IY6026.347
SAFCO begins the session where they left off, at the Sophont Liberation Front in the jungles of Uetonah. They have spoken to Jason Slimjack, the biologist/leader of the rebels. Before light’s out the team discusses what they wish to do next.
The next day, Caliban goes around interviewing rebels regarding the Pachyderms, with the idea that he can submit this information to some journalist and thereby get the media involved. He spends the day doing that. Flint is given a tour of the rebel base and assets, as he has offerred to use his experience as an Army colonel to assist them with tactics to defend the base should Samson mining attack with mercenaries.
At Flint’s suggestion, Barney and Lucky spend the day building some expendible transmiters/recievers to use for dirty tricks in the upcoming battle, like using them to lure the mercenaries to booby traps, etc.
The next morning, Jason meets with SAFCO and ask them to take his Pachyderm research data with them, and try to get it to the Imperial Office of Sophont Relations, on Prometheus. They agree. Caliban has made his Admin roll, and he knows the head of that office from his prior service. Sir Walot DeMaris, a minor noble and expert on inter-sophont relations. Caliban thinks highly of him and believes he would be hard to bribe or blackmail.
The team loads up the grav bikes begins their return to Samson City. About 10km along the way, with Flint and Roger taking the lead, Flint detects 12 small objects pursuing them, and gaining on them fast. (Flint wins a surprise roll against the incoming hostiles). He puts his bike on autopilot and launches a grenade behind the group of grav bikes, the cloud of incoming “things”. Four of them drop off the radar.
Suddenly SAFCO finds themselves being swarmed by football-sized fast-flying insects that look like colorful wasps. The eight creatures break into pairs, with one on either side of every grav bike but Roger’s. They are very fast, and move erratically. They’ll be hard to hit.
As the team and the bugs fly down the pyschedelic tunnel, the bugs begin to attack. Between each pair of bugs a powerful electrical arc blasts. They try to catch the humans in that arc. SAFCO returns their attack. Flint turns his submachine gun on the insects. Caliban uses his skill with the grav bike to execute an impressive move, attempting to smash one of the bugs with his bike. Lucky and Roger shoot. Barney pulls out one of the insecticide weapons they bought in town and kills two of them. During the chaos, both Barney and Lucky are hit by electrical bolts. They slump on their auto-piloted grav bikes, unconscious as the other race on. Flint is hit, the energy easily penetrating his normally effective combat armor, but he hangs on to consciousness. Roger is hit, but barely.
More fighting. Caliban kills one with his auto pistol. Flint and Roger manage to kill more of them. Finally there is only one Lightning Bug left, and it flies off into the jungle.
Backtracking, they find Lucky and Barney unconscious on the floor of the tunnel, their bikes safely stopped near them. Both are still alive. After ten minutes both revive. Roger used Med-1 on everyone to bring them back up to almost full strength.
After some rest, the team makes it back to Samson City with no further injuries.
Caliban suggests that they wipe the navigational data from their bikes, to safeguard the rebel position.
The team discusses additional actions they might want to take, like planting misinformation in the Samson computer system, to sow dissent with the hired mercenaries, etc. They discuss skills needed. Barney is working at Comp-2. With this and Caliban’s knowledge of administrative filing systems they might be able to pull such a thing off. Flint has some ideas as well.
They are not sure what Silvonius Janks will want to do at this point.
End of session
IY6026.349
Elapsed time: 457 game days (1 year 82 days)
As they fly through the twisting, glowing path, Flint signals to the group to come to a stop. Using his Tactics and Leader skill, as well as military experience, he has used his onboard radar and good old combat awareness to gain surprise against three MegaBeetles that are blocking the tunnel. The team knows from a previous encounter that these creatures are very tough and very dangerous, and aggressive. Flint and Lucky each throw a hand grenade, doing a lot of damage to the beasts – enough to make them mad. The rest of the team take gun shots at them. They manage to kill one of the beetles, but one rushes Flint on the ground and the one that was hanging from overhead rushes, upside down, to Roger. Both monsters attack and miss! The team blasts with autopistols, auto rifles, and Flint uses his submachine gun. After a couple of rounds they luck out and don’t get bitten or crushed and they kill the beetles.