[01] Boarding Party

[tibbius]

Rhisza brings the ship deftly into position against the pressure hull of the space installation. The nameless Bilk captain of the ship rests a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Well played," she says. Her touch is unsettling. "I have a bad feeling about this ..." she mutters. "Oh well. Let's deploy the void-cube and get moving."

You are members of the revolutionary Greenface Movement. The organization has equipped you with a Striker-class ship and some xenotech.

The xenotech includes a stun-launcher and a void-cube. The stunlauncher is a silver stick surrounded by spirally rings, which is supposed to fire a pink and white sparkling projectile that stuns everyone Close or Near to it. The pass-cube is a smooth black cube with one roughened side and a dent on the opposite side. When activated by rubbing the dent and placing the roughened side against some solid material, the cube is supposed to nullify a moderate-size region of the material that it contacts. After some time that region of material will totally vanish along with the cube.

You are supposed to use the void-cube to breach the pressure hull of the space installation from the docking bay of your ship, then enter the installation and rescue a potential resetnik who's a member of your movement. He's accused of some heinous acts that are not consistent with his reputation in the movement. He has a lot of institutional knowledge that will be lost if he's Reset. Your mission is to extract him and deliver him to a distant planet where he'll rendezvous with another Movement detachment.

The Reset will be guarded by armed security. You anticipate violence.

You have just opened the airlock of your Striker class ship and activated your pass-cube on the wall of a pressure corridor outside the Reset viewing area. You are wearing custodial overalls and the Movement’s green gauze masks, you are armed with light blast pistols or your weapon of choice, and
you are about to rush through the corridor and invade the viewing area to rescue and evacuate your comrade.

Before entering the viewing area, you are supposed to fire your stun-launcher into the room. As soon as you contact your comrade you are supposed to make a fighting retreat to the ship and flee. The ship’s captain, a Bilk, remains onboard.

The pressure hull flickers and a big section fades to apparent nothingness. Beyond it you can see the pressure corridor and an ornate portal that might be the entrance to the Reset ceremony room. Two Salimar in maintenance overalls like your own are carrying some kind of heavy component along the corridor. They have just turned to stare wide-mouthed at the vanished section of pressure hull.

What do you do?

[NJWilliam]

Alex

Gambling that the maintenance workers aren’t fighters and aren’t in position to move very quickly, Alex points his blaster at them, raises his left index finger to his lips to indicate silence, and says ”Don’t move.”

[soypunk]

Anen steps over from the ship into the installation. He scans around the area making a mental list of entrances, exits, hallways, and corners that might spawn a surprise or two. He quickly glances up at the ceiling to looking for any obvious signs of security cameras or sensors. He then sharply turns his head to face one of the Salimars and asks in a hush voice "Where's that portal lead to?"

[ybn1197]

Moving into the room, Rhisza glances the Salimar in the maintenance suits. Please brothers, we are not here to cause you any grief. Please, tell us where that portal lead to."

Trying to convince them to cooperate without violence: Rhisza: Charismatic: [1d6] = 6 [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 3

[tibbius]

The two maintenance workers, confronted by blasters and smooth talk, are confused. They raise their hands and drop their load, which clangs and clatters on the hard floor of the pressure corridor. "Don't shoot" one of them squeak-hisses. The other says, "That's the Reset room there, buddy." Their tongues flicker anxiously and the scales around their eyes flare bright pink in time with their suddenly rapid pulses.

[NJWilliam]

Alex

Alex lowers his blaster and steps to the other side of the maintenance workers, taking a look at what they dropped as he does so.

“Who, and how many, are in that reset room?”

Not certain if Alex’s charismatic trait applies here.

[soypunk]

Anen steps back towards the maintenance workers and inspects what they dropped on the floor.

[tibbius]

Neither Alex nor Anen knows much about Engineering - so you don't have much luck identifying the two Salimars' load. Maybe an oxygen generator component? It looks fragile and not like something that should have been dropped.

"I ... don't ... know ... how many," says the more anxious-looking Salimar. "A couple dozen maybe?"

"What's going on out he -" interrupts a woman dressed in an obvious security uniform and wearing a blast pistol at her hip, as she steps through the portal. She grabs for the pistol.

Roll initiative with Advantage (roll 3, take higher two) because you already have your guns out. The security have a fixed number of 9.

[soypunk]

Anen's Initiative Roll (w/ Advantage) [1d6] = 2 [1d6] = 3 [1d6] = 3

[NJWilliam]

Alex initiative: [_3d6c1] = (2+3)=5

Would quick gun give Alex another die roll? It says three dice, not “advantage”: Quick Gun: Fastest gun around. When rolling initiative, you roll 3 dice and take the 2 highest for your Initiative score. Your first Ranged Attack of the combat has Advantage.

[ybn1197]

Rhisza Initiative (w/ advantage): [1d6] = 6 [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 3

[tibbius]

Initiative: Rhisza; Security; Alex; Anen.

The security guard blinks as she draws her blaster, a fraction of a second as she hesitates considering what to do.

Rhisza has that moment to act.

Potential Actions: Attack (security guard?), Cover (describe it), Evade, Focus, Move, Suppressing Fire (doorway?), Test Other

[ybn1197]

Holding his laser pistol on the guard, Rhisza calmly says "You mean you no harm. Put down your weapon. We clearly have you outnumbered and we are not afraid to use force IF need be but we would rather not. No one has to get hurt here. Just put your weapon down and this will be quickly over and you can go about your business unharmed."

Charisma: [1d6] = 5 [1d6] = 6 [1d6] = 2

[tibbius]

Timidly, with her hand slightly shaking, the woman squats and places her pistol on the deck. She shoves it toward Rhisza. It spins about halfway across the twenty feet between them and comes to rest.

Two men wearing uniforms like the woman's step around the corner of the portal. One of them holds a commlink. They wear blasters on their belts. They stop when they see the three of you and their comrade, who now has one knee down on the deck.

The guards will act after all of you take your first actions. Rhisza already tested Charismatic. What do Alex and Anen do? - Also, who's holding the stun-launcher?

[NJWilliam]

Alex

Alex levels his blaster at the two uniformed men.

In a calm, and hopefully commanding voice, he says “Hands up. Drop the comm.”

charismatic check: [1d6] = 3, [1d6] = 4, [1d6] = 5

[soypunk]

Anen

Anen raises the stun-launcher and Focuses it on the man holding the commlink.

[tibbius]

The guy with the commlink hastily drops it and raises his hands. His companion also complies. The woman kneeling on the deck scoots back to a position between the two of them, presenting a triptych of fright. Meanwhile the two maintenance workers have been edging away along the wall as your focus was turned to the security guards.

The uniformed woman speaks with a slightly shaky voice. "We don't want any trouble, sirs. Just doing our jobs. Reckon you mean to interfere with the Reset?"

What do you do?

[tibbius]

The three human security guards and the two Salimar maintenance workers look pretty anxious about the idea of going aboard your ship through the transparent section of the pressure hull where the void cube hums. "Could ... uh we just ... uh?" asks one of the human males incoherently. The Salimar squeak at each other; Rhisza deciphers "Oh shit."

You have an impasse and time is flowing away. Pretty soon someone else is sure to come along the pressure corridor, and somewhere there's somebody viewing or ignoring a surveillance feed, who knows which? What do you do?

[ybn1197]

Once the prisoners are secured, Rhisza hurriedly heads back towards the Reset room.

[NJWilliam]

Alex

Alex makes sure the “prisoners” are between he and the entrance to the ship, and urges them forward, “Quickly, do as we say and none will be harmed.”