Who Needs Paddles!

Previous Session: Striking Out

They all walk out to the common area outside. They're without the soldiers now, so they can pretty much go wherever - it would seem that Viktor trusts them about as much as he trusts anyone - though he still doesn't think they'll survive.

Snaps the Muscle and Lucky the Scoundrel head out into the jungle in the borrowed rover. They've gotten the route and last known location of Samara and her escort so they'll head out that way and then get a bead on the signal when they're in range. Samara was originally heading to some old ruins far out to the NNW, but it doesn't look like they got there.

They get one more look at the claw marks and surrounding scorch marks on the gates. On second thoughts they think this is less of an abortive attack and more like something marking its territory.

Bevan, the Mystic heads back to the shuttle where Zerocs, their pilot (callsign: Falcon) is waiting. He opens the shuttle bay doors for Bevan after he gets the call. They're going to stay above the interference signals everything on this planet seems to emit and try to triangulate the signal with the rover team.

The road is overgrown, but on closer examination is just a track, not even dirt but flattened and burnt growth on top of tangled briars. It's humid and dark with the canopy overhead.

Zerocs and Bevan fly out over the jungle, heading towards the ruins. Zerocs scans the jungle with his infra-red sights, while Bevan attunes to the presence he feels below, though they attract the attention of something dangerous as they fly lower. Bevan climbs out the hatch, firmly fastening himself with a safety harness - he'll suppress the hell out of anything that threatens them with a heavy blaster.

He gets a sense of being surrounded by something all-encompassing, like a mist. It's like the whole jungle is one organism, and the individual creatures inside it just serve the jungle's will.

***

Falcon gets a ping from the tracker and it suggests they're heading in the right direction at least. They do a long looping circuit, to see if they can get another ping from a different angle and get a firm location on Samara.

They zoom past a hill, and Bevan has a strange feeling - like they're a pebble dropped into a pond and that the circles are rushing out to the rest of the jungle; and that the jungle is pushing back. No movement or pattern to it, just a general awakening. They feel a subwoofer-like hum underneath them.

Something that's felt much more urgently below by Snaps & Lucky. Lucky drives the rover as far as he's able, but soon they've come to the end of the easily traversable track; and while, if they just followed what seems like SOP down here they'd just burn the jungle, they feel like that might not be the best course of action.

They stop and try the signal again - they get a clear reading and when they talk to the guys up top they get the triangulation sorted out. They spill out of the rover, and pack their stuff. They're about a klick away from Samara's signal.

They'll continue down the rough track for a half a klick and then cut cross-country. Snaps checks that Lucky is ok for water and finds the canteen is full of rough hooch! She pours it out and gives him a spare of her water.

-You ready for this?
-As ready a I'll ever be!
-So, that's a 'no'? Well...everyone remember where we parked.

It's very subtle, but as they move they realise that they're being stalked. Whatever's out there is effortlessly keeping their distance. They move quicker through the jungle but the encircling things keep pace, although they keep their distance.

They come to an open area, in the center of it is a small stone hut (which looks to be similar in material/design from those ruins to the NW). The shuttle passes overhead and as they advance the door opens and Samara pokes her head out

-Get off the ground! Are you crazy!

Above, Bevan soothes the jungle back into a calm slumber and a few giant manta ray-like aliens come out of the jungle (they can't possibly be flying through the trees, they're over 6m wide). Bevan's shocked by how large the mind he's feeling out is - it's almost too big to complemplate.

Lucky & Snaps spot a human body on the other side of the clearing, but discretion is the better part of valour and they rush into the doorway, and Samara barricades it shut.

**

Samara

Inside, Samara quickly explains the body outside - it's Olun, who was just killed as he tried to escape a half hour ago. The rest of the story is quick to relay in broad strokes

-She had a lead on an UR artefact in the ruins to the northwest
-that ruin had been long picked clean by other scavengers and they cast around for another
-when they veered in this direction on the way back their rover crashed and they scrambled here, only 3 of them made it
-this is just the tip of the local ruins, and there's an overgrown complex underneath

She's worried about them, they should never have come here and will be trapped here forever with her, unless they have an army nearby
Lucky glances at Snaps
-She's your army sister.
Snaps grins in anticipation, checking outside for a way out of here.

Bevan's working to spook the jungle's IFF, make it seem like those on the ground are just a natural part of it. Maybe it'll buy them some time. Zerocs is formulating a flight-plan to lower a cargo net to allow them all to climb aboard without spending much time on the hostile ground outside the hut.

Bevan realises that this mind is more like a god's - powerful and intricate. He can sense only a facet of it. It can't be fooled, but is amused by their antics. So long as they don't pose a serious threat, it will give them what he asks for.

*

The cargo net is lowered and the three on the ground clamber up to climb onto it. And all hell breaks loose. The manta-rays appear in strength and now from this angle they can see the underside of them is claws and teeth - they climb along the trees, they don't fly.

Snaps triggers the circle of grenades she set up in preparation for their escape and it catches a few of them, tearing them asunder, but one of the grenades bounces into one of the creatures and back towards them and the shockwave is too close to the net and they all spill out and onto the ground!

They run for it. Initially they make a bee-line for where the rover is parked, but then Lucky maps out a route - taking advantage of the fact that the aliens climb trees to go through areas with low scrub and smaller trees. Snaps holds up the rear to cover them but they make it to the rover without too much trouble. A bunch of the creatures try to swarm them and Snaps takes out Zara, her detonator launcher, and forces them back.

They leap aboard and drive away, as quickly as they dare. That sub-woofer thump returns. As they drive away, with the shuttle a couple of hundred meters up they see a wave or ripple underground moving towards them fast.

Zerocs opens a channel to the Firedrake in orbit and does the telemetry on the shot from her particle cannons. It's risky, but on urging from Snaps & Lucky he takes the shot, caving in the layers in the ground that whatever-it-is was using to follow them. The impact and the collapses causes it to take a detour and by the time it's back on their trail they've made it to the basecamp.

Snaps reminds Viktor that they still want that targeting computer for the Firedrake! The shuttle lands and brings them all back to the ship. Samara just wants to head home - despite the fact that she and Viktor are lovers (without Vorex's knowledge)

Striking Out

The crew of the Firedrake are casting around for somewhere to make their mark. There's a lot of general disagreement or uncertainty about how they can strike at the Hegemony. Snaps (Brell Veers, a Muscle) has heard a rumour that Vorex's sister recently went missing - apparently abducted by some group from the Hegemony. Giving them a bloody nose will be a bonus if they can get into the good graces of the most powerful information broker in the sector. (Also, Snaps doesn't really care for people abducting innocents to lean on their relatives)

Legend (Greeg Ursis, a Speaker) checks in with Arryn his noble friend for some help on getting an introduction with Vorex, maybe to set up a contract. Lucky (Yola Zer, a Scoundrel) gives Ora, an information broker a shout - she in fact works with Vorex so she'll definitely have some insight on his methods.

They contemplate whether to go to Vorex and ask to get the job to rescue her, but they agree that they might just get shut out (as well as wasting valuable time). They cast around for some information on Samara and her abduction.
There are a few theories floating around; that they kidnapped her to keep him in check, or that a secretive cult did it to keep him away from something. People are pretty much agreed on one thing though, she's a bit of an unknown, and while she helps him out she's not a front, or the power behind the throne, and she doesn't have any enemies.

There's some back-and-forth as they track Samara's last known location. Battro & Chonzek (Snaps' & Lucky's bounty hunter friends are useful here). Data searches, trackers and facial recognition are all coming up blank. She's completely off-line now so either she's on a closed off system or has been shut out.

She was last seen heading to the Cove, a pirate and smuggling sprawl of old ships, stations and containers in the middle of nowhere. But it'd be rare for a criminal element to abuse the safety of Cove for this kind of thing - they have a pretty strict rule on not shitting where they eat where the Cove is concerned.

They get a lead, a connection with the Janus Syndicate, who deal in strange and specialised weaponry. Apparently, Samara and Viktor Bax (the head of the Syndicate) met in Cove and then his ship went back to his base on Aketi in the Brekk system.

*

Aketi is a flesh-eating hell-hole of a planet though. Neither Battro nor Chonzek will help them out there. Too many horror stories. Shod, Snaps' weapons dealer will help them out. He can get them a meet with the Syndicate - they need armaments right?

They leave the Firedrake in orbit, and take the shuttle down planetside. On the narrow trail to the base, they're met by almost a dozen of the Syndicate's soldiers. It's not an ambush, but they're strong-arming the crew to the meeting. Not ideal, but they can work with it.

Snaps starts to eye them up, assess their professionalism, and she starts bantering with them, and complaining to Lucky about his parking. Legend sees what they're up to, and by the end of the journey the weapons have lowered and they're on casual terms with the escorting soldiers.

The base is more like a military compound. High 20m walls with nothing outside them. The gateway has deep clawmarks in it; that's worrying to say the least. They're brought through and into a building where they meet an older big barrel-chested guy (who must be Viktor).

He dismisses the guards (very confident of himself) and yet is incredulous when they tell him that they're looking for a targeting computer for their ship's particle cannons. He insists that they tell him who sent them.

Snaps turns on him, not threatening per se, but definitely throwing her weight around. She demands that he tell them where Samara is, cause they know he's hiding her. He's shocked and caves in, though he wonders if Vorex sent them.

She's curious why he's concerned, and he just doesn't want Vorex to hold him responsible for her fate. She insisted that he set her up on an expedition into the wilderness beyond the compound, despite all his advice.

She's missing (though definitely still alive, from the signals he's getting) and her escorts are dead. The signals on her tracker aren't strong enough (or there's interference from the jungle canopy) to give them a good reading of where she is; but some cross-country driving and triangulation would sort that out.

He'll provide them with transport and a tracking device, but on the condition that Vorex doesn't learn of his involvement in this...

Next Session: Who Needs Paddles?

The Behemoth

The crew are on a huge transport ship, flying through space at faster-than-light. There are gates, created through lanes, that are used to jump between systems. But there are a number of behemoths that are sent on a regular basis, vast ships that do not fit through the lanes, and carry personnel, raw materials and equipment (it’s also cheaper, if time is not of an essence). The various cargo holds have ships, giant machinery that requires production methods that aren’t available in the outer systems, and innumerable other cargo. Gates cannot be transported through gates, so each transport usually carries a couple of them for newly discovered lanes (a super super carrier, loaded with thousands of containers and cargo holds, and live cargo, i.e. humans, mostly humans that is.)

And people. Staff, crew, workers, refugees, emigrants, prisoners, outcasts, and exiles. They belong to the last group. They were convicted of a crime that carried the punishment of permanent exile. They are not allowed to come back to the central systems of the Hegemony. They are expected to live, serve, and die in the outer rim. Because cheap, servient labour is needed. To pay taxes and serve the empire. And for them to stay out of its way. As they are not from the central home worlds, they are not as sophisticated or advanced a species as the Hegemony. They are all humans, but some are more human than others.

There are several prisons on this ship, and a super-max isolation ward. And there is the low-security jail, where they are housed. 6-12 inmates per room. Proper prisoners will become indentured or imprisoned at work factories. Inmates like yourselves, will be let loose in the system, with a small amount of cash to get you started. The jail has about 3000 inmates. All of them staff the jail, cleaning, kitchen duties, etc. In addition, the inmates are pulled into various jobs running the ship. Maintenance of cargo, engine rooms, life support, kitchens, etc. If one wishes, they can sign up for available jobs at your destination while on the “Megalith” and get to learn your future trade on the way to the colonies. The huge training facility will help you learn anything you want, for a cost or a bribe. And prices are expensive, so you can always take a loan if you can’t afford it! There are factory workshops, libraries, simulators. Almost anything you need, if you can get access.

The jail is a small town in its own right, and everyone has free rein of its interior. Sometimes people get to go into the actual ship for jobs and errands, but they spend most of your time there. And obviously, constellations, crews and gangs form and vie for supremacy.  All of them are preparing for the Arrival. If they are not in training for a specific job, they have plenty of leisure time, reading, playing games, sports, tournaments, fights, etc. There is a small black market on the ship, mostly convenience stuff, and lighter drugs. Most of the houses, guilds and cults have a presence on these floating city behemoths. Some cults are against gate jumping, so they are usually passengers on one of these transports.

Bevan Taar 
A Mystic - A Galactic Wanderer

Look: Tall, soft skinned. Well groomed luscious beard. Looks trustworthy & smells nice. Wears a hat, spectacles, and suit
Heritage: Wanderer - Travelling the void searching for the truth (the secret!)
Has been hitching rides whatever way he can
Background: Academic - Adheres to a minority sect that has been outlawed.
Vice: Luxury!

Bevan is an expert in The Way & Psy-Dancing

He was jailed for some reason he's never shared, even in 18 months aboard the Behemoth.

Greeg "Legend" Ursis
A Speaker - A Well-Spoken Respectable Person

Look:
Heritage: Imperial Administrator
Background: Guilder, with interests in several drone corporations
Vice: Visiting connections and party with them

Legend has an Air of Respectability

His most respected contact is Arryn, a noble
His erstwhile friend, now rival is Je-Zee, a diplomat, who Legend suspects made a deal to have in arrested in the first place for his benefit.

He was supposed to be executed for high crimes against the Hegemony, but used all of his considerable influence to have the sentence commuted to mere exile.

Yola "Lucky" Zer
A Scoundrel - A Scrappy Survivor with more Luck than Brains

Look: Scruffy and carelessly cool
Heritage: Wanderer / trade ships
Background: Syndicate / fixer (but like, a casual sort of fixer for a local Syndicate, not a big-time mover or shaker)
Vice: Gambling - Extreme Sports and Fun

Lucky has a knack for Serendipity but Never Tell Him the Odds

His bestest buddy is Ora, an information broker
His frenemy is Rin, a smuggler

He is in the slammer because he got caught during a sting operation on a magistrate who needed to be leant on. Some crazy marine shot them up and Rin (who was also on that job) blamed Lucky for everything going wrong.


Brell "Snaps" Veers
A Muscle - A Badass with any Weapon

Look: Tall woman (like Amazonian), wears bomber jacket of local space racing team 'Titans'
Heritage: Imperial  / Mother is an out-of-favour Justiciar from core systems
Background: Military / Security (ie Military Police)
Vice: - Pleasure / Nightfall Theatre Troupe (so he'll have to cast around for something like this in their new surroundings, but on prison ship, this'll be catching old holovids, relating past experience to the more cultured on board, or just daydreaming)

Snaps is Unstoppable & Ready for Anything

Her closest friend outside the crew is Aya, an assassin
Her erstwhile friend/rival is Yazu, a crooked cop

She was jailed because she didn't take bribes and look the other way when a local crime syndicate were hitting an Imperial magistrate who wasn't staying bribed. She single-handedly spoiled their whole attack, killing several of them, but the powers-that-be trumped up charges re. destruction of public property.

***

The Firedrake

'The Firedrake' is what the crew call their heavy Khanjigar-class Corvette (official Hegemony designation CCH-1201 Karambit).

They've maxed out the Comms ratings aboard, relying on their friends in Vigilance to get the proper upgrades installed.

The Wreckers were a little upset at them for them getting their hands on a few Fake Transponders, they smoothed things over a bit, but things are awkward.

The Ghosts helped them set up their Secret Base - it's a long-abandoned and picked clean Hegemony Super Carrier.

Their favourite contact is Garin, a Guild Weapons Engineers; the Echo Wave Riders are particularly friendly with him but the Mendicants despise him.

They are Forged in Fire, toughened by the cruel experience of months together in jail.