5 PARSECS FROM HOME CAMPAIGN TURN 6 : K'LADAN

CAMPAIGN TURN 6

As always, after a successful battle it's time to pay the piper, so to speak.


You hand the crew their weekly pay and they head out, credsticks in their pockets.


It's a given by now that Nicks and Callista will focus on the dives where 'work' is done and fixers meet to hand out jobs to freelancers. 


But this time, they return with nothing. It's a quiet time, they tell you. There are no jobs to be had. But you take a second look at them. Callista seems particularly relaxed, and Nicks is even more obnoxiously smug than usual. You wonder how they have really spent their time...


Meanwhile, you and Cassie have been more productive. The stim tab you picked up is nice, but the real find is the military fuel cell. That will come in handy when you decide to leave K'ladan! Cassie, however, refuses to tell you how she got her hands on it... or even how she paid for it.


Janus has been very quiet since the landing on K'ladan. He spends most of the time with himself. Even now, he's spending his time in the cargo hold, honing his already impressive shooting skills.


Scrapper and Korg hang out at the places of entertainment, such as they are on K'ladan, and return with some interesting news that interests you... a lot! A bunch of thugs... hired muscle, really... had a fracas with Markession's pirates out on the Belt. Markession again? Something is up! 


Scrapper also manages to sell 2c worth of debris. Good. That should free up some space in the cargo hold.


You decide you need to have a talk with Markession out on the Belt. You gather the crew. They are happy to tag along, knowing the spoils will be worth it.


However, your return to the ship yards is interrupted.


Callista warns you: she senses some hostiles ahead! While you wonder who it could be, Nicks comes back and informs you a group that you tangled with recently... the Black Snake mercs are waiting in ambush!


You shake your head. Honestly! It's just not professional to take business matters so personally. Although you have to admit, killing the son of a mercenary outfit's leader might have some justification...


Callista seems preoccupied. She is worried. There's something else out there...


Well, forewarned is forearmed. 


You move forward cautiously, weapons at the ready...


BATTLE TURN 1


The crew move forward, carefully keeping to cover. Where’s the enemy?

The PEFs all move, keeping to cover. The crew doesn't have LOS to PEF (1).


BATTLE TURN 2


PEF(3) moves first on the left flank. No LOS.

PEF(1) and (2) move but the crew doesn’t have LOS to any PEF. 


'Doc' pokes her head around the corner and... contact! It’s the mercs, trying to sneak up on the crew. 

'Doc' reacts first and shoots, sending a merc ducking for cover. She shoots again at the merc leader. He goes down!

The mercs are made of stern stuff. No one runs. 


Scrapper moves into sight of the mercs but the mercs react first. However, they don’t get a good shot at Scrapper thanks to her camo suit so they duck back into cover, taking their wounded leader with them. 


Korg stays put. He’s in a good place. 


The rest of the crew cagily moves forward, always keeping to cover. 


The mercs move cautiously, also keeping to cover. 


A merc comes in sight of 'Doc'. She shoots first, and a merc does down. One merc sees two men are down (including the leader) and quietly slips away. Janus spots him but doesn't fire. Why waste bullets?

The merc specialist takes 4 shots at 'Doc'. 1 hits but thankfully doesn’t do damage. 'Doc' ducks back into cover. 

The mercs slip forward. Scrapper tries to shoot at them but they are too fast. Too slippery. One comes in sight of Cassie. They trade fire. Cassie goes down!!!


The merc shoots again, this time at Janus. He misses. Janus doesn't and the merc goes down!

The only merc in sight of all the bloodshed doesn’t run away. He’s tough. 


Callista sends an urgent warning to all the crew in her mental range. There's a rogue psionic attached to the merc outfit! They must have recruited him specifically to counter her.


BATTLE TURN 3


Scrapper takes a shot at the merc specialist with the rattle gun, aided by Callista. She hits and the specialist goes down.


Nicks sneaks behind another merc... who doesn't see Nicks as he shoots the merc in the back at close range with a hand flamer. The merc goes down!

Korg peeks around the corner of a container and spots a merc ... but the merc reacts faster and shoots at Korg. He misses. Korg doesn’t but only manages to send the merc ducking for cover since he’s outgunned. A rifle versus a rattle gun? No contest.


Janus cautiously moves around the side of the container.

Two mercs move carefully, trying to slip from cover to cover. But Korg spots them and fires, downing one merc. The other merc ducks back into cover. 


The rogue psionic now tries to Dominate Korg... take over his very being. Korg clutches his head in agony and fights him off!


The rogue psionic incautiously moves into sight of Nicks. Nicks shoots first. the shot would’ve killed the Psionic but the guy is lucky! In his hasty retreat from Nicks, he runs right into Scrapper's sights. She shoots, but misses.


BATTLE TURN 4


The psionic attempts to Assail Scrapper but she’s too far out of his range. 


But the psionic does manage to Dominate Korg this time! Korg's face twists in an agonised grimace as he reluctantly turns around and fires 4 shots at a surprised 'Doc' at point blank range! His heart isn’t in it. Only 2 shots hit. Thanks to her combat armour, they don’t damage 'Doc', who quickly ducks into cover. Phew!

The rogue psionic now moves into sight of Korg and takes a shot at him. He misses. Korg fires back, sending the Psionic ducking for cover. 


The last merc peeks around the corner of the container, aiming at Korg but Korg reacts faster and shoots him down.


Janus moves around the container into sight of the rogue psionic. Janus shoots first, and the psionic goes down.

The Straight Arrows hold the field!


AFTERMATH


Thankfully, Cassie is all right. As 'all right' as she can be with a bullet through her shoulder. It was a clean shot, so there's no lasting injuries. She will be out of action for 2 cycles in the Sick Bay, though. You are thankful that's all.


Scrapper's keen eyes spot an interesting object on the battlefield. It looks like some sort of alien artefact. Opening the weirdly shaped case reveals a Shard Gun. What a find!


You see Korg's face. He sems... oddly disappointed. Or is it just your imagination?


Callista manages to find a personal trinket and Nicks turns up a robo-rabbit foot. He decides to keep the lucky charm. You snort. Some people are sooooo superstitious. It didn't do the previous owner any good, did it?


Still, you don't turn up your nose at the 5c's the rest of the crew finds. Spoils of battle, as it were.


The Black Snakes have had enough. After you've killed their 'colonel', the new leader of the merc outfit has called off the vendetta and lifted off K'ladan. Out of sight, out of mind.


You go shopping for a stabiliser for Scrapper so she can move about more freely and fire without any penalty.


You return to the ship to be greeted with an "URGENT" message.


Turns out the Straight Arrows have made quite an impact on K'ladan. Enough to catch the eye of the local tax office. They claim you owe them unpaid taxes on all your jobs, and the fine is 32c!!!! 


You yell and scream bloody blue murder but they take no notice. You finally calm down and reluctantly turn over a rifle and a hunting rifle, protesting your lack of liquid assets. You can see they don't believe you, but they take the weapons anyway. You now owe 30c in unpaid taxes. Before they leave, they remind you that each cycle you leave the fine fully unpaid will accrue a 1c penalty, and that you cannot depart the planet until the sum is FULLY paid up. So much for "friends in higher places".


You take it out in the local gym, punching out the bags and anyone else there for a week before you've worked it off. You notice you're feeling... tougher. Fitter. Stronger. You crunch your knuckles. If the tax men ever come again...


* * * Encrypted Burst Transmission * * *


* * * Identity Agent Double-One-Eight * * *


* * * UNITY SecFor POI Report, Circinus Sector * * *


Name : Nicks


Race: Human 


Planet of Origin : A Space Station in the Pleaides Cluster.


The subject's background is unremarkable. Grew up as a typical brat on a space station, and made some friends as he grew up who were involved in the fledgling Rights For Clones movement several years back. That led to several run-ins with the local authorities.


More ensued as he became a member of the local punk gangs and he started drifting from planet to planet, always becoming part of the local punk gangs where he was.


His last port of call was on D'gobah IV where he got into trouble as he attempted to take over the leadership of not one but two rival punk gangs, earning the enmity of both groups. 


Indeed, it was how the crew of the Straight Arrow came across him as he ran from a running battle from one of the gangs. Thinking he was unfairly attacked, the crew fought off the gang and accepted the subject's request to join the ship.


It was only later that the crew's leader, the aforementioned 'Doc' of an earlier report, found out about the two rival gangs the subject had made enemies of.


Subject has also formed a relationship with the crew's human psionic, but it is a purely physical one.


Conclusion: File for reference only. No further surveillance needed.


* * * END TRANSMISSION * * *

Comments

  1. Excellent stuff! Great report and minis and terrain!

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    1. Thanks. It's been a lot of fun, especially since I started applying RPG principles to the story to flesh it out a bit more.

      Now that I've just gotten the 3rd Edition, I'll be slowly incorporating more interesting stuff to the storyline of the crew of the Straight Arrow. :D

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