The Island of Hyborælia

“Get me a visual!”


Automated narrow beam laser comm beacon tower site on the island of Hyborælia (Frontier World 22, southern polar region). Terraforming has raised the mean temperature of this world's oceans considerably, however the sea here at the pole remains covered with a slurry of ice, snow and water, making any attempt to land on its frozen surface all but impossible. To that end, a simple landing pad was erected on a shallow slope at the base of the central mountain. Transport to the beam projector site may be accomplished via aircar or jetpack, though the latter method is not recommended due to the unpredictability of wind gusts in this area. Other notes: In the final days of the war, an Imperial courier starship was lost off the coast in a gale as it made its final approach to the landing pad. The relative low value of the ship's contents, offset by a recovery effort of inversely high risk, made any attempt at salvage impractical, and no recovery effort was ever made.

“That's all you'll find in the library databanks. What they will not tell you is that the starship was a scrip payroll courier for the Imperial Quartermaster's Office, which had been diverted because of pirate activity in adjacent systems. The starship is known to have gone down less than a klick offshore, reportedly with the loss of all hands. Then, just three months ago, a routine scout patrol intercepted an encoded message using the beacon's beam as a carrier. Security Branch decrypted it two weeks ago and discovered, to their great surprise, that this courier was not carrying paper scrip, but instead seems to have been transporting gold and iridium bars, probably as cash payment for mercenary contingents. It is unclear whether the vessel sank or was scuttled, but it is now apparent that at least two survivors escaped the starship before it slipped beneath the ice. So now here we are, tasked with locating and retrieving the missing bullion and the rescue or capture of the remaining survivors, if any are still alive on this remote, treasure island.”

Terragen October 2006 Themed Challenge: "Treasure Island"

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