Turn 2 – Mission On Mithril Part 1
Mithril, however, was not the place for it.
The Class-E starport was barely a patch of concrete. If they were lucky, it won't be covered by ice. The reported population is zero people - which confused the crew when they saw the cargo lots being offered. The Sword Worlders keep a single Port Warden there, rotating them out regularly, as there occasionally are scientists interested in research. This shipment was six months of supplies.
Magnus set a course for the surface and radioed the starport, and contacted the Port Warden, one Rikard Byström.
"Hallo! You must be the supply ship. Set your nav computer to 140.7 channel B for landing sequences."
Magnus made the changes and the Cosmic Blunder started its landing run. About half way down, the ship lurched and then started to drop. The Inertial Compensators were struggling to account for the loss of power....
"Hkaaie, what's the situation?" Magnus said over the ship comms, doing his best to keep both his fear and lunch down.... "Hang on" the Aslan replied, "Got an issue. Relay Governor blew. We're going to do some percussive maintenance, which should get us to land instead of crash."
Several loud bangs and shudders later, and the ship started to recover. It was clearly still not running well, but Magnus was able to set it down.
As the ship was being unloaded, Magnus and Ouroz went to talk to the Port Warden, asking if, by any chance, he had a spare Relay Governor.
"Well, let me tell you this. I have one, but it's not for sale. It's part of the Sword World Naval Reserve supply store."
Magnus and Ouroz exchanged glances. If they had to wait for the next ship to arrive to even send a message requesting one, they could be on this iceball for months.
"Now, having said that" Rikard continued, "I have a problem myself - and if you can help me out, perhaps I can have an 'inventory error'. Could blame it on my predecessor - never liked him, anyway."
"What do you have in mind?"
"See, I've been tasked to check out several spots on this iceball - strange readings from the satellite network. But I'm only one man, and I really don't like the cold. Been putting it off, but one of the messages that came over on your ship was from my boss, asking for an update. So, I figure if you go do the surveys, I can stay warm and get your ship fixed."
"So you want us to walk around the planet?"
"I'll loan you an ATV and some supplies. Should take you about a month - which is how long it'll take me to fix your ship. What do you say?"
Magnus and Ouroz looked at each other. The chance of another ship arriving in a month was pretty much zero, and Magnus doubted that the crew would be OK with piracy.
"You have a deal."
"Great! Great! I'll get started right away. The ATV is in the vehicle shed, all fueled and stocked. The food ain't the greatest - it's native. Perfectly edible; just, well, flavorfull....
There's three points on this rock that need investigating - The first has an intense light/shadow interface. The satellites can't see why. Scout it out and document the area. The second is a section of shoreline that should be frozen. But it's not. My boss wants to know why that section of shoreline is not frozen. Might be nothing; might be something. Third is a spot that shows high radioactivity - for no reason that we can tell. We need to know what the source of the radioactivity is, and is it a recoverable resource."
And so the crew climbed into the ATV, gave a last glance at their ship, and departed.
After the first day of driving, the crew stops for the night. Travel has been smooth - they made excellent time, and with CR4NK3 driving, they could continue through the night. But, after ten plus hours of driving, the team needed to stretch. "Take care team." Magnus said, "The ground is slippery. No slip & fall injuries, please."
It was nearing sundown when CR4NK3's proximity alarm went off. "DANGER - FAST MOVING CREATURES". The crew took defensive positions as a pack of insect or crustacean-like creatures appeared in the distance.
Magnus and Hkaaie, who were on guard, carefully moved up to get a better look. They took only a few slippery steps when some of the "bugs" appeared between ice outcroppings. "Here they come!"
Ness raises her rifle and fires at the closest bug, but not being used to the thick gloves the crew was wearing, missed.
CR4NK3 moved up to get a clear shot and fired, his shot going wide.
Paule and Ouroz moved, maneuvering to get flanking shots - and, quite frankly, to take cover. These bugs were quick, nasty looking, and were at home in the cold.
Magnus, CR4NK3 and Ness moved to line up better shots, firing - CR4NK3's shot hit, but only slowed the bug. Ness and Magnus missed their shots.
The bugs continued their rapid approach.
Hkaaie moved to get a better shot, but slipped on ice, missing.
Ouroz and Paul reached their preferred positions, but neither could draw a bead on the bugs.
CR4NK3 fires again, his shot killing one of the bugs. Magnus' shot, however, ricocheted off a carapace, doing no damage.
One of the bugs reaches Hkaaie, who had moved ahead of the rest of the crew. Hkaaie had time to sling his rifle and unleash his dewclaws, and with a snarl, attacked. His claws found vitals, killing the bug, but not before the bug was able to bite Hkaaie, dropping him in a pool of blood.
Paul fires his pistol, and miraculously hits a bug, stunning it. Ness and Ouroz' bad luck continues, their shots missing.
CR4NK3 retreats somewhat; the bugs being too close for comfort, even for a robot. His shot strikes a bug, stunning it.
The largest bug launches itself at Magnus, its mandibles finding flesh, flinging Magnus aside and knocking him out.
Ness' luck seems to be changing - her shot hits a bug, stunning it.
But Paul and Ouroz' shots miss.
Panic among the crew starts to set in - their leader and their strongest fighter both down, and only two bugs dead.
CR4NK3 fires again, missing.
The bugs reach Ness, Paul and Ouroz, attacking viciously, human blood staining the snowy ground.
The bugs finally reach CR4NK3, smashing him to the ground.
However, the bugs don't seem to want to consume the off-worlders - they grabbed the native-food ration packs the crew had out and fled back to their
tunnel.
Magnus shook himself awake, and rushed to check on the team. He quickly rebooted CR4NK3, who had Doctor-level medical programming, and went to check
on the rest. Hkaaie, Paul and Ouroz were severely wounded, but would survive. Ness, however, was beyond medical care.
She would be mourned.
The next morning, Magnus buried Ness in the ice. While digging, he discovered the remains of a human, long frozen in the ice and snow. This human was buried with a hand laser and an old stuffed animal. Not feeling particularly respectful at the moment, Magnus took both the items. "The dead don't need stuff." he thought to himself. "The living do."
Both items were damaged, but could be repaired when they had time.
Unwilling to go back and wait who-knows-how-long for someone else to land on this iceball, Magnus decided to press on.
Turn Worksheet:
1. Upkeep and ship repairs. 1CR. paid 3cr vs ship debt
2. Assign and resolve crew tasks
Magnus - Train
Hkaaie - Train
CR4NK3 - Repair Blast Rifle - fail
Ness - Explore - Offered a small job. When fighting this campaign turn, select a random enemy figure. If your crew kills them, earn 2 credits. No reward if they run away.
Ouroz - Decoy
Paul - Find a Patron - yes, Port Warden
3. Determine Job Offers
Current Patrons (1)
Port Warden of Mithril (Sector Government); danger pay +2 Cr; time frame this or +2 turns;
B/H/C - None
Current Rivals (2)
Salvage Team cheated by Ouroz
Corporate Security (LSP) hunting Ness
Current Rumors (4) - All related to the Octagon Book and story of Twilight's Peak
4. Assign Equipment -
5. Resolve Rumors: -
6. Choose Battle - Note - +1 on Rival roll due to Decoy.
Patron Mission 1
Travel cross world in a loaned ATV to discover the strange phenomonon at Point B on the map.
Point B is the Jagged Cliff encounter, so Aslan
Note that since I am straying from 'pure' Five Parsecs From Home, I am only doing upkeep once for the series of Mission on Mithril adventures. There will be two setpiece Campaign Turns on Mithril - at two of the three investigation spots; the rest of the adventure will be played out using the Mission on Mithril world HexCrawl rules.
The first battle was a random Animal Encounter with an animal type 'Killer'; since it was a consequential animal encounter, I decided it would be an Opportunity Battle. In general, since the entire Mission On Mithril adventure is one consolidated Campaign Turn with two battles, and we won't really get the full post-battle steps until the end of Mithril, I don't want too many opportunity battles. Especially with how this one went....
Readying for Battle -
DIFFICULTY SETTINGS:
World Settings -
1. Deployment Condition - Slippery ground - all movement at ground level is -1 Speed
2. Notable Sight - Nothing Special
3. Objective - Fight Off
4. Opponent Type - Roving Threat - Large Bugs
Enemy Number 6
Panic: 1; Speed: 5"; CS: +1; Tough: 5; AI: Rampaging; Weapons Mandibles (Damage +1)
Over-sized insects and other creepy-crawlies are a distressingly common sight throughout space.
Easy targets: +1 when firing at this enemy.
Stubborn: They ignore the first casualty of the battle when making a Morale check
Weapons
Difficulty - n/a
Normal 5
Panic: 1; Speed: 5"; CS: +1; Tough: 5; AI: Rampaging;
Mandibles: Range Brawl; Damage +1
Lieutenant 1
Panic: 1; Speed: 5"; CS: +2; Tough: 5; AI: Rampaging;
Mandibles: Range Brawl; Damage +1
UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL - No
AI - Rampaging
Rampaging enemies will move as fast as possible towards the closest opponent, and will always attempt to
enter Brawling combat.
4. Set up the battlefield -
Initial setup -
Set up terrain:
---
Fight!
Seize The Initiative - No
Turn 1
Hkaaie and Magnus go first. They move to try to get clear shots.
Bugs move
Ness stands her ground, shoots, but misses.
Cr4nk3 moves & shoots, but misses
The rest of the team moves to better positions.
Turn 2
Ness, Cr4nk3 and Magnus move and shoot.
Cr4nk3 hits, but only stuns one
Bugs continue their approach
Ouroz and Paul move to better positions. Ouroz to hopefully stay out of combat; Paul to flank.
Hkaaie moves & fires, missing
Battle Event - 80 - Enemy VIP - N/A because they are roving threat
Turn 3
Cr4NK3 and Magnus act
Cr4NK3 shoots, hitting and killing a bug; Magnus misses
Bug moves up to Hkaaie and brawls - with use of a story point, Hkaaie ties. He goes down, but kills the bug attacking him.
Paul shoots & stuns a bug
Ness misses.
Ouroz moves & shoots, missing.
Turn 4
Cr4nk3 retreats somewhat & shoots, stunning a bug
Leader bug attacks Magnus, taking him down
Ouroz moves & shoots - missing.
Ness moves back & shoots, stunning one
Paul shoots at Ness' bug, but misses.
Battle Event - Tougher than Expected. Leader now has Toughness 6!
Round 5
Cr4nk3 fires and misses
Ness & Paul go down
Ouroz goes down
Round 6
Cr4nk3 goes down.
Bugs don't seem to want to consume the off-worlders, but ravage the ATV, stealing 4d6 man-days worth of food (17 man-days) before leaving.
Post-Battle
1. Rivals - N/A
2. Patron - N/A
3. Quest Progress - N/A
4. Get Paid - 4Cr, but not technically paid until end of Mithril adventures
5. Battlefield Finds - None
6. Check for Invasion - N/A
7. Gather Loot - While digging the grave, they unearth some artifacts of an encounter long ago - a damaged Hand Laser and a damaged Novelty Stuffed Animal
8. Injuries & Recovery -
Magnus: Knocked out; no lasting injuries
Hkaaie: Crippling Injury -1 Toughness - 4 turns in sick bay
CR4NK3: Just a few dents, no long-term effect
Ness: Death or permanent injury
Ouroz: Crippling Wound 1 turn in sick bay; -1 Speed
Paul: Crippling wound; 6 turns in sick bay; -1 Speed
9. Experience:
Magnus 1
Hkaaie 1
CR4NK3 --
Ouroz 1
Paul 1
Both Hkaaie and Ouroz spend their XP to regain what they lost.
The following four options do not apply as we are in the midst of an adventure
10. Invest in Advanced Training: N/A
11. Purchase Items: N/A
12. Campaign Event: N/A
13. Character Event: N/A
