Month: July 2022

Nest (the finale)

Hopes are not high that any survivors are left to rescue by this point but it’s decided to make one last incursion. Yala does her best to get Conrad and Gus back on their feet. Wayne decides to sit (or lie) this one out. Cinque has a bad feeling about things. Gilbren hesitantly offers to tag along due to his previous experience with klicks (which largely involved running away to live another day).

Mayhem and Gilbren are assigned to watch the lower entrance, which they note has been boobytrapped. Conrad, Cinque, and Gus find the middle tier likewise trapped. After setting it off, they override the inner airlock door. A single one of the green suits attacks them with its claws, while the klick shoots from cover. Conrad demonstrates once again that frag grenades really are a GI’s best friend. A heavily injured Cinque tags in Gilbren and Mayhem. Once the suit goes down, the klick withdraws. Mayhem and Gilbren attempt to follow but it detonates another set of explosives, partially collapsing the ceiling (mostly on Gilbren). A final firefight ensues, eventually taking down the klick.

Once the literal dust has settled, and wounds are staunched, they explore the seemingly lifeless facility. Miraculously, two young children, Melanie & Jacque Saville, are recovered from a store room where they had been imprisoned. Cinque’s bad feelings are confirmed regarding the fate of Ty, the older child whose distress call Gus had picked up.

Half a day later, Momotaro and Sparrow make planetfall at Tavira on Corazón de Fuega. Gilbren introduces them to a past acquaintance, Beth “Knockout” Hubbell. The authorities release an official report saying raiders were responsible, with the convoy legitimately dispensing frontier justice when likewise attacked. People split up to variously complete trades, undergo major surgery, restock supplies, and visit the local zoo. At a memorial service for the lost miners, the crew are sombrely thanked as heroes. Relatives from Algeciras take the Saville children home.

Wanting to wrap up some loose ends, another trip is made to Black Widow Canyon. Cinque restores the fusion generator to full power, allowing Gus to download messages buffered in the comms system. Other hardware is collected for return to the Vieronites. Cinque investigates the growth chambers, taking one for analysis; the other is destroyed. The shuttle, the Rana Toro, is astoundingly found to be largely intact. It is towed back to Corazón de Fuega and handed over along with the other recovered (non-external) hardware. Everyone settles down for a day of R&R while repairs to the Seishimi are completed.

Nest (continued… again…)

Heading down for a second attempt, the crew manage to open the shuttle’s door, which rewards them with an explosion. Undaunted, they head into the lower tunnel, which rewards them with a trio of the “green suits”, one armed with a black laser SMG. The tunnel also contains the antiquated fusion reactor powering the outpost, which unexpectedly does not explode during (or after) the firefight.

Pressing forward, they follow a tunnel upwards, back to the middle tier. A protracted battle ensues, with casualties on both sides, but the appearance of a klick forces another withdrawal.

Nest (continued…)

Near Black Widow Canyon, the crew find a pair of impact craters seemingly caused by an “uncontrolled landing” followed by an explosion. Only minute fragments of the suspected ship are found, but analysis suggests it is semi-organic in nature. Once again, the klicks immediately spring to mind.

Atop the cliff overlooking the canyon, a section of ground has been demolished. Rubble litters the canyon floor below. A single beaten-up shuttle sits outside the lowest of three entrances into the canyon wall. Investigation of the upper passage reveals the mine works, while entering the middle one quickly leads to a hostile encounter with a pair of humanoids in some kind of organic exo-suits.

Superior numbers do not give as much advantage as expected. When another two of the beings cut off the exit, and the party discover that downed ones stand back up unreasonably quickly, things begin to look at bit worrisome. Fortunately, Conrad had kept comms open and Mayhem and Ark show up to lend a hand. With Conrad playing whack-a-mole with the first two, and everyone else focusing on the two outside, the tide slowly turns, allowing a hasty withdrawal.

Back aboard the Sparrow, wounds are tended, plans are hatched, and guns are reloaded…

Ark discovers there may be a common origin between life on K3 and K1. Conrad wonders if there is any relation between the newly encountered Underdwellers and the extinct Scournge. He also worries whether Ark’s father may be a figure from his past but has not yet asked for a name. The Convoy travels from Spiderhole to Polytroika. Gus makes a friend on the Momotaro (sort of) en route.

Delivery to 2253

The Deadlock is leaving the system just as the convoy arrives. Captain Victoria Harwood declines to share any scans from their just completed survey until she delivers her report to the Concord Survey Service. The convoy’s crews share a fresh meal with Aya Betsui and the system’s handful of other inhabitants on The Sister’s Jewel. A crashed shuttle on Jewel’s moon leads to an abandoned mining site in The Cloud; information which is shared with the outpost’s small mining team. Leaving on good terms with everyone, the convoy suffers the worst possible recharge times between jumps, starrising in Vieron 25 days later on 2499-07-01.

Nest

Shortly after crossing the orbit of one of Vieron’s distant gas giants, the convoy is attacked by a small spherical craft. It’s semi-organic nature immediately leads to comparisons with klick technology. A coordinated response destroys the attacker, though not before the Seishimi takes significant damage. The Sparrow goes to investigate a brief distress signal from the moon the vessel appeared to come from. The Momotaro, which suffered some minor hull damage, stands by in orbit. The Seishimi proceeds to Corazón de Fuega, where it will make planetfall at Tavira, which hosts the system’s only spaceport.

Preparations complete, the Sparrow and Momotaro dock with the Lighthouse to hitch a ride to Hammer’s Star. The majority of both crews choose to spend the 5 days in drive space aboard the more spacious city-ship. Megan has been reassigned temporarily as the cultural attaché to the Insight ambassador. Lodging is secured and various amounts of currency are spent or gambled. Conrad purchases a guitar from Reggie at The Corner. Moments before starfall, Gus receives a coded message from Doc P.

En route, Anthony Darrokin, Professor of Justice Ethics, announces plans for Refuge, an enclosed city on Fides, one of Spes’ two airless moons. The voyage is otherwise uneventful and starrise occurs exactly on the stroke of midnight as May 3rd begins – the 10th anniversary of the destruction of Silver Bell and the devastation of Spes. The convoy picks up its third member, the light freighter Seishimi, captained by Marcus Corge. Some undisclosed cargo for Concord is loaded and all three vessels starfall.

The Lost Civilisation

The Sparrow is tasked with completing the Momotaro’s previously aborted survey of Spiderhole. This progresses smoothly until they encounter an unknown sentient species in the depths of the second planet. Yala’s abilities save the day, and the life of one of the creatures, opening the way for Concord to initiate a controlled first-contact.