Category: Game Sessions

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ITV Session 57: Prometheus

IY 6027.008

Before leaving Listo the members of SAFCO take one last opportunity to buy a few things, like more slow drug, slow antidote, and truth drug. Lucky buys a skull and crossbones belt buckle with a secret compartment for doses of these drugs. Barney sends the authorities on Listo an anonymous message describing the surveillance cameras watching Jinx’s grandma’s house. He makes a computer roll on the tablet they took from the thug to “hack” the cameras via their control app, causing them to show a constant loop of “nothing going on” at the house.

The next morning the huge starliner Jumps. They spend a week in Jump Space. Barney recovers from his gunshot wound. Caliban uses the time to properly organize the package of information on the Pachyderms he plans to give to Office of Sophont Relations director Sir Walot DeMaris, and old colleague in the Imperial bureaucracy. Barney and Lucky cobble together a working laser drone from the parts they took from the goon on Listo. Flint treats Caliban to some tasty Garblag Haggis chips he makes in the ship’s kitchen.

The ship arrives in the Prometheus system, the subsector capital. Prometheus is a high tech-level world of massive cities and commerce. As they cruise to orbit, SAFCO is relaxing in the High Passage lounge and dining room. Lucky notices the Uetonah rebel they  encountered on Listo, Syla, dressed as a ship’s steward, heading toward the front of the passenger deck. This seems odd. He quickly alerts the rest of the team via their coms. They find her in the corridor, looking suspicious. They have a conversation…

Syla tells them she is giving them a tip because she owes them her life — get off the ship at first opportunity. She and her team have infiltrated the crew, and plan to hold the ship and its hundreds of passengers hostage unless the Imperial authorities investigate the plight of the Pachyderms on Uetonah. They are tired of waiting, and have broken off from the main rebel group to take this direct action.

SAFCO manages to convince her to talk. They go to a stateroom and explain that they are on the same mission, that they have all the necessary research, and Caliban knows the director of the OSR. They explain why her plan will never work.  Flint, who she knows from the battle on Uetonah the previous year, makes an Leadership roll and succeed in influencing her. She radios her team to “stand down.” They will wait to see if SAFCO is successful.

SAFCO takes the shuttle down to the capital city. Barney looks for outgoing ships for their trip back to Listo, or for a fast getaway should they need one. Caliban gets an appointment with Demaris. Flint goes with him. They have a long discussion. The give Demaris the package. After serious questioning by DeMaris, he agrees to look more closely at the info. He clears his schedule for the day.

The next day Caliban receives word that DeMaris will send an Imperial ship and crew to Uetonah to determine the truth. Using forensic accounting his staff quickly finds a mole within their ranks — a young officer who’s been preventing the information from Uetonah from reaching DeMaris. He had gambling debts, and Samson has been paying him.

The team spends another two days on Prometheus.

End of session
IY 6027.026
Elapsed time: 476 game days (1 year 119 days)

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ITV Session 56: Down in the Pump Station at Midnight

IY 6027.008

We begin where we left off. SAFCO is (mostly) in the underground hydro pump station where they have just shot one laser drone and apparently killed the person who was controlling them.

Barney, Jinx, and Fardt are still in the building where they dragged the 2 unconscious goons and their dead friend. Barney is wounded and avoiding action, but maintaining communication with the rest of the team.

Below in the pump station, Caliban has the one remaining laser drone in a sack he has thrown over it. It is moving erratically and is hard to control. Lucky and Roger are by the door to the control room. Flint see that a single data stick is in the “loot box” meant for the goons. He grabs it. Caliban is going to try to sling the drone into the tough plastic box, but it’s clear that is doing to be difficult. Roger runs over and jumps on the drone to try to control it!  It fires its laser but misses everyone. Together Roger and Caliban try to get it into the box but fail. Flint picks up the box and “pac mans” the drone into it, slams the lid shut and locks it. He slides it way across the room. While this has been happening Lucky has been trying to “pick” the electronic lock to the control room. He is close, but so far no success.  As he tries, the drone is still moving around in the box, which is jumping all over the place. The drone fires its laser, cutting the box open and freeing itself.  Roger draws his auto pistol and fires, hitting it for enough damage to put it down!

On the surface, Barney, Fardt, and Jinx make their way to the MagLev station. They are going to go back to the ship. As they wait in hiding, Barney sees an air raft heading their way. They take cover and watch. The raft lands near a “Utilities” building behind the small access building the other SAFCO members used to descend to the pump station. A large door opens and the air raft flies in. Barney notifies his colleagues.

Underground, Lucky bypasses the electronic lock and opens the door to the control room. SAFCO goes up. They find the dead man. On his body they find a laser carbine and a hand-computer. The computer is locked, and will require Barney’s computer skill to get in.

They hear machines start operating and realize that the industrial elevator down in the station has been activated. Likely the air raft Barney told them about.

Barney, Jinx, and Fardt board a Mag Lev transport and leave the station.

The team below decide to avoid another fight. On the way out the grab the remains of both laser drones. They get back to the Mag Lev station, catch the next transport, and leave.

Back onboard the star liner Barney gets proper medical attention from the ship’s doctor. Later, he and Caliban hack into the hand-computer. They find programs controlling surveillance cameras at Jinx’s grandmother’s house, a control app for the drones, and communications with someone simply called “H” about kidnapping Jinx. They find a 12 digit code that Flint uses to unlock the data stick at the onboard casino bank – 20,000cr.

The ship leaves for Prometheus tomorrow. Jinx expresses his wish to stay with the crew…

End of sesssion
IY 6027.008
Elapsed time: 476 game days (1 year 101 days)

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ITV Session 55: Some Trickery

IY 6027.008

Recap of previous session:

After arriving at Listo, visiting Jinx’s grandmother’s house and then spending the day in the Central Market, SAFCO spent some time relaxing in a bar, where they saw and spoke with some disillusioned rebels they fought with on Uetonah. The Rebels have quit, and are on their way to Prometheus, to work in a family business. Upon leaving the tavern to go hear some music, some ruffians pull Jinx on to a single-car Mag-Lev transport what is leaving. As it is leaving Roger leaps for it, managing to hang on to the outside as it gains speed, moving over open air on its track, heading for the inner surface of the asteroid. Barney follows on a quickly purchased grav bike, and with Roger he saves Jinx. The team reassembles at the next Mag-Lev stop, in the now slumbering industrial sector. They drag the 3 unconscious thugs, the unconscious Barney and the grav bike off the Mag-Lev before it leaves. Flint is formulating a plan…

With the team all still at the Mag-Lev stop Roger uses his Medic skill to attend to Barney, who regains consciousness in 10 minutes. The 3 tied-up enemies also wake up and begin grumbling. Barney’s first words are “Is the kid OK?”, to which Jinx replies that he is fine, and thanks Barney and Roger for their amazing heroics.

Flint wants to find out what these guys were up to. Why were they trying to abduct Jinx. He picks one of the thugs and holds them out over the Mag-Lev line – not a great place to be. The guy says “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Just don’t throw me in front of the train.”

Flint pulls him back. Before the guy can talk a bright red laser beam burns a hole in his cranium from the upper right side of his head and exiting down through the left jaw. His brains superheat and vaporize, and his body drops to the floor of the station.

Making an INT roll, Lucky saw that the beam likely came from a 2-story manufacturing building across the street and a short distance away. He tells the team.

Roger, Fardt, Lucky, Barney, Caliban, and Jinx all run for cover (while using the Evade combat action).

Flint jumps on Barney’s grav bike. Barney yells “You break it, you pay for it!”. Flint takes off.

While all of this is happening there is another laser shot at one of the 2 remaining thugs, but incredibly it misses.

Flint takes the bike above the manufacturing building and sees a man with a laser carbine on the roof. Lucky, seeing that Flint is providing distraction, runs over to the building and flattens himself against the wall.

Flint blasts the assassin with submachine gun fire, hitting twice and knocking him out. The assassin simultaneously shoots the laser, but doesn’t have good shot at Flint, aiming instead at the grav bike! He hits. Using Omer Golan Joel’s “Quick and Dirty Vehicle Combat for Classic Traveller” we determine that there is minor damage to the bike’s antenna, but it is not badly damaged.

Flint lands and secures the roof. He takes the laser carbine and finds an employee badge in the assassin’s pocket. The badge has someone else’s picture on it.

Caliban moves over to the building next to Lucky. Flint flies the bike down and joins them. Roger joins them as well. Jinx, Fardt, and Barney carefully move over too. The group drags the 2 remaining thugs and their dead friend over as well. They enter the building using the key card, and find the rightful owner of the key card with a laser wound to the noggin. Dead.

Flint and Caliban play good cop/bad cop with the 2 live thugs. The goons, having seen their friend killed to shut him up, are in no mood to stick around and begin talking. They were simply hired to abduct the kid and deliver him to a hydraulics utility substation nearby. Their employer is anonymous.

The thugs tell them where the entry to the substation is. Jinx and Fardt will remain in the current building with the wounded Barney while the others investigate, knowing that they need to find out who is after Jinx and why. They don’t want to leave Listo with Jinx in trouble.

Caliban is the shortest of the group. They put a bag over his head, prisoner/hostage-style, and find the entry. It’s in a small building a couple of blocks way — a hatch in the floor leading to a ladder. They go down the ladder and find themselves in a concrete hallway with stairs. It is dimly lit with safety lights. They go down the stairs and find themselves in a large chamber carved out to the rock of the asteroid. While they are actually moving toward the surface of the asteroid, artificial gravity is still providing the same direction of pull.

hydro station mapThe roof of the chamber is 40′ high. There’s a lot of big pump machinery in there and massive hyrdo pipes from floor to ceiling. It is dimly lit, and the group hears the constant drone of the pumps and pipes and machinery. Across the chamber, 30′ up, is an observation window. A bald-headed man can be seen in the window. He leans forward to a microphone and says “It took you a long time. Bring the boy over here in front of the door. Your payment is over here too.”

The group moves over there, where they find a door, a box with the thugs’ payment, and two 1′ diameter metal spheres floating 5′ off the floor. The spheres each have on red eye, and they are watching the PCs.

Flint moves over the the box with the loot. Roger takes the disguised Caliban over to the door with Lucky. Suddently Caliban begins running toward one of the drones, as if he is Jinx trying to escape his captors. He rips off the sack over his head, makes a good roll, and captures the floating drown inside the sack!

Roger pulls his auto pistol and fires at the other drone. He hits easily, and shoots it in the red laser eye, and the drone drops to the floor, dead.

Flint turns, pulls out the laser carbine they took from the assassin, and fires at the guy up in the window. Taking into account the effects of the glass, he hits, burning a hole in the guy’s shoulder and dropping him!

We end the session with Lucky still having an action to take and with Caliban holding a sack with an anti-grav drone floating inside it!

End of sesssion
IY 6027.008
Elapsed time: 476 game days (1 year 101 days)

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ITV Session 54: A Train Ride

mag lev train concept by Dan Parsons

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SAFCO begins where they left off, in Scuurie’s Tavern. Flint and Barney sit down at the table with a woman who introduces herself as Syla. She and the three men she is with recognize Barney and Flint as part of the group who saved their rebel SLA unit on Uetonah, where Barney repaired and powered the laser turret on the wrecked freighter they were using as a base.

Back at the table, Lucky, Caliban, Roger, and Fardt continue to enjoy some beverages. Flint waves them over, and Caliban and Roger move over to the rebels’ table. Cautious, Lucky gets up and moves over nearer the bar to keep an eye on things. He sees Fardt and Jinx talking. Jinx gets up and moves over to a gambling table.

Barney and Flint introduce their friends to the rebels and find out they are heading to Prometheus to work on Syla’s family’s business, as they have grown disillustioned with the efforts to gain rights for the Pachyderms.

Fardt moves over to Lucky. He says that Jinx wanted to gamble. They agree that it is probably OK. This is Jinx’s home tavern. (Fardt succeeds in a streetwise roll). Fardt asks Lucky if he has noticed the guy in the black overcoat who is watching Jinx. Lucky had not. Lucky gives Fardt some instructions, then moves being the overcoated man to keep an eye on him. Fardt speaks to Jinx, and then let’s Lucky know that Jinx things the man is simply a tavern employee trying to make sure he’s not cheating. Lucky has observed the man speaking into a small communicator.

All the group but Lucky reconvene at their table, including Jinx. Lucky notes that the trenchcoat man is still stealthily watching Jinx.

Jinx suggests that the group go to a different club to hear some music. He gets up and leaves the bar, with the group trailing behind. Lucky still stays back. He sees the man in the trenchcoat use his radio as the group leaves.

Seeing that the MagLev train is about to leave the station in front of the tavern, the very excited Jinx dashes forward to hold the door open for the group. Roger is close behind him. Flint makes a surprise roll and sees what is happening, but has no knife and it is too crowded to throw one or shoot anyway.

As Jinx gets to the door of the train 3 large men surround him, push him onboard, and the doors slam shut as the train leaves. Roger leaps (makes a Dex roll) and manages to hang on with one hand on trim around the door, and a foot wedged into a gap in the metal plating!

Barney quickly has Caliban buy a grav bike from a biker just outside the tavern, gets on it, and takes off after the train. Flint considers using his sword to try to short circuit the rail or otherwise de-power the system, but Lucky realizes he’s about to electrocute himself and stops him (the Ref makes a roll to see it it is possible and safe — it is not). They look that the map and schedule. No other train for 5 minutes.

The train leaves the central skyway and begins to cross over to the inside wall of the asteroid with Roger dangling on the side. He looks in the window and sees Jinx surrounded by 3 kidnappers. He slams an “Open Door” button with his free hand but it doesn’t work.

A new train pulls up and the rest of SAFCO boards it.

Barney catches the train on the grav bike. He pulls up by the window of the cockpit and signals to the driver, who makes an INT roll, uses some cameras, and sees Roger. The stops the train (which is one big car with six doors) and opens the doors. Roger swings in, with Jinx and the kidnappers about 10 feet from him. Barney is happy to see the door is large enough and flies the grav bikes in, landing inside.

Barney evaluates the situation, pulls his auto pistol, and shoots the closest of the kidnappers. The shot knocks the kidnapper out. Roger attacks one of the others bar handed and lands a blow, taking a cudgel blow himself. The other shoots Barney, knocking him out! With the kidnappers distracted, Jinx pulls his dagger out of his boot and stabs the one who shot Barney. More combat. Roger shoots the one who just hit him, knocking him out. The other shoots at Roger but misses, as Jinx stabs him again, rendering him unconscious!

The other train car arrives, and both cars move to the next stop, in an industrial area on the inside surface of Listo. Roger makes a Med-1 roll and makes sure Barney is OK. The group drags the scumbags out of the train, ties them up, and searches them. They find a radio on one of them. Caliban finds a small clear cylinder with a bunch of 4″ long leach-like creatures in it. The Scouts recognize them as Grav Leaches – annoying but potentially problematic creatures that fly using biological anti-gravity and suck blood.

Flint formulates a plan…

End of sesssion
IY 6027.008
Elapsed time: 476 game days (1 year 101 days)

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ITV Session 53: In Listo

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SAFCO has arrived at Listo. The starliner moves inside the giant hollowed-out asteroid through a huge entrance. They have 2 full days there before the liner continues on for their destination, Prometheus. Jinx is excited to be home, and anxious to go see his grandmother, to give her some of the money he’s made.

As the group exits the ship the are immediately impressed by the disorienting nature of the environment. Walking on the street on the interior surface of the asteroid, if they look up they can see the tops of buildings on the other side. There are grav vehicles going every which way. Flint and Roger realize (make an INT roll) that piloting any sort of ship or grav vehicles in this place, for a non-native, would be challenging and reduce their effectiveness as pilot.

The group follows Jinx to his grandma’s house/store, which is located in the ultra-chaotic Central Market. Listo, being fairly low law-level, has become a destination for merchants of all sorts. The market is on a massive skyway that crosses the interior of the asteroid and has it’s own artificial gravity. They enter, and find a shop of various curiosities and oddities. Jinx introduces them. Caliban buys a fine made from the silk of Pelucidarian spiders. Lucky, Roger, and Flint each by nice leather belts with fancy silver buckles. Grandma demonstrates that the buckles open up, concealing a cutting blade.

Being flush with cash now, the group roams the market. Lucky manages to buy doses of Fast, Slow, Combat, and Medical Slow drugs. They also find a weapons dealer and each purchase a targeting attachment and ocular overlay that can be fitted to any gun. Effectively giving a +1 to hit. NOT a laser sight.  Barney visits a books store, and buys the owner’s robot companion, a 2″ long metal robot bird that flies via anti-grav and responds to whistle commands. He makes an engineering roll realizes it is more than the toy the store owner thinks it is — it is at least a TL12 device. He will have to explore it’s abilities. The bird hovers in front of his face, “bonds” with him, and he leaves with it on his shoulder.

Jinx suggests that they go to a tavern called Spuurie’s. It’s a larger tavern, right in front of a Mag-Lev train station. There are a lot of grav bikes parked in front. Inside they enjoy some drinks. A woman walks by their table. Flint and Barney make their INT rolls and each recognize her. She continues through the crowd, out of site. They both realize she was on of the rebels they fought with on their first trip to Uetonah. They find her sitting at a table with 3 men – also rebels. What are they doing here? As they approach, she make her INT roll and recognizes them as the people who got their laser turret working and helped them defeat the Samson security forces. She waves them over to have a seat.

End of Session
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Elapsed time: 476game days (1 year 101 days)

 

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ITV Session 52: High Passage

asteroid base

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SAFCO and associates are still at the post-race party. All eyes are on Flint, who has just knocked out local sleezebag Cruncher Block with one punch. Caliban hears people talking about it and casually sidles up to eavesdrop. He talks to them, finding out that Block is potentially a dangerous person. Flint drags the unconscious dirtbag over to the door where security takes him, followed by his goons.

The party ends. The baroness joins SAFCO aboard the Fortunate Son to talk privately about their recent activities. Barney tells her about the Pachyderms of Uetonah and their mission to get proof of their sentience the Office of Sophont Relations, on Prometheus. She inquires about simply sending the information package, but Caliban explains that apparently someone is blocking the information, so they are going in-person. The baroness is delighted with their stories. Barney in particular regales her with tales of engineering wizardry. Before leaving, the baroness tells them to not leave before they have seen her again.

Following her departure the team has a long discussion. It is decided they will take the Jumpliner (Jump=4) directly to Listo and then Prometheus, cutting at least two weeks off their travel time. In order to not screw over Silvonius, they will find him some excellent cargo, with Caliban negotiating a price for it virtually insuring a huge profit when he sells it. They also hire a good temporary crew for him. They will travel to Prometheus. By the time he gets to Listo, they will have finished their business on Prometheus and will meet him on Listo. Silvonius is happy with the arrangement when they tell him the next morning.

The next day they get Sil a cargo of mechanical and computer parts. Before they leave the Fortunate Son, the baroness returns. She hands a message capsule to Roger, telling the group it contains her digital seal and a message that may help them in their mission and possibly in future endeavors. They are to use it if needed on Prometheus, but are to retain it! Don’t leave it behind. They thank her.

The group goes to buy high-passage on the Jump Liner. Barney is wearing his First Place medallion from the race, and let’s it be seen. The ticket agent talks to the manager, who talks to the captain of the liner, and then informs SAFCO that the captain wishes to comp their high-passage all the way to Prometheus, as they are now celebrities aboard the ship of rich race fans and gamblers.

The group boards the liner.  The mercenaries and battle dress are also on board, but the mercs are in mid-passage. Each PC enters the raffle to guess the Breakout Time – the number of hours they’ll be in Jump Space before break out in the Listo system. They spend a week in Jump Space, eating at the captains table, being adored by race fans, and enjoying the good life. Caliban seeks to make some good connections while on board. With his Social Standin of 9, the Ref has him roll against it. He succeeds, and makes at least one good connection that might benefit him in the future. Barney gets a tour of the Engineering section, and plays a little joke on Caliban. One evening he bribes a steward to bring Caliban a plate of much-hated Garblag Haggis from the ship’s emergency rations supply. Even a Steward-4 cook can’t make it taste good (needs an 11, rolls a 3). Caliban puts on a brave face, but is unable to stomach it. Barney gets him a plate of proper food.

After a week the ship breaks out of Jump Space, but none of SAFCO guessed the right time.

The screens in the High Passage lounge show a short video about Listo. The world is actually a massive hollowed-out asteroid. No one know who hollowed it out. It was discovered by the initial Scout surveys of the system. Listo Commercial Consortium keeps everything working and life support up.  The video shows the topsy-turvey interior of the asteroid. Habitation covers the interior walls. While there is artificial gravity there is no obvious up or down. Transportation tubes run along the sides and criss-cross the interior, which is also fully built-out with what appears to be no plan at all.  Law Level is a low 3. Listo has a reputation of being a wild place. Jinx is home, and excited to show the team around in the two days they’ll have here.

End of Session
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Elapsed time: 476game days (1 year 101 days)

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ITV Session 51: Party Time!

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Barney, Lucky, and Roger have just won the Overon Grand Prix asteroid belt race. On Overon, the casino at the Mooch Mine reacts to the win. Caliban wins a lot of money on the race. Flint wins even more. Silvonius, Fardt, and Jinx all come out well, as does SAFCO friend Mergatroyd.

The race crews are shuttled back in from the asteroid belt. SAFCO meets up back onboard the Fortunate Son for a brief meeting. They’ve won a lot of money. They are on a mission to take important data on the Pachyderms of Uetonah to the Imperial Office of Sophont Relations 6 parsecs away on Prometheus. They are also concerned about the mercenaries, now here on Overon and delayed, but who will eventually end up on Uetonah to wipe out the rebels there. They have the option of boarding the Jump-4 starliner in orbit and taking it to Prometheus via Listo, thus cutting several weeks of the time required to get there. Or they can stay as the crew on the Favorite Son and take the long way. They feel some obligation to Silvonius.

Flint also mentions that he is splitting his race winnings – about 1.2 million credits – 6 ways. One for each member of SAFCO.

They discuss the option of hiring a new crew for Silvonius, as there must be people now on Overon who’d like a new gig. They also discuss various options for dealing with the mercenaries. The paperwork delays caused by Barney and Caliban will only hold the mercenaries on Overon for so long. They discuss simply hiring the mercs away. Caliban overheard the merc leader discussing his concerns that his group will fall apart if he can’t continue paying them, which appears to be a problem. He must also pay the ship that is transporting them. He seems to be in a bind.

The next day, Barney goes researches nearly worlds that might need some hired muscle. He finds none. He also looks into the difficulty of returning to Mylor from Prometheus if they don’t have their own ship, but realizes it will be easy, but time consuming.

Caliban and Flint meet with Admin Tilton of the RCMP. Tilton is in a great mood, having won by betting on the team in the race, and many of the RCMP employees did well. Flint and Caliban ask him about hiring the mercs away from their Uetonah gig. Tilton feels he owes SAFCO a favor, and tells them to sent the merc leader to talk.

They find the merc leader at the troop transport ship, at the spaceport. They approach him. Flint does a nice soft-sell. Caliban makes his recruiting roll. The leader realizes that by signing on with RCMP on contract, his problems are solved. He meets with Tilton and they come to an agreement. They’ll travel about the starliner, along with the battle dress armor and fusion guns that RCMP has bought from SAFCO, and go to Listo to fight the pirates who’ve been making things tough on the company.

That night at the casino SAFCO and associates attend the party. Upon entering, the 3 race crew members are cheered, and then interviewed by the media. Flint makes contact with the Baroness, who is having a table set up for them. Flint encounters the monk he and Caliban have met before. As they mingle, a businessman strikes up a conversation with Barney, eventually giving him a business card that says “Samson Lux – Samson Mining Company”.

They all sit down at the table. They are joined by Mergatroyd and Tilton. The Baroness inquires about their recent adventures. Eventually the awards ceremony happens. The crew gets its BIG CHECK.  Applause and cheers. As the rest of the gang watches this, a stocky man approaches Tilton. The man is drunk on mooch, and accuses Tilton of cheating at the race! He is drunk and raging. Flint punches him out – one punch – unconscious. The man’s fellow goons drag him away. All eyes are on the altercation.

End of Session
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Elapsed time: 468 game days (1 year 93 days)

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ITV Session 50: Asteroid Race!

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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
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Elapsed time: 467 game days (1 year 92 days)

 

 

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ITV Session 49: Get Set, GO!

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SAFCO is still on Overon, getting ready for the race.

The team goes to the Mooch Mine’s casino and places bets. Barney, Lucky, and Roger get details of the race ship and spend the evening prepping for the race.

The next day. The team notes that the spaceport is not well staffed, as everyone is preoccupied by the race. Caliban finds an insecure computer terminal and plants some incriminating information about the mercenary ship’s maintenance records.  Flint and Caliban, along with Fardt and Jinx, go back to the casino to watch the race. They see their old associates Mergatroyd, from Mylar, and Persius Pringle, the salvage dealer from Overon. Flint chats with them, and confides that SAFCO has replaced the RCMP team, but to keep it quiet. Mergatroyd place a bet on SAFCO to win. Fardt keeps Jinx from getting his ass kicked after he starts winning a bit too much at roulette. Caliban places a bet on SAFCO’s ship, playing the rube.

The race teams are taken out to the asteroid field, where the 16 identical 4G race ships are docked and ready,  and have an hour in their ships before time to start. The team prepares for some antics. Barney preps the ship to divert power to the sensors if needed for a +1 to their sensor roll, and gets the engines prepped for redlining as well.

The race starts. SAFCO is one of the 4 ships with a chance to win.

Action goes back and forth between the race and the PCs in the Casino.

In the casino, holographic displays render the ships positions and progress, though with time lag due to the distance. The idle interplanetary rich of the subsector mingle with loud mercenaries and gamblers. Ships must find and hit with data-stream laser turret beacons placed on 6 asteroid surfaces. Only with a successful hit may they move to the next beacon. They can target each other, hits resulting in simulated temporary damage, such as sensors down, reduction in the normal 4G thrust, etc. The beacon must be located with a sensor (Computer) roll of 8+, and then can be targeted.

All ships make it to Beacon 1. SAFCO and one ship miss the sensor roll. Ships fire at each other and begin moving to next beacon if they can. We leave the session moving into Round 3.

More to come.

End of Session:
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Elapsed time: 467 game days (1 year 92 days)

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ITV Session 48: SAFCO to the Rescue!

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SAFCO is still on Overon. They’ve been back less than a day. They notice that the city is crowded with tourists. They talk around, and find out that they have returned just a few days before the Overon Gran Prix, a space ship race through the asteroid field in the system. While at the starport they see what appears to be a troop transport.

Barney and Caliban seek out some information and business. Caliban manages to get a great price (50% of base price) on 48 tons of industrial polymers, which he thinks they can turn a profit on at their next stop. The crew has found out there’s a Jump-4 starliner in orbit. Barney sees the landers at the starport. He inquires about job openings on the ship, as it is going to return to Prometheus via Listo after the race. That would cut at least two weeks off their projected transit time to Prometheus. At the union hall he finds that yes, they are looking for a better pilot, gunner, steward, and engineer. He tells the lady he’ll be back regarding the jobs. She says “don’t wait too long, sweetie.”

The rest of the crew has gone to the Mooch Mine to chat people up about the race and relax. As they approach the tavern they see three men being tended by medics on the sidewalk, and four burly-looking guys in custody of the local authorities.  Roger sees a pilots pin on one of the hurt guy’s collar. Flint gets a good look at the other guys, and decides they are mercenaries. He’s seen plenty like this before.  Roger speaks to the injured pilot, and finds out he and his two friends were to be the crew of RCMP-Overon’s ship in the Gin Prix. Roger asks if he thinks they might want to hire a new crew, and the guy says sure, he should speak to RCMP administrator Robert Tilton. Roger, Flint, Lucky, Fardt, and Jinx enter the tavern and see a bunch more of the mercenaries. They chat with locals and learn a bit more about the race.

Barney and Caliban, at the starport, make some inquiries about the troop transport ship. They find out it has come, after a couple of jumps, from Pelucidar, a notorious tough and criminal planet that is interdicted (poorly). They also find out it has filed a flight plan for Uetonah. Not surprising.

Flint and Roger go to RCMP headquarters to find Admin. Tilton yelling about the injury of his race team! Flint says he may have a solution. Tilton’s jaw drops when he finds out that Roger is rated as Pilot level 4. With Barney ranked at Engineering 3 and Computer 2, and Lucky at Gunner-3 (the ships shoot “data streams” as mock combat), Tilton agrees to split any prize money they might win — the purse for the winner is 200,000 cr.  They make the deal.

Back at the ship, they inform Silvonius of the great cargo deal they have made for the ship, discuss the race, and begin discussing possible ways to delay the mercenaries who, after they see the race and gamble their last paychecks away, will be heading to Uetonah to cause problems.

End of session
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Elapsed time: 466 game days (1 year 91 days)