It’s been quite some time since I did up a Mission Report, but that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped playing.
There are a couple reasons I stopped doing them. First, they can be quite time consuming to create, which I wouldn’t mind as much, but secondly they weren’t really being used.
Another reason is that I was primarily running premade adventures from the Shackleton Expanse Campaign Guide, so simply referring back to that book and a few notes from my Captain’s Log Notebook is sufficient for recapping things. I will put a list of the adventures that we played below as part of a catch up.
However, now that we finished that part of the campaign and the characters have moved onto a new ship and we are entering the Dominion War I’ll be running more homebrew or expanded Mission Briefs so it will be benificial to have the Mission Reports again, even if they aren’t as detailed as before.
I also decided to swap the sort order on the main page to have the most recent Reports first and then go in descending order to the oldest.
Mission Name: 25 – The Chimes at Midnight
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Mission Brief
Mission Recap: The Federation-Klingon alliance hangs by a thread due to Federation disapproval of the Klingon Empire’s war with Cardassia. General Kargan makes an announcement that the Empire intends to withdraw from the Khitomer Accords, throwing the future of Narendra Station into uncertainty.
However, before the Empire and Federation officially dissolve their alliance, a Klingon crew invites the player characters to take part in a time-honored ceremony meant to establish understanding between foes.
The Players do well at the games and negotiate a deal where the Federation can still control the Science and Exploration portions of Narendra Station, but they get assigned a Klingon First Officer for the Kimura
Mission Name: 26 – Joy’s Soul Lies in the Doing
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Adventure
Mission Recap: “Our research into the plight of Ash’Tamalia and her people has led us to a remote sector within the Expanse. We’re gathering evidence to support a theory our science team has cooked up revolving around harnessing the energy from powerful bursts of EM radiation to burn a hole through subspace in order to ‘tunnel’ to the Tilikaal pocket universe. I have the ship on yellow alert.”
Mission Name: 27 – Second Contact
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Mission Brief
Mission Recap: With first contact between the Federation and the Akaru complete, Iryax Nedaon sends a message to Narendra Station, requesting that the ship and crew who they first encountered during the events of Part 6, “Joy’s Soul Lies in the Doing” (page 140-149), return to Setu.
The Iryax is interested in beginning talks that could lead to a vital trade arrangement, an opportunity the Federation is eager to secure, given rising tensions in both the Shackleton Expanse and Alpha Quadrant.
Mission Name: 28 – Disunification
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Mission Brief
Mission Recap: One or more player characters hear voices in their heads during a sleep cycle, asking for help. Initially believed to be another Tilikaal attempt at transdimensional communication, deeper research reveals that while the communication is psionic in nature, it originates from the planet Setu, rather than the Tilikaal pocket dimension the player characters have interacted with previously.
Mission Name: 29 – The Needs of The Few
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Adventure
Mission Recap: “We were tracking more instances of tetryonic filaments connected to an EM radiation burst when our long-range sensors picked up fluctuating energy readings from deep within the Shackleton Expanse. We can’t tell what the readings are coming from, but they are consistent with a vessel in distress. All attempts at communication have gone unanswered. There may be some people out there who need our help. We arrive within the hour. This is why we’re out here.”
Mission Name: 30 – Prism
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Adventure
Mission Recap: With the help of their newfound Tilikaal ally, Thacinn (first encountered in Part 7, “The Needs of the Few”), the player characters track the growing tetryonic filaments and EM radiation bursts to the planet Cal-Mirra in the Shackleton Expanse. They encounter giant static-electric jellyfish in orbit. Once on the surface of this oceanic tidally-locked world, they meet the Cal-Mirrans (a crystalline water-based people), investigate the strange vibration pollution in the ocean, and clash with a band of zealots.
Mission Name: 31 – The Qofuari Conundrum
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Mission Brief
Mission Recap: A freak accident during a survey mission forces the player characters to land a shuttlecraft on a newly-charted planet which has Prime Directive protection. The crew must try to hide their presence from the pre-warp culture until they can make repairs (or their ship rescues them). Eventually, they are found by the native inhabitants, leading to an astonishing discovery about the true nature of the Qofuari.
Mission Name: 32 – A Picture’s Worth
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Mission Brief
Mission Recap: Contact from the Qofuari, a recently-discovered civilization, brings the player characters back to the fourth planet of the FGC-651218 system (known to the indigenous population as
Lilafas). Recent seismic activity has uncovered a previously unknown subterranean structure which the Qofuari believe is not native to their world. The players’ investigation will uncover another clue in the ever-expanding mystery of the Shackleton Expanse and what they believe to be another artifact of Tilikaal civilization.
Mission Name: 33 – Envoy
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Adventure
Mission Recap: “An automated survey probe dispatched from Narendra Station has detected faint gravimetric distortions emanating from the second planet of the Dysathus star system. The system is located well away from the concentration of activity that’s the focus of our exploration of the Shackleton Expanse, but close enough to Romulan space to make me nervous. Until now, no such readings have ever been recorded in this region, so their abrupt appearance now, particularly in the wake of everything that’s happened these past several months, is a surprising development. Of additional concern is the area’s popularity with civilian merchants and others who might not appreciate Starfleet scrutiny. We’ve been ordered to investigate and take whatever action I deem necessary and appropriate for the good of our overall mission.”
Mission Name: 34 – Deliverance
Mission Source: Shackleton Expanse Adventure
Mission Recap: “Calling the discovery of this new Iconian artifact on Dysathus II a game-changer is one of those understatements that’s so obvious it would’ve had me doing push-ups for my Academy instructors until they got tired. Yet here we are, right in the thick of it as we try to figure out what to do with it, or even if we can do anything with it. Or, if we should do anything with it.
The Orion salvage collectors remain a problem. They’re angry we’re here in the first place, despite our efforts to come to an understanding, but the discovery of the Oracle has changed the game. Their leader’s smart enough to know this thing’s important to the Federation, the Klingons, and a lot of other people. Orions aren’t easily deterred when there’s potential profit involved. I would’ve liked for them to back away from the site after the previous skirmish but they’re hanging around, forcing me to send a larger security detail to the planet’s surface to protect the away team and the site.”