Begin a Session Begin a Session(47)External factors create new danger, urgency, or importance for a quest Action(288)Sharpen Theme(124)Dedication
*Taraxus, 72 hours ago.
*Amidst the rubble of what used to be the home of notorious slumlord Nix Cargor, a team of gangers sweep the debris. The ash and chunks of rock make a very uneven floor to walk on, and a team of press-ganged civilians are working to clear it.
*Suddenly a call went out from one of the civilians. A disinterested gang enforcer turns his head towards them and slowly plods over. He grins upon seeing what they had uncovered: a trapdoor. With enthusiasm he utterly lacked a moment earlier, he quickly unlocked and pulled open the trapdoor. Followed closely by his second in command, he descended the steps to a pristine panic room complete with a redundant security system.
He let out a low whistle at the extravagant decor and small armory within such a hidden place.
"Well well well, what have we here?"
His second in command approached the security terminal and examined it before informing him
"We'll have to restore the power, but we should be able to recover the surveillance recordings from the riot."
The enforcer cracked his knuckles and and grabbed a heavy weapon from the armory, grinning.
"Get to it. The sooner we figure out what went down here the sooner I can cut loose with this beauty on whatever poor bastard caused this mess."
Momentum:9 → 10
As his ship dropped into the system, Gamble began scanning the system for the small metallic world known as Trion. He found it easily, and adjusted his heading accordingly while staying well clear of the minefield that was his eventual target.
"Hey Meg, what can you tell me about Trion?" Gamble queried.
The little holo orb popped up on his console, pulsing cheerily as Meg's voice emanated around him.
"Trion, metallic class planet. No known settlements. Primary metallic components are aluminum and cobalt. Traffic in this system primarily comes from visitors to the planet Anaxes nearby. While not profitable enough to sustain a full time mining operation, smaller mining crews and freelance operators occasionally make runs to Trion for materials to sell elsewhere."
Meg flashed a holo showing a highly unstable magnetosphere on the planet.
"The magneto storms that occasionally run wild across the surface can wreck havoc on sensitive equipment and communications outside of orbit, if Bri is down there and her ship has been hit since landing it's no guarantee that communications or a standard transponder will be functioning well enough to read from orbit. Particularly bad storms can ground a vessel for good, I suspect those wrecks may be what drew the vessel Bri is serving upon here in the first place."
Gamble nodded his understanding "Guess we'll have to hope she hasn't been down there too long." Not deterred in the slightest, he continued on his course.
Upon reaching Trion, Gamble pulled into stable orbit and turned to the comms console.
Scanning below, he began searching for a transponder that would give him the location of Bri's current crew.
50/50(14)Yes
Despite the background influence from the planet's unstable magnetosphere, Gamble was pleased to be able to isolate the transponder of the Work Ethic on the surface. A couple minutes of flying later brought Gamble overhead, and his viewscreen showed the Work Ethic landed atop a mesa that seemed to dazzle with color, but was marred by the remains of a crashed ship. Broadcasting on the standard frequencies, Gamble sent out a hail.
"Attention Work Ethic, this is Captain Gamble of the..."
Gamble hesitated a moment, considering it probably unwise to convey the original name of the ship he had commandeered.
"Silver Thorn. Communication is unstable from orbit, requesting to land nearby for face to face communication. I need to speak to a member of your crew."
A minute passed before his comms crackled to life with a gruff voice.
"This is first mate Liefield of the Work Ethic, acknowledged and confirmed. Set down along our port side, we'll ensure the space is clear."
Doing as instructed, the newly christened Silver Thorn landed without incident. After donning the life support gear required due to the planet's thin atmosphere, Julius descended the boarding ramp to some wary glances from the nearby scrappers who were still working on the nearby wreck.
While adjusting his shortwave comms unit to the appropriate frequency, Gamble was approached by a welcome party of armed men escorting that he presumed to be the captain of the vessel. Gamble waved and broadcast "Greetings, thank you for allowing me to land. I'm looking for Bri. Any idea where she is?"
"Bri? What do you want with her?" The captain asked suspiciously.
"I have need of her skills, I'm hoping I can recruit her for a job. I'm sure with a crew this size she won't be missed if she agrees."
Compel(Heart)—9 vs 4|3
Unable to argue with his logic, the captain shrugged.
"Fair enough, she was starting to get on my nerves with her insistence on a promotion anyhow. You'll find her on the team over there, just don't come crying to me if she won't join you for anything less than being your first mate. Lofty dreams, that one."
He punctuated his statement with a condescending laugh and pointed off towards a larger chunk of the crashed vessel's hull, where a team of three worked to break down and strip components.
Thanking the captain for his time, he wandered over to the scrapper team the captain indicated and waved them down.
"Hey there, which one of you is Bri?"
After a moments pause, a scrapper holding some kind of stripped electronic box raised her hand. Her voice came clearly through his radio, a young, energetic voice with a touch of skepticism.
"That's me, who are you?"
Raising his hands in a show of peace, Gamble introduces himself.
"I'm Captain Gamble of the Silver Thorn, I've been trying to find you for a while now after an info broker put you on my radar. I have a proposition that could benefit us both."
Putting down the scrap she was holding in a nearby crate, she wandered over and switched to private comms.
"Gamble huh? What do you need me for?"
Gamble gestured to his ship behind him
"As it so happens, I have a new ship that requires a little re-engineering. Specifically, I need a new hull ID. I know from a fixer on Cyrus Station that you have the skills for something like this even if you haven't gotten a fair shot at being a ship's engineer yet. In exchange, I'm willing to bring you on as my engineer on an ongoing basis. I already cleared it with your captain so it's entirely up to you."
He shot her a grin through his face mask and extended her an open hand.
"You can stay here stripping rusty wires out of this wreck for another month, or you can get back into the stars and live your dream a little. What do you think?"
Compel(Heart)—7 vs 3|9
Her expression was carefully neutral as she left his offer of a handshake unanswered and probed
"...do you have tools I can use?"
Gamble smile faltered as strained his memory to recall what he'd seen in the engine room. It wasn't a room he'd spent too much time in before returning to the more luxurious parts of the ship.
Likely(75)Yes
"Yeah. At least I'm pretty sure I have a standard compliment of tools aboard. Heck, help me out and I can even get you a set of your own in time."
At this the girl's mask broke into a grin of her own and she extended a hand.
"Deal. when do we leave?"
Shaking the outstretched hand, Gamble's smile returned as he quipped
"In my head we're already in orbit, let's get going!"
The two walked back to the ship, each with a new spring in their step.
"I've got bad news boss."
Bri's voice called from the entrance to the cockpit.
Swiveling his chair around to face her, Gamble cocked his head.
"What's up?"
Bri gestured behind her as she elaborated
"I was just taking an inventory of your tools. You have plenty of tools for everyday needs but this ship is a luxury vessel, which makes it a more attractive target for thieves."
She shot him a pointed look, not quite accusing him but leaving the implication hanging in the air between them before continuing.
"The hull ID on something like this is more aggressively encoded. Changing it will need a some specialized gear you won't find in stores. We're talking a ship foundry or something, and they don't usually let random nobodies work on third party ships using their tools."
Gamble helpfully offered
"Something like a founder clan's level of mender ship?"
Bri nodded enthusiastically
"Yeah, but unless you're in the pocket of a founder clan you can forget using one of those."
Gamble shot her a wry look
"Yeah...about that. I actually know where we can find one we can use."
Bri stopped in her tracks
"...say what now?"
Gamble elaborated with a grin
"Yeah, see, I kinda already took a job to...recover some things from one. It's practically untouched if you don't count the damage it likely sustained from being in a minefield the last century or two."
If Bri looked incredulous before, she looked downright alarmed now.
"What's this about a minefield?"
Gamble pulled up the sector map on holo, pointing to a patch marked in red
"Yeah, there's this one around Anaxes. Apparently it's from one of the old clan wars way back when. My lead isn't 100% clear on where it is, but we have a search area and high confidence it'll be found within it."
Skepticism replaced alarm as Bri sarcastically commented
"I see why you didn't lead with this back on the surface..."
Gamble scratched the back of his head
"Yeeeah, I know it's not exactly gonna be a walk in the park but this should be a great test run for us. Besides, we need the ship to reforge the Silver Thorn's hull ID."
Make a Connection(Heart)—7 vs 1|5 Brianna 'Bri' Savela
"Fine, but I expect you to remember this when I need a favor. Got it?"
Gamble chuckled
"Of course Bri, I know you don't know me that well yet but I promise I'm not gonna leave you hanging. Besides you're the only crew I have other than Meg, and I'm not entirely certain she counts. I'd be a pretty poor captain if I let you down, no?"
Bri stared Gamble in the eyes, sizing up the truth of his words. After a moment she nodded, apparently content with what she found there.
She slid into the copilot's chair.
"So, what can you tell me about the ship?"
Gamble smiled and addressed the air around him
"Meg, please forward the data packet on the Kilby to Bri here."
The blue holo sphere popped up on the pilot's console.
"Certainly. I'd also like to extend a warm welcome aboard to you Bri, I appreciate having someone around to take care of the vessel."
Bri replied to Meg in a tone bordering on flattered
"Of course, I'm glad to have somewhere to hone my skills!"
She addressed Gamble again
"Speaking of which, I best study up on our target before we arrive. I expect I'll need every edge I can get. I'll be in the mess if you need me."
She tapped her wrist computer a few times to bring up the dossier on the Kilby then walked off, already immersed in the data.
Gamble sat back in his chair, pleased at the progress of the day.
"Not bad, not bad at all."
He remarked to himself.
"Meg, set course for the Anaxes Minefield. We have a ship to catch."
The holo orb bobbed in response.
"Of course, captain."
End a Session Reach a Milestone Secure A New Hull ID +1 (9/10) Recover the Crew Manifest +1 (2/10)