IY6026.359
SAFCO begins where we left off, with Lucky, Barney, and Roger aboard their race ship out in the system’s asteroid belt, 2 rounds into the race. Caliban, Flint, Fardt, and Jinx are in the casino watching the simulated (and delayed) race displays.
Out in the asteroid belt, the ships are piloted skillfully around the rocks, pilots seeking advantageous positions in relation to each other while moving toward the next beacon. Note: a lot happened. I’m not going to try to remember every single move.
In the Casino, Caliban notices the leader of the mercenaries having a drink. He sees another merc come up, whisper something to him. The leader looks upset. Caliban gets up and starts moving the bar to a refill, conveniently very close to the merc’s table.
Flint has been keeping an eye on Jinx and Fardt. He notices an entourage coming through the casino. 4 serious-looking people in nice black suits, and in the middle of them Baroness Galaxia Hood-Raxon, of Zapata. He keeps on eye on her, as she is an ally of the team and also prone to getting into trouble.
Meanwhile, the ships have made it to Beacon #3. Roger’s pilot skill is proving pivotal, as SAFCO manages to almost always gain advantage on the other 3 nearby ships. Combined with evasive maneuvers, Barney redlining the engines when in-transit to the next beacon, and Lucky’s level 3 Gunnery skill, SAFCO is doing well.
At beacon #4, all four ships miss their sensor roll, so none are able to immediately pinpoint the beacon and fire a shot. So they shoot at each other. In the next round, all but one ship find the beacon and hit it, and begin moving to beacon 5.
In the casino, Caliban eavesdrops on the mercenaries. Apparently the spaceport authorities have discovered their ship’s horrible maintenance records (planted in the last game by Caliban), and it looks like they will be delayed by quite a while before they can leave for Uetonah. The leader is worried that he’ll not be able to pay the troops, and will lose them to other ventures. Caliban is pleased to hear this.
Caliban sees the Baroness and her group. He makes a Social Standing roll and picks a nice, sophisticated drink to bring to her. He does not know her — he just wants to meet the noble. Her guards stop Caliban. Flint comes up behind him. The Baroness lets them through. Introductions are made. They find out that after their last parting, Professor Zal Twist continued on to Zapata, but the Baroness decided to see what other excitement the frontier offered, and lagged behind. She’s spend the last 3 months enjoying herself rather then returning to her boring noble life.
At beacon #5, SAFCO and the yellow ship find the beacon and hit it, moving on. The red ship is still trying to find beacon #4, and green is unable to find #5. In transit to #6, Lucky fires on the yellow ship, scoring a hit. When they both arrive at #6, yellow’s sensor are out — they have no way to find the beacon. Barney scores a massive success in finding the beacon, and Lucky fires the deciding shot, hitting the final beacon and winning the race!
Back on Overon the casino erupts in excitement. Caliban calculates that he’s won – GASP – 600,000 credits. Flint has won over 100,000! The Baroness, not winning but having been made aware of the crew of the winning ship, congratulates them and says she is looking forward to being reunited with the rest of the team! Mergatroyd is also quite happy.
End of Session
IY6026.359
Elapsed time: 467 game days (1 year 92 days)
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