity, especially the Hanover Industries company town of Lebensraum.

It’s been a strange assignment. To keep up the pretence of Station 32 being a purely scientific installation, you’ve been given the cover of a lab assistant. Several of the science staff aren’t cleared to know what’s going on, so you’ve had to act like a lab assistant. It’s really not something you were trained for, and you’ve been restless and uneasy. You have enjoyed some aspects, like specimen hunting with the xenobiology team. Life on Poseidon has been sometimes exhilarating, but that hasn’t made up for the dullness and claustrophobic tour of duty on the Station. You were trained for combat, not to sort test tubes. You’ve found yourself looking at Lebensraum, urging the Incorporates to do something just so you can prove yourself in a real firefight.

Most of the time, you’re like a little puppy who knows far too much about firearms. You’re so eager to get into the thick of things it’s amusing, and you come off as way too intense most of the time. When you’re on your own ground though, in the middle of a firefight, you’re a consummate professional.

The other staff of Station 32:

· Captain Kiyamote: Your commanding officer. He’s an OK CO, but you don’t have the patience for waiting games of this length. You know that his evaluation of you is what counts, so you try to impress him.

· Commander Alan Baum: Baum is the tactical officer. He’s a good man, but his devotion to the principles of the GEO is blinding, and he tends to argue a lot with those who disagree.

· Dr. Faith Tourmanlene: The head of the science team. She argues with Baum a lot. You haven’t had much contact with her.

· Dr. Tsung-Li: An oceanographer. Something about the way she moves suggests combat experience.

· Dr. Vlad Olyah: A nice guy, good fun. You can’t let yourself relax too much though, not with Captain Kiyamote watching.

BLUE PLANET

It is the year 2199. More than a century ago, a wormhole was discovered on the edge of the solar system, leading to the Lambda Serpentis system. There, a habitable waterworld was discovered. A massive colony ship, the UNSS Cousteau was despatched in 2086 with a crew of genetically engineered colonists.

In 2090, a genetically modified virus, designed to kill a fungus troubling rice crops, mutated and leaped from plant species to plant species, wiping out Earth’s food supply. In the chaos of the Blight, national governments were unable to cope. Whole regions were devastated as rioting mobs turned on each other. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, the UN gave ultimate legal and governmental power to the fledgling Global Ecology Organisation. The GEO threw massive funding into research, and created its own elite Peacekeeping forces to enforce order.

Elsewhere on Earth, people turned to the corporations which had the private armies and resources to survive the Chaos. The GEO, pressed for resources, acknowledged the legal standings of the Incorporated States. Areas outside the protective auspices of the GEO or the Incorporates collapsed into apocalyptic, chaotic Free Zones. The Blight and the ensuing chaos tore Earth apart for 30 years, and rebuilding took almost as long. The GEO became entrenched as the de facto world government, and refused to return authority to the UN or national governments. It was a GEO ship that travelled to the wormhole in 2172 to recontact the Poseidon colony.

The colonists had adapted to life on the waterworld, having abandoned most technology when they could no longer repair it. The GEO began to systematically explore and colonise the planet, as did the Incorporate states. The discovery in 2185 of a xenosilicate ore sparked a massive colonisation effort. This ore, nicknamed Long John, made genetic engineering far easier and cheaper. Above all, Long John could be used to rebuild human cells. Immortality… The Blight years had taught humanity that life must be fought for. The desire for immortality has lead the Incorporates to sponsor massive mining on Poseidon. Some fear that the delicate balance of the waterworld will be upset by the massive influx of colonists and industry. The GEO watches the rebellious Incorporates closely, and a divide is forming at the highest levels of government. The GEO may be a relic from a past age…or the only force strong enough to save humanity from its own greed.

NAME: Vlad Olyah

AGE: 31 DATE OF BIRTH: 28th August, 2168

RANK: Doctor

POSITION: Member of Xenobiology Team, GEO Science Station 32.

You’ve always been a science brat. Your family have been in white coats paid for by GEO funding for generations. You grew up in arcologies and science stations like this one, and the smells of preservatives and disinfectants bring back childhood memories. You’ve never really had much drive, but you know so much about the inner workings and bureaucracy of the GEO Science ministry that you’ve been able to surf along.

When a position on Poseidon opened up, you took it gleefully. Earth is a wreck, pure and simple. There’s nothing new there, while Poseidon is still mostly uncharted. You’ve been assigned to GEO Station 32, an Anemone-class science installation in the middle of Sable Bay.

Well, from the moment you arrived, you realised something was screwy. The Station had a ludicrously large security staff. You’ve always been really approachable and friendly, and it didn't take you long to work out what was going on. Station 32 is half science station, half listening post. The GEO Military crew spend their time spying on the nearby Incorporate town of Lebensraum…which basically means you’re sitting on the front lines if the shooting starts.

You decided to find a way to stay clear as much as possible, and the best way to do that was to be out on field expeditions and surveys as much as possible. You lucked out early on, and made friends with a few Natives. The Natives have lived on Poseidon for decades, and know the planet intimately. You thought you’d come up with a fairly good scam – the Natives tell you where to go to find new specimens, and they give you the benefit of a century of living in harmony with nature…and in exchange, you get them high-tech goods and luxuries from Earth and stuff. Perfect…

Except you’ve gotten too close to them. After years of taking the easy way out, the experience of working with the Natives to survive in the harsh oceans has changed you deeply. You now sympathise with the Natives, who are often pushed aside to make room for Incorporate mining or GEO resettlement. The Natives know the world far better than any outsider, and they know how much it can sustain. Poseidon is dangerously close to striking back…

You’ve hidden both your little xenobiology scam and your growing friendships with the Natives from the rest of the crew, and you’re still your charming self on the Station. It’s out there, in the Deeps, with those who really breathe the ocean – that’s where you feel alive.

The other staff of Station 32:

· Captain Kiyamote: The Captain of the Station. He’s been under a lot of stress (you don’t know why). You’ve secretly been providing him with this native seaweed extract that cures headaches. It hasn’t been tested scientifically yet, but the Natives swear by it, and it works on Kiyamote.

· Commander Alan Baum: Alan’s very much the career officer, and he’s got a faith in the GEO that borders on the religious. You’ve tried to get him to relax, but it’s hard.

· Dr. Faith Tourmanlene: The head of science on the Station. She’s a slave-driver, and she really hates the military. She argues with Baum a lot.

· Dr. Tsung-Li: No-one else on the Station knows this, but Li grew up in a Free Zone back on Earth. She had a hellish time until she was rescued by Incorporate from Hanover when she was a teenager. She’s friendly with Hanover staff.

· Feyd Al-Umarj: Supposedly a lab tech, but he’s so obviously one of the military it hurts. He’s ok when he’s calm, but the kid was born to kill things.

The Natives of Circumstance Vill AGE:

· Jessica: She was one of the first natives you met. Her whole life has been spent out in the wilds, she’s never had any formal education or training – but she’s the wittiest and most resourceful person you know. You’re half in love with her, but the Natives are wary about associating with newcomers.

· Almis: He’s your main “trading partner”, swapping xenobiological information for tech. He’s got his own sub, and travels a lot. He’s fairly clued in about events in Sable Bay.

BLUE PLANET

It is the year 2199. More than a century ago, a wormhole was discovered on the edge of the solar system, leading to the Lambda Serpentis system. There, a habitable waterworld was discovered. A massive colony ship, the UNSS Cousteau was despatched in 2086 with a crew of genetically engineered colonists.

In 2090, a genetically modified virus, designed to kill a fungus troubling rice crops, mutated and leaped from plant species to plant species, wiping out Earth’s food supply. In the chaos of the Blight, national governments were unable to cope. Whole regions were devastated as rioting mobs turned on each other. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, the UN gave ultimate legal and governmental power to the fledgling Global Ecology Organisation. The GEO threw massive funding into research, and created its own elite Peacekeeping forces to enforce order.

Elsewhere on Earth, people turned to the corporations which had the private armies and resources to survive the Chaos. The GEO, pressed for resources, acknowledged the legal standings of the Incorporated States. Areas outside the protective auspices of the GEO or the Incorporates collapsed into apocalyptic, chaotic Free Zones. The Blight and the ensuing chaos tore Earth apart for 30 years, and rebuilding took almost as long. The GEO became entrenched as the de facto world government, and refused to return authority to the UN or national governments. It was a GEO ship that travelled to the wormhole in 2172 to recontact the Poseidon colony.

The colonists had adapted to life on the waterworld, having abandoned most technology when they could no longer repair it. The GEO began to systematically explore and colonise the planet, as did the Incorporate states. The discovery in 2185 of a xenosilicate ore sparked a massive colonisation effort. This ore, nicknamed Long John, made genetic engineering far easier and cheaper. Above all, Long John could be used to rebuild human cells. Immortality… The Blight years had taught humanity that life must be fought for. The desire for immortality has lead the Incorporates to sponsor massive mining on Poseidon. Some fear that the delicate balance of the waterworld will be upset by the massive influx of colonists and industry. The GEO watches the rebellious Incorporates closely, and a divide is forming at the highest levels of government. The GEO may be a relic from a past age…or the only force strong enough to save humanity from its own greed.

NAME: Marta Grosse

AGE: 35 (estimated) DATE OF BIRTH: 14th February, 2166 (according to records)

RANK: None

POSITION: Adventurer and Pilot

You can’t remember a lot of your life. You were, when you were a lot younger, an Incorporate assassin and wetworks specialist. You think you worked for McCleod Securities, a corporation which has made secret wars and terrorism a booming professional industry. It’s hard to think back that far….before Boston.

Boston. November 3rd, 2191. You must have screwed up something without realising it, or learned something you weren’t meant to know – because your employers came after you. They took you down with a slamhound, a genetically engineered canine with a payload of explosives. What was left of you was flown to a private hospital. They put you back together (two years floating in biorestorative gel, two years of surgery and nanotech reconstruction), but you were still in danger. And after all those medical bills, about three million in debt. Plus, the trauma and reconstruction messed your brain up so much, you couldn’t remember the contacts and people who could maybe have got you out of trouble.

So when Life+Scan, a media group offered you a contact and a ticket to Poseidon, you had to say yes. They’ve wired you with an Implanted Sensory Recorder – everything you do, everything you feel, it’s all recorded. Your recorder can hold about 2 days worth of experiences, then you have to download it all onto a computer. Your recordings are transmitted back to Earth, edited, retouched, and a billion people feel your skin from the inside. Life+Scan Poseidon, the thrills, spills and loves of a rogue adventuress on the new Frontier. For someone who was trained not to be seen, knowing that millions of people will watch, will feel, everything you do….it’s sickening. You’re supposed to risk your life in interesting ways to keep the ratings high. When you don’t think about the recorders, it’s ok – risk is your business….but sometimes, you can feel all the eyes in your head, and then you come close to losing it.

You’re also worried that whoever nearly killed you in Boston will come after you again. You think it was McCleod, but it could have been some other Incorporate, or someone connected to some target of yours (and there were a lot of them). In your wilder, more paranoid moments, you wonder if that even a real memory. You spent two years in deep sleep, plenty of time for someone to implant stuff in your mind.

What’s next on the wild ride to televised suicide? There’s rumoured to be a cell of Native terrorists active in the Sable Bay region. The Hanover Industries company town of Lebensraum is near there. Life+Scan told you to have a look round. You flew off in your Jumpship, but while over Sable Bay, a fuel line blew. You managed to land at GEO Station 32, a science station floating in the bay. Your jumpship’s been impounded, and a gaggle of science types and security staff are about to interrogate you.

Time to smile for your audience back on Earth…

BLUE PLANET

It is the year 2199. More than a century ago, a wormhole was discovered on the edge of the solar system, leading to the Lambda Serpentis system. There, a habitable waterworld was discovered. A massive colony ship, the UNSS Cousteau was despatched in 2086 with a crew of genetically engineered colonists.

In 2090, a genetically modified virus, designed to kill a fungus troubling rice crops, mutated and leaped from plant species to plant species, wiping out Earth’s food supply. In the chaos of the Blight, national governments were unable to cope. Whole regions were devastated as rioting mobs turned on each other. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, the UN gave ultimate legal and governmental power to the fledgling Global Ecology Organisation. The GEO threw massive funding into research, and created its own elite Peacekeeping forces to enforce order.

Elsewhere on Earth, people turned to the corporations which had the private armies and resources to survive the Chaos. The GEO, pressed for resources, acknowledged the legal standings of the Incorporated States. Areas outside the protective auspices of the GEO or the Incorporates collapsed into apocalyptic, chaotic Free Zones. The Blight and the ensuing chaos tore Earth apart for 30 years, and rebuilding took almost as long. The GEO became entrenched as the de facto world government, and refused to return authority to the UN or national governments. It was a GEO ship that travelled to the wormhole in 2172 to recontact the Poseidon colony.

The colonists had adapted to life on the waterworld, having abandoned most technology when they could no longer repair it. The GEO began to systematically explore and colonise the planet, as did the Incorporate states. The discovery in 2185 of a xenosilicate ore sparked a massive colonisation effort. This ore, nicknamed Long John, made genetic engineering far easier and cheaper. Above all, Long John could be used to rebuild human cells. Immortality… The Blight years had taught humanity that life must be fought for. The desire for immortality has lead the Incorporates to sponsor massive mining on Poseidon. Some fear that the delicate balance of the waterworld will be upset by the massive influx of colonists and industry. The GEO watches the rebellious Incorporates closely, and a divide is forming at the highest levels of government. The GEO may be a relic from a past age…or the only force strong enough to save humanity from its own greed.