Crew (PCs)
- Pilot Trigger (Owen – Serran)
- Security Officer Uggh Ubora (Mike – Yeti)
- Science Officer Emo (Steve – Deader)
- Medical Officer Ssanjan “Sam” (Ben – Saurian)
- Engineer Nolan Brilliant (Alex – Human)
- Psionicist Ferris (Mike – Serran)
Others (NPCs)
- Colonel Jaeger, Charter Head for Space Station JC701
The crew departs the Opportunity to search for necessary parts to get the ship operational. Dr. Sam is able to work with Nolan to modify a cryo tube so that Colonel Jaeger would have a chance at two extra weeks for surviving the time it will take to get back to the starbase. The crew then scavanges the ship for anything useful and find binoculars, a scope, a sensor suite and something else. They also take some tools in case they need to unhook the equipment.
Emo uses the sensor to make sure they are not surprised by anyone, unfortunately, he was looking for lifeforms and missed the sentry robots. He was able to read the Rigelian writing on the generator and elevators though. Uggh and Trigger spotted the sentry robots just in time though. The sentries were not interested in discussion and started firing right away. Uggh ran ahead and took the brunt of the fire while cooler heads remained behind.
Trigger was able to use his mini computer to hack into the mining stations net and shut the sentry robots down. Emo coldly dispatched the sentries ensuring they would not be reactivated later. Triggr was also able to pull up a live feed of the mining station underground and found where the replacement equipment was located and also found four Rigelian Slavers with six humanoid slaves working the mines. Some of the slaves had what was left of JumpCorp uniforms on. Others appeared to be colonists. One was a Serran female. This becomes important later.
After healing up, the crew, seeing the slavers distracted and deafened by the noise of the mining equipment on the other side of the station, decided to use the elevator and head down. Sam stealthily sneaks off, the others don’t bother, Emo tries to be stealthy but fails as he gives away Sam’s position. Uggh once again runs ahead and triggers the war robots to activate. They attack. It’s not pretty. Uggh is killed (critical fail on the incapacitation table). Sam is seriously injured. Luckily Trigger is still hacked into the mining station and is able to shut down the bots. Sam heroicly loots Uggh’s body.
They find the only way to get the equipment out of the mining facility is through the loading dock doors and the transport vehicles will make it easier to get back to the ship. The three crew burst into the loading dock and kill off three Rigelians, while Mike’s new character, the female Serran named Ferris critically fails her roll to crush the chains in the mining equipment and gets the chain caught in one of the transport trucks…the one the last Rigelian decides to use to make good his escape…dragging six slaves with him if necessary. Mike luckily gets his action before the Rigelian and is able to dislodge the change in time to not die twice in a single game!
The crew take the slaves and the equipment back to the Opportunity where Nolan can attempt to repair the ship and get them back to the station in time to save Colonel Jaeger’s life…again!
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Ferris (backstory)
Born on the home world of Serra in the Sima Scorpii system, Ferris was one of many that developed a strong psychic ability. She began her training within the gardens of her home world but much to her dismay that training was cut short. Her father was now a disgraced governmental official and needed to leave the planet. Because of this and the fact that Ferris was learning to grow her psychic talent they needed to find a remote planet with a colony of their own kind.
They were able to find such a colony somewhat hidden by the long shadow of a nearby insectoid hive colony. Ferris’ family timed their arrival to just after the latest raid by the hive colony. They were able to integrate and make friends before the next raid. Ferris adjusted to a hectic life but was pleased with herself since she had to now train herself and grow her psychic talent. She used her ability to increase her skills and extrapolated new abilities from what she learned. During her many excursions into the local caves she was able to produce the ability to see in the dark as she got deeper into the caves. Of course these excursions lead to another breakthrough in her training. She went deep enough and ran into creatures that she had never seen before. In her fear, she manifested a burst of energy that wiped out the few creatures she had come across. She ran and hid after what she had done. She thought that even among her own kind that kind of violence would be looked down upon. At some point she passed out. When she awoke she was in shackles with several beings from around the galaxy and she was being yelled at by an instectoid. She had no idea what he was saying but she knew that her life of freedom was over.
A few weeks later she arrived at a hot arid planet to mine and scavenge for her new masters. They worked her long and hard hours. So she was unable to get the rest she needed to use her new abilities to break free. As the days blurred together she lost track of how long she had been on the planet by the time the strangers had arrived. She had looked on as the ship crashed but she didn’t seem to care. Just more slaves to be added to the chain. Of course if any of them survived.
Ferris was shocked when she started to hear the noise of laser fire. She was sure that she also heard the roar of a yeti (which is odd on such a planet). But as the combat came closer she could believe her eyes! They were being rescued!! She tried to help but in her exhaustion she got the chain caught up in the slavers vehicle next to her. She composed herself as the adrenaline rose and she got the chain untangled as the last insectoid speed off.
This was a strange crew and even stranger still was that they all deeply mourned the yeti that was slain. Especially their leader. This may be a crew she would like to be a part of if they will have her…
Journal of Science Office Emo of JumpCorp
Frame of Reference: 2
Note: The reference to “day” was removed from my journal as it was an irrelevant reflection on a time period that only exists artificially. Journal entries will now be tag with a “Frame of Reference” number to insure they are read chronologically without the inference to a specific flow of time.
As I mentioned in my last entry the colonel was badly damaged in the crash landing on the mining planet. I was, of course, chosen to take command. I immediately organized an away team to search out the much needed supplies. Foremost amongst those supplies was a beryllium sphere needed to get the ship’s systems back online. I would lead the away team. Our head engineer, Mr. Brilliant, would stay behind and watch over the ship and colonel.
I sent Trigger to scout ahead, thinking this easy task would help build his confidence after his disastrous display of piloting skills that brought us crashing onto the planet’s surface. This did not go as planned. We were ambushed by a cluster of construct guardians. It looked as if we would lose Security Officer Uggh, but my quick thinking saved the day. I ordered Trigger to hack into their computer systems and shut down the aggressive constructs. This worked perfectly. Trigger should also be congratulated for his fine work executing my orders.
Entering into the mining complex we proceeded with utmost caution and stealth. Security Officer Uggh wandered off along. Once again we were ambushed. Security Officer Uggh was killed in the exchange. Dr. Sam was also badly injured. Trigger used the same trick as before and shut down the constructs. I was able to save Dr. Sam’s life using my rarely used, yet exemplary, healing skills.
I tracked down the beryllium sphere and discovered that JumpCorp personnel were being held by Rigelian slavers. I formulated a plan to ambulate the sphere and to save the JumpCorp personnel.
It was a heated battle fighting our way to the ground transportation I spotted in the mining area. One of the JumpCorp personnel showed particular ingenuity and helped us tremendously in freeing the captives. Even at the risk of her own life. I would recommend that JumpCorp employee Farris (Emp. # 376d837d0f82300-d898d0–df3) be permanently assigned to this command.
I think my first command went superbly well. The mission was accomplished with acceptable losses, JumpCorp personnel were freed from their Rigelian captors, and new member was added to our team.
I’m beginning to think a planetary lab would be too boring for my obvious talents here on the frontier.
Two great posts! I’m anxious to see what Trigger posts since he “reports everything”. :)
Personal log, Trigger, Pilot.
Well, I’ve finally gotten round to entering my first personal log since leaving the Academy. Couldn’t face it until now… I felt like I let myself and, more importantly, the Colonel down. How could I have gotten my Astrogation calculations wrong? I have done it thousands of times during training! And then there was the explosion, crash landing, and Colonel Jaegers injuries. Fortunately my initial thoughts on our medic, Ssanjan, were incorrect. He didn’t seem that bothered to help the injured after the explosion at the Academy, but he certainly showed his skills in stabilizing the colonel. He has certainly warranted a second chance.
I did get to thinking though. What if I hadn’t gotten my calculations wrong? What if we had arrived at the station on time? The bomb could have gone off while we were docked! Many lives could have been lost. Did it work on a timer, or was it triggered manually? I’ll ask the Security Office what his investigations have uncovered… Oh, I… I…(slight catch in my throat), It really has been a bad day. A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Science Officer Emo… With the Colonel out of action, he took over command. I had no issue with this. He seemed a solid chap at the Academy. But no. This man.. this Deader.. should not be a captain, or in any other supervisor position. His first thought should be the safety of his crew. I don’t believe this was ever in his thoughts, let along second, third or hundredth.
The ship was badly damaged, and our Engineer, Nolan, says we need some parts to repair the Hyperdrive. He has shown himself to be very competent, so I do not doubt his diagnosis. He has a bright future in JumpCorp.
We have crashed landed not too far away from what we thought was an old mining outpost. It turned out to be an operational Rigelian mining outpost. Nolan remained with the ship to continue repairs. As the rest of us approached the outpost, we were attacked by some sentry robots. I was able to hack into the system and shut them down, but not before Uggh took a lot of fire. He is.. sorry (sniff).. was.. a bit of a hot head – couldn’t wait to get into the action. I thought at the time that the acting captain should have spoken to him, to tell him to stick with the team, but he didn’t. I wanted to take one of the robots back to the ship for Nolan to study, but Emo ordered us to destroy them all. He doesn’t see the big picture.
I was able to access the internal scanners. I identified the parts we needed, and also some Rigelian Slavers that were watching over several humanoid slaves. We headed down the elevators. Without a skilled leader, we didn’t have a proper plan and split up. This lack of leadership from Emo directly lead to the death of Uggh. Our security officer found himself alone in a corridor, when two sentry robots activated and shot him dead. I am still connected to the system, so I can shut them down. Emo is not phased by the death of a man (Yeti) under his command. In fact he even seemed pleased. This got me thinking… There had been some friction between the two. Uggh had trouble saying Emo’s name – it was beginning to annoy Emo a lot. I guess I will never know if Uggh couldn’t help it, or if it was joke. If it was a joke, it was an hilarious one! We’ll miss you big man. I will keep an eye on our Science Officer.
We secured the equipment we needed for the hyperdrive repairs, but it was too big to take out the way we came in. We had to use the loading docks, which means going though the slavers.
Emo’s poor decision making continued, but he does (at least sometimes) listen to reason. He drew up a plan for us to split up and attack the slavers from two directions – there are only three of us!!?? Thankfully I was able to talk him out of it and we all charged in through the north door. After a brief exchange of fire, all but one of the Rigelians are down. The last one makes an escape in a transport truck. It is during his escape I notice that one of the slaves is a fellow Serran!
Her name turns out to be Ferris. I, of course, have only known her for a few hours, but she seems a smart and resourceful woman. Despite being obviously fatigued and abused by her captors, she made an attempt to escape so that she could help us – although the attempt itself almost killed her. She obviously does not have the skills to join JumpCorp. I think it is worth asking her to stay with us for a short while. If she proves herself, perhaps she could enroll at the Academy. I will discuss the matter with Colonel Jaeger when she has recovered.
Oh – sounds like Nolan has completed the hyperdrive repair. I am needed on the bridge.
End personal log.
Really enjoyed both Ferris & Trigger’s logs.
Mike B.: “deeply mourned the yeti”? Which character was that again?
Owen: I laughed. I cried. :)