1.The Painting
(24/10-2011) Albius Spacestation and a Bad Start.
Albius
The crew of The Saint Patrick is closing in on their destination. Ian, the pilot, gently enters the gasfilled atmosphere of the gas planet Heirus 3. They feel like gliding through living color as the light from the sun, when it hits the many gasses, light up the air like a living rainbow of colors. Suddenly they see their destination. Spacestation Albius, once a research station layered in the uppermost atmosphere of Heirus 3. Many independent contractors come here to do business, waste money , get drunk and find female companionship. The station is large, easily the size of a building block, circular with docking arms sticking out like tentacles on a squid. Fighters swim lazily through the colored gas and bigger starships are docked at the arms, luckily no NNL ships Dean mutters to himself tensing at the gun turret as 2 fighters close in on the Saint Patrick.
The incoming transmission welcomes them to Spacestation Albius.
The incoming transmission welcomes them to Spacestation Albius.
A Bad Start
They are to seek out a merchant names Marcus Weir, who has an assignment for them. They are welcomed by armed guards. They aks if they ca show them to Marcus Weir. They agree and are taken through the station coming to the center where bars, shops and arenas dot the interior. Dean seeks out a bar and the Brothers McFadden are shown to the Red Button, where prostitutes stand in glass alcoves in front of the bar. They pass 2 huge black tattooed bouncers and are taken through the bar to a secluded room.
A man, fat and gross, waits in a large red armchair, flanked by a young bodyguard. He welcomes them to this meeting, this is Marcus Weir. another man is shown in. He wears the used uniform of an NNL admiral and has a scar over his right eye. At his side hangs a sabre and a flechette pistol.
Marcus Weir welcomes both the Captain of The Saint Patrick, Pierce McFadden and the other Captain Calvos Guth, of the Black Spear. He wants to know who can serve the great Marcus Weirs interests best. This spawns a hefty debate between the 2 captains and Ian. Marcus interrupts and ask if they wants to know what the assignment is.
A seller has sold a painting for a princely sum. It is to be taken to the Nyx system, one of its moons Cronos III, to the buyer Urth Meier. The price is 40.000 credits, a nice sum for a no risk job. Again accusations begin to fly through the room, each captain accusing the other of incompetence.
Suddenly the lights go out. They hear something hitting the table. Ian turns on his flashlight, pointing it at Marcus Weir. Weirs head explode in a shower of gore and brain!!!! Then they hear backup engines kicking in and the lights return. Marcus Weir bodyguard screams for help yelling "You killed him, YOU KILLED HIM" and points his flechette pistol at Pierce.
The young man pulls out his pistol and fires a 3 round burst at Pierce and only the fact that he is covered by the table saves his ass, for now. Ian ducks under the table while Pierce tries to reason with the man.
Guards, the 3 that have been excorting them, enters the room shouting to surrender. Pierce points out that they have just begun an assignment for the delivery of a painting worth 40.000 credits when all hell broke loose. The opportunistic scum guards smile "40.000 you say".. The bodyguard starts complaining and is shot in the leg for his trouble.
The lead guard turns on his comm and tells everything is fine, just cleaning up a mess. Then tells Ian and Pierce to leave the room and the painting. Greedy Pierce Refuses to let money go his nose by, pulls out his flechette pistol!!! The leader of the guard pulls out a survival knife, serrated and wicked and attacks Pierce. Only a bennie spent and a good soak saves him. from 2 wounds!!! A second guard fires his rifle full auto at Pierce, hitting for 30 in damage, 6 wounds!!! But Claus is lucky and raises on the incapicitation roll, 3 wounds and shaken!!!!
The last guard laughs at Ian " pretty one this one is, the whoremasters must have uses for him" and intimidates him, causing a shaken and +2 on next attack!!!! Things are looking bad, 3 wounds to one pc and the other shaken.
Meanwhile Dean has found a good bar with reasonable prices. He even indulges in gambling, putting money on a cage fight, winning 120 credits!!
Ian recovers from his shaken and pulls out his Flechette pistol, the situation is dire!!! He shoots a guard in the groin and continues to the next, killing him with a headshot. Shouting at the last guard, who was surrendering, " Do not harm my brother". Ian pulls the trigger and the shot punches a hole in the guards chest, killing him instantly. They grab the Painting, Pierce sees a couple of golden rings on Marcus Weir hands and cuts off the fingers to get the rings. They drap Pierce in the other captains trenchcoat and exit the door.
Guards outside are persuaded by Ians glip tongue and they flee the scene with the painting, Dean has joined them.
Pierce turns on the comm and tells Dougal to start up The Saint Patrick, they are to leave immidiately. As they depart Albius they see a NNL cruiser closing in on Albius, flanked by 10 fighters.
A transmission is incoming. "Albius have been locked down, name and captain of the vessel". Ian responds truthfully and are told they are searching for The Black Spear and its captain Calvos Guth. A persuasion roll later they leave Albius just before lock down. Ian turns of the Dyson engines which accelerates to Faster than light speed and they are away, painting safely in storage and Captain Pierce unconsious in the Hospital Bay..
But who killed Marcus Weir?
Why was the NNL searching for The Black Spear, surely it does not have anything to do with the painting ?
The first session was cut a bit short as one players still hadn´t finished his character. It started a bit slow but quickly took off with wild maneuvers and fun action, a good session. Easily worth 2 xp´s but due to the lack of play, only a single xp was awarded.
Xp´s granted : 1
Xp Total: 1
A man, fat and gross, waits in a large red armchair, flanked by a young bodyguard. He welcomes them to this meeting, this is Marcus Weir. another man is shown in. He wears the used uniform of an NNL admiral and has a scar over his right eye. At his side hangs a sabre and a flechette pistol.
Marcus Weir welcomes both the Captain of The Saint Patrick, Pierce McFadden and the other Captain Calvos Guth, of the Black Spear. He wants to know who can serve the great Marcus Weirs interests best. This spawns a hefty debate between the 2 captains and Ian. Marcus interrupts and ask if they wants to know what the assignment is.
A seller has sold a painting for a princely sum. It is to be taken to the Nyx system, one of its moons Cronos III, to the buyer Urth Meier. The price is 40.000 credits, a nice sum for a no risk job. Again accusations begin to fly through the room, each captain accusing the other of incompetence.
Suddenly the lights go out. They hear something hitting the table. Ian turns on his flashlight, pointing it at Marcus Weir. Weirs head explode in a shower of gore and brain!!!! Then they hear backup engines kicking in and the lights return. Marcus Weir bodyguard screams for help yelling "You killed him, YOU KILLED HIM" and points his flechette pistol at Pierce.
The young man pulls out his pistol and fires a 3 round burst at Pierce and only the fact that he is covered by the table saves his ass, for now. Ian ducks under the table while Pierce tries to reason with the man.
Guards, the 3 that have been excorting them, enters the room shouting to surrender. Pierce points out that they have just begun an assignment for the delivery of a painting worth 40.000 credits when all hell broke loose. The opportunistic scum guards smile "40.000 you say".. The bodyguard starts complaining and is shot in the leg for his trouble.
The lead guard turns on his comm and tells everything is fine, just cleaning up a mess. Then tells Ian and Pierce to leave the room and the painting. Greedy Pierce Refuses to let money go his nose by, pulls out his flechette pistol!!! The leader of the guard pulls out a survival knife, serrated and wicked and attacks Pierce. Only a bennie spent and a good soak saves him. from 2 wounds!!! A second guard fires his rifle full auto at Pierce, hitting for 30 in damage, 6 wounds!!! But Claus is lucky and raises on the incapicitation roll, 3 wounds and shaken!!!!
The last guard laughs at Ian " pretty one this one is, the whoremasters must have uses for him" and intimidates him, causing a shaken and +2 on next attack!!!! Things are looking bad, 3 wounds to one pc and the other shaken.
Meanwhile Dean has found a good bar with reasonable prices. He even indulges in gambling, putting money on a cage fight, winning 120 credits!!
Ian recovers from his shaken and pulls out his Flechette pistol, the situation is dire!!! He shoots a guard in the groin and continues to the next, killing him with a headshot. Shouting at the last guard, who was surrendering, " Do not harm my brother". Ian pulls the trigger and the shot punches a hole in the guards chest, killing him instantly. They grab the Painting, Pierce sees a couple of golden rings on Marcus Weir hands and cuts off the fingers to get the rings. They drap Pierce in the other captains trenchcoat and exit the door.
Guards outside are persuaded by Ians glip tongue and they flee the scene with the painting, Dean has joined them.
Pierce turns on the comm and tells Dougal to start up The Saint Patrick, they are to leave immidiately. As they depart Albius they see a NNL cruiser closing in on Albius, flanked by 10 fighters.
A transmission is incoming. "Albius have been locked down, name and captain of the vessel". Ian responds truthfully and are told they are searching for The Black Spear and its captain Calvos Guth. A persuasion roll later they leave Albius just before lock down. Ian turns of the Dyson engines which accelerates to Faster than light speed and they are away, painting safely in storage and Captain Pierce unconsious in the Hospital Bay..
But who killed Marcus Weir?
Why was the NNL searching for The Black Spear, surely it does not have anything to do with the painting ?
The first session was cut a bit short as one players still hadn´t finished his character. It started a bit slow but quickly took off with wild maneuvers and fun action, a good session. Easily worth 2 xp´s but due to the lack of play, only a single xp was awarded.
Xp´s granted : 1
Xp Total: 1
(31/10-2011) Cronos III
Cronos III
Two weeks pass in faster than light travel, Captain McFadden recovers from the gunshots and soon they come to the Nyx system. Exiting FLT (faster than light travel) they see the Nyx system. No more than 500-1000 years ago astoroids crashed into one of the moons in the system, covering most of the system in a permanent astoroid field, especially around the larger planets. They have examined the painting in transit but only found some small shielded areas. Not wanting to break their prized possesion they decided to let it be, intact. The most startling information they find is the name of the painter, Teidz Lohz. Ian mills over the name and it could be an anagram for Dietz-Holz, a feared outlawed Corporation.
They head towards the moon Cronos III at the edge of the system, flying slowly though an astoroid field when they are hailed. " Unidentified Vessel, identify yourself" . The Pilot Ian identifies his vessel, The Saint Patrick. As soon as the name is mentioned he sees the telltale evidence of missiles being fired from a hidden vessel .
The fighter sweeps closer, firing said missiles. The missiles strike the Saint Patrick which have taken evasive action but luckily only a shaken result and Ian easily succeeds on his piloting roll avoiding critical damage. Captain McFadden orders The Saint Patrick to sweep closer to the enemy fighter and orders Dean Artz, the gunner, to fire the green stapping energy weapon. He hits with a raise, destroying the vessel in one hit!!!!
First an assasination on the star merchant Marcus Weir followed by the assasination of the ex-NNL admiral Calvos Guth. They got away with the cargo, a painting, and then all of a sudden they are attacked in the Nyx-system, the plot thickens..
They come to Cronos III, a barren rock of little value. Not seeing a space port they linger in orbit. They are hailed once more, this time from the planet and lights are seen in a huge crater. They fly down and set down in a hanger. They are met with an official which welcomes them to the mining outpost of Berra, Tram corporation owned, on the moon of Cronos III. The official, Mr. Armitage, offers to help them toward their destination, the man Urth Meier. They are told he is Provost of StarMed 1, a medical station on sub level 3. Thanking him they pay the docking fee and enters the mining city. Lots of habs, bars and a constant droning of underground machinery fills the caverns with noise. They use a service elavator to get to sub level 3. Not quite finished the sub level is mostly a ghost town with half finished habs, machinery and little else.
They find a map and make their way toward StarMed 1. Suddenly workers block their way. The leader, a tattoed woman, begins threatening them. She tells them they are outnumbered (8 workers with heavy steel pibes) and should not have gone this way. They tell her to get the f... out of their way and tries to persuade the workers to leave (only a success) and she tells them to leave the Painting behind, then they can leave unharmed. (How does she know of the painting??) They refuse and battle begins. The woman scream" kill them, kill them fast " and fires rounds of ammo through her wrist, cybernetic implant surely. The workers moves forward attacking at random. Our party swiftly pulls out their flechette weapons and returns fire. A worker is injured, but when Dean Artz enters the fray this changes!!! He kills 2 workers with gunshots and sabre. 2 more go down next round and the rest flee!!! The woman, ex-mercenary is shot through the neck by.... no other than Dean Artz... They quickly leave the area, unfortunately with more questions at hand as no survivors can be questioned. The shoot first ask questions later approach seems to be the order of the day.
Coming to StarMed 1 . They are shown though the doors of the shiny white plastic building. They are met by a younger doctor. They ask for Urth Meier and are told that the provost is busy, too busy for them. When they mention the painting she leaves, asking them to wait. Through a couple of doors an elderly man enters, wearing blood sprayed apron and bloody cloves. His apron have sleeves full of surgical equipment and they too are bloody.
He politely introduces himself as Doctor Meier and thanks them for their assistance. They are given cash, 40.000 credits. Glad to leave the doctor and his possible connection to Dietz-Holz behind they turn to leave. Then the doctor stops them, he turns to Captain McFadden (greedy hindrance) and asks if he will be willing to one more job?? An easy one?? 10.000 credits to take a package to Nyx prime in 2 days?? A small trip only 2 days???.
The Captain agrees.
Half way through the session we bagan a debate as it dawned upon me that their are very scattered in view of their roles on the ship. Is it an employer/employee relationship or more friendly with them being a group working together to gain fame among the stars. The last party was a bit too different and had a lot of pc versus pc rivalry. That was fun too but perhaps they would work together better, if they knew their roles.
Andre-He had the Employer/employee role in mind and had tried to get claus, playing the captain, excuses to give him orders.
Peter and Claus- They are playing brothers and has a lot of banter between them, and saw Dean in a more friendly way.
After some discussion they decided the following (cut short). They have been on the ship for perhaps a year. The have all their reasons for being on the ship but have come to value each others skills. They are working for a cut of the profit, no profit no money.
It helped them/me to understand the group dynamic and at once it helped the gameplay. It took some time but was well worth it!!!!!
Once again we had some setbacks. Getting to play a bit later, some interruptions and the debate. We ended strong though with great fun in the combat and some good roleplay when the doctor was encountered. I am not easy to please and like my games to be run smooth and fun. To much of anything not RPG relevant distracts our attention and cuts down on roleplaying and time played, 1 xp granted, and 1 more as chapter 1 was concluded successfully.
Xp´s granted : 2
Xp Total: 3
They head towards the moon Cronos III at the edge of the system, flying slowly though an astoroid field when they are hailed. " Unidentified Vessel, identify yourself" . The Pilot Ian identifies his vessel, The Saint Patrick. As soon as the name is mentioned he sees the telltale evidence of missiles being fired from a hidden vessel .
The fighter sweeps closer, firing said missiles. The missiles strike the Saint Patrick which have taken evasive action but luckily only a shaken result and Ian easily succeeds on his piloting roll avoiding critical damage. Captain McFadden orders The Saint Patrick to sweep closer to the enemy fighter and orders Dean Artz, the gunner, to fire the green stapping energy weapon. He hits with a raise, destroying the vessel in one hit!!!!
First an assasination on the star merchant Marcus Weir followed by the assasination of the ex-NNL admiral Calvos Guth. They got away with the cargo, a painting, and then all of a sudden they are attacked in the Nyx-system, the plot thickens..
They come to Cronos III, a barren rock of little value. Not seeing a space port they linger in orbit. They are hailed once more, this time from the planet and lights are seen in a huge crater. They fly down and set down in a hanger. They are met with an official which welcomes them to the mining outpost of Berra, Tram corporation owned, on the moon of Cronos III. The official, Mr. Armitage, offers to help them toward their destination, the man Urth Meier. They are told he is Provost of StarMed 1, a medical station on sub level 3. Thanking him they pay the docking fee and enters the mining city. Lots of habs, bars and a constant droning of underground machinery fills the caverns with noise. They use a service elavator to get to sub level 3. Not quite finished the sub level is mostly a ghost town with half finished habs, machinery and little else.
They find a map and make their way toward StarMed 1. Suddenly workers block their way. The leader, a tattoed woman, begins threatening them. She tells them they are outnumbered (8 workers with heavy steel pibes) and should not have gone this way. They tell her to get the f... out of their way and tries to persuade the workers to leave (only a success) and she tells them to leave the Painting behind, then they can leave unharmed. (How does she know of the painting??) They refuse and battle begins. The woman scream" kill them, kill them fast " and fires rounds of ammo through her wrist, cybernetic implant surely. The workers moves forward attacking at random. Our party swiftly pulls out their flechette weapons and returns fire. A worker is injured, but when Dean Artz enters the fray this changes!!! He kills 2 workers with gunshots and sabre. 2 more go down next round and the rest flee!!! The woman, ex-mercenary is shot through the neck by.... no other than Dean Artz... They quickly leave the area, unfortunately with more questions at hand as no survivors can be questioned. The shoot first ask questions later approach seems to be the order of the day.
Coming to StarMed 1 . They are shown though the doors of the shiny white plastic building. They are met by a younger doctor. They ask for Urth Meier and are told that the provost is busy, too busy for them. When they mention the painting she leaves, asking them to wait. Through a couple of doors an elderly man enters, wearing blood sprayed apron and bloody cloves. His apron have sleeves full of surgical equipment and they too are bloody.
He politely introduces himself as Doctor Meier and thanks them for their assistance. They are given cash, 40.000 credits. Glad to leave the doctor and his possible connection to Dietz-Holz behind they turn to leave. Then the doctor stops them, he turns to Captain McFadden (greedy hindrance) and asks if he will be willing to one more job?? An easy one?? 10.000 credits to take a package to Nyx prime in 2 days?? A small trip only 2 days???.
The Captain agrees.
Half way through the session we bagan a debate as it dawned upon me that their are very scattered in view of their roles on the ship. Is it an employer/employee relationship or more friendly with them being a group working together to gain fame among the stars. The last party was a bit too different and had a lot of pc versus pc rivalry. That was fun too but perhaps they would work together better, if they knew their roles.
Andre-He had the Employer/employee role in mind and had tried to get claus, playing the captain, excuses to give him orders.
Peter and Claus- They are playing brothers and has a lot of banter between them, and saw Dean in a more friendly way.
After some discussion they decided the following (cut short). They have been on the ship for perhaps a year. The have all their reasons for being on the ship but have come to value each others skills. They are working for a cut of the profit, no profit no money.
It helped them/me to understand the group dynamic and at once it helped the gameplay. It took some time but was well worth it!!!!!
Once again we had some setbacks. Getting to play a bit later, some interruptions and the debate. We ended strong though with great fun in the combat and some good roleplay when the doctor was encountered. I am not easy to please and like my games to be run smooth and fun. To much of anything not RPG relevant distracts our attention and cuts down on roleplaying and time played, 1 xp granted, and 1 more as chapter 1 was concluded successfully.
Xp´s granted : 2
Xp Total: 3