I brought my polystyrene caverns out of the loft last weekend and Number 2 Son requested that we play a game in them. He jumped at the chance to find out what happens in the next adventure of the crew of the Power Cruiser, and liked the sound of a salvage job exploring the mysterious tunnels...
Pre-game sequence
The crew pay their upkeep of 1 credit for food and lodging. They still owe 21 credits on the Power Cruiser, they pay off 10 but 1 interest is due, so the remaining debt is 12 credits. The crew also decide to spend an extra 4 credits on additional medical care for Dennio. He won't be able to do anything for a few hours (can't be assigned a crew task), but at least he'll be able to join the crew on their next mission.
Arel and Larry are wary of the various rivals pursuing them, so head out to lay a few false trails as a decoy. Eandyne tries a little trading and acquires a stimpack that should come in useful. Gordi trains with her infantry laser and blast pistol (+1XP). Hany explores and makes a contact who wants a package delivered offworld (the crew will earn 3 credits on delivery; roll a D6, 1-2 the crew will gain a new rival but earn a story point).
Turns out Arel and Larry wasted their time - none of the rivals even show up in town to find the false leads, but no-one is complaining about that.
The Power Cruiser's crew have heard about some old caves in the Iron Mountains, probably used by smugglers but rumoured to be abandoned now. There could be something useful in there, so they decide to investigate, see if there's any interesting or profitable salvage. Dennio still looks pretty rough, should he even be with them?
The Iron Mountains are so named for their high iron content, oxidation giving the rocks a reddish hue. There are rumoured to be several cave complexes in the mountain foothills where the air is thin but still breathable without a mask, natural formations that have been adapted and expanded by smugglers and other ne'er-do-wells. Far enough from the initial colony to have little chance of being disturbed, but close enough to make supply runs easy, they were the ideal base for anyone wanting to maintin a low profile. As the colony expanded and foragers into the surrounding wilderness became more common than was comfortable, many of the smugglers moved on, leaving their caves abandoned. Sometimes they left a few interesting items behind...
They split into 2 teams and start the next adventure.
The battle
Arel, Dennio and Larry set out for the what appears to be an old control centre in the main cavern near their entrance tunnel. Blank display screens reflect their handbeams back as they cautiously enter the cavern. Dust lies thick across the dead panels, but the floor shows signs of disturbance. Small animals seeking shelter, other treasure hunters, it's hard to tell what has made the tracks or how long ago. They proceed with caution.
Eandyne, Gordi and Hany come in through another tunnel, aiming for a small store room nearby. Their handbeams pick out some crates and other stores against the red rock walls.
Sensors have picked up 4 points of interest within the caves (green counters). There are also 4 salvage items (gold counters).
In the control centre, Arel makes an interesting find at their first objective. They'll examine it in more detail after they get back to the ship but for now, Arel just grabs the long, metallic object lying on the control panel and shoves it in his bag. Shortly afterwards, Hany Flemer locates the second item in the store room. It turns out to be a secure stoage box. Hany fiddles with the lock and manages to release it, revealing some useful ship parts (worth 4 credits off a ship upgrade). He marks the crate with a glow-patch to retrieve on their way out.
Contact! Gordi hears something down a side tunnel. She switches off her handbeam and listens carefully, slinging her infantry laser and stealthily drawing her blast pistol, which will be more use in this confined space. It's definitely footsteps approaching...
Out of the gloom appear Colonial Mlitia, armed with colony rifles - but what are they doing here? These caves are supposed to be abandoned.
Colonial Militia: Panic 1; Speed 4"; Combat +0; Toughness 3; AI Cautious
The militia seem surprised to see anyone in the tunnels and stand frozen as Gordi illuminates them. She fires her blast pistol at short range and stuns the lead militiaman. Eandyne moves up, takes a shot and misses. Hany peers round the corner and squeezes off a shot with his military rifle and the second militiaman slumps against the wall.
Arrel and Dennio move through the control centre. Hearing the sound of combat echoing through the tunnels, Larry splits off from their group, moving towards what looks like a connecting passageway that should take him to reinforce the other team.
Gordi gets the drop on the already stunned militiaman, and this time her blast pistol finishes the job.
The crew open fire, stunning the lead trooper.
Eandyne rushes forward. The assault blade attached to his infantry laser flashes once in the light from their handbeams and the lead trooper falls to the ground with a muffled cry.
Obviously rattled, the second trooper fires but misses. Eandyne quickly reverses his blade and cuts to the opposite side and the trooper won't get another chance.
The remaining militiaman brings up his weapon and Eandyne vanishes as a roaring gout of flame fills the corridor. Luckily the others are just outside the area of effect and suffer nothing more than a few very nervous seconds! As the flames die down and darkness returns, Hany dashes recklessly forwards and a lucky shot finds the militiaman, who keels over.
In the eerily empty caverns on the other side of the board, Dennio and Arel have each picked up some salvage. They move back towards the larger cavern nearby.
Arel cautiously makes his way through what appears to be some sort of sleeping quarters and common area. His objective is in a storage room just round the next corner. His handbeam picks out bunks along the rough walls of the chamber, dust-covered, vermin-nibbled and long-unused. He edges around battered picnic tables, past beaten and rusted lockers. There's a slightly unpleaseant smell in the stale air, long-spoiled food, maybe? This place gives him the creeps, though he can't let the crew see that their captain is nervous!
Dennio takes a side corridor to explore the tunnels further, see if he can meet up with the others. Sudden bursts of gunfire and running feet echo from somewhere nearby. Meanwhile, Gordi has located the fourth and final objective, which turns out to be an environmental threat. Recognising the precariously balanced chemical cannisters dislodged by the militia in the recent skirmish, she carefully moves them to a safer position, thus preventing any hazardous spills that could affect the crew. With the cannisters secure, she lets out the breath she hadn't realised she was holding. As she turns away from the pile of stores, a rectangular, flat object lodged against the side of one of the crates catches her eye. She tucks it in a pocket to be checked out when she's in a safer, more relaxed environment.
Arel locates the next objective. Uh-oh... a distant crash echoes through the tunnels. That doesn't sound like militia, there must be someone else down here too.
A Converted Acquisition Team has turned up! 3 Converted appear in the farthest depths of the caves near some abandoned machinery. The lead Converted takes a pot shot at Gordi's distant sillhouette, but misses.
Comverted Acquisition Team: Panic 0; Speed 4"; Combat +0; Toughness 5; AI Aggressive
3 more Converted are moving in from a neighbouring tunnel.
Having explored the 4 objectives and collected 3 items of salvage, the crew decide that discretion is the better part of valour and start to withdraw towards the exit. They don't want to fight their way past 3-6 converted plus whatever contact lies between them and that final salvage.
Three of the Converted storm down the corridor towards the salvage. The contact in their path turns out to be 3 more militia. With no way out of the dead-end tunnel, things don't look good for those militia.
The crew quickly retrace their footsteps back through the tunnels. Gunfire roars and distant screams echo from behind them, encouraging them to up the pace. Larry and Hany scoop up Eandyne as they pass, his dragging heels leaving twin trails through the dirt and blood of the tunnel floor.
The crew have put enough distance between themselves and the converted. They'll easily make it to the exit tunnels before they're in weapon range again. As Larry and Hany stagger towards daylight and the thin, but fresh air, Eandyne begins to stir. Turns out he was just knocked out - a hazard of tunnel fighting. The flamer consumed so much oxygen that even though he wasn't badly injured, Eandyne still passed out. Other than a few blisters and some slightly singed clothing, he's fine.
Post-battle sequence
Having escaped safely, the crew check their spoils. Half the points of interest turn out to be junk, but underneath the ship parts in the box he found, Hany discovers some rare crystals which are worth 6 credits. Gordi found a dataslate, maybe it was already in the corridor, but maybe it was dropped by one of the militia? Whatever the reason, it is a rumour they can follow up. Arel checks out the item that he found. After cleaning it up and replacing the power cell, it turns out to be a Suppression Maul, which should come in handy for any future "close encounters".
Some local scrappers back in [starport] are willing to trade some items for their salvage. The crew swap 2 salvage bundles for a broken jump belt that Larry thinks he can repair, but hang onto the remaining salvage.
Larry gains 3XP for surviving the battle on the winning side, bringing him up to 6. He spends 5 and improves his Savvy by +1.
Eandyne only gains 1XP for becoming a casualty, but now he has 6 he uses 5 and improves his speed by 1".
Dennio gains 3XP to give 8, Gordi gains 3XP to give 9. Both improve their combat skill by +1.
Arel gains 3XP to give a total of 6, and decides to save his XP.
Hany gains 4XP (3 for surviving plus 1 for causing the first casualty) and improves his toughness to 4.
Campaign event: While trading their scrap, the crew encounter an ownerless robot who agrees to join them in return for power and shelter. R2-D2 is now a crew member.
Character event: Dennio and Gordi have a heart to heart talk. Gordi feels that she isn't pulling her weight which is why she's been training on her marksmanship. Dennio thinks he's cost the crew a lot of money in medical care but hasn't contributed much in return. They're both reassured to find that they are mistaken and are both valued members of the crew. Both gain 1XP
That was very different from my previous salvage job, in which almost the entire crew was wiped out. Although that was the playtest rules, I don't think there has been a huge change in the published rules, it was just luck in the number of contacts that appeared this time and during the fighting. I didn't play all the way to the conclusion because it was clear that there was no way that any of the enemies could catch the crew before they escaped from the tunnels. I've been asked to get the Hirst Arts dungeon out next, so that will be the destination for the next adventure. Stay tuned for the further advebntures of the Power Cruiser!
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