Patron: Government of Nebet
Skills required: combat skills, Administration, Legal
Equipment required: having a ship is helpful but not required
Location: Orval (Fessor 0203) E765674-5 Ag, Ni, Ri

The PCs respond to a public announcement that the government of Nebet, on the planet Orval, is looking to contract a number of bounty hunters. In the interview, the hiring agent explains that several weeks ago, a Nebetan prison facility was attacked by a group of mercenaries to engineer the escape of a particular prisoner, Cormac Harroway. During the attack, many of the prison staff & security personnel were injured or killed. The disorder allowed a number of other prisoners to escape, at least temporarily. The government knows the identity of the primary target of the raid; he is the son of an official in an Imperial corporation based on Fessor. The hiring agent provides the PCs with a complete dossier on Harroway, sufficient to recognize him on sight, and giving what data is available on his whereabouts. The dossier includes legal documents that should be sufficient to convince authorities on other planets of the legitimacy of the PC’s mission. The mercenary team of six men fled the planet in a used type-A trader, which has been identified by the Imperial consul on Orval. Little is known for certain about them, not even names. The dossier contains mostly photo prints of images taken during the prison break. The consul is unwilling to become too involved in the Nebetan plan except to confirm that Harroway was tried and convicted fairly under Nebetan law. Mister Harroway senior is influential enough that going after him directly is considered too politically dangerous, (likely to trigger a major diplomatic incident) but the son is a convicted felon with time left on his sentence, and Nebet wants him back.

As part of the contract for the bounty, the PC’s will be licensed & bonded as non-citizen agents of the Nebetan government, which grants them limited law enforcement powers and some political cover while operating in Imperial-controlled space. They will be backed up while pursuing their legitimate target; any side trips or harassment of third parties will not be protected. But in any event, the amount of political clout Nebet can exert off-planet is very limited. The PCs should endeavor to stay within the local laws wherever possible. Their mission is to return the fugitive, and if possible, bring in the mercenaries to face trial for murder and other charges. The government is offering MCr 5 for Harroway, and MCr 1 for the mercenaries as a group. All should be delivered alive. PCs who ask may get some amount of cash advance on very positive reactions from the hiring agent.

Referee’s Information:
The referee should look up JTAS #1, Amber Zone “Rescue on Ruie” for the background of this adventure. At least one of the following six complications should be employed by the referee to challenge the players. The mercenary team is equipped to TL B, and is active in the subsector. They are aware that Nebet may come looking for them, but have not had any communication with Harroway or his father since making their escape from Orval. They will neither know nor care where Harroway is, and will not hesitate to say so.

1. Harroway is on an extended subsector tour, protected by a bodyguard, equipped to TL D, equal in number to the PC’s. He is traveling aboard ships of his father’s company.

2. The mercenaries have ditched or sold the type-A ship and ‘gone to ground’.

3. The mercenaries’ ship has been ‘upgraded’ to serve as a troop carrier. The original team has expanded so now there are 30 troops aboard.

4. Harroway senior has been alerted to the fact that bounty hunters are after his son, and is mobilizing the corporation’s internal security against them.

5. Another hunter team is either one step behind or one step ahead of the PCs, and is willing to do anything to overtake/stay ahead of them.

6. Another hunter team offers to coordinate with the PCs for a 60-40 split of the bounty, but plans to double-cross them.