ROLE· GAMES ., llEl® Scenario The Korellian Caper by Patrick Larkin Treen in Trouble While on routine patrol near th e edge of the Organ ian Treaty Zone, the us.s. Be- resford receives an urgent signal from the Federation ambassador on Kore llios VI- a neutral world within the Un ited Federation of Plan ets C UFP). The ambassador, the Hon- orable Willard Treen, is requ estin g imme- diate assistance from any Star Fleet vessel in the vicin i ty Na turall y, the Beresford is the only ship that fit s the bill. Treens sig nal does 1'l01 contain any information about the nature of the emergency When the characters arrive in orbit around cloud- covered Korelli os, a sensor scan will show only one Other sta rship in the area, grounded at a landing field out- side lhe planets capital city Treen, a ga unt, gray-faced man with a perpetual tWitch, will beg dle Ca ptain and his senior o ffi ce rs to beam down to rh e Em bassy as fast as they ca n. If pressed, he will admit over the communicator Olat both his R es idence and a Terran merchant ship are under S iege by th e nat ives. Th e cha racters will beam directly intO the ambassadors l arge, plu shl y furnished offi ce. The sullen, gray light of the Korellian day filte rs in through a pair of windows, and Star Fl eets o ffi cers ca n ca tch glimpses of a vast crowd standing Si- lentl y-many carry ing green banners. As far as the eye can see, dle ci t)'s squat build- ings are decked with green streamers. Along the horizon, four ac ti ve \'olcanoes lazily spew mo lten rock into th e air. Grand Larceny Treen will introduce the characters to Sonclar; a short, stocky Kore Wan wearing a clark green sash. Sondar is the Ch ief of the Kadar-the local government. When Treen tries (0 bri ef th e characters on the situa- tion, Sonclar will interrupt: " Th e sssituation is sss impl e. Those who ssstole th e Twelve mu st be handed over and the Twelve r e- 8 Game N ews turned to usss. Not hing lesss will prevent the ss.shedding of human fluid s." When ques ti Oned further, Sondar will explain . TIle Tweh·e Crys tals have been the treas ures of Kore lli os for several millennia. Alth ough kept in the Va ult of the Kadar, they have been occasionally removed and studied by sc ienti sts and art l ove rs from all over kno\vn space. Now, these priceless natural treasures have been stOlen-by the crew of Trelaine's Luck, a Federation mer- chant ship. Th e guards at the Vau lt were stunned by phaser fire, and the small cases comaining th e T welve were melted open. One of th e guards recovered conscious- ness long enough to see four humans run- ning Out of the V ault. He alerted th e plane- tary defense command in rime to stop the shi p from flee i ng Korelli os. Treen explains th at, although Captain Falconer of the 7irJl aines Luck i nsists that he and his men are innoce nt , he has sealed hi s ship and refused to allow th e Kore llian authorities onboard. Th e ambassador wants the characters to discover the truth, recover the Twelve Crystals, an d take Falconer and his erew into cuswdy if necessary The Trelalne's Luck To get to the ship safel); the chameters will have to persuade Sondar to pro,·ide them with a safe-condun and an armed es- COrt . He will be hesitant. fearing ne"· Federation and o ne of the char- acre rs will h'!I·e to use his diplomatic skills: Average dle characters Skill Rming in Ne- goriarioni Diplomac .... 'i, .. ith his Cha ri sma (CHA) and subtract 10. Ifhe makes the roll , Sondar will agree to their requests. Al so subtract 10 from the die roll if dle players role-play ing is especiall v good. The landing field is a ten-minute ride outside the cit )( The harsh, acr id ai r and the men;lCing, armed mobs shou ld make the trip seem a lot longer. Th e 7i-elaines Luck, a battered, old AlRon-ci ass med ium commercial tranSpOrt, sits in th e center of the vas t, concrete field. Missile batteries and other weapons surround the ship, and its airlock is sealed ti ght. Wh en the chamcters arrive, the airl ock will cycle open- revealing five phaser- armed crewmen. They won't allow Sondar or any other Korellian onboard, but th ey' ll be gl ad to see Sta r Fleet uniforms. Max Falconer, rhe ships captain , is on th e bridge. "Ne' ·er thought I'd be glad to see yo u boys from Sta r Fleet, but I sure am now! These lousy xenos have us pinned down on this dirtball and they won't let us go. I figure a felY phas er blasts from your ship will help 'em see reason! " Falconer, a tall, lean , rugged-looking m,Ul, will indignantl)' deny any pan in Ihe theft of the Twelve Crl'stais. In stead, he'll blame it on "l ocal xeno politi CS,'· and demand protecti on as a Federation ci ti zen. If they' re arrested, he and his Illen won't r esist unl ess it s clear that they're going to be handed over to the natives. (Th e characters sho uld be awa re t hat Sta r Fl eet and the Federation won't r e- gard aaion of that kind ve ry favorably) Here a Cryslal, There a Crystal A thorough seor ch of the shi ps crew quarters and engineering spaces won't turn up the miss ing crystals. Eventuall y, the characters should find their way to the cargo ba)( The Trela;"es Luck carries the following cargo: 1. 12 unsea led bins containing thoustmds of crystals. All the cr ystals in each bin are e\ucl rep li cas of one of the Twelve Crystals of Ko tellios. They're listed as ··trade goods for Korelli os" on the ships cargo manifest. 2. A number of crates containing wines purchased on Daras lY. 3. Approximately 100 SCU of electroni cs spare pans and computer equi pment 4. A high-temperature ore smelter tagged for trans-s hipment to Bor eas II. The characters shou ld note that on Iv a fracti on of the ships available cargo space is filled. Solving the Mystery Although it should be obv ious that the Twel ve Cr ystals are concealed in the ships cargo bins, find ing them won·t be easy. The cha racters C'an't hand Ove r the bins to dle Korelli ans without violating the Fetlera- April 1 985