Turn 4: The Asset
General Summary
"Captain! I think it's happening now. I'm moving to my safehouse!"
The call came suddenly as Maggie was on her way to another meeting with Ms. Patton. She could hear the sounds of mayhem on the other end of the line, as well with her own ears a few blocks away.
Maggie makes a frantic hand gesture to Iyanna, her companion after Yevesa neglected to show up for the meeting, "We'll meet you there, Ms. Patton. Send the coordinates."
"Damn fine time for Vey to give up on us," Maggie said once she ended the link.
"She's got her own demons to worry about, Cap. Don't worry, we've got your back."
"It's not just my back I'm worried about..."
Ambush
"We really have to get our own shuttle," Billie said, their knuckles white as the rental vessel bucked again in Radley's hands.
"I do not think that would save us from Radley's flying," Sark said, its tone flat.
"I heard that you bucket of bolts. It's not my fault the industrial zone our esteemed patron chose is full of fumes. The chemicals in the air are playing havoc with the sensors and the pressure pockets up here are unbelievable."
"There," Maggie said, pointing, "Set us down in that clearing. The safehouse is that pyramidal structure."
"The clearing looks green, Captain, are you sure?"
"I don't see a better place. Helmets on, everyone, locked for environmentals. Let's go!"
They unloaded and stayed quiet. There was always something disconcerting about hearing your own breath in your helm. The kind of thing that kept people from wanting to talk, and so communication broke down faster with environmental helms. So Maggie kept it dead simple.
"Thasra, me, and Billie will take the right flank. Radley, Iyanna, and Sark go left. Let's assume Ms. Patton's assailants didn't just give up when she fled her penthouse. Stack up, quick clear, meet back at the entrance," she pointed at the door near the top of the pyramid.
A chorus of affirmatives. Thasra took point, followed by Maggie, then Billie. Radley broke off, going wide, while Sark and Iyanna chose to find the high ground on the side of the pyramid.
It only took a moment before Radley spotted the War Squad.
"Oh wow, oh shit, lots of contact! Team 2's going to need some backup!
"Acknowledged Radley, everyone move around," Maggie called. She and Billie turned and jogged back the way they came, moving up to cover Radley.
Thasra did not. She had seen something, just a flash of movement and moved up, using some crates as cover. Another flash of movement caught her eye, but it was too late - the sniper had clambered up onto the shipping crates and had already drawn a bead. The first shot rang out, muffled by the industrial noise, Radley's weapon, and the heavy rattle of Iyanna's machine gun. Thasra drew her blade, forgetting that she now had a rifle, and charged. It went about how one would expect.
Let's see what this fancy thing can do..." a rising crack of energy followed, "Captain, can I just say I love my new toy," another crack. Iyanna was emptying her clip at the group of quick assailants, and Sark was taking careful shots with its needle rifle. By the time Maggie and Billie joined the firefight it was all but over. The last few Swift were clambering over piles of industrial junk.
"Is that it?" Sark said, "There are valuables mixed in with this refuse, I shall retrieve them."
"You do that. Everyone else: lets go retrieve our patron." The crew walked back to the stairs, their weapons held low, leaving Sark to explore the pod and crate he had found. Their amicable chatter was interrupted by Iyanna's question.
"Hey... where's Thasra?"
In that instant they suddenly realized their error. At the same moment a figure turned the corner ahead of them, a massive rifle in their hands. Everyone ducked, the adrenaline from their firefight keeping them safe, but barely. Maggie dove forward, rolling under the high-caliber round that would have passed through her skull, drawing her blade from over her shoulder in a smooth motion, and thrust the ignited point through their would-be killer. He sputtered and fell backwards onto the steps, flopping down them like a broken doll.
Maggie pointed to Iyanna and Billie, "Find Thasra, meet us back at the shuttle, I'm going to retrieve Ms. Patton. Go!"
Getting Paid
Thasra, as it turned out, had taken the shot directly to the thickest part of her armor - her center of mass. Aside from a nasty bruise to both her pride and her ribcage she was unharmed. The crew laughed when she told them she tried to charge the sniper's nest. She laughed, too, eventually. Though it pained her in more ways than one. Radley flew the shuttle back out of the industrial wastes and towards the spaceport, taking a more circuitous route, allowing him to provide Ms. Patton a smoother ride.
"Thank you, Captain. I wasn't sure if you were going to arrive in time. My safehouse is safe due to its anonymity, not for its fortifications."
"Our pleasure, Ms. Patton. I'm just glad we were able to help."
"To that end," Carmen said, Uh oh, Maggie had time to think before she went on, "I would like to request a place aboard your vessel. It seems my housing here is no longer adequate protection."
"Ms. Patton..." Maggie began.
"Carmen, please," Carmen interrupted, "I will not be any trouble, I promise. I am used to an austere living environment."
Several pleading looks around the cabin were met with very studious avoidances, and Maggie could not find it in herself to deny the woman a safe place to lay down her head, "Very well," she said, "We shall come to some kind of arrangement."
"Thank you, Captain. Thank you very much."
Aftermath
"Sark! Sark you miserable pile of rust! Where are you?"
"Captain," Sark replied from down the hall, "You called?"
"What in the name of all the stars happened to our accounts? Did Carmen's transfer not clear?"
"It cleared, Captain, and opened up a line of credit besides."
"So why," she had to pause to take a deep breath, "Why are our accounts in their current state? We made money on your salvage, and from Ms. Patton. But somehow our balance is lower than when we started."
"We earned credit on my salvage, Captain."
"... what?"
"I was able to trade a portion of our salvage for the additional components necessary to install an extra-net uplink. Per Ms. Patton's request, but also for the crew's good," it had the tone normally reserved for talking its way out of a deal that would end in little more than the exchange of gunfire.
"She paid us ten credits, Sark. Ten. Are you telling me this thing cost us twelve credits?!"
"Twenty, in point of fact-"
"Twenty!?"
"I was able to barter seven down given the scrambler I recovered along with a container of processors and computational units."
Maggie paused for a moment and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "When I cleared you on the ship's accounts I thought you'd make better choices than Radley."
From somewhere else, "Hey!"
"Shut up Radley! I guess I figured you'd behave logically, because youre a damn robot!"
"That seems like something of a prejudiced thought Cap-" Sark thought better of it, "Point taken, Captain. I shall endeavor to set your expectations on purchases-"
"Set expectations!? You're going to have to ask permission. Like Radley."
"I'm not even... why are you ragging on me!"
"Very well. I shall begin now. Permission to pay the final installment for the secure terminal?"
Maggie stared at it. Sark's photoreceptors provided none of the information an organic race's would have. Even the Engineers had expressive faces, despite many of them being extraordinarily alien and unnaturally even-tempered. But Sark's expression was perfectly flat and neutral. It was no wonder there were so few bots that existed as independent entities - they were hard to trust given their impassivity.
”Granted,” she said with a defeated sigh, “But at least tell me what we get from it.”
”The terminal will provide us a perfectly secure tunneled connection to the commerce extra-net.”[\p]
”A digital store? Why can’t we just… go to a shop?”
Sark seemed to process for a moment, “Captain this is for white and black market dealings. It also tracks ship inventory and can alert us to shortages in ammunition, fuel or other goods, and help us broker a deal for those goods.”
”Well… that doesn’t sound useless. Maybe it can pay for itself within the next century or two.”
”That’s the spirit, Captain,” Sark said, and patted Maggie on the shoulder.
World Steps
- Upkeep is paid from the ship's coffers: 4 Cr
- No repairs or medical care is needed.
- Current debt: 28
- 1 Cr in interest gained
- 2 Cr paid
- New total: 27 Cr.
Crew Tasks
Patron jobs still on offer
Patron: Sector Government- Danger Pay: 3, +1 Cr
- Time Frame: 8, Can be completed this or the following Turn
- Benefits: 4, No
- Hazard: 9, Yes. 1, Dangerous Job (+1 Opponent)
- Conditions: 9, Yes. 5, Full Squad (must have 6 available crew)
- Battle Details
- Deployment Condition 1d100: 84, Bitter Struggle
- Notable Sights 1d100: 55, Shiny Bits
- Objective 1d10: 3, Eliminate
- Enemy Encounter 1d100: 27, Criminal Elements
- Criminal Elements Subtable 1d100: 5, Gangers
- Unique Individuals roll 2d6: 4, No.
- Armaments Columns 1, A 1d6: 2, Handguns & 4, Hunting Rifles.
- Danger Pay: 9+1 Corpo. 10, +3 Cr and roll twice when rolling for mission pay.
- Time Frame: 9, This or following 2 campaign turns.
- Benefits: 9, No
- Hazards: 7, No
- Conditions: 6, Yes. 4, Small Squad - deploy no more than 4 crew.
- Battle Details
- Deployment Condition 1d100: 33, No condition.
- Notable Sights 1d100: 53, Shiny bits - Gain +1 Cr
- Objective 1d10: 8, Protect
- Enemy Encounter 1d100: 45, Hired Muscle
- Hired Muscle Subtable 1d100: 50, Secret Agents
- Unique Individuals roll 2d6: 8, no.
- Armaments Columns 2, C 1d6: 4, Military Rifle & 1, Marksman's Rifle.
New Crew Tasks
- Val-reid, Billie Pedley: Trade.
- Trade Table d100 result: 8, Find something useful.
- Roll once on the Gear Table. Gear Table d100 result: 23, Camo Cloak
- Trade Table d100 result: 59, Ordnance. You recieve 3 Grenades (Frakk Grenade or Dazzle Grenade in any combination).
- Yevesa, Radley Thoburn: Explore.
- Exploration Table d100 result: 48, Got a few drinks. No effect.
- Exploration Table d100 result: 23, Time to relax. No effect.
- Iyanna Prest, Thasra Jodehn: Train.
- 1XP added to their Character summaries.
- Maggie Galer: Decoy
- +1 to the Rivals roll, making it impossible for Detective-Inquisitor Axtell to follow us this turn.
- Two-Shaper, 54-RK B00k-R - "Sark": Repair.
- Attempt to repair Snooper Bot D6 result: 5, +1 Savvy, +1 Engineer, 7. Repaired!
- Attempt to repair Hand Laser D6 result: 5, +2 Savvy, 7. Repaired!
Determine Patrons
Patron: Wealthy IndividualMs. Carmen Patton is an independently wealthy investor & information broker who has discovered a piece of critical info on a dangerous gang active on several worlds, but headquartered on Lamiria II. Whispers of a plot to kill her have reached her ears, and she reached out to the crew of The Wyvern for protection - thinking an off-world crew was safer than anyone local who could be threatened or bribed.
- Danger Pay: 9, +3 Cr
- Time Frame: 1, This campaign turn.
- Story point reroll: 8, This or the following 1 Turn.
- Benefits: 7, Yes. 9, Persistent
- Hazards: 9, Yes. 4, Hot Job. After the job you will earrn an enemy on 1-2 instead of the normal roll of a 1.
- Conditions: 2, No.
- Battle Details
- Deployment Condition 1d100: 57, Toxic Environment
- Notable Sights 1d100: 93, Curious item.
- Objective 1d10: 10, Fight off
- Enemy Encounter 1d100: 77, Interested Parties
- Interested Parties Subtable 1d100: 65, Swift War Squad
- Unique Individuals roll 2d6: 11,+1 for Interested parties.
- Unique Individual table: 78, Nomad Scout
- Armaments Columns 1, B 1d6: 2, Handguns & 4, Hand Flamer.
Items Equipped
Maggie Galer Yevesa- None
- None
- None
Resolve Rumors
- Currently on a Quest!
- Number of Rumors: 0
Choose Your Battle
Ms. Patton is insistent that the threat to her life is now absolutely imminent. The promise of a patron with a finger in everyrone's pocket is too great for the crew to resist... and, if Maggie was honest with herself, her own bleeding heart went out to Carmen, who may not have been entirely honest about how above-board her brokerage is.Tabletop Battle - Patron Mission
Deployment Conditions
- Deployment Conditions 1d100: 57, Toxic Environment
- Whenever a combatant is Stunned, roll 1d6+Savvy (0 for enemies). Failure to roll a 4+ they becomes a casualty.
- Notable Sights 1d100: 93, Curious item
- Roll 1d6. On a 1-4 it can be sold for 1 Cr. On a 5-6 roll on the Loot Table.
- Distance from center 2d6 roll: 6, +2. 8" from center.
Mission Conditions
Objective: Fight Off- There is no objective other than driving off the enemy. To win you must Hold the Field.
Game Details
A skilled tracker and shooter, hiring out to the starfolk for credits. Special - Concealed: Always counts as being in Cover when fired upon.Opponent
Interested Parties: Swift War Squad
Deminutive winged lizards who live in a highly ritualistic caste society.- Numbers - Die results: 2, 6. +2 for opponent Numbers. 8 Enemies.
- Specialist: 2
- Lieutenant: 1
- Carries a Blade
- Increase Combat Skill by +1
- Unique Individuals roll 2d6: 11,+1 for Interested parties.
- Unique Individual table: 78, Nomad Scout
Special - Unpredictable: Sieze the Initiative roll is always unmodified.
Game Details
Pre-Battle
Terrain
The Crew will be defending Ms. Patton's safehouse in the Sump District of Lamiria II's densest-populated settlement. The area recently experienced a heavy alpha-particle radiation leak, making the air below knee hight highly toxic, and lethally dangerous. While the crew is bemused by her choice, she insists that the regular industrial disasters of the area add to the desirability of the location as a safehouse.
The table will be set up with buildings, and a few damaged factories (represented by ruins; the intent is that the buildings are whole, but witht large windows, allowing for easy line of sight between them.
Lamiria's plant life will be present, as usual, but in a diminished capacity, given the narrative of the mission. D6 roll: 3+2, 5 pieces of vegetation.
Equipment
- Snooper Bot: Unncessary this turn.
- Scanner Bot: Unncessary this turn.
Battle Report
Seize the initiative 2d6 roll: 8, +2 for Savvy. Result: 10, Initiative seized!
Round 1
Round 2
- 1d100 Battle Event for Round 2: 97, Looks valuable.
- Select a random crew member thenb place a marker 1d6" in a random direction from them. The enemy will ignore it. If any crew member moves into contact and spends a combat action, obtain 1d3 Cr.
Round 3
Round 4
- 1d100 Battle Event for Round 4: 82, Fog cloud
- A dense cloud of fog envelops the center of the battlefield for the rest of the battle. It extends 6" in every direction andd blocks all visibility past 2".
Round 5
Round 6
Post-Battle
- Resolve Rival Status
- D6 result: 2, Rival added.
- Resolve Patron Status
- Patron job successful!
- Carmen Patton added to Patrons list.
- Determine Quest Progress
- No quest.
- Get Paid
- 1D6 result: 6 Cr base pay
- +3 Cr Hazard pay
- +1 Cr Looks Valuable battle event
- Curious Item d6 roll: 5, Loot table roll. Loot 1d100 result: 96, Rewards. Rewards table 1d100 roll: 85, Ship parts. Discount your next ship component purchase by 3 Cr.
- Battlefield Finds
- Battlefield Finds D100 result: 3, Weapon.
- Randomly select a slain (but not Bailed) enemy frorm the battle. You may keep any weapons they were carrying.
- Leader, 2 Specialists, 5 Troopers, 1 Unique Individual. 9 Total. 1d10 roll: 7, Trooper. Handgun
- Check for Invasion!
- Not an invasion threat
- Gather the Loot
- Loot 1d100 result: 95, Rewards. Rewards table 1d100 roll: 37, Cargo crate. 1d6 Cr. 1d6 roll: 4.
- Determine Injuries & Recovery
- Thasra Jodehn became a casualty!
- Injury Table 1d100 roll: 26, Equipment loss. A random carried item is damaged. 1d4 randomization roll: 4, Dazzle Grenade.
- Turns in sick bay: 0
- Experience & Character Upgrades
- Experience:
- Survived and won: +3XP
- Became a casualty: +1XP, Thasra Jodehn
- First character to inflict a casualty: +1 XP for Radley Thoburn
- Killed a Unique Individual: +1 XP for Maggie Galer
- Upgrades:
- Iyanna Prest: +1 Combat Skill for 7XP
- Invest in Advanced Training
- None this turn.
- Purchase Items
- 17 Cr. Merchant Link Starship Component.
- Roll for a Campaign Event
- Campaign Event Table 1d100 result: 59, The crew has decided a new person should be in charge.
- I can't think of a way to work that into the story. Rerolling.
- Campaign Event Table 1d100 result: 98, In hindsight, it'll make a great story.
- Select a crew member who was a casualty last battle (1 casualty, Thasra Jodehn). They recieve +1 Luck.
- Roll for a Character Event
- Random character D6 result removing Yevesa & Sark: 6, Thasra Jodehn
- Character Event Table 1d100 result: 93, Where did it go? A random item carried by the character has been lost. When rolling for a Character Event next campaign turn roll 1d6+Savvy as well. On a 5+ tthe item turns up again, otherwise it is lost for good.
- Random item roll 1d3: 2, Glare Sword
- Find the item 1d6+Savvy roll: 6+1, 7. The item turns up next turn.
- Check for Galactic War Progress
- No planets previously invaded.
Rewards Granted
- 14 Cr
- 6 Cr Base pay
- 3 Cr Hazard pay
- 1 Cr Valuable find
- 4 Cr Cargo crate
- 3 Cr discount on next Ship Component
- 1 Handgun
- 1 Camo Cloak
- 2 Frakk Grenade
- 1 Dazzle Grenade
- 3 XP base
- +1 for Maggie Galer for Unique Individual kill
- +1 for Radley Thoburn for First Kill
- -2 for Thasra Jodehn for becoming a casualty
Character(s) interacted with
- Morgan Churchill, Planetary Government Fixer
- Carmen Patton, Independentlty Wealthy Investor
- Totheytt, Swift Hunter-Captain
Comments