Begin a Session(98)Unforeseen aid is on the way or within reach
"And there we go, we are out of FTL and officially in the Devil's Chain sector."
There were four members of the strike team; the pilot, the gunner, the brawler, the leader.
"So we just keep jumping from place to place and eventually fate will intervene and we'll see our target?"
"Yep."
"How will we know it's the right person?"
"We'll just know. Trust the process."
Momentum:9 → 10
Set a Course(Supply)—9 vs 10|7 Momentum:10 → 8
Jett heads back to Port Koshiba. He is delayed by a plasma storm, but no damage is done to the ship.
At the starport, he hires an exterminator to take care of the Power Leech and make sure there's not an infestation.
Once he gets back into town, he hires the Couriers Guild to take the medical supplies to The Snakepit. He doesn't have time to do the four-week round trip just to drop off a box. He's not sure if the Guild usually delivers to top-secret pirate dens, but he figures it will be okay just this once.
05a - Get medical supplies for The Snakepit +1 (9/10) Fulfill Your Vow(track)—5 vs 9|8 05a - Get medical supplies for The Snakepitcompleted quests +1 (2/10) Connection: Machete +1 (6/10)
Then he tries to find someone who's hiring.
Make a Connection(Heart)—7 vs 10|10match
He finds out the hard way that looking for work by word of mouth is considered illegal in Port Koshiba - income tax is taken very seriously there and the kind of easy, cash-in-hand arrangements that Jett was looking for are strictly forbidden. After one quite educational night in the cells, Jett is back on the streets.
The only person Jett knows in Port Koshiba is the guy from the Cartographer's Guild, so he heads there. He enters the room, and sees the man in the same tired stance looking at the same old datapad. "Peter!" Jett calls out, as if to a friend he hasn't seen in years.
"It's Lucas, actually" says Lucas.
"Right, right, sorry about that. If I were looking for juicy navigational data to sell to you, legally and paying all appropriate taxes of course, where would be a good place to start looking right now?"
Lucas looks at his screen for a moment and taps on his keyboard.
Planetary Class(88)Rocky World
Sample Names(6)Dusk
Is it orbital? 50/50(53)No
Settlement Name(14)Burrow
"There's a new settlement named Burrow on the planet of Dusk. If you can map a route there, you'll get a decent amount for the data."
Jett takes out his black iron ring and holds it between his fingers. "I vow, on this black iron ring-"
"That really isn't necessary."
"-that I, Jett Foley, will deliver to you, Lucas of the Cartographers Guild, the navigational data between Port Koshiba and Burrow."
"Ok, that's great. I'll stay here and read my datapad while you do that."
Swear an Iron Vow(Heart)—3 vs 5|2 Momentum:2 → 4 12 - Deliver Burrow Nav Data 12 - Expedition to Burrow
Jett returns to The Irony. "Where were you last night? I was worried sick. You didn't meet a girl, did you?" asks Eris, immediately.
"No, I was in jail, actually."
"Oh, well that's okay then." Eris pauses for Jett to elaborate, but no explanation comes. "Did you find a job at least?"
"Kind of. We're going to get course information and sell it to the Navigators Guild."
"Ok, that sounds like a solid lead. You can tell me if you really did meet a girl, you know."
"I didn't meet a girl!"
Soon, they are in space ready to make their first jump on their expedition to Burrow.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—8 vs 3|7 12 - Expedition to Burrow +1 (2/10)
Their first waypoint is within the unending blackness of space. They recharge the e-drive and then make the next jump.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—8 vs 8|7 12 - Expedition to Burrow +1 (4/10)
Spaceborne Peril(100)Isolation or fear presses in, Familiar foe appears or sends an ominous message
Expanse(92)Dense nebula cloud
They come out of FTL in a dense nebula cloud. Their sensors can't see far in the thick, purple fog. There could be anything out there - space monsters, pirates, meteoroids - flying straight towards the ship and they wouldn't know about it until the last moment. Jett feels the pressure of this tense situation. Spirit:4 → 3
After a couple of hours, when the e-drive is halfway recharged, the sensors do pick up something. There's a damaged fighter drifting through the nebula at a distance. It's broadcasting its ship ID; this is an Ascendancy ship.
"Has it seen us? I thought they had better sensors than we do?" asks Jett.
"It's not hailing us or attacking so I guess the sensors must be damaged. That thing's been through the wars, that's for sure." says Eris.
"What do we do?" asks Jett.
"We either try and destroy it before it sees us, or we sneak away to make sure it doesn't see us."
"Let's try sneaking away." says Jett.
Face Danger(Shadow)—6 vs 8|8match
They turn the ship to dark mode, and start slowly flying away from the ship, but as soon as they do it seems to power up and starts moving in their direction.
"They've seen us." says Eris. "Run and try to lose them in the nebula, or stand and fight?"
"Run!" yells Jett. The Irony screams off into the nebula, with the damaged fighter in tow. The fighter seems to be keeping pace with the ship, neither gaining nor falling back. "I'm going to reroute power to the thrusters from non-essential systems, maybe we can get a bit more speed." says Jett.
Secure an Advantage(Wits)—7 vs 9|7
Jett diverts power from the artificial gravity generator and the ship goes into zero-g mode. It doesn't work, the fighter is still keeping pace. Momentum:4 → 2
Jett keeps up the pace, hoping that the damaged fighter will fall back eventually - it has to be pushing its systems as far as they'll go just to keep up with the amount of damage it's taken.
Face Danger(Edge)—6 vs 9|8
The fighter manages to close into weapons range and fires a couple of shots at The Irony. They land right in the ship's hull.
Starship / Integrity:4 → 2 Withstand Damage(Starship / Integrity)—8 vs 9|5 Starship / Integrity:2 → 3 Momentum:2 → 1
"Jett, I think it's time you put aside your aversion to violence, and start fighting back" says Eris. "We're not losing them, even in this nebula."
"Fine," says Jett "But I'm just going to try to take out their engines so we can get away."
Jett yanks on the flight stick and The Irony turns to face the enemy fighter. Jett pays attention to the tactical display and notices that most of the ship's damage is on its right side; he tries to focus his fire there instead of its stronger left flank.
Battle(Wits)—7 vs 8|3
The ship fires on The Irony. The hits don't damage the hull, but the tactical display malfunctions and a huge plume of sparks hits Jett right in the face. Health:5 → 3 Endure Harm(Health)—6 vs 8|4 Momentum:1 → 0 Health:3 → 4
Jett tries to shoot out the fighter's engines, but the enemy ship disintegrates in a huge fireball.
"Damn. I didn't mean to kill them." says Jett.
"That's just the way it goes sometimes, Jett." says Eris softly. "They didn't give you any choice."
"I never killed anyone before. I think I want to be alone for a while." Jett says. "I'm going to my cabin. Let me know when we're ready to jump."
Connection: Eris +1 (4/10) 12 - Deliver Burrow Nav Data +1 (3/10)
A couple of hours later, they are ready to jump.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—5 vs 1|9 12 - Expedition to Burrow +1 (6/10)
Spaceborne Peril(15)Dust clouds imperil navigation or conceal foes
The ship drops out of FTL and is enveloped by thick swirling clouds of dust and debris. "I can see why the Cartographers Guild don't have a decent map to this place." says Eris. "I can barely see anything through this dust. Between this and the nebula, I'm not even sure we're still on course."
"So we're making the next jump effectively blind?"
"Pretty much, yeah. We could be jumping directly into the heart of a star."
"Well, let's hope that doesn't happen then."
The ship recharges and they jump blindly towards, they think, Burrow.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—9 vs 1|4 12 - Expedition to Burrow +1 (8/10)
They come out in the middle of deep space.
"Are we still on course?" asks Jett.
"There's a little deviation from our projected route but we can course correct." replies Eris.
The e-drive recharges, ready for the next jump.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—4 vs 8|4
Using my Navigator ability to make this an automatic Strong Hit. 12 - Expedition to Burrow +1 (10/10)
They come out once again in the cold blackness of deep space.
"Our next jump should take us directly to Dusk." says Eris.
A few hours later, they make the final jump.
Finish an Expedition(track)—12 vs 10|10match discoveries +1 (0/10) 12 - Deliver Burrow Nav Data +1 (6/10) 12 - Expedition to Burrowcompleted
"Hey there, Irony, we haven't seen you here before. What did you need?" says a voice over comms.
"We got into a bit of a scrap with a pirate, we'd appreciate some repairs and a resupply." says Jett.
"Sorry about this, but this is a members-only facility. I'm afraid you can't land without an invitation."
"How would I get an invitation?"
"If you have something to trade, we'll have an appraiser fly up and take a look. If you know what you're doing, we'll let you in."
"What are you looking to trade?"
"If you have to ask, you don't have what we need."
"Ok, but I need to recharge my e-drive so I'm gonna have to sit here in orbit for a few hours."
"Go right ahead. Just don't try to land."
End a Session
Momentum:0 → 1