Everyone manages to put in an appearance, including Dan (whose appearance is delayed by an unfortunate expedition into cyberspace; we speculate that he was waylaid by www.naughty-stewardesses.com): Chris (Peter Sangaree), Nick (Brother Xavier), Tim (Sir Brindal Karth de Hazat), and Paul (Korzhun).
With the characters' meeting with the Senior Processor-Wright Dennis Thorne scheduled in only a few days, the group opens up some quick negotiations with the Chibren Cooperative to find out how much of the equipment Thorne's NPAE faction the Chibren can supply. They quickly find that the Chibren are able to supply about one-third of the gear the NPAE needs, primarily building supplies and networking gear. They negotiate a price of 10,000 FB, due to be paid to the Chibren over the next four months in the form of trade goods. The remaining equipment must be purchased from outside suppliers (principally the NPAE itself) at an estimated cost of an additional 10,000 FB.
The characters further negotiate with the Chibren to purchase an additional 2500 FB in building supplies for the use of the rest of the colony. They explain to the Chibren that they have purchased several barges, and want to defer delivery until the Sutter Kane is able to bring the barges in from Tuam. The Chibren are happy to oblige.
With a reasonable chunk of their supply needs taken care of, the characters fly out to Phallebreight to their meeting. The flight is uneventful, and counting a stopover in Tuam for fuel costs a total of 150 FB in fuel and landing fees.
The Phallebreight airfield is operated by the Flyers' Association, and is typical of the small airfields operated across Lachann. The characters do spot a radar unit and several antiquated-looking AA emplacements, indicating that airborne Vuldrok raiders are not completely unknown on this stretch of the Lachann coastline. Peter Sangaree takes a long, careful look at the guns and quickly concludes that the locals' ability to stand off any reasonable number of Vuldrok VERTOLs is completely negligible. He concludes that the guns are most likely there simply to make a lot of noise and help the gunners feel like they're actually making a contribution.
The actual Enclave is some distance away from the airfield. The characters hire a cart to take them there, and are quite surprised to discover that the entire region is surrounded by a chainlink fence, topped with razor wire fixed to keep people both in and out. The main gate is not particularly fortified, but does feature a mid-sized guard house and a couple of bored-looking soldiers in the uniforms of the Count of Phallebreight.
When the characters approach the gate and request entry, they discover that the watchers are not just secular: the guards usher them into the guardhouse to consult with Brother Gammon, an Orthodox priest who makes a big show of being concerned with the well-being of their souls. He explains that the spiritual precautions are necessary because so much of the NPAE's activities are potentially damaging to the reflectivity of both the natives and their visitors. The characters aren't quite sure how to respond to Brother Gammon's requests until Brother Xavier steps to the fore. Xavier puts on his best officious face and proclaims that the entire group is under his watchful protection, and that he can personally vouch for the reflectivity of the souls of everyone in his company. Brother Gammon accepts this explanation without question, permitting everyone to enter the NPAE. The other characters are somewhat grateful for the fact that Brother Xavier was willing to lie through his teeth on their behalf, though they refrain from mentioning this to him.
The characters find their way to the common building where Master Processor-Wright Dennis Thorne had promised he would be with little trouble. They are greeted at the door, then led into a conference room occupied by two people. One they instantly recognize as Thorne. He greets them, then introduces the other as Koa so K'terr, an Ur-Obun diplomat in the service of the Count Phallebreight. The depth of respect that Thorne bears for the Count is quickly obvious, as Thorne refers to him as a, "bloated tick of a man." Thorne's trust in Koa so K'terr is likewise obvious, as he says this in front of the Obun, who offers no contrary comments.
Koa so K'terr gets right to the point, explaining that the Count is interested in compensation for the loss of 150 of his very valuable think machine artisans. Most of his County's income derives from the activities of the NPAE. Though the Count is personally a very devout man and really doesn't hold with the sort of things the NPAE produces, he understands finance well enough to not want his major source of tax income just walking away.
The other characters are a bit disconcerted by this new development, but Koa is more than willing to suggest some strategies that might work against the Count. First, he notes that the entire population of the NPAE is about 8000. Compared to the remaining population, the Red Sash dissidents are so few as to be almost invisible. He further suggests that the characters generally paint the Red Sash dissidents as bad apples whom the Count is better off letting leave.
The characters generally agree with this strategy, and look to the Master Processor-Wright Thorne for some specific information. They guess correctly that he and his people have pursued a number of projects that consumed a lot of money and went nowhere. Thorne is a bit pained by the direction the discussion is taking but agrees to provide information upon all of these, enough to let the characters argue that he is a money sink who is actually hurting the Count's finances. He estimates that his group's unsuccessful projects consumed some 200,000 FB, and that he can come up with several times that in proposed projects that are unlikely to have useful results.
Peter Sangaree and Brother Xavier further suggest that some of Thorne's people may be engaged in practices dangerous to the reflectivity of their souls. They decide that Fennen Marsh will be painted as an isolated retreat of religious purity, where the "misguided sheep" among the Red Sash dissidents can be saved from their sinful ways. To back up this statement, Peter Sangaree tells Thorne to have his people incorporate prayer headers into all their code modules (#include <prayer.h>), while Brother Xavier suggests that everyone should be carrying prayer books when they meet with the Count.
As a matter of some curiosity, Master Processor-Wright Thorne notes that the NPAE's current taxes include 35% to the Count Phallebreight, 10% to the Church, 10% to the Gwynneth Fleet, and 5% to the Inquisition for special spiritual oversight. Over the last year, the entire NPAE produced revenues in the millions of firebirds, much of which ended up enriching the Count Phallebreight.
While the characters plan out their strategy, Thorne points out that they will still need to purchase a large quantity of equipment from the NPAE. This makes continuing good relations with both the Count and the Green Sash elders (the faction that runs the entire enclave) very important. Thorne admits that even though he is an Elder of the Red Sash, he is only barely speaking with the Green Sash at the moment: the characters will need to be in the forefront of any useful conversations with them.
To resolve this issue, and to provide yet another bit of ammunition against the Count, Koa so K'terr suggests that Sir Brindal Karth offer to purchase think machine hardware exclusively from the NPAE in the future, insuring that his colony will continue to provide money to the Count's coffers. In reality, there are few other places on Gwynneth from which this sort of equipment can be purchased, so this is giving up nothing, but it will probably make the Count feel like he is extracting valuable concessions from the characters.
The characters endure two days of hardship living in NPAE guest quarters while they wait for their petition to the Count for an audience to be answered. The characters are only barely able to endure the clean, warm beds, the hot and cold running water, the magic lantern viewers, and the modern hairdressing facilities.
To assuage suffering, Peter investigates buying some nice prayer books for the Red Sash dissidents. The characters discover that such books can be purchased at the temple inside the NPAE for anywhere from 20 FB (illuminated by hand, leather bindings, etc.) to 3 FB (laser printer output). Sir Brindal Karth spends 50 FB buying five 10 FB prayer books.
The characters are finally contacted by a messenger, who informs them that they have been granted the privilege of an audience with the Count Detlef Barstow-Hawkwood in two days' time. After two more days of hard living at the NPAE, the characters board a bus and trundle off towards Phallebreight Court.
The characters' audience with the Count Detlef Barstow-Hawkwood proceeds very much as Koa so K'terr predicted. The Count is a corpulent individual much given to relying upon his advisors' advice. When, as in this case, his advisor sympathizes more with the supplicant than with the Count, this causes negotiations to go quickly.
The greatest complication in the characters' visit occurs just before the audience, when Koa is showing the characters through the Count's gardens. Brother Xavier wanders away from the rest of the characters to peer at a small shrine hidden behind a row of shrubs. Along the way, a quick, small man wearing a blade bumps into him, then very loudly proclaims that his honor has been besmirched. Before Brother Xavier really understands what has happened, he finds himself challenged to a duel against Winston Lennard ab Hawkwood. The duel is scheduled for the morning after the characters' first meeting with the Count.
While Brother Xavier readies himself for the duel, the other characters spend their time learning what they can about the rules of dueling at Phallebreight, and about the man Xavier is to fight. They quickly determine that Winston Lennard ab Hawkwood is a "gentleman" of no obvious means of support who has a habit of being insulted by people and dueling with them, often to the death (despite a number of rules intended to avoid dueling casualties). Sir Brindal Karth also finds (much to Brother Xavier's distress) that the use of two-handed blades is not permitted in duels, save by special dispensation from the Dueling Master. Sir Brindal Karth seeks the Dueling Master out to request a dispensation. His quick determination is that the Dueling Master is corrupt, and in league with Lennard. Brindal Karth "fixes" this problem by paying the Dueling Master a 50 FB bribe. In exchange, the Master agrees that Brother Xavier may use his normal weapon (a huge blade cut from the right mandible of a Scorpion ARM war golem) in the duel.
Koa so K'terr spends his time on a different project. He already knows that Winston Lennard ab Hawkwood is an illegitimate child of nobility who supports his lifestyle by dueling. Ostensibly, the man is a fencing instructor, but despite his obvious skill he is unable to acquire wealthy or influential patrons thanks to his tainted blood. The question Koa wishes to answer is: Who is paying him to cause trouble with the characters? It takes him only a few hours to find a servant who saw Lennard speaking to a cluster of NPAE Green Sash Elders. The servant was unable to hear the conversation, but Koa is confident that he can guess it's content.
The duel itself is quite anti-climactic. It takes place early in the morning upon the parade ground, observed by a small crowd of courtiers who (to Sir Brindal Karth's eye) are betting among themselves. He quickly places a 50 FB bet upon Brother Xavier, who more than lives up to his expectations. Lennard is a bit surprised to see the weapon Brother Xavier brings to the fray, and more than a little concerned when the Dueling Master assures him that the weapon has been permitted. The duel itself is only a few moments long: Brother Xavier's initial blows to disable Lennard's limbs are harmlessly deflected by the duelist's parries, as are Lennard's agile return strikes. Brother Xavier finally takes a simple direct strike to the body. His blow is true and manages to just barely tweak its way through Lennard's shield to inflict 3 points of damage and prompt the duelist to admit defeat.
Brother Xavier leaves the field a bit disappointed that he did not manage to actually slaughter the duelist. He is only mildly reassured by Peter's assertions that Lennard is merely a professional, and isn't interested in dying over a faked point of honor.
At the end, the duel does have one positive outcome: when the Count meets again (briefly) with the characters to bid them farewell, he comments favorably upon Brother Xavier's performance, and offers the use of his personal landing field when the characters return to take the Red Sash dissidents off to Fennen Marsh.
With the NPAE discussions out of the way, the characters return to Fennen Marsh, then almost immediately make preparations to depart towards the site of the Lachann Fibrelink. They decide to take their Assault VERTOL, piloted by the politically reliable Linus Cossett. The remainder of the folk on the VERTOL include Seadan Quinn, the surveyor, and two of Brother Xavier's brute squad. Peter makes a point of including his spud gun and his fully-fueled flamethrower among the more prosaic camping supplies and foodstuffs in the cargo bay.
The flight to the fibrelink site is fairly uneventful. The characters are quite pleased to see that there are no visible Utag aircraft in the region, considering that everything around them is within the region largely forbidden to Utag overflight. The one troublesome moment comes when the vorox Korzhun muscles his way into the copilot's seat and threatens to start pressing buttons, much to Linus Cossett's dismay. Korzhun eventually explains that he just wants to know how to fly the metal bird. Peter tells him to keep his hands to himself, promising to show him some of the controls after everyone gets down onto the ground.
The characters start with an overflight of the entire area at high altitude, both to help surveyor Quinn get his bearings (with respect to his 3000-year-old map) and to look for a good landing site. They succeed beyond their wildest dreams, thanks mostly to the fact that Koa so K'terr is an amateur archaeologist, and is able to outline the original location of an entire Second Republic city. The characters also manage to spot the remains of a highway overpass, and in short order determine that while it has largely collapsed, the segments make a fairly good landing pad for a VERTOL. They use the VERTOL downblast to clear a small area, then set down.
The characters divide the old city into six "urban" regions (where at least the foundations of buildings are visible) and six larger "forest" regions (where no sign of civilization remains) and set out to locate landmarks. Surveyor Quinn tells them that he can triangulate the location of the fibrelink hub if they can locate two of the landmarks on his map. The characters head out to search for landmarks.
Koa very quickly locates the remains of a skyscraper listed on the map in City Zone 4. Meanwhile, Brother Xavier and Korzhun make a more disturbing discovery: a cluster of campfire remnants, apparently about a week old. After some more intensive searching, they also come up with a broken machete blade. As a side bonus, Korzhun also locates some large lizard tracks, apparently made by a creature massing at least 200 kg, and clearly not native to the Fennen Marsh area.
Everyone heads back to the plane just before nightfall. After some discussion, the characters decide to send the plane back to Fennen Marsh to collect a labor party: the other four members of Brother Xavier's brute squad, plus fifteen of the convicts. The characters plan to use them to clear the area and establish a more permanent camp. As a side note, they resolve to bring Red Billy out, with the hope that they'll have a quiet moment in which to dispose of him.
The remaining characters locate the shell of a two-story building with a ceramcrete shell and establish a simple fortified camp inside. They keep a wary eye out for any sign of locals.
The next day, the characters make a major discovery. What had at first seemed to be a hill proves to actually be the original onramp for the overpass they landed the VERTOL on. Even better, there is an ancient maintenance site inside, including a garage and what appears (on casual examination) to be a moderately-complete dump truck.
Upon hearing this news, Peter springs into action. He quickly determines that the truck is powered by a fusion plant, and that the plant can still be fired up. Unfortunately, substantial elements of the truck's rear axle and transmission have corroded away, so without significant repair the vehicle will not be able to move. Peter spends most of the rest of the day cataloguing broken and functional parts in an effort to build up a shopping list of parts necessary to bring the truck back into full service. Meanwhile, the convict labor party is set to work clearing the entrance of the maintenance site.
In between working on the truck, Peter spends some time looking over the other items in the shed. He finds a few functional tools, a lot of rusted-through parts, and a map showing what look to be all the other maintenance sites in the city.
While Peter spends his time messing with trucks, Sir Brindal Karth, Brother Xavier, and Korzhun head off to the site that the surveyor claims is the fibrelink hub. After a brief search, they manage to locate an intact sub-basement that looks very promising. They also manage to locate a large number of lizard tracks and animal remains within the sub-basement, implying that they are disturbing something else's home.
Brother Xavier searches around and almost literally stumbles upon the beast, a huge thing sleeping in a pile of trash near the end of the main corridor. He motions to Korzhun, who creeps up and dispatches it with a mighty blow. The two of them then drag the chunks out of the basement and back to the camp, where they plan on holding a barbecue.
Before they depart the site, Brother Xavier looks around long enough to find a room filled with huge cables, all of which disappear into a port in the floor. From this evidence, he concludes that this must be the place.
Everyone eats lizard until they are full, then retires into the fortified camp. Several of the characters maintain a watch through the night, but nobody sees anything of interest.
The next morning, however, it quickly becomes clear that something went wrong. Red Billy is missing from among the other convicts. Brother Xavier and Korzhun, the two trackers among the characters, quickly locate his tracks and trace his movements. They determine that he escaped his bonds (how is not clear), then headed over to the barbecue pit where he dug up a shovel he had obviously hid there the night before. From the barbecue pit, he went to look at the VERTOL, but never approached it closer than about twenty meters. He also ventured into the maintenance shack, but didn't appear to take anything. Opinion among the characters is divided: some feel he was looking for better weapons than a shovel, while others suspect he wanted to look at the listing of other maintenance shacks in the city.
A manhunt ensues. All of the characters venture out of the camp in a posse, eager to send Red Billy back to his maker. They make good progress following his tracks for a while, until of a sudden his tracks simply end in mid-step. Both Brother Xavier and Korzhun are able to find the ending half of his last footstep, but cannot find any more. After a moment of panic, Korzhun locates the other half of the footprint some 15 meters away, right next to another half print. Though the characters swiftly lose the ability to actually follow Red Billy, they do manage to determine that when he wants, he can take steps covering 15 meters in a straight line.
It isn't long before some of the effects of Red Billy's escape become known. Some of the local tribesmen, whom the characters had maintained only a passing interest in before, show up to complain (in gesture and sign) that one of the characters' people came to their village and killed three womenfolk. The characters make unconvincing promises that they will hunt the offender down, even though they have no idea personally how to counteract Red Billy's strange powers.
The session ends with the characters encamped in the ruins of the Second Republic city around the Lachann Fibrelink on Sulesslund. Red Billy remains at large, and very much the apparent possessor of some very weird powers. Each character gains 3 experience points.