Bug Hunt! Saint’s Reborn – Carbia/Discord Sector
Starting up a Bug Hunt parallel campaign set in the Marduk Station community 5 Parsecs sector. Selene and Miak, two former members of my standard 5 Parsecs crew split off to join a mercenary company that had been nearly wiped out. Their first mission - finish the contract.
I am going a little custom, and breaking some of the rules. For standard play, everyone has common gear, and you have to roll to get upgrades. But since I was bringing people over from 5P, I decided to let them keep their signature items. I also wanted a sniper. This means that at the base, I am using 3 "Supply Points", which means that all missions must have a minimum Priority of 3 - which means more baddies! And more baddies = more fun!
Saint's Battle Report
Location: Discord Sector/Carbia System/Ground Sector 531-87a
Mission: Activate beacons to block Tentacle Creeper encroachment
Selene stood in front of the remnants of the Bastard Saints. They had gone down these caverns before, and now most of the company was dead or severely wounded, including their former Commander.
The few that were left were all privates, except for Corporal Garran Threx.
And now, Selene was having second thoughts. When she had discussed joining the Saints with ship Captain (and official leader of the Saints) Katarine Solvayne, she didn't realize that would mean she would be in command. And now she had to come up with a speech to motivate the few troops she had left into going down the caverns again. What would Jaxx say?
"You're tired. You're hurt. You lost friends. You probably don't want to go near those caves again."
"But you're professionals. I talked to the Captain about the history of the Saints, and it's a proud one. You've fought tough fights before, gotten knocked down, and got right back up. That's something to be proud of."
"I'm going to level with you. Speeches suck. I hate making them. I hate standing up before people and talking. I'm doing it for two reasons - the first is that I believe in the Saints' mission - The Saints don't just fight for money. The Captain chooses the missions that help people. That help places like this. And if those tentacle creepers get out to the surface, all those people will die."
"Unity won't help them, so it's up to us."
"And why should we help these people? They're paying well, but not nearly enough. They caused this problem by mining in a spot they shouldn't."
"We are helping them because we're the Saints. We took on a job and we're going to finish it."
"I read the reports of the first mission - you cleared out a ton of creepers. You got the beacons that will keep them bottled up placed. They just need to be activated."
"So here's the drill. We're going down again. We're taking a squad of local militia with us. We are going to get to the beacons as fast as we can, hit the buttons, and get out."
Selene looked at the one squad remaining from the Saints. "I'm leading you in. Miak will be leading the militia. Corporal Threx will go in with Private Moonshadow. In, push button, out. Anything else is a distraction. You move faster than the creepers, so stay at range."
"Any questions?"
Selene waited ten seconds. The six remaining Saints sat there quietly. She could tell they were just considering quitting.
"Listen, I know this seems like a death march. But Miak and I? We've fought K'Erin. We've fought Converted. We've fought the Rage Lizard Mercs. We've even fought those damn squidheads that you've heard about, and kicked them off Marduk Station."
"I know you're wondering why the Captain put me, a stranger, in charge. After all, who am I? My name is Selene. I'm now a Saint, and I kick ass. And you all are going to go down there with me, and kick ass. The whole Sector is going to hear about us, about how the Saints died, and were reborn, and how we go in, kick ass, and get out. You all look like soldiers who want to go kick some ass, so what do you say? Are you soldiers who want to kick ass? The Captain sure thinks you are. Miak thinks you are. And I think you are."
"So let's go. In, push button, out."
She could see that the squad had caught some of her energy. It certainly didn't hurt that Miak interjected with a loud "Yeah!" whenever she ended a sentence.
The Captain flew the dropship to the cavern complex entrance. On the way, the team sang some of the hymns from the Captain's religion. Hymns about death and rebirth. Selene found it very odd that this mercenary company was formed from a mix of former Ecclesastics and sewer gangs. All of the other Saints from their religion were either dead or in the infirmary, so she was going in with former thugs, gangers, and other scum.
Oddly, she was happy. She loved Jaxx, Kazi, and the rest of the crew of the Renegade Pigeon. But, she needed to do more. She needed the galaxy to know her name.
As they entered the caverns, Selene reiterated "In, push button, out. Keep moving, let the teams around you support you. None of you are in this alone."
"Squad leaders, keep an eye out for blips. Squad seconds, check out any tactical defenses that were left behind; see if they're worth using. But stay with your team if at all possible."
As they entered the cave, they immediately picked up three blips.
As she had hoped, the squad leaders called them out. Based on where they were, there was no getting around them. "Copy on the blips. Follow the plan; we can't sneak in, so let's move fast."
Miak and his team advanced. The blip they had picked up was just a cave rat that scurried away. They found a shielding device that could block incoming creatures, but after realizing what it was, they left it alone. Selene and her team also advanced, and found a second shielding device near some crates and a storage container.
As they continued their advance, Selene and her team uncovered a tunnel, and a group of the tentacle creepers popped out. Selene attempted to collapse the hole, to prevent more from coming, but the swarm of creepers kept her from doing that, and in the effort, Selene took a light hit that shook her up.
Their sniper, Illtharae, took a shot at the creepers, but missed.
As Miak advanced, two more creepers appeared near him. Miak was planning on firing on the group of creepers by Selene, but he was in charge of the militia, and he knew they were frightened, so he ripped his rattle gun at the two near them, dropping them both.
But, another contact pinged on their radar. Both squad leaders called out in unison "New blip!"
Miak continued shooting - this time at the creepers near Selene, but they were slippery buggers, and most of his shots missed; the only one that hit deflected off of the creepers' unusually tough carapace.
Illtharae stunned one, as did one of the Saints. Another Saint, Private Sevrin Kael, had a clear path to one of the beacons, and dashed forward. The militia continued to advance.
Private Kael made it to the beacon, and activated it.
The whine of the generator started, but it would take a while to build up the power to start the defenses.
Selene, just recovering from the first attack, is hit again, and this time is wounded. "Damn it!"
"You OK boss?"
"Got me good in the leg. I'll be fine. As long as we turn these things into mush and soon!" However, the rest of her squad all fired at the creepers and missed.
Her acting Sergeant, Garran Threx, who also missed, started to swear like the gutter scum he was - and he even used some obscenities that Selene hadn't heard yet. If she wasn't in such pain, she would have been impressed.
On the other side, the militia were beginning to engage a batch of creepers, with more contacts pinging. They did manage to shut down one hole that the creepers were coming from, and kill another, but they were in danger of being bottled up. Miak relayed that to Selene, while his rattle gun killed a creeper, and wounded another.
Selene shouted at her squad "Militia is bottled up - go support them.
Garran, Rae and I will keep these creepers tied up. With the state of the creepers near them, Garran shouted "I got these buggers!" as his shotgun wounded one. "Get that beacon". As he was saying that, one of the militiamen was hit by a creeper, and went down.
Illtharae killed a creeper, and Selene moved to help support Miak, blasting one out of the way with her Fury Rifle. She decided that it was time to make the call. "Selene to the Hammer - Calling for evac."
The response chimed back "Saints, evac will be arriving in one minute. I'm going to blast a hole in the cavern ceiling, so watch for falling rocks."
As Selene continued to move to support the militia, Miak and the rest of the squad, two more creepers appeared near Garran. He started to sing one of the Saints' battle dirges.
Selene's fury rifle blasted a creeper that was threatening Miak, allowing him to fire up his jetpack, and launch himself through a gap in the creepers towards the second beacon.
Between Selene and her fury rifle, Miak's rattle gun and the brave militia, they cleared a path towards the second beacon, which was activated by one of the militiamen.
Just then, the cavern over their heads exploded, raining debris down. Since they were expecting it, the debris didn't injure any of the troops. The dropship lowered retrieval lines.
Just then three more appeared right near the evac spot, while two more blips appeared and were moving their way. No wait - three blips. And she heard Garran cry out as the creepers took him down.
The presence of the drop ship seemed to infuriate the creepers, so they all started to converge on the evac spot. The evac started - but Miak and one militiaman were too far to grab lines. The Captain shouted "Selene, tie up and evac!", as creepers moved towards her. "Not until everyone else is out."
Her fury gun barked again, killing one creeper.
Selene dropped another creeper as Miak and the militiaman made way to the evac point. When they were tied up and on their way up to the dropship, Selene called out "I'm going back to get Garran!"
"No you are not, Selene. Evac now, that's an order."
As much as Selene wanted to disobey, and go to recover Garran, the team needed to see that she obeyed the chain of command. Through gritted teeth, she said "Affirmative", as she tied herself to the recovery line, and was lifted away.
As they were getting ready to evac, they saw Garran crawling out of the entrance to the cavern. They swooped down to make pickup.
He explained that when the dropship arrived, the creepers by him left, so he was able to crawl away. He would need some time in sickbay, but otherwise would be OK.
As they departed, the Saints were cheering, high-fiving each other, and celebrating. As selene stood, a somber look on her face, they quited down.
"Saints, you did well. You kicked ass. But before we celebrate, let's remember Militiaman Kent Hertash. We fight for money. We fight for honor. We fight for glory, but he was fighting for his home, and he fell defending it.
The Saints then launched into their song of mourning, and the militiamen - those who were familiar with it, joined in.
Selene was damn proud of her squad. And maybe they could recruit one or two of the militiamen to help fill out their ranks.
Turn 1:
Special Assignments:
Selene: Leadership Training: Denied
Miak: Harsh Environment Course: Denied
Illtharae: Marksman training: Allowed
Priority 3 mission (base)
Obj Markers
rolls 6,6,3
Vital Objective: Beacon
Standard Objective: Beacon
Difficulty: Mess Me Up
Adjusted Priority: 4
Spawn Rating: 3
Support:
Weapon Support: Fury Rifle
Weapon Support: LMG
Sniper
Colonial Militia
Not using Signals
Place 3 Contact Markers - one on each objective, and one in center.
Facing Tentacle Creepers
Completed;
We completed the two objectives (3 points).
Garran injured: Out for 1 turn.
Selene, Miak, Illtharae all +4 xp
Garran +2 XP (was MVP because he held off a small swarm himself
Selene takes over as leader, rebrands as the Saints Reborn
Location: Discord Sector/Carbia System/Ground Sector 531-87a
Mission: Activate beacons to block Tentacle Creeper encroachment
Selene stood in front of the remnants of the Bastard Saints. They had gone down these caverns before, and now most of the company was dead or severely wounded, including their former Commander.
The few that were left were all privates, except for Corporal Garran Threx.
And now, Selene was having second thoughts. When she had discussed joining the Saints with ship Captain (and official leader of the Saints) Katarine Solvayne, she didn't realize that would mean she would be in command. And now she had to come up with a speech to motivate the few troops she had left into going down the caverns again. What would Jaxx say?
"You're tired. You're hurt. You lost friends. You probably don't want to go near those caves again."
"But you're professionals. I talked to the Captain about the history of the Saints, and it's a proud one. You've fought tough fights before, gotten knocked down, and got right back up. That's something to be proud of."
"I'm going to level with you. Speeches suck. I hate making them. I hate standing up before people and talking. I'm doing it for two reasons - the first is that I believe in the Saints' mission - The Saints don't just fight for money. The Captain chooses the missions that help people. That help places like this. And if those tentacle creepers get out to the surface, all those people will die."
"Unity won't help them, so it's up to us."
"And why should we help these people? They're paying well, but not nearly enough. They caused this problem by mining in a spot they shouldn't."
"We are helping them because we're the Saints. We took on a job and we're going to finish it."
"I read the reports of the first mission - you cleared out a ton of creepers. You got the beacons that will keep them bottled up placed. They just need to be activated."
"So here's the drill. We're going down again. We're taking a squad of local militia with us. We are going to get to the beacons as fast as we can, hit the buttons, and get out."
Selene looked at the one squad remaining from the Saints. "I'm leading you in. Miak will be leading the militia. Corporal Threx will go in with Private Moonshadow. In, push button, out. Anything else is a distraction. You move faster than the creepers, so stay at range."
"Any questions?"
Selene waited ten seconds. The six remaining Saints sat there quietly. She could tell they were just considering quitting.
"Listen, I know this seems like a death march. But Miak and I? We've fought K'Erin. We've fought Converted. We've fought the Rage Lizard Mercs. We've even fought those damn squidheads that you've heard about, and kicked them off Marduk Station."
"I know you're wondering why the Captain put me, a stranger, in charge. After all, who am I? My name is Selene. I'm now a Saint, and I kick ass. And you all are going to go down there with me, and kick ass. The whole Sector is going to hear about us, about how the Saints died, and were reborn, and how we go in, kick ass, and get out. You all look like soldiers who want to go kick some ass, so what do you say? Are you soldiers who want to kick ass? The Captain sure thinks you are. Miak thinks you are. And I think you are."
"So let's go. In, push button, out."
She could see that the squad had caught some of her energy. It certainly didn't hurt that Miak interjected with a loud "Yeah!" whenever she ended a sentence.
The Captain flew the dropship to the cavern complex entrance. On the way, the team sang some of the hymns from the Captain's religion. Hymns about death and rebirth. Selene found it very odd that this mercenary company was formed from a mix of former Ecclesastics and sewer gangs. All of the other Saints from their religion were either dead or in the infirmary, so she was going in with former thugs, gangers, and other scum.
Oddly, she was happy. She loved Jaxx, Kazi, and the rest of the crew of the Renegade Pigeon. But, she needed to do more. She needed the galaxy to know her name.
As they entered the caverns, Selene reiterated "In, push button, out. Keep moving, let the teams around you support you. None of you are in this alone."
"Squad leaders, keep an eye out for blips. Squad seconds, check out any tactical defenses that were left behind; see if they're worth using. But stay with your team if at all possible."
As they entered the cave, they immediately picked up three blips.
As she had hoped, the squad leaders called them out. Based on where they were, there was no getting around them. "Copy on the blips. Follow the plan; we can't sneak in, so let's move fast."Miak and his team advanced. The blip they had picked up was just a cave rat that scurried away. They found a shielding device that could block incoming creatures, but after realizing what it was, they left it alone. Selene and her team also advanced, and found a second shielding device near some crates and a storage container.
As they continued their advance, Selene and her team uncovered a tunnel, and a group of the tentacle creepers popped out. Selene attempted to collapse the hole, to prevent more from coming, but the swarm of creepers kept her from doing that, and in the effort, Selene took a light hit that shook her up.
Their sniper, Illtharae, took a shot at the creepers, but missed.
As Miak advanced, two more creepers appeared near him. Miak was planning on firing on the group of creepers by Selene, but he was in charge of the militia, and he knew they were frightened, so he ripped his rattle gun at the two near them, dropping them both.
But, another contact pinged on their radar. Both squad leaders called out in unison "New blip!"
Miak continued shooting - this time at the creepers near Selene, but they were slippery buggers, and most of his shots missed; the only one that hit deflected off of the creepers' unusually tough carapace.
Illtharae stunned one, as did one of the Saints. Another Saint, Private Sevrin Kael, had a clear path to one of the beacons, and dashed forward. The militia continued to advance.
Private Kael made it to the beacon, and activated it.
The whine of the generator started, but it would take a while to build up the power to start the defenses.Selene, just recovering from the first attack, is hit again, and this time is wounded. "Damn it!"
"You OK boss?"
"Got me good in the leg. I'll be fine. As long as we turn these things into mush and soon!" However, the rest of her squad all fired at the creepers and missed.
Her acting Sergeant, Garran Threx, who also missed, started to swear like the gutter scum he was - and he even used some obscenities that Selene hadn't heard yet. If she wasn't in such pain, she would have been impressed.On the other side, the militia were beginning to engage a batch of creepers, with more contacts pinging. They did manage to shut down one hole that the creepers were coming from, and kill another, but they were in danger of being bottled up. Miak relayed that to Selene, while his rattle gun killed a creeper, and wounded another.
Selene shouted at her squad "Militia is bottled up - go support them.
Garran, Rae and I will keep these creepers tied up. With the state of the creepers near them, Garran shouted "I got these buggers!" as his shotgun wounded one. "Get that beacon". As he was saying that, one of the militiamen was hit by a creeper, and went down.Illtharae killed a creeper, and Selene moved to help support Miak, blasting one out of the way with her Fury Rifle. She decided that it was time to make the call. "Selene to the Hammer - Calling for evac."
The response chimed back "Saints, evac will be arriving in one minute. I'm going to blast a hole in the cavern ceiling, so watch for falling rocks."
As Selene continued to move to support the militia, Miak and the rest of the squad, two more creepers appeared near Garran. He started to sing one of the Saints' battle dirges.
Selene's fury rifle blasted a creeper that was threatening Miak, allowing him to fire up his jetpack, and launch himself through a gap in the creepers towards the second beacon.
Between Selene and her fury rifle, Miak's rattle gun and the brave militia, they cleared a path towards the second beacon, which was activated by one of the militiamen.
Just then, the cavern over their heads exploded, raining debris down. Since they were expecting it, the debris didn't injure any of the troops. The dropship lowered retrieval lines.
Just then three more appeared right near the evac spot, while two more blips appeared and were moving their way. No wait - three blips. And she heard Garran cry out as the creepers took him down.
The presence of the drop ship seemed to infuriate the creepers, so they all started to converge on the evac spot. The evac started - but Miak and one militiaman were too far to grab lines. The Captain shouted "Selene, tie up and evac!", as creepers moved towards her. "Not until everyone else is out."
Her fury gun barked again, killing one creeper.Selene dropped another creeper as Miak and the militiaman made way to the evac point. When they were tied up and on their way up to the dropship, Selene called out "I'm going back to get Garran!"
"No you are not, Selene. Evac now, that's an order."
As much as Selene wanted to disobey, and go to recover Garran, the team needed to see that she obeyed the chain of command. Through gritted teeth, she said "Affirmative", as she tied herself to the recovery line, and was lifted away.
As they were getting ready to evac, they saw Garran crawling out of the entrance to the cavern. They swooped down to make pickup.
He explained that when the dropship arrived, the creepers by him left, so he was able to crawl away. He would need some time in sickbay, but otherwise would be OK.
As they departed, the Saints were cheering, high-fiving each other, and celebrating. As selene stood, a somber look on her face, they quited down.
"Saints, you did well. You kicked ass. But before we celebrate, let's remember Militiaman Kent Hertash. We fight for money. We fight for honor. We fight for glory, but he was fighting for his home, and he fell defending it.
The Saints then launched into their song of mourning, and the militiamen - those who were familiar with it, joined in.
Selene was damn proud of her squad. And maybe they could recruit one or two of the militiamen to help fill out their ranks.
Turn 1:
Special Assignments:
Selene: Leadership Training: Denied
Miak: Harsh Environment Course: Denied
Illtharae: Marksman training: Allowed
Priority 3 mission (base)
Obj Markers
rolls 6,6,3
Vital Objective: Beacon
Standard Objective: Beacon
Difficulty: Mess Me Up
Adjusted Priority: 4
Spawn Rating: 3
Support:
Weapon Support: Fury Rifle
Weapon Support: LMG
Sniper
Colonial Militia
Not using Signals
Place 3 Contact Markers - one on each objective, and one in center.
Facing Tentacle Creepers
Completed;
We completed the two objectives (3 points).
Garran injured: Out for 1 turn.
Selene, Miak, Illtharae all +4 xp
Garran +2 XP (was MVP because he held off a small swarm himself
Selene takes over as leader, rebrands as the Saints Reborn
