Martin's Fault - Turn 6

The door hissed open, bringing a waft of fouled air into the adjacent room.  Five faces were looking up at them, beaten, exhausted, but with a definitely sane look in their eyes.

"I am the Captain of the Harvest of Yellow" said a middle-aged woman, blinking sudden tears from her reddened, hollow eyes.  "This is what is left of my crew and passengers", she said, gesturing to the others.

"Not quite", replied Jen.  "We saved as many as we could.  There are two more out there, well trussed up for now pending medical help, and three others managed to run for it.  You should send search parties out for them, however, before the police get called in to restrain them".

"What the hell happened", asked Dart, adrenalin making her even less empathic than usual. 

The story was told.  An EM pulse had hit the Harvest of Yellow just as it was moving through the Weak Point.  A lot of the ship's systems had been knocked out, and above all, it caused a huge jump deviation and accompanying distortion that killed many, and drove almost all of the survivors mad.  The ship was lucky to survive...and unlucky to be picked up by a Karak Korps vessel that just happened to be in range of their distress call.

"When I told them what I just told you", the Captain continued, "there was a lot of excitement, and calls back and forth to people of evidently increasing importance in the food chain.  Then they ripped out the black box, and took all of us off the ship in our shuttle, and locked us up here.  I reckon they scuttled the freighter, although I can't be sure.  Probably just pointed it towards the sun, it would cost too much to dismantle or blow it".  A few more tears, frustration this time.

"Without any help or healing, and the appalling conditions here, the psychological conditions of the surviving crew and passengers just got worse and worse.  Until finally someone broke free.  They were sane enough to release the others, but then....well, you've seen how ugly it got.  We locked ourselves up in this control room.  Not quite sure how long, maybe a week we have been here".

The crew of the Uncertain Precedent gain a Quest Rumour.

"If we want to make Karak Korps pay for this", said LT, "we are going to need that black box.  Karak want it to analyse that EM pulse, but it'll also show they picked up the distress call and took the crew."

"Yup.  Kotel will be over the moon at the idea of relaying that", replied Jen.  "I also think Xoey is going to be bored laying in sick bay, and would love to get her hands on a recording of that EM pulse and find out what caused it".

 

"This will take time to set up", Jen told the crew.  "So you have time on your hands, use it wisely".

LT and Misericordia visited the local market-place, where they found a wicked looking Blast Pistol to replace the young woman's damaged hand laser.  "And to boot, I've got a hot-shot pack laying around unused somewhere.  Wire that up to this baby, and you'll be frying some Karak neurones for dinner", LT told her.  Misericordia grinned with surprising wickedness, for someone relatively new to the battlefield.

They also hooked up with other people who were not too happy about the repression that Karak Korps were bringing to bear, during their war with Kotel Kommunications.  The two reckoned that if they could steal something symbolic during their next run in with Karak, it would be a worthy trophy ["Offered a reward"].

The other crew went about their business, LT being charged by Jen to use her contacts in the police force to keep Karak Korps off their back.  Wouldn't do to get tangled up in their rivalry right at this moment, there were more important things to be done.

 ----------------------------------

"We're ready to go", Jen told the assembled crew.  "It will be tomorrow, at dawn.  The black box has been located, security has been sabotaged, and the distraction is in place.  Yes, I have been busy", she smiled.

As they sat in a blacked-out room that Jen had rented for the night, they could see gun flashes and explosions lighting up the dark, although the tall buildings opposite from them hid the view of the fighting.

"So that'll be Kotel Kommunications giving it to our much-beloved friends ?" LT inquired, her eyebrow raised.

"That will be them", replied Jen.  "They've put a lot into this, and we'll be in trouble if we don't get them payback, so we'd better not mess this up".

As the first rays of sun chased away the gloom, they could see that their target was abandoned, with just a couple of nervous-looking guards on patrol, more absorbed by what was happening a few klicks away than with their duties".

"Looks like it worked", yawned Dart, stretching before slipping on her camouflage gear.

The crew had geared up, and slipped discreetly through a side door of the run-down motel, not that anybody would have cared, more likely than not.

It was as they were making their way to their objective, that they saw a familiar and most unwelcome sight.

"I think", said LT, unshouldering her plasma rifle, "they knew we might be coming".

"Or they simply smelled us coming", replied Divinia, which was an extremely unpleasant idea.

There were seven of them, genetically engineered beasts, looking stronger and meaner than last time round.  "Go", said Jen.  "We need that black box, it is our only hope of getting the truth out, and we can't afford to have Kotel on our backs as well.  LT and I will pick them off as they run in".

 

To Achieve their Objective, the crew must pick up the black box which is in the centre of the zone, by spending an action.  It must then be carried off.  If the carrier is put Out of Action or worse, the item is destroyed on a D6 roll of 1, otherwise may be picked up again by spending an action.

 

;Carnivore Chasers
Pack Leader;20;2;1;false;-Blade,Move L,Resilience 4;;
Chasers 1 to 6;8;3;1;false;-Blade,Move L,Panic 2,Resilience 4;;

 

The planet is Overgrown so vegetation must be added to the battlefield of any encounter (p.73) 

The crew can attempt to Seize the Initiative, but have a -1 to do so against Carnivore Chasers. (p.102).

Battle Events (p.116) will occur on the 8th and 12th turnovers.

1 Story Points are available and can be used during battle to reroll a die (p.66).

All Stars of the Story options (p.67) are still available, except for It's Time to Go, should things get hairy.

If Achieved Objective, this enemy does not Give Up (p.114) allowing the crew to also Hold the Field.

Thanks to being Offered a Reward, select a random terrain feature and place something prominent there.  If a crew member moves into contact with it and spends an Action, gain 2 credits.

Carnivore Chasers never become Rivals. In the context of this campaign, they are an Invasion Threat, being improved versions of the bio-synths already encountered.

If the crew do not Achieve their Objective, Kotel Kommunications will be less inclined to protect them against their Karak rivals.  Karak now count as 3 rivals, for purposes of deciding if they act against the crew during the campaign steps.