This book is the middle volume of the three-book series of adventure modules for White Wolf's excellant science fiction game, Trinity. These adventures are intended for use within the context of the series, regardless of the protests to the contrary found within the book. Do keep that in mind when you consider employing them.

Each module is, in effect, a separate product bundled together for sake of convience. This is borne out by the way the book structures itself; unlike a sourcebook or the rulebook, there are two color sections. Like others, this is an Aeon Trinity datafile dumped to the PCs and contains all of the player-ready information about the module. As each module has its own color section, it makes the book much like reading one of those three-novels-in-one-volume deals that publishers put out.

Anyway, the modules concern themselves with the fallout of the Huang-Marr Conspiracy and the first incursion of human space by hostile alien forces. Both modules focus on one of the two sides of the adventure gaming coin: Intrigue and Action.

The first module, "Friends in High Places", takes place at the Basel clinic in Montressor, Switzerland. The PCs, working for Aeon, play inquisitor as they investigate the place for anything that could tie into the Huang-Marr conspiracy. This is the Intrigue Adventure, so sneaky PCs and social PCs will get their spotlight time here while brawny PCs will have to cope with playing second fiddle. While the PCs will find just enough of what they're looking for, the targets of the investigation get away- and that leads them to the second module. Along the way, they have the opportunity to bust an illegal body chopshop, piss off a lot of Very Important People, and make friends with a lot of Very Important People- notably the Aesculapian proxy and his inner circle.

The second module, "Signals and Flares", takes the PCs to the Blight Zone and to Orgotek. This is the Action Adventure, which ought to make all of the action PCs very happy indeed. There, they get to meet Prexy Alex Cassel and see first hand what Wycoff lo those many decades ago. They also get to track down one of the remaining Huang-Marr conspirators, who sets off a prison escape, and then they get to take the fast shuttle into orbit to stop a Chromatic attack on the independant space station Eyrie. At the conclusion of this module PCs can make still more friends with Very Important People (Cassel), kick much conspirator and Chromatic ass, get involved in one very vicious two-tiered combat scene (One tier is the firefight on the inside, and the other is the dogfight on the outside.), and get their first glimpse of the Big Picture when they discover the Doyen toys. Oh, and they get to make heroes of themselves along the way.

For "Friends in High Places", the key is to emphasize the attitude problem that Basel has with regard to outsiders. They hate it when someone else treads on what they see as an internal affair, and Basel (including the proxy) certainly see Huang-Marr as an internal affair due to the heavy Aesculapian involvement. Accordingly, the order's brass seek to keep the PCs on a short lease while they attempt (and fail) to clean house themselves. This is why the socialite PCs are necessary, and why they should (ideally) take the lead here. The sneaky PCs check the leads that the socialites generate, which often causes more to surface, and the others play back-up should something go wrong. Think of this much like a classic episode of Mission: Impossible and you'll be just fine.

The one thing to avoid is confusion on the GM's part. In an intrigue-heavy thing like this confusion is easy. Don't put all of the threads on the table at once, don't let the PCs pursue leads any longer than absolutely necessary, and don't let them stay sidetracked. This will help you remain clear, and your players will thank you later.

As for "Signals and Flares", resist the urge to showcase Cassel's awesome power. This is still the PCs' story, no matter how cool or powerful Cassel is; use him like any other high-powered plot device, but don't let the PCs use him as a crutch. Ideally, the best way to employ him is to let him clear the way for the PCs to make the save. For example, let him take down just enough of the prisoners so that the PCs can clearly see and chase after the conspirator that they came for. Put another way, he's there to level the playing field and funnel the PCs toward their intended targets.

By all means, let some of the PCs take part of the dogfight outside the station! There is no point whatsoever in providing stats for the Orgotek aerospace craft and the Chromatic fighters if they aren't to be used by the PCs to get into the thick of the combat scene. Send those better suited to man-to-man combat to the station, and let those better off being gunners and pilots to blast the invaders to bits. If you can, make it feel like the dogfights from Babylon 5 in its earlier seasons. ("Signs and Portents", in particular.) Make is clear to the players that anything colliding with the station is Very Bad, and then have the Chromatics make suicide attacks upon it. This ought to make it suitably dramatic for them.

Once inside, emphasize the constricted corridors and dangerous environment inside the station. Residents pop up at the wrong moment to ruin a shot, or they mistakenly shoot at the PCs, or they get talked into becoming mooks for the PCs, or they need to be rescued before the station breaks up, or something that provides a suitable level of impairment. So long as the scene isn't Yet Another Bug Hunt, you'll be fine. The added drama will help the players comprehend that they're against more than a hostile alien force and a few slippery conspirators.

If they don't botch it, the PCs will turn up the Doyen toys and Cassel will blow his composure just long enough for the PCs to realize that Cassel's already familiar with them. They'll also get the last conspirators, some Chromatic corpses, and the acclaim of any surviving station residents. If they actually save Eyrie station, then that's icing on the cake. Either way, the PCs come away as shining heroes and whatever damage the NPC villains did to the reputations of the psion orders will be repaired by their efforts.

Conclusion

Give it a shot, especially if you find a used copy that's in good or better condition- like I did. Even at full price, you're not going to waste your cash. The worst I can say is that there's not enough meat for the price; nicely done, guys.