TOPIC: The Expanse - Rings of Redemption

The Will and Testament. Joe Heisin
I, Joseph Luther Robert Steyn, also know as Joe Braccus, Joe Ramirez and Joe Heisin, do hereby make this last will and testament under the laws and conventions of the Martian Congressional Republic.
Firstly, I direct my executors, Mssrs March, Penhold, Gilbert and Slaw, to pay my enforceable unsecured debts and funeral expenses, the expenses of my last illness, and the expenses of administering my estate. I do not wish my beneficiary to be pursued as I have been.
Secondly, I give all my tangible personal property and all policies and proceeds of insurance covering such property, to my nominated beneficiary (as identified separately and endorsed by the executors. I give that property to those in full share to my beneficiary, with the exception of my shares in the ship known as Promethean which shares are be split equitably amongst the surviving share holders. I want none of the potential liabilities associated with the activities of the ship to affect my main beneficiary.
Any other personal effects shall be managed by the executors in their absolute discretion after consultation with my beneficiary. My executors may pay out of my estate the expenses of delivering tangible personal property to beneficiaries.
Signed this 23rd Day of January 2357

Joeseph Steyn.

Personal Logs.
15.10.56
I cant believe it. Forced to leave Mars just as the deal was almost made. My dealings were not that sharp and frankly I was more of an asset than a liability, the small amount of off-books trading wasn’t even noticeable, was it? I left a coded message for her in the event I don’t get back. Hopefully they will send it.
22.10.56
Not sure how they found me. I still don’t know why they left me alive. Not even sure who they were, Earth, Laconian? In the end it really doesn’t matter. The torture I can handle. They got what they wanted. How could they not. But then they just left. Whether it was experiment or a means to keep me under? The chip they left explained what they decided to do to me. The instructions simple. Keep the box and don’t open it. The treatment formulae was there too. I don’t know what it is. But somehow I know its real, I have a new wrist device its hooked into my body… apparently it monitors my health.

23.10.56
Saw a doc in one of port clinics, cost me the remains of my scrip. Apparently I have a modified form of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia. The causative agent was strange… viral. The doc wouldn’t say any more, but I know he was scarred, he got me out of the place quickly.

They are after me know. My face is on all the comms channels, they made a lot of that shit up, but it sticks.
I buy passage for Lunar. Shouldn’t have been surprised that THEY were behind it.

28.10.56
Never make it to Lunar, apparently the ship has priority orders from someone high in the Earth Government, maybe its Earth not Laconia? We go direct to earth. By direct, they mean dropping me in a shuttle to pre-programmed destination. Some techs came in the shuttle. We landed at some farm, and by luck, there is the Prometheus! No one else is about, but the ship needs some TLC.
They secure my goods in a safe, and the box. Then they leave. I needed to get out of here… quickly.

29.10.56
The old crew came back. Angelus is as sanctimonious as ever, the slack jawed ex solider seems to have acquired religion or something. The Doc, appears shaken, apparently he’s had a run in with Yaks or some such. Either way they are keen to depart with suits me.

12.11.56
Ganymede. Apparently we get to pick up Thatch. My preference is to leave that guy alone. But Angelus is insistent.
We found him. He arrives on board, and suddenly I’m enemy number one. He questions everything. He wants to know what’s in the box. Says he don’t trust me. He wont believe me that I don’t know. That’s all I remembered. Somehow passed out.

13.11.56
I wake up strapped to the infirmary. Apparently the altercation with Thatch has triggered my ‘condition’. The wrist com lit up and displayed the safe code, and Angelus injected me. Its taken some time to recover.
Thatch asks me why I have Martian stealth tech in the box. Apparently he opened it. He might have killed her…. What it the transmitter has range? He also went through my data disc, seems he likes to know everything. Perhaps even these logs? Does he know about you?
Is there some sinister plot, why stealth materials? How does the nanoengineered viral toxin and the treatment figure, it must all must means something?
Has Thatch in his misguided tinkering led them to you? I have no way of checking without betraying you myself. I pray that you remain a secret.

Inept wrote:
Slight correction. While Thatch was there it was the whole group who confronted you about the box and I think Angelus was doing the speaking? While don't mind a bit of antagonistic between joe and Thatch its definitely not purely him.

And now he's braking into my personal file... geez... what's with this guy! Serial cyber criminal.

Thanks for the corrections (I blame the drugs and my lack of note taking!) plus I need the sympathy vote and clearly no one actually listens to Angelus, he kinda just warbles pleasant sounding notes in the background a bit like Barry White without the lyrics... which is marginally better than me sounding like Brian Blessed I grant you!

Just a reminder that we will in the bar this week (2nd Nov) as our normal room isn't available

Session 3 – Previously. On the Expanse

We start with a flashback to Ganymede station to clear up some gaps caused by Joe’s sudden disappearance. When the group challenge him and state the pod isn’t coming if he won’t say what’s inside it he keels over and starts to have a fit. Checking him over his bracelet starts flashing up a number sequence that looks like a code for that safe he ALSO installed without asking.

Thatch checks the safe, finds a hypo, and a financial credit chit. He tosses the hypo to the group and, while they check that over he checks the credit chip to see if there are any notes or similar that might help save Joe’s life. He instead finds plenty of financial data. Initially intent to let Joe keep his privacy a higher power speak to him and tells him to check the bottom line in the interests of story progression which he finds to be a negative number. A very large negative number.

Thatch also opens the crate with the groups approval while they get Joe to the rather large medbay and try find out what’s happening to him. Opening it up he finds inside another box and inside THAT he finds sheets of Martian stealth plating. Checking the box he also finds a transponder that can only transmit when outside of the pod since this would normally block the signal. Confused but happy nothing in the pod is going to imminently cause the ships demise (very UNLIKE Joe) he locks it all back up thinking surely no one was listing for that transponder in the 3-4 minutes it was transmitting…

Joe Eventually comes round, the hypo seeming to do it’s job and tries to tell the group what happened. They then tell him to wait a few hours until they can understand what he is saying.

He claims he was approached by someone from the government (who may or may not have had the code name of Sweetcorn) and told he had to join our mission and must transport the pod with him no questions asked when we went through the ring. This was conveniently shortly after he contracted an extremely virulent form of cancer that only they had the medication for (the Hypo in the safe, The good doctor is able to analyse it and should be able to synthesise more in future) and said meds were to be his fee. He knows nothing more about hand offs, what was in the pod till we opened it or why.

Thatch, who trusts Joe about as far as a Belter can throw a barbell in earth standard and has recently seen his financials, doesn’t really believe him thinking Joe is using them for the latest of his random schemes to get himself out of the debt he’s no doubt got HIMSELF into. Joe takes exception to Thatch revealing this to the group (and proceeds to remind him of such for the next few months of travel) but, as usual, Thatch couldn’t give a toss, especially as he only found it out trying to save Joes life and doesn’t want him to risk the rest of the crew.

Eventually a wait and see approach is decided on where thye’ll take the pod with them since they can see no immediate danger from it and we fast forward back to Dave Wilson falling off some scaffolding...

Investigating Dave the security chief says he’s one of “Jacksons cronies”. A man who was curiously with Dave when he fell and had raised recent complaints about Dave not hooking up properly when working on top of the fence. Smelling some form of Manure Thatch hacks into Jacksons and Wilsons previous service history to see if they had crossed paths before or anywhere else the smell might be coming from. They didn’t seem to serve prevously but what DOES stand out is how exemplorary Wilsons record was prior to this recent job. Completely at odds with the supposed slacker and cavalier attitude that’s been reported. Jackson apparently worked on a transport during the war previously. The Chief is scathing of Jackson. Talking about all the various equipment that keeps going “missing” under Jacksons watch. Things like Steel beams, Metalworking tools etc. Nothing huge but it’s not a big place.

Splitting up Joe and Thatch go to check Wilsons cube while Angelus and Ziang go to try talk to Jackson and investigate the scene of Daves murde… errr accident. Victor floats somewhere conveniently not involved until week 5.

Joe and Thatch get to Wilsons cube to find it taped up and cleaned ready for the next occupant. Entering anyway they look around since this is supposedly the terminal that received the (obviously) Laconian communication. Finding no sign of it in wilsons own files Joe notices a scuff on the side of the terminal. Opening it up Thatch finds a Line shunt. Something he is very familiar with as it allows you to hook into a network undetected. It’s inert now but it’s clear someone was spoofing and using Wilsons terminal rather than reveal their own fingerprints.

While this happens Angelus and Ziang head to the fence where he was pushe.. err fell. It’s windy with the unusual storms going on so they head to the maintenance shed to see if they can find Jackson or get some safety gear to go climb up. Getting there they meet another of the team (who’s name is Terry) who says Jackson isn’t there. Noticing a missing ATV upon being asked they say Jackson took it out. Conveniently also only Jackson uses that ATV making eveyrone else use the other. ALSO it’s transponders been broken for a while so he can’t be tracked. Strange that. There’s also in a corner lots of piles of steel which seems to be match the items the chief said earlier keeps going missing… when asked they are just told “oh that’s Jacksons stuff”.

Borrowing some Harnesses they head back up to the fence and climb up to the definitely not murder site. I think they find something up here but it doesn’t really matter as they are suddenly attacked by a big ass spiky fucker who is definitely not native. They (mostly Ziang) fight it off and kill it but not without some scrapes.

The head scientist confirms it’s not something they’ve seen before on the planet. With Jackson missing and their most likely suspect at this point the group decide to take the other ATV and drive the permimeter of the colony (what Jackson was supposedly going to do when he set off earlier that day).

Following the line of the fence, also checking for gaps they spot one of the nearby outbuildings (some sort of grain silo they think) door is stuck opening. Approaching cautiously Angelus hears a skittering sound he’s only heard once before. When the spiky fucker tried to shish kebab him. Immediately going into pro mode Thatch, in full armour. covers the door wit his rifle while Ziang moves to the side. Joe taps Angelus on the shoulder and asks him if the flashbang he randomly had in his pocket would be any use. Angelus passes it to Thatch who tosses it through the door, glad to be on this side of one of Joes grenades for once, and covers once more. As soon as the charge go’s off Ziang storms the door. Inside he is immediately not stabbed so the rest join him. Inside they find 6 cages, one with an open door and a time release lock that look like they may have been made with pilthered metal work from the colony... The other 5 contain those same spiky fuckers still trapped and hanging on the wall is a backpack linked to what seems to be some sort of long, jury rigged cattle prod.

Wondering what the fuck is going on the group scratch their heads. Possibly literally in Thatch’s case as helmet hair can be itchy.

Hi all, I have Taxi of Dad duties tonight so it will be a flying visit and away are to get to Shrewsbury by 10.30.