Freetrader “Destinys Child”: How It All Started

[Techno II]

Ditto !

Cheers - Phil.

[sunjester]

Sounds good! Now lets see the action.   

[Ithoriel]

Thanks for the encourangement, all.

Campaign turn 7 game now completed.

Proper write up tomorrow but I can reveal that 3 sand runners got into contact and one of the crew is down!!!

[paulr]

 

[Ithoriel]

Campaign Turn 7: Sun, Sand and .... Teeth! (2)

Darkwalker's Drinking Hole was as dingy as ever, the bartender had a Vadrassian Brandy poured before she reached the bar, a couple of regulars nodded a greeting as her gaze passed over them .... all so familiar.

Ah! A figure sat in her favourite spot, black coveralls somehow even blacker than the surrounding darkness, the steel grey hair picked out by the feeble lighting.

"Colonel Aquilaus, a pleasure to see you. The others will be here shortly."

The colonel's gaunt look and ramrod straight posture had lead Mila to assume he was somewhat stuffy but it turned out that he was a charming conversationalist with wide interests and a fund of, often self-deprecating, amusing anecdotes."

"Well," thought Mila, as the others assembled,"Never judge a book ...."

"So,"Mila started once everyone was settled,"I take it OSI is happy with our work?"

"Very much so,"Aquilaos nodded,"though my transport officer is still moaning about you turning his flitter into a scrap yard."

"Hey,"Mila protested,"Adamantium and Ceramicite armour plating is worth quite a bit and anyway we dusted it off before we took it on board ... well, dusted it off a bit."

The colonel smiled,"And the broken flak vest and deflector field?"

"Trekking back to the flitter we found a downed gunship, decades old at the very least. A few armour plates were loose and the two man crew didn't need those items any more. Running a spaceship isn't cheap, you know!"

"How did the job itself go?" asked Aquilaos,"Problems? I notice we are one short"

"We'd almost made it to the monitor when we spotted sand runners. A pack of seven of them, coming in fast."





"We were a bit worn down from slogging through the soft sand so we missed a chance to get into position a little faster." (One pip short of Seizing the Initiative)  

"Micah and Gunner hustled forward but couldn't get a sight of the beasts as they rushed towards us, keeping to the gulleys for cover. The rest of us followed as best we could."





"As the beasts continue to close the rest of the crew move up to try and get line of sight on them. I stay with Scrapper, who has the component, and we close up on the others."
"Gunner has a shot at a bunch of the sand runners. The rattlegun barks, one beast goes down, then a second and finally a third staggers back a pace, stunned. But the rest of us are startled at how close the things are and before we react they are among us."



"Gunner, naturally, slices the runner that goes for him with the battle blade attached to the rattlegun and it goes down." Gunner grins and give a little mock bow.

"The one attacking Micah misjudges slightly, perhaps disconcerted by the soft sand, and simply pushes him back a couple of metres but stuns him in the process."

"Smith and the runner he's facing are pretty evenly matched. Missing with his bite, the runner slashes Smith with his claws putting him down, covered in blood. But, as he goes down Smith jams his gun in the beast's mouth and pulls the trigger blowing the thing apart."

"I put two shots into the thing attacking Micah and it goes down. THK07 takes a shot at the beast Gunner stunned but misses and Scrapper heads towards the monitoring station.



"The last two sand runners, seeing the destruction of their pack, sprint back down the gulleys and disappear."

"Swapping the parts was as easy as you told us so Scrapper had the job done in no time. We headed back by a slightly different route than the one we'd taken in and came across the gunship, crashed in a rock formation."

"Truly, I'm sorry for your loss and thank you, on behalf of the Imperial Counsel, for your service. More tangible tokens of our satisfaction have been transferred to your bank account."

A pretty brunette took a seat and a shadowy figure stood with a hand resting gently on her shoulder. "Sorry for our loss, colonel? I assure you rumours of my death are somewhat exaggerated! It takes more than a sand runner to kill Mr Smith, it seems. Knocked out, lightly lacerated and covered in blood – much of it from the beastie – but far from dead!"

"Mila, let me introduce Freyja Keggisdottir, a further addition to the crew, if you'll have her."

                                                    ***********************
After the battle the crew found 3Cr of debris and two damaged armour pieces so I decided they found a downed vehicle.

When Smith went down I wasn't too worried because most results are "out of action" for a period, unless you roll really low. So when I rolled 16, I feared the worst and was relieved to read

16 - Miraculous escape: The character survives and receives +1 Luck, but all items carried are permanently lost.

One point less and he'd be dead or otherwise lost to the campaign.

An autorifle, a gunsight (that I keep forgetting about), a glare sword  and a screen generator are a lesser loss than the luck gain for the character is a plus. Especially as there is a working glare sword and plasma rifle together with a damaged screen generator in their stash.

Gunner continues to be Mr. Death & Destruction but a high Combat Value and a rattlegun will do that!

I need to roll up Freyja's stats before I decide if she will join the crew or be rejected. Perhaps a lover's tiff with Smith will lead to her flouncing off. Who knows?

I'll work out Campaign Phase 8 over the weekend and we'll see where destiny leads the crew next.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great report!

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Good stuff !

[Techno II]

Thirded !

Cheers - Phil.

[Ithoriel]

Alas matters medical, legal and funereal have combined with work fixing all the little jobs needing done in the house and garden, that have accumulated during the pandemic, which are now proving beyond my slowly declining abilities have consumed my life in the interim and don't show any sign of slackening off. However I have managed to write up the set-up for the next adventure so, though I'm not sure when the game itself will take place, here is the continuing saga.


Campaign Turn 8: Same old, same old.

Freyja was sitting on a bench outside somewhere that it's sign said was Inspiration Arcology ... she wasn't sure what an arcology was but it seemed to involve immense amounts of glass, steel and vegetation.

She was wondering if it was worth returning to the Destiny's Child.

Mila had sent her out to look for work for the crew.

Her visit to Jethro Gibbons had been cordial and he had a job for them if they wanted it. Make their way to a remote area of the undercity and check if rumours of an increase in the number of void rippers there were true. Didn't sound like fun and the pay wasn't great so she said thanks but no thanks. Besides surely House Rimush would have something better.

However, she'd been given short shrift by the House Rimush majordomo who told her brusquely that if they had work for the crew they would be in touch.

So here she sat, her first job for the crew and she'd blown it!

"What we run from and what we run to are often one and the same."

Startled, she hadn't noticed the man sit down, she turned to see an elderly Zensufi monk, wrapped in the, slightly frayed and grubby, white robes of his order.

"If I wanted vague and ambiguous advice I'd have bought a fortune cookie," she said tartly.

"Ah, but what you want is a job."

"What, how do you .. who are you?" she asked sharply.

The old monk grinned and inclined his hooded head,"Not all are who they seem. Indeed, are any of us who we seem?"

Exasperated, she said,"You really are irritating, you know that?"

He took her hand gently but firmly, his grip stronger than she'd expected from this bent old man, turning her hand palm up he dropped a data crystal, seemingly plucked out of thin air, into her hand and folded her fingers over it.

"For Mila," he said,"I'm afraid I really must go, good to meet you."

She glanced down at the crystal and tucked it safely away. When she glanced up the monk was gone and the only figure in sight was a tall ramrod straight figure with grey hair, dressed in a black coverall, walking up the steps of the arcology. Of the monk, no sign at all.

******************************

"Well," thought Mila,"Freyja Keggisdottir, there was an enigma. Brought up on an Ice World, in a commune, by The Cult Of Elrond to be a baby-making machine. Escaped aged fourteen and on the run ever since. More dangerous with those steel shod boots of hers than with the blade she carried. Sent out to check with Gibbons and House Rimush if they had work for the crew she comes back with a job for OSI instead."

"Smart enough to turn down 'Walking with Voidrippers' too, bless her."

The data crystal from Aquilaos had complimented them on their record of safe deliveries of VIPs needing escorted and offered decent pay for safe escort of an Imperial Ecologist to a spot in the underhive where a fellow researcher had set up a Micro-Hab, a sort of semi-permanent tent, in order to study the local hydrology. If the ecologist got close enough his data-pad would download all of the info from the hab's own data-store.

"All so easy," Mila thought," were it not for the gangers and their recently acquired stash of military rifles and shotguns. Half a dozen gangers wouldn't usually be a problem for the crew but these had serious firepower."

"Ah, well! Time to pick up another little lost lamb and escort them into the field and try to avoid them getting their dumb head shot off."

[paulr]

An interesting set-up, good to see you are able to get some time for fun stuff