Warning: Banbury Team do not read!I forgot to mention in all the goings on last night, agent Cryer was assigned as part of the Dukes escort detail so he could be the man in the know close to the Duke if needed.
As Thaddeus Crane (Adam) emerges back onto the roof of the building, bloodied and battered, she is immediately bundled to the ground by 4 secret service agents before being promptly whisked away. Cameras swing around to record the incident, which sparks rumours that spread like wildfire of an Aslan assassination attempt. Transmissions are cut short while the “truth is determined”.
Gunny (Simon) and Lyle (James) get very little out the first shooter (Kelther T Nausk), although two things do become apparent, first he is obviously a Liberation Front fanatic and had come here to assassinate the Duke as a statement against the Imperium and a shout from the Front, and second he does not appear to be aware of a second shooter. As with all fanatics he is unrepentant and believes absolutely that his cause was just.
He had been here 6 weeks as the security camera footage Lyle found indicated. It is also revealed later that his appointment to the Ministry on Easlin, and his later transfer to Jewell had been helped along by Viclannan Duul, the Duke’s personal aide.
On further ”questioning” he does admit, almost boasts about the fact, that he managed to smuggle two laser rifles past security and into the dome, however he seems confused about the fact that there were two, yet he was the only shooter. He becomes very confused and disorientated when pushed about what happened to the second rifle. The way in which he had been bringing the rifle into the dome was in bits, as part of office supplies and equipment, over the last 6 weeks.
The rest of the inauguration proceeds without further incident and the symbol of office passes from Lucien Gray, the former governor to Duke Zahn. All invited guests and dignitaries (including the players, with the exception of Thaddeus who is currently being held) join the after ceremony party in the City Hall.
During the party, the team finds out some time later, Zahn was assaulted by his aide in a private meeting in his office away from the crowds later that afternoon. Agent Cryer finds the Duke unconscious on the floor and realising what had happened pursues Viclannan.
Cryer tracks him to a meeting taking place in an abandoned warehouse. The meeting is between Viclannan, the two bodyguards assigned to Viclannan during his last trip to Esalin, and the second shooter. Cryer calls for backup and the meeting is interrupted. The second shooter is hit with a psionic inhibitor drug round and realising there is no way out uses a suicide capsule to kill himself. Viclannan and the two bodyguards are captured with non-fatal injuries. The second shooter is undoubtedly a highly skilled Zhodani deep cover agent.
Viclannan is found in possession of the symbol of office for Jewell, a small hexagonal prism made from a diamond like substance and edged in pure lanthanum set into a shield and is hung around the neck on a gold chain. Later it transpires that Viclannan has left a well-crafted fake with the unconscious Duke and was ready to pass the original to the second shooter.
Once the Duke regains consciousness and is fit for a meeting he gathers all the players, along with Cryer and Lady Allysia (Duke’s younger daughter).
He explains that it appears, from questioning of his Aide and all the information that players have provided from agent Forbes, Tripwire and the Liberation Front activities that the assassination attempt were in fact a cover for the Zhodani (albeit his death and the disruption the Front are causing are also useful event to happen) to steal the symbol of office for Jewell.
The Zhodani appear to have been funding, organising and driving the Liberation Front, and while they set up the Front operative to take the shot and hence the blame/glory they also had an agent there to make sure the job got done and to see the symbol came into their hands.
They obviously didn’t want the Imperium to know the object had gone, hence the fake, their reason is still unclear. The crystal is actually an Ancient artefact found many hundreds of years ago at a dig site at Heron city, Jewell, and whose purpose was never determined. It had since stopped being studied and became a symbol for the prosperity of Jewell and is always given to the highest ranking governor of Jewell as a mark of office. It is normally kept under lock and key and only brought out for ceremonies.
At a guess the Duke surmises that the Zhodani may have determined what it is and want it – badly. Whether it has anything to do with the Tripwire information Forbes found… well look at the name of the adventure
