As they arrive at Absolom STation, Chip addresses the crew.
My friends, I believe we are at a time where we MUST change our ship's name. While we are at it, perhaps we should also come up with a name for ourselves, as a group?
For ship upgrades, I would suggest a coil gun, for long range, and an MK2 Duonode computer upgrade.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Alright, let me some what easy job we can do."
Aldo pokes around, and while looking, someone else contacts him.... a face pops up on the vid screen. It's a shirren in an ill-fitting suit.
"Greetings! My name is Scarlon Gniz. I'm from the Moonlighters—a company which specializes in making arrangements for one-time jobs with “independent contractors,” including anyone who owns their own starship, such as you! Wondering if you want a SUPER easy freelance job that would get you on the rolls. The way we work is that when we have something come up, we call you. If you get the call, you get the right of first refusal."
Legit company. you've heard of them. Minor stuff, but they're looking to build a bigger operation.
"Greetings, Scarlon. I'm Aldo Cygnaurius. You've got my interest. What types of jobs do you have in mind? Do you have anything lucrative?"
Aldo pokes around, and while looking, someone else contacts him.... a face pops up on the vid screen. It's a shirren in an ill-fitting suit.
"Greetings! My name is Scarlon Gniz. I'm from the Moonlighters—a company which specializes in making arrangements for one-time jobs with “independent contractors,” including anyone who owns their own starship, such as you! Wondering if you want a SUPER easy freelance job that would get you on the rolls. The way we work is that when we have something come up, we call you. If you get the call, you get the right of first refusal."
** spoiler omitted **
The vesk is intrigued. He is excited about a new job.
We must take this opportunity...we MUST have a new ship name, and a group name, before we take this job!
Also, any objection to moving our missile launcher to the port side, and installing the coil gun on the nose?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
We must take this opportunity...we MUST have a new ship name, and a group name, before we take this job!
Also, any objection to moving our missile launcher to the port side, and installing the coil gun on the nose?
Kaz nods in agreement. He also believes we have put off naming their ship for too long. Lets go with FireStorm!
"I've got a lucrative job to start, yes. The only thing is.... well... I would never ask you to break any laws. There's a medical research company who wishes to remain anonymous, and they want to transport some complex chemical compounds from someplace near your current location to close by Absalom station.... while avoiding the normal taxes and tariffs such a shipment would incur. Interested? It'd be real easy, and I've arranged terms so that you can dump the cargo before you'd have to pay anyway. The job pays 1,500 credits, with a 25% advance when you agree."
"Sounds pretty straightforward to me. What could go wrong?"
"I like nice and easy jobs. We haven't seen those in a while, but we would be willing to try. Where do we go for the pickup and who is our contact?"
"Excellent! you just need to rendezvous at your current destination with a vesk cargo ship, the Titanosaurus, and pick up several sealed crates. You then transport the goods to the Pact Worlds, before landing, shove the crates out of the airlock into a prearranged orbit. They will give you a beacon to attach to the crates, which activates after you drop them. You don’t know the crates’ end destination, and the crew that picks them up won’t know where they came from. As a result, when the crates get to their final port, they won’t appear on a manifest as having come from the world the you are on now, meaning they won’t be subject to the normal tariffs. Clean, right?!
Gniz admits, "The scheme seems a tad shady, but there’s no rule against it, and certainly there’s nothing illegal about the part you are asked to play."
"Can you assure me that these chemicals are well sealed and that we won't have any leakage problems? I like to run a clean ship you know."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Chip raises an eyebrow. Fifteen hundred credits for an "easy" job? Considering the easy jobs we've had so far, I would not trust to hope that this will be anything but more of the same. But, we need work, so why not?
"Chemicals? I actually have no idea what's in these crates. But yes. It sounds like we have a deal.... I've just forwarded you your credit advance! Check your accounts!"
The Titanosaurus is conveniently parked on Vesk-2, just a few hours’ flight away. Gnix gives you the ship’s transponder frequency and arranges to pick up the cargo through the Titanosaurus’s quartermaster, a gruff vesk named Kroyvutsa....
"OI! This is Kroyvutsa of the Titanosaurus. You the schleppers? I've got yer crap. It's a full hold's worth of crates. Get over here, get it loaded, and git yourselves."
Chip stays at the FireStorm's helm, but he separates his drone to oversee and assist the loading.
At the vesk's admonishment, the drone gives a jaunty salute, then putters over to the cargo hold.
The cargo consists of one large crate and half a dozen small crates, which will actually take up one cargo hold. All are marked as complex chemical compounds for medical testing (though they do not say what specific compounds). Noticeable warning labels state the contents are “potentially hazardous if removed from packaging” and are “sealed for environmental purity.” Kroyvutsa notes that the shipment’s value is lost if the crates’ seals are tampered with— "if they are, you won’t get paid, savvy?" She also mentions that as long as you sign to indicate the seals are intact when you receive the crates , she and her crew get paid regardless of what you do with the crates afterward. Finally, Kroyvutsa gives the you the beacon you're supposed to attach to the crates, along with the coordinates for the drop-off.
Once we are on board and alone...
"Rhonda, is there any way you can scan those crates to see whether we are about to make a terrible mistake?"
Rhonda confirms that the interiors are lead-lined.
”Just don’t mess with the seals. We need them intact if we want our pay day.”
Once everything is loaded up, Aldo gives Chip the command. ”Take us out of here.”
Loaded up, it's time to return home! Thanks to the mysterious power of the Starstone the journey home will take Days.
Angel tries to scan the crates, looking for a crack in the the lining or some other way to determine any clues as to their contents, without opening the crates or breaking the seal. She is happy to do this over the course of several days if necessary.
She won't take any risks on actually breaking the seal. Just using scanning technology only.
Angel relaxes a bit outside of checking the crates. She's quite confident that the seals are intact and genuine.
After leaving Vesk-2 for Driftspace, the party settles in for a relatively short ride back.
The ship's cargo hold alarm stirs everyone from their downtime. Which one of you is in the loo?
INITIATIVE:
Round 1:
Chip: Go
Alarm: TBD
Kaz: TBD
Aldo: TBD
Angel: TBD
******************************************
Location: Aboard the FireStorm - The Drift
Chip immediate heads to the cargo hold, separating his drone and drawing his laser pistol on the way
Chip gets up from his chair.
Round 1:
Chip: Move!
Alarm: Done[b]
Kaz: Go
Aldo: Go
Angel: Go
******************************************
Location: Aboard the FireStorm - The Drift
Crate: -3
He hustles toward the cargo by. I knew I should have left my drone in there to observe...
Angel moves, opens the door and moves again.
"Rhonda! What the hell is going on in the cargo bay! Show me!"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Scanning for intruders...."
You can use your exocortex to stay vigilant. As a full action, you can upload your exocortex into a computer to which you have root access, directing it to monitor that computer. Once your exocortex is integrated, your custom rig alerts you whenever a creature operates or attempts to hack the computer, similar to the alarm countermeasure. Your exocortex upload can be removed from the computer by other users as if it were a module. If you upload your exocortex into a different computer, you lose the benefits of terminal uplink with the first computer, and the exocortex upload on that computer deletes itself 1d10 minutes later.
If you upload your exocortex into a computer with a camera, microphone, or other similar monitoring device, you can perceive the computer’s surroundings with that hardware by using your custom rig, so long as you’re within 100 feet per mechanic level you have of the computer. While observing the computer’s surroundings in this way, you can’t use your exocortex’s memory module, and the number of targets you can track with your exocortex is reduced by one. You must have an exocortex to select this mechanic trick.
Angel moves quickly, and pulls up Rhonda's view...
The door to the cargo bay shut just moments before you logged on. Inside the bay you see two vicious bat... things. They're frantically clawing at one of the smaller crates, trying to break it open!
Round 1:
Chip: Move!
Alarm: Done
Kaz: Go
Aldo: Go
Angel: Move
******************************************
Location: Aboard the FireStorm - The Drift
Crate: -3
Round 1
Kaz jumps up out of his rack and grabs his laser rifle. He sprints into the cargo room and shoots the closest one.
Ranged attack
Laser rifle
Aldo pulls himself together and comes running towards the cargo hold drawing his laser rifle as he approaches.
Already on his comm link he asks, "Somebody report in. What the situation?"
"Some sort of bat creatures trying to break into our cargo!"
Kaz curses, grabs his rifle, and heads below to get to the cargo bay.
Round 2:
Chip: Go]
Alarm: Done
Kaz: Go
Aldo: Go
Angel: Move
******************************************
Location: Aboard the FireStorm - The Drift
Crate: -6
Hissing quietly the vesk moves toward the threat. His rifle at the shoulder ready to fire as soon as possible. Also ready to drop his rifle and go claws on!
Chip thinks quickly. His drone can move quickly, and can fly--so maybe it will be able to grapple with one of the beasties. He separates it, and opens the door for the drone to fly in!
Kaz, Aldo, and Chip rush towards cargo, and spy a toothy, bat-like creature.
Round 3:
Chip: Go
Alarm: TBD
Kaz: TBD
Aldo: TBD
Angel: TBD
******************************************
Location: Aboard the FireStorm - The Drift
Crate: -6
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Chip blinks for a moment, dumbfounded at the beastie that apparently apparated into their cargo hold. But he wants to draw its ire from the boxes to the party, so he shouts out HEY! Ass-butt!
he fires his pistol, and the drone also takes a shot.
Chip and drone both shoot the strange flying creature, but not directly enough to drop it! It flies forward with a hungry bite:
for
Round 3:
Chip (SP: 9/14): Go
??? : ATK
Kaz: Go
Aldo: Go
Angel: Go
******************************************
Location: Aboard the FireStorm - The Drift
Crate: -8
Red: 9
"What in the five hells is that winged beast doing on our ship?! Take it out!"
Aldo takes careful aim quickly and precisely to fire his Laser rifle directly at the creature!
Aldo's aim is dead nuts! The creature screeches as it catches fire!
Round 3:
Chip (SP: 9/14): Go
??? : ATK
Kaz: Go
Aldo: Crit
Angel: Go
******************************************
Location: Aboard the FireStorm - The Drift
Crate: -8
Red: 21, Burn 4
Round 3
The vesk is a little surprised that the small creature is still flying after taking multiple shots. He piles on. Shoulders his rifle, overcharges the battery and gently squeezes the trigger.
Ranged attack
infinity rifle
Kaz, shocked that this thing is still up, squeezes the trigger on his infinity rifle as the twin barrels weave the laser into a single, overcharged beam.
His shot hits it, and the burning creature, somehow stays aloft, though its wounds are so bad that the flames will likely finish it off any second.
Round 3:
Chip (SP: 9/14): Hit
??? : ATK
Kaz: Hit
Aldo: Crit
Angel: Go
******************************************
Location: Aboard the FireStorm - The Drift
Crate: -8
Red: 30, Burn 4