Chapter 4 Jump Emergence: Marinagua

GM Comment - Does Any of the Characters have Electronics-Communications Skill? Bueller? Bueller?

The Captain is the only one.

Get out your Vacc Suits and get ready to get ready to board the ISS Harrier!

Who is going over? will it be a large team or a small team? Or does it matter since you will be in radio comms??

GM Comment - Noted on the computer cycles to cryptanalysis on the planetary spectrum traffic. That will take time. It is very possible that the INS Harrier has done so already

GM Comment- yes I just checked the MgT2E Core book 22 update and you are correct, Electronics skill in other areas is at a zero for the roll.

Success at the connection, post shortly. It might be helpfull to know if you are looking for a particular data and have someone to help

GM Comment - Which logs will you search first?

GM Comment- This is what you learn from Jr Admin Silvia Dominicus's Log
Facts Learned from the Captain’s Logs
ISS Harrier — Marinagua Survey
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Planetary Condition

• Multiple urban regions exhibit radiation signatures consistent with tactical nuclear detonation.
• Isotopic decay modeling indicates detonations occurred approximately 50 years ago (no less than 40, no more than 50).
• Detonation patterns suggest internal planetary conflict, not orbital bombardment.
• Infrastructure continuity is fragmented, not collapsed.

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Political & Factional Structure

• One major urban center remains active: Balac Pontli.
• Starship traffic references Balac Pontli as the central transit nexus.
• Radio intercept indicates 6–8 dominant factions operating inside Balac Pontli.
• Radio intercept indicates 6 major factions operating outside the city across the planet.
• Numerous minor splinter groups are active planet-wide.
• No unified planetary government or centralized authority detected.
• Political structure appears factionalized rather than anarchic.

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Orbital & Operational Observations

• ISS Harrier remained undetected during orbital insertion and reconnaissance.
• Lunar occlusion masking successfully concealed emissions.
• No system-wide orbital traffic control authority exists.
• No challenge or intercept was issued to the Harrier.

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Corporate Presence

• A 2000 dTon cargo vessel matching Niparoo Trade Corpation profile departed the planet during observation.
• Phase 1 revealed establishment of a Niparoo Trade Corpration presence at the Ad Hoc Star port.
• Presence appears less than 6 months old
• The vessel departed without detecting Harrier presence.
• Corporate traffic activity is confirmed.
• Corporate presence is influential but not dominant (based on Phase II findings).

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Starport Infrastructure

• A large bi-runway former international civil/military airport complex has been converted into an ad hoc starport.
• Runway resurfacing is partial.
• Apron reconstruction is limited.
• Three Far Trader class vessels were parked on the surface during observation.
• One additional Far Trader entered the system and landed during the observation window that make 3 currently present.
• The starport facility is contested but tolerated by multiple factions.
• Transit concentrates at this location rather than exclusively at a corporate enclave.

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Strategic Conclusions (From Logs)

• Landing at corporate-controlled zones would concede narrative leverage.
• Landing at the central former airport facility creates informational leverage.
• A multi-phase approach was adopted: Phase I – Orbital Recon; Phase II – Off-starport tribal contact; Phase III – Controlled landing at Balac Pontli starport.
• ISS Harrier was placed into deep sleep in lunar shadow to preserve strategic reserve.

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Overall Situation

• Marinagua is politically fragmented but functioning.
• A nuclear conflict occurred approximately fifty years ago.
• Multiple power blocs coexist in unstable balance.
• Corporate actors are present but do not fully control the planet, may not project control outside Balac Pontli. Phase III landing will provide more information.
• Balac Pontli is the critical political and logistical nexus.

GM Comment - I posted a bulletize set of facts extracted from Jr. Admin (Captain) Dominicus's logs, but if there is a specific item of data in the log, let me know. I have some things built, but not everything.

Instead of throwing more data out for you to sift through, it is helpful for any player to request/ask for the data points you are looking for and I will provide this, within the confines of what data is on the ISS Harrier.

Note: the Harrier data is much more than the passive scans that the ISS Azure Voyager has as the Harrier conducted a Phase 1 orbit of the planet and conduct active scans and distributed 6 micro-observation satellites (drones), which are still in orbit around Marinagua.

Great Questions!! I edited this below for clarity not content

Here are the answers to the questions:

ISS Harrier Crew: The Harrier’s crew manifest reflects a full Telemon-class Scout complement at time of departure from the previous jump point. Consisting of Junior Administrator Silvia Dominicus as both the Pilot and astrogator, a full 3 person engineering section consisting of Chief Engineer Ramon Troulin, Senior Engineer Harlan Voss and Scout Recruit Feng Larsen; the rest of the crew consisted of Scout Medic Ilse Corvan, Scout Gunner Tomas Kade and Scout Apprentice Freja Gruber who was the Cutter pilot.

Environmental and duty logs confirm all nine personnel were active at the time of lunar descent. As is common within the Theta Borealis Sector—where IISS staffing levels remain constrained—crew members were operating in overlapping capacities beyond strict billet definition. Engineering personnel were cross-tasked into survey and field-support roles; flight crew and gunnery staff were certified for planetary reconnaissance deployment; and the Medic held secondary xenobiological assessment qualifications. Multi-role deployment is standard practice in low-density sectors.

Mission notes appended to the final operational entries suggest that Junior Administrator Dominicus assessed remote observation as insufficient. Surface encryption discipline, localized jamming at the Ad Hoc starport, and the lack of orbital response led to the determination that meaningful answers would not be obtained from orbit. The logs reflect her conclusion that direct engagement was required. Specifically, she references the need to conduct a modified first-contact assessment in person—both with the Alejia authorities controlling the Ad Hoc starport and with the two identifiable human presences on the surface: the Niparoo Trade Corporation contingent and the operators associated with the three surface-bound vessels. The Cutter launch entry follows shortly thereafter.
There is no registry entry indicating personnel remaining aboard the Harrier. No casualty flags, distress beacons, or hull integrity compromises are recorded. At present, the most consistent interpretation is that the full seven-person survey team departed aboard the Cutter in pursuit of on-site assessment.

Regarding the traders at the Ad Hoc port: passive long-range monitoring during approach identified one inbound vessel within the observation window. That vessel has since reduced power to limited powerplant signatures while surface-side, consistent with standard landed standby operations rather than full shutdown. No outbound departures were detected during the same interval. All visible commercial hull signatures remain surface-bound. Without transponder exchange or cooperative identification protocols, faction alignment cannot be confirmed with certainty. Hull silhouettes and structural analysis suggest a mixture of independent merchant profiles, with at least one configuration consistent with Niparoo trade architecture. It is very clear that the one Niparoo Commercial Vessel is at one end of the airfield/starport and the three smaller vessels (about 200 dton in size) are at the other end. No traffic has lifted from the surface during the observation period.

As to factions: encrypted surface traffic analysis identifies at least six distinct encryption clusters centered within Balac Pontli. Routing patterns and signal density suggest organized internal segmentation rather than centralized planetary governance. Broader planetary communications reveal additional encrypted clusters beyond the city, indicating that the six active within Balac Pontli are not necessarily identical to those operating across the rest of the world. Whether these represent political, tribal, commercial, or security-aligned groups remains indeterminate at this stage of analysis. Of note is that on the Star Port/airfield, the vessels communicate in a dialect of Galanglic while the transmissions from the rest of the planet while encrypted, are Alejian.

Human presence beyond Niparoo appears limited but measurable. Structural spectral analysis identifies off-world construction materials consistent with commercial and advisory enclaves not attributable solely to Niparoo architecture. In particular, material signatures and communications formatting patterns align with limited Verstand–Jugartha Colonies presence operating in the rimward region of the Theta Borealis Sector. The footprint does not indicate sovereign control, but rather layered commercial and advisory activity embedded within local planetary power structures.

The descent profile indicates a controlled landing rather than an emergency event, followed by deliberate power reduction. Mission annotations appended to Junior Administrator Dominicus’s final operational entries indicate her assessment that orbital surveillance and remote analysis were insufficient to clarify surface dynamics. The combination of structured encryption discipline, localized interference at the Ad Hoc starport, and limited off-world transparency led her to conclude that only direct engagement would produce reliable intelligence.

Specifically, her notes reference the necessity of conducting a modified in-person contact assessment—both with the Alejia authority controlling the Ad Hoc starport and with the two identifiable human presences operating on the surface: the Niparoo Trade Corporation contingent and the operators associated with the three landed commercial vessels.

Harrier internal logs show that a selected team departed aboard the Cutter; the remaining personnel powered the vessel down to auxiliary survival mode prior to departure. No casualty markers, distress flags, or hull integrity compromises are recorded at the time of shutdown. The available data indicates intentional operational dispersal rather than forced evacuation.

In summary: the Harrier landed under control; the Cutter departed with the seven-person survey complement operating under standard low-staffing sector doctrine; Dominicus assessed that only direct, in-person engagement would resolve surface ambiguities; traders remain surface-bound under reduced power signatures; multiple encrypted factions operate within Balac Pontli and beyond; and while Niparoo represents a visible external actor, Verstand–Jugartha interests are also present in limited but detectable capacity.

Are there any other questions?