Vessel spotted over Flammarion. Probably some noble's overengineered streamlined fighter (it certainly doesn't look all that practical!)

Masuyo graciously purchases me an auto-pistol as I only have my static blade, Cyndariel buys some psionic inhibiting drug for the crew and is testing it in her Lab to see if it can be replicated, Junebug and Tharbin both purchase a hunting rifle each so we can hunt the bears on Debarre. The bears are armoured and we want to try and capture one alive

We prepare to depart after loading the mails and cargo for Debarre, we successfully take off, and Tharbin successfully plots our jump co-ordinates for when we reach 100 diameters to perform the jump. I ask Junebug to give me some lessons in using my new my new auto-pistol, she agrees and we set up a practice range in the common area.

Six days into the Jump and I am carrying out a routine check on our power systems, all is fine except for a marginally higher than normal reading, but as we are on our shake-down cruise this may be the new normal for our renewed systems. I decide to monitor it just to be sure.

A Debarrean Bear

Both Chase and Earl tell us they have experienced strange dreams again and I exclaim "Is this another one of your prophetic dreams?"

We plan to land and take some time away from the ship and the damn white box!

Our last day in Jump is uneventful and proceeding normally until...

The sensors (civilian) are overwhelmed with an unusually high amount of static, comms are out and we cannot contact any other ships in the system nor the Star port. The guys in the cockpit try and use the new military sensors to try and pick the origin of the sensory overload, Tharbin finally succeeds in getting the location, it is coming from an island to the north of the Star port. There are a couple of other ships in the system and at the Star port according to our sensors, one of the ships at 100 diameters out is currently stationary, we have also established that this does not appear to a normal type of static. We decide to go ahead and make for the Star port and land in an empty bay, Tharbin and Masuyo prepare to disembark and talk to Star port officials to find out what the hell is going on, the rest stay aboard for the time being.

There is a Star port official waiting impatiently outside our ship and he does not appear to be happy by our sudden appearance, "What the hell is going on?" Masuyo explains what happened as we exited our Jump in system and asks if there is a problem from the surface, "I was hoping you could tell us, it only happened when you guys showed up."... "We thought it was you that was causing it and would ask you turn it off but you seem to be as in the dark as us." They both then explain that we have managed to locate the source of the static and he seems very surprised, we can't get any signals out or in all of our comms are currently jammed, our sensors cant pick anything up because they are not working, everything is offline for the moment. Masuyo and Tharbin threaten to leave with the intended mails and cargo for the planet as they are not happy with the Star port officials attitude, "NO, no that won't be necessary," as his demeanour changes to a more friendly one, he explains that it has been some time since they have had any mail or fresh cargo delivered (we get paid 60,000 credits). As the signal is new and not natural, but only seems to have started literally seconds after we entered the system it may have something to do with the white box aboard our ship??? They ask after the stationary ship we passed on the way in and it is a Safari class ship of hunters who are on their way out of system on the way to Iderate after hunting bears planet side.

Tharbin and Masuyo offer to investigate the strange signal in return the Star port will refuel our ship as payment, it is agreed but the official persists in stating that the island is just that a forested and uninhabited (except for the wildlife) island why would any kind of signal be coming from it? Earl heads down to prepare the launch for the trip.

We all get ready to depart after a sharing of the conversation and the plan of action, we equip armour and weapons as well as our breathing masks and any other relevant equipment needed, for me this is my Laptop and toolkit, We fly north toward the island and fly around a couple of times to take readings and take note of any visual anomalies. We find a suitable landing site in the south west corner of the island. Our flyover reveal some kind of ruin and only helps to confirm that this is location of the strange signal. We set the ship down at the chosen landing site.

Four ships spotted after the Vagabond's Hope emerges from jump

160 - 1105 (Day before emergence from Jump at Flammarion): Some of the crew have been experiencing some strange and vivid dreams and are all behaving somewhat irritably and strangely, is it due to the strange crate we found aboard the star? Are the problems being caused by psionic means? Does the crate contain a Zodani? Masuyo asks Cyndariel to run some tests for any anomalies or abnormalities in our brain chemistry. The tests prove negative for Earl and Cyndariel, I however am showing some slightly elevated levels of cortisone and adrenaline, which may be the cause of mine and other crew members abnormal behaviour. She asks that these test be carried out at regular intervals until we emerge from Jump.

Masuyo sends a message ahead to request a meeting with Casarii and also sends a quick request for information on the strange crystal we have and also decides to have a closer look at it, and does some research for more information, but there is not much available. She comes up with the idea to try and shine a light through it onto a bulkhead to see if there is anything inside it or if there are crystal formations or anything else. She sets it up on a box with a bright light set up to shine through it, turning off the room, her best guess is that there is no liquid inside, if there is it is full to the brim and would be transparent. The crystals themselves are not well defined, not sharp as may be expected.

Cyndariels second round of tests continue to show elevated chemical levels in myself a several others from the group that boarded the Vigilant Star, but this may be a false positive due to the stress of regular and multiple tests, the levels have not risen and appear to be the same, as a baseline and for a control Cyndariel tests Masuyo as a comparison and she shows much lower levels than the rest of us. The final test before emerging from Jump shows the same results, no increase but also no significant reduction either.

The next day we emerge from Jump and see several Far Trader ships, tightly grouped, they appear to be doing something but it is unknown what this may be. Earl informs us that this scenario exactly matches his dream. I head down to the engine room to try and coax a little more power out of the engine as requested by Masuyo, Chase carefully manoeuvres us around the group of ships as a precaution - as we pass the Far trader ships we get a quick message from them "Just remember there was nothing to see here..." Masuyo replies with a "Fine."

We get a message form the Scout Service "Message sent to Casarii, head to High Port" and they will let us know when Casarii responds. A couple of hours later we get another message requesting we change our destination to the Naval Base and Casarii is waiting for us. Once we land we get everything powered down and invite Casarii aboard for a quick tour after a quick debrief. After the tour we let him know what happened at 567-908 - We inform Casarii and the Navy of the encrypted crystal we have we tell them how to find us to retrieve it, we also tell Casarii of the container we found and where we are keeping it, but that none of us want to go near it again. We also point out all of the oddities and abnormalities experienced in regards to the item, Masuyo asks if there is a geologist aboard the station that can have a look at the crystal for us, and is informed that there is indeed someone who can help so Casarii sets up a meeting for her. We hand over copies of the salvage data to Casarii and we are each paid 1,000 credits. He lets us know that he has booked rooms for us all at the Advantage Hotel for the two weeks it will take for the ship refit.

The lobby of the Advantage Hotel as visualized by the marketing department (the reality is a little more worn and grubby - buit not too far from this image)

We all head out and check into the hotel some of us head down to the bar for food and drinks, we spot a group of people who are for all intents and purposes NUTS, full of conspiracy theories on the Ancients and various other subjects. They are on their way to Karin for a conference on it. Cyndariel and I have heard about the Ancients, I zone out while they continue with their loud and boisterous discussions. After I have had enough of the craziness I head back to room for some sleep, Cyn decides to stay a while longer listening some more, and the craziness just continues.

Chase is out wandering around the station, Flammarion is a company planet Ling Standard Products (LSP), mostly mining, there is talk that they may be closing down on Flammarion. Chase runs a quick background check on them. Chase then happens upon a bar that appears to be for Navy personnel, so he enters (in his Scout uniform) and they bar goes quiet, he heads to the bar and asks for a pint of ale and starts chatting with the barman, the whole bar seem to be listening in on their chat. "So what do folks do around here?" two burly guys approach and Earl (who is accompanying Chase) asks "What can I do for you?" Most of the bar is now standing at this point obviously ready for trouble, and Earl asks for a non alcoholic beverage, Chase discreetly steps to the side and moves subtly away from Earl and as he (Earl) sits down a punch is thrown but misses as the target had moved. Earl manages to knock the puncher out but this only aggravates his friends so he makes a hasty retreat out the door and heads back to the hotel. Chase in the meantime has moved back to the bar and buys a round of drinks for the guys in the bar. He kind of sticks out as a Scout with his uniform on and he doesn’t really fit in the squaddies bar, he does notice that there are no Officers present, finding out for the boys that security is more lax here that in other Naval bars. These guys have only been here between 0 - 18 months and are based out of Glisten - Mora, they are not funded within the Spinward Marches, Regina gets all the funding apparently, but this is the quieter end of the Marches. They pass some banter back and forth and Chase buys a final round before leaving.

A polished Denuli Crystal

The next morning after a peaceful night, Masuyo meets with the Geologist, showing the crystal and explaining where and how it was acquired, she also explains the oddities she found with it, the Geologist has a closer look and informs Masuyo that it is indeed a rare find and want to conduct some further research on it asking for permission to hold on to it for while whilst she does this. Masuyo agrees and gives her the information on our hotel and how long we will be staying, asking for the results to be sent as soon as possible. She then heads to the Brokers Hall with the details of the of the goods we have, here she is offered a tidy sum of 3,600 credits for it all which we add to the ships funds. A nice payday for a little bit of work.

Cyn visits the Med bay to get a second opinion on the brain chem tests, a check up was performed and confirmation of match to baseline is confirmed, leading to the conclusion that the box was responsible for the imbalance and strange behaviour.

The Navy sends a message thanking us for the encrypted crystal, as for the box the response was WHAT BOX?

The results from the geologist tell us that it is a Denuli Crystal, very few have ever been found, they first appeared around 600 years ago and the actual location of them is still unknown. The estimated value of it is 10,000 credits. Some scientific studies have been carried out on them. All of this information has been provided on letterheaded paper to help with authentication, crystal returned as well. Masuyo heads back to the Brokers Hall to see if she can generate any interest in the crystal, she is informed that this item is not common in the Imperium, more interest from the far side of the Imperium and a higher price may be fetched, In the Core we could potentially get hundreds of thousands for it, There are some people more locally situated interested in it and we are offered 8,000 credits.

Casarii notifies us that the ship has been fully refitted, re supplied and refuelled (1 months worth), lockers have been restocked and a new air raft has been loaded, we have one double turret and an extra hard point but no weapons.

Casarii tells us that the white box we picked up is ours due to the salvage, was destined for Andor and he would like us to take it to Karin Naval base, and to keep an eye out for Zodani activity. We ask where headquarters for the 208 Imperial fleet is as it may be more prudent to take it there rather than anywhere else, and they are based at Iderati, we discuss the possibility of taking it there and loosely plan to Jump to Debarre and then Iderati. Would there be a benefit to us for taking the box to Iderati? Should we just take it there and ask them what to do with the damn box.