Agent 57 - Sol Federation Assassin
Neo Anderson - Chronically Depressed Tech Specialist
Capt. Richard "Dick" Falcon - Alcoholic Pilot/Ex-Cop
Bob Glob - Merchant Prince/Face Man
The party (minus Agent 57, who had not yet joined them) were gathered at the Glob family space-villa, relaxing amongst the various marble statues of Bob, when a Sol Federation shuttle landed nearby and a functionary trailed by a pair of armed guards walked out to meet them. Facing the slow collapse of his family's wealth, Bob had agreed to work for the SolFed in exchange for them repairing his ship's hyperdrive, a technological art now lost to all but a few. The bureaucrat invited Bob and the party to a meeting with Captain Carl Anders aboard the Second Horizon space station, which he accepted.
Centauri Orbit - An Offer You Can't Refuse
Shortly after leaving atmosphere, the sun disappeared behind the looming shadow of the Sol dreadnought SFS Genghis Khan, a constant reminder that, though Centauri had rejoined the Federation peacefully, they hadn't really had much of a choice. As they neared the Second Horizon station, which was now under SolFed control as a dual-purpose spacedock and administrative hub, they could just make out the distinctive hot pink paint job of the Glob family's Gambit-Class armoured freighter, the SS Patrick.
After docking with the station, they were lead to a large office with a breathtaking view of the planet below, and asked to take a seat by Carl Anders, alongside a silent, bald man of indeterminate age dressed in a crisp suit and holding a briefcase. Anders launched into the details of the mission they'd be undertaking as part of the Civilian Retrofit Program: they were to negotiate for and acquire 170 tons of hoverbikes from Winslett-Bentzen Industrial Technologies on Gral, a Mars-like planet in the Centauri system, and deliver them to the SolFed embassy on Quann, a system close to the Beta Wormhole, for 16.7 million credits. In addition, they would carry an encrypted datacore with messages for SolFed civilians in the embassy. Their contact on Quann would be Lieutenant Diane Morry, a member of the Logistics Service.
Anders produced a lengthy contract from his desk which Bob started carefully reading. Both Dick and Neo read over his shoulder as well, but between them, they couldn't see anything other than a perfectly normal and reasonable contract (thanks to a trio of unlikely failures on Administration), and Bob signed on the dotted line. Anders stamped the contract a few times and put it away, before lowering the lights, closing the space-blinds ("You know, in case the neighbours are watching"), and locked the door.
As a concealed projector lit up one wall with an image of a mid-40s nobleman, Anders explained the real mission they'd be undertaking. These orders came directly from Federation high command at Churchill Prima on Mars: a Quannese politician named Alack Robenn had become increasingly radically pro-SolFed, and had now gone from an asset, to a liability. Robenn would be hosting a party at his hover-mansion in ten days, and their mission would be to gain access to this party, find out who, if anyone, Robenn was working for, and assassinate him. Diane Morry, actually part of the Intelligence Service, would also be their contact for this mission.
Anders gestured to the bald man, who introduced himself as Agent 57, and explained that he'd be there to help them complete their objectives. Lastly, Anders stated that the Sol Federation's status on Quann was precarious, so their resources would be limited, and, of course, if they were captured, the Federation would deny knowledge of their existence.
With that rather surprising meeting out of the way, the party were lead to the Patrick. Bob magnanimously allowed Agent 57 to take up residence in the second luxury cabin ("One for me, one for the guy who could kill me"), while Neo ran diagnostics in the engine room, and Dick took the helm. All systems were green, and they flew back down to the villa, where they loaded up their gear (and Dick's vast collection of booze).
Centauri - New Business Opportunities
Bob cunningly realized that the Patrick would still have quite a bit of free space in the hold, and spent most of a day hunting down other cargo, eventually purchasing 10T of industrial robots and stretching his finances. Meanwhile, Dick Falcon did some Research into the available routes to the Quann system, and came up with three possible options:
- The Far Bypass, a relatively safe, but slow route around the Phlegetius Nebula that would take 7 days.
- They could go right through the Phlegetius Nebula, taking only 4 days, but this would be risky, as the nebula was known for pirate activity. Or at least, it was, before the Twilight Years.
- According to the records available, there should be an even faster route, either abandoned or only theoretical, which would get them there in a single day.
Winslett-Bentzen Industrial Technologies Pleasure Dome, Gral - Let's Make a Deal
Unbeknownst to the Sol Federation, the Glob merchant family had a centuries old feud with the Winslett-Bentzens involving a great many "unfortunate accidents". They landed inside the pleasure dome, and the patriarch/CEO of Winslett-Bentzen came out to meet them, his expression instantly souring when he saw Bob Glob. The CEO, furious, asked what a Glob was doing there, but he warmed back up when Neo emerged from the cargo hold with a (carefully chosen) enormous, vibrant exotic plant, and Bob asked if they couldn't put the feud aside long enough to make a deal.
The CEO remarked that maybe Bob was different from his father, and, after a bit of bargaining (and a use of Luck), Bob had acquired the hoverbikes, and reduced the cost from 15 million credits to the paltry sum of 7 million (Bob: *incredulous coughing*), straining his finances to the breaking point. Knowing that if they lost this cargo, Bob would lose everything, the Patrick and her crew got ready to head out onto the hyperlanes. Dick finished the calculations after several hours and punched it, and, given the ship didn't immediately explode, it seemed to have worked well.
Phlegetius Nebula - Ambush
Hyper travel was a tedious and repetitive process: due to the complicated calculations, hyperdrives could only travel a relatively short distance before dropping back into normal space, and completing more lengthy measurements and recalculations to stick to the route. During one such break, surrounded by the soupy clouds of the nebula, Bob tried to talk to Agent 57 but wasn't able to break through his professional exterior ("So, what kinda things do you do for fun?" "Classified"), while Neo Anderson repurposed a holopad into a multimedia device.
While a drunken Dick was working on the calculations, the sensors picked up the loose outline of a larger ship hiding in the nebula, and he messaged the others. Just as Bob made it to the bridge and took up his best Kirk-pose, they received a hail, and he answered it. A purple-skinned alien man with ridges on the side of his forehead appeared on-screen and began to speak: "Attention merchant vessel Patrick. This is the Invictus. We request that you hand over all of your goods, and we will allow you to proceed without further harm".
Bob stalled for time, and told the alien, who introduced himself as Captain Lawblaw when asked ("What a coincidence!"), that he would love to hand over their goods, but sadly, they didn't have any. Unfortunately, thanks to a failed Fast-Talk, Lawblaw didn't believe him, and insisted on sending over some of his own boys to check. Brazenly, the Invictus, now visibly sporting multiple sublight drives, emerged from the nebula and sailed towards them, the symbol of the Mentak Coalition, a pirate cooperative, proudly displayed on its hull.
Clearly stalling wasn't working, and Bob gave the order to take evasive action. Dick spun the Patrick away, narrowly avoiding a burst of laser fire thanks to Luck, as Captain Lawblaw laughed and explained that he'd hoped they'd run, and cut the feed. Bob gave orders to Neo, who rerouted power to the shields, leaving the weapons and hyperdrive offline, and used his Leadership skills to command Dick to pilot better. Agent 57, completely unsuited to space combat, sat beside the computer and relayed whatever it said.
Dick's skill easily trumped the Invictus' superior speed, and he got them out to Extreme range. Using the nebula as cover, he hid, while Neo lowered the fusion reactor's output, making them harder to find. The Invictus was unable to find them on scanners, but the crew of the Patrick were nervous, and unwilling to risk the time the full calculations would take. As soon as they were done, Neo routed power back to the hyperdrive from the sublight drive, and they made the jump to hyperspace... at Navigation (Hyperspace)-11.
Unknown System - Disaster Strikes
Predictably, Dick failed his roll, and they emerged from hyperspace in the midst of an asteroid field, colliding directly into a ball of stone larger than their ship, damaging three cargo bays, the luxury cabins, and the sublight drive. Neo jury-rigged the sublight drive, and, while Dick got them out of the asteroid field, checked which cargo holds had been damaged. Unfortunately, all of the industrial bots had been lost, as had 25T of the hoverbikes. Neo got the rest of the systems "working", and they continued down the hyperlanes towards their destination.
Quann Orbit - Impromptu Smuggling
As they limped towards Quann, the party were treated to the sight of the green-tinted, spiralling Beta Wormhole, sucking in all matter around it. They were interrupted by a hail from an officer of Quann Customs and Orbital Services, who asked them to declare their cargo. Bob, wondering if the contract had explained something about this, realized they were probably supposed to declare tariffs. Due to an ever-shrinking profit margin, he lied to the man instead, and said that pirates had taken all of their goods.
The officer bought it, and asked where they'd be landing. Bob told him they were going to the Sol Federation embassy, but needed to contact them first, so the officer forwarded them to the embassy's comm line, leaving them on hold for a while. While they waited, they took note of some warships in orbit: one SolFed carrier, escorted by fighters, and some other, alien ships they didn't recognize. After a few more minutes, Diane Morry contacted them and gave them coordinates to the embassy in Nidalvar, the planetary capital. Dick followed the flight path at about 3x the recommended speed, reminding everybody why he had been kicked out of the Centauri Space Police.
Sol Federation Embassy, Quann - The Handoff
The first thing the party noticed about Nidalvar is that the city was worn down, with slums ringing it; quite the shock compared to the clean and sleek cities of their homeworld. They landed hard, Dick scorching the landing pad a bit, and Diane Morry arrived on the pad to greet them, flanked by industrial loading bots. They disembarked, and, after Diane mentioned the battle damage, Bob explained that they'd lost some of the cargo. She noted that his payment would be reduced, as per the contract, told them to enjoy their time on Quann, maybe check out the hoverbike races going on this week, and handed Agent 57 an envelope.
As Diane turned to leave, Neo asked if the Sol Federation would be able to repair their ship, and she replied that they'd be more than willing, in exchange for another favour. Bob disliked having duct tape holding his luxury cabin together, and agreed. Back inside the ship, Agent 57 opened the envelope to find a holopad containing a briefing, and a hand-written note. The briefing contained the following info:
- The Phaeton HoverPrix was taking place that week, and Alack Robenn was sure to attend. He liked "exotic" guests, so they should have an easy way to secure an invite.
- The party was being thrown in honour of a (Robenn-funded) scholar's new work: "A History of the Twilight Years". The scholar in question, an Xxcha (turtle-man) named K'Sani Murch, had been working closely with Robenn for years.
- Robenn's party would be taking place on his hover-mansion, 2km above the ocean, 30km west of the coast.
- The SolFed's resources were spread thin, and they could offer assistance once, and no more.
The note explained that Diane suspected there were spies inside the SolFed Intelligence Service, and that only she should be contacted about their mission. Agent 57 shared the info with the rest of the crew, and they started gathering intel.
Nidalvar, Quann - 4 Days Until Party
Neo went to hang out with some off-duty customs agents, and overheard that a package of Robenn's had been seized by customs, and then vanished. Now, he was going ballistic and threatening to have people fired. In addition, a colonel in the Orbital Services, Loria Johannson, would be attending Robenn's party.
Bob went to the Phaeton HoverPrix and rubbed elbows with the Quannese nobility, where he also gained intel on the party's guest list. Several minor nobles with ties to Robenn's family, Aryne Heson, Jana Rigar, and Henry Brooksin, would all be attending. In addition, a merchant, Sel Bulee, who had one of the few still-functioning hyperdrives was supposed to attend, though he was still out of the system.
Agent 57 immersed himself in the goings on of the Quannese elite, in particular, learning a bit about the scholar K'Sani Murch. He was talkative, and would be very happy to speak to others about his work, and the upcoming party to celebrate it.
Dick Falcon did some research into Robenn's hover-mansion, and found that it was isolated, with the nearest authorities ten or more minutes away. It did not feature landing pads for ships as large as theirs, and it was expected that guests would board a shuttle from the mainland.
The party went over their data, and decided to split up for the next day. Bob would go buy the most lavish clothes he could find, and then go meet Robenn at the HoverPrix, to hopefully gain an invitation. Agent 57 would provide intel and research over headset, so that Bob would appear knowledgeable about whatever Robenn started to talk about. Meanwhile, Dick and Neo would go to Quann Customs and Orbital Services to see what they could find out about the missing package.
Dressed in outlandish finery, Bob Glob went back to the high-end booths overlooking the Phaeton HoverPrix, and waited until a moment when Alack Robenn was alone, intently watching the screens displaying the hoverbike races. Above the faint roar of the crowds, he introduced himself, making sure to exaggerate his Centauri accent, and got to discussing the races, mentioning that he was from out of town and wasn't sure what teams were worth betting on.
Robenn was all too eager to go on about how he backed the red team, as they were backed by the Sol Federation, and Bob capitalized on this by doubling down on his support for the Federation. Just as planned, the conversation eventually turned to where Bob was from, and when he said he was from out of system, Robenn passed him a solid gold invitation to the party he was throwing.
Meanwhile, Dick and Neo arrived at the Quann Customs and Orbital Services HQ, a squat, trapezoidal building surrounded by military-grade radar sensors and launch pads full of agile fast-response ships.
Notes:
Alcoholism is one of the only advantages that gives a Will roll rather than a self-control roll. This makes it vastly overpriced, so I've changed it to a self-control roll.
Originally, Richard Falcon had Truthfulness, but for obvious reasons, that would be extremely problematic on this mission. He's Colourblind instead, now.
I'm running a loose version of abstracted Wealth, where they roll against a number to get things and failure lowers the target number, similar to Assistance Rolls for organizations. I know there's some sort of system for this in Pyramid, but it looked overly complicated for this; the main purpose is to just let them have whatever gear is reasonable, within reason, without having to count individual credits.
The Patrick is a fairly quick ship, with strong shields but weak guns, and 400T of cargo space.
For spaceship combat, I'm using Action 2's Chase rules with a couple extra actions stolen from Spaceships. All of the numbers (armour, damage, speed) have been drastically changed to be simpler.
Alternate plans so far have included "Enter Dick into the HoverPrix even though he has skill-13" and "Have Agent 57 kill one of the minor nobles and pretend to be them".
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