Six After Eden

Jenesis Mortima leant on the counter of the bar in Prime, the name given to the town as unimaginative as the name of its planet was.  I've forgotten its name, actually.

No, I haven't mentioned which bar either.  There is no need, as there is only one of them.  A pleasant enough place, however, and the locals consider themselves lucky to have it.

The door opened and in walked an off-worlder.  Not an uncommon sight - the planet was an easy jump away from Unity space.  This lady sauntered in, sat down, then took off the holo-helmet which covered her face.  She shook out her long, blond, perfectly clean and silky hair in an astonishingly theatrical gesture.  It settled over her shoulders as it it were a river of gold.  The woman's face was...wait, it was familiar !  Jenesis stood up straight, frowned.  It was her.  It was Divinia Trix, the leading lady in the holo-show After Eden.  A show about derring-do space exploration, first contact and a better humanity, that Jenesis watched whenever she got the chance.  Her favourite actress sitting here, in this obscure bar, on an obscure planet.  That had to be worth a shot at an autograph.

Divinia had been going off-script for months.  Just a few words, here and there, not enough for the director to call cut and ask for an expensive reshoot.  Few if any would have noticed it, but Misericordia Slade did.  After Eden was life to her, life as it should be, humanity joined together in one harmonious effort to bring peace and meaning to the Universe.  She knew that Divinia was going off-script, however, because there were words that just didn't quite fit, slightly out of place, an imperfection against the perfect backdrop of stars eternal.  It put her life out of kilter, like a permanent toothache.  After putting up with the pain for a few long weeks, she decided to take a very expensive off-planet ride to confront Divinia outside the recording studios, and ask her to stop.  She bought a gun, which she figured would be a useful form of persuasion.

When she reached her destination, Divinia was there.  Not signing autographs, as she had expected, but instead be thoroughly beaten up by three brutish thugs in Unity uniforms.  Misericordia hadn't been the only person to notice.  Unity had figured out that the off-script was actually an elaborate and subversive anti-Unity message, being broadcast to gazillions of fans across a thousand worlds.

The price for that was death.  Would have been, had not Misericordia gunned down the three assaillants and used Divinia's well-stocked Credcard to get them out of Unity space on the fastest and most expensive transport available.

Jenesis was about to walk over to get her autograph, when a nervous looking woman walked into the bar, a pistol very obviously holstered at her belt.  She was wide-eyed, and walked straight over to Divinia Trix's seat.  "Trinity, here you are already settled in.  Such a quaint and primitive place, a delight".  She had used Divinia's character name in After Eden.  The newcomer raised her voice, looking around the bar like she was acting out a part.  "We are looking for a ship out of here.  Myself, the lady, two droids, and no questions asked".  She was acting a part.  That line was straight out of After Eden.  There were no droids in view, either.

Jen couldn't resist.  "What is it, some kind of local trouble ?  Or are you looking to avoid Unity entanglements ?".

Divinia looked at her and smiled.  Her companion seemed awestruck.  Jen continued, "I'm taking off this very evening.  A freighter, some discreet company.  Ten credits, up front."

They bargained it down to eight.  Jen had told a white lie, she didn't have a freighter, no yet.  With those eight credits, she soon would have.  She had being eyeing up a worn freighter down at the spacedocks, which with a bit of tender love and care, would get them all out of here, and further away from the heavy hand of Unity.  Cash changed hands an hour later, and she was the new captain of the Maiden's Grey Mantle.

"When we start making some serious money out in the galaxy, can we buy an entire set of electro-spanners ?", asked Xoey-302 with veiled sarcasm.  The re-engineering efforts on the Maiden's Grey Mantle were a crowded affair, in effect.  Xoey was a top class starship engineer, but Jenesis, who was an Initiate-Four in the Unity Tech Guild, also new one end of a spanner from another.  Dart, who at first glance didn't betray it, was pretty tech-savvy too.  They were all too new to each other to have worked out the kinks, and in Jen's haste to get star-side, they were getting in each others' way.

"Dart", said Jenesis, "let's leave Xoey to finish up the fine-tuning.  I have a task well-suited to your criminal skills".  Dart stuck out her tongue, but seemed to appreciate the jibe.

Jen had been talking with the AI of Maiden's Grey Mantle and sharing stories.  The AI had a few too many of them for her liking.  It would be a good move to hack the transponder and give themselves a new identity.  It took Dart some delicate manoeuvring, but her hands were steady and she had nerves of steel.  "What do you want to call her", she asked after a couple of hours of unbroken concentration.

And so it was the engines of the Uncertain Precedent that Xoey had just brought up to optimal, and the ship was giving off a pleasant hum.  Just in time, for Divinia and her companion, who introduced herself as Misericordia, were coming down the starport ramp.  "Hey, isn't that..." began Xoey, and Jen dispelled all doubt by saying "We're a little rushed, so if you'll just get on board, we'll be out of here".  Dart positively choked on her beer.

Their destination was Martin's Fault, at Misericordia's suggestion.  An evocative name for a planet, for anybody living there must surely spend their lives asking why.  The smallest and most discreet of the three inhabitable orbs of its star system.  A world whose distance and orbit made it permanently lay in the conjunction zone of the infrared radiation of the system's binary suns.  Which made the vegetation go wild, overgrown.  Park a starship outside of the city limits for a week, you'd no longer be able to find it under the rampant greenery that would have assaulted it.

Weapon Licensing was in place, which the local sheriff explained helped keep strife down and ensure everyone cooperated to keep the jungle in check, without which all human settlement would be doomed within months.  There was mandatory community service, which was basically lumberjacking with a flamethrower. 

That certainly didn't mean the planet was docile, far from it.  During the hyperlight transfer, Jenesis had gotten to thinking that their little group of renegades had more brain than brawn, and that some hired muscle would be a good idea.  Turns out that she didn't even need to pay.  One rather improbable Archimedes Praxas was looking for adventure and a new sense of purpose, and a deal was struck.

Here they were on Martin's Fault.  Jen looked at her crew as a surprisingly professional and competent bunch, united by their troubles with authority.  Jen was running from her stifling contract with the Tech Guild, that had promised her a literally sterile existence.  Xoey had found herself on the wrong side of piracy, unwittingly for sure, but Unity cared little for nuance.  Dart had run some seriously criminal errands for her gang until they bought their own safety by selling her out to Unity.  Divinia had sown the seeds of discontent across the galaxy with her subversive messages, and they had all learned how Misericordia had killed Unity agents to save the holo-actress from the consequences and continue living her dream.  As for Archimedes, he had refused the Unity draft for the simple reason that his religion, whatever exactly it might be, forbade the use of firearms.

They had a half-decent ship.  The Uncertain Precedent had a solid 30-rated hull, and they only had 24 credits to pay off before it was theirs.  Misericordia had promised she had patrons on this world that would be the beginning of their fortune.

"Life might actually turn out to be not so bad", Jen mused aloud.

"We need a name", interjected Misericordia.  "We'll have fans of our own one day, and they'll be watching our show.  What are we going to call it ?".

"Why not After Eden", laughed Xoey.  "We have the main character, after all".

"Six After Eden", said Dart, flatly but firmly.  Jen looked around, everybody was in assent, barring Praxas who looked puzzled and merely shrugged.

"Six After Eden it is, then", she said, and so it began.

Six After Eden begin their adventures with :

-  10 Story Points

-  1 Rumour brought by Misericordia

-  A generous pool of 24 Credits

 

They have a healthy stock of weapons, including some hi-tech material repaired, improved or even built by the tech-heads amongst them :

Hi-Tech

-  1 Plasma Rifle

-  1 Hand Laser

-  2 Beam Pistol

Military Tech

-  1 Rattle Gun

Low Tech

-  1 Colony Rifle

-  1 Machine Pistol 

-  2 Handguns 

-  1 Scrap Pistol

-  1 Blade

-  1 Brutal Melee Weapon 

 

Some cool gear :

-  Camo Cloak

-  Screen Generator

-  Beam Light

 

As well as a couple of nifty gadgets :

-  A Duplicator 

-  Stealth Gear

 

 This campaign beings on Normal Difficulty.

The Six After Eden crew already have two patrons on Martin's Fault :

-  Thanks to Misericordia's intimate knowledge of the After Eden fan-sphere, Divinia Trix can count on the assistance of her fan-club on Martin's Fault, a Secretive Group who are ready to act on her subversive suggestions, and strike against the feeble Unity presence on the planet.  They can wait patiently for their star to step onto the scene (campaign turn 1 or 2).  They are not that numerous, the planet is modest, and can offer neither benefits nor conditions, but Six After Eden will of course have to deal with some Veteran Opposition (p.84).

-  Misericordia who has an old flame - there may be a lot of these throughout the coming adventures.  He is a Wealthy Individual (by local standards at least).  He was very pleased to hear from his ex (too many of her old flames are...), but partly because he is in some kind of trouble (campaign turn 1).  He was surprised that Misericordia's life had changed enough that she would personally take care of his worries with the help of new-found friends, but after all why not.  He promised a simple affair, with neither hazards nor conditions; and promised it would pay well (+2 Cr).  No benefits.  Not yet...perhaps if the old flame was rekindled by shared peril ?