Core Space: The Purge in Their Thousands!

The crew's ships were in the middle of refueling when the Purge attacked. Now the task is to re-start the refueling process AND rescue a scientist who says he has vital information about the Purge that could bring about their defeat.

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The crews split up. The NPC crew goes for the refuelling computer. The Black Maria crew goes for the scientist. 

Even before the mission begins, the Purge already loom menacingly in the distance.

Some Purge block the Black Maria crew way but Beck has a close combat weapon that rolls 3 dice, negating the requirement to place a peg on the Threat board and it should be enough to see off these 2 Purge. 

The other crew are fine, only having to deal with a lowly Harvester.

Then... due to the way the AI reacts to the crew movement... the Purge move en masse towards my crew, blocking the way to the scientist!

Capt. Arianna does her job. The refuelling starts. 10 turns until it’s complete!

Some fancy footwork by the Black Maria crew and the Purge menace is reduced. For now. This was aided by my Tech hacking the Assassin and re-programming it to join the crew. 

"Dr. Livingston I presume?" The scientist opens the door after confirming the crew’s bona fides.

The conga line back to the safety of the Black Maria.

Meanwhile on the other side of the station...

You thought this was an innocent little civilian girl?

You poor fool! MWAHAHAHAHAH!!!! Game over, man. Game over! (A 1-in-6 chance sees the civilian transforming into a dreaded Live One!)

Gak has fallen and Capt. Arianna runs into trouble.

And just as she was thinking that an AOE weapon would be just the thing for those pesky Purge … look what pops up thanks to a lucky Event card draw. 

Imagine … 5 dice. Only 2 hits. And even that was from 1 die! (But it was enough to put paid to the Purge).

Gak has been avenged. Rest easy, my friend.

Meanwhile, the Purge mercilessly hunt down any civilians unfortunate enough to have wandered into this sector. Including Tirgarde, a crew of the Ion Hope.

Nooooo…! The Live One cuts down my Assassin!!

The final push. Capt. Arianna needs to head for her ship, and Capt. Jace proves once again why his crew would follow him to hell and back. Renton is trapped between the Live One and the ship because Jace told him to pick up the Paragon Sword (4 attack dice!) that Tirgarde had dropped when he fell. So Capt. Jace deliberately invites the Live One to attack … then cooly uses his skill to side step the attack. 

The Devastator fires at Capt. Arianna to no effect. She makes it on board her ship! Then Jace boards the Black Maria and Renton uses a skill to make an extra move… allowing him to board the ship and since the refueling's done it’s time to blast off from the station!

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Hmm. Looks like these later missions seem to be co-op ones? Of course, if it was a true 2+ player game, you'd never be certain if the other crew won't stab you in the back when the stakes are high enough.

Still, I've got all I can do to juggle as many parts as it is. The storyline is finally picking up as we head into the final lap.

Next: a suicide mission?