Edge of Night Session #6 - To Keep the Ship (and Their Necks)

DRAMATIS PERSONNAE
Navy Lieutenant Raj Kundra - 4 terms - UPP 758C8C
Mechanical-1, Pilot-2, Medical-1, Jack-o-T-2, Computer-0

Other Durjan Hammill - 3 terms - UPP A69467
Gambling-3, Forgery-1, Brawling-1, Shotgun-1, Streetwise-0

Army Lieutenant Bill Fisker - 1 term - UPP D753C9
Rifle-1, SMG-2, Admin-0

Navy Lieutenant Alexi Kurigane- 2 terms - UPP AB8579
Vacc Suit-3, Ships Boat-1, Sword-1

Mr Kurigane, listening to the deal offered to the pirate (Marco Danielson) over his com link, decides the deal is not quite right. And worries about how they will pawn off the gas without getting lynched by the Crimson Wave. So he initiates a renegotiation by locking missiles on the cutter and threatening Macro (and the rest of the party) with destruction. The pirate calls his bluff by threatening to shoot Mr. Hammill (replaced shortly by Mr. Fisker when Mr. Hammill points out he has more useful skills) and risk that the navy lieutenant is not really keen to kill his friends with a missile launch. A lengthy Mexican standoff ensues, with varies offers and threats passing back and forth. In the end a new plan emerges: they will deliver the gas cylinders to the Crimson Wave and be done with those homicidal maniacs. They want to keep the 'Wasp' though, so the plan is to tell Clinton Jager that the 'Wasp' and the pinnace were destroyed in the battle with the pirates. And they would offer the cutter in replacement for the destroyed pinnace (and get paid out for greater value of the cutter vs the pinnace). Marco was brought on board with a promise of half the profit from the cutter, and new identity papers courtesy of Mr. Hammill. The ex-pirate agrees, but to protect himself he insists anyone not busy flying a ship (Mr. Hammill and Mr. Fisker) be locked in the cutter cargo bay. He will then program the cargo bays doors to open automatically in 72 hours, spacing the pair, unless Marco is alive and able to enter the override password. To protects themselves, the party will hide the cylinders (until they are turned over the Crimson Wave) in a location unknown to the pirate so he can't double cross them. 

Plan made, Mr. Kurigane heads off to the next inner planet (the gas giant Cat's Claw) and hides the gas cylinders on one of it's moons. He then proceeds further in system to hide the 'Wasp' on the surface of the next rocky planet (Cif). The cutter, piloted by Baron Kundra with a gun to his head, takes one gas cylinder (as proof they have been recovered) and heads into Mouser. They dock without any problem [100Cr docking fee], but immediately run into trouble while trying to clear starport security and customs. Marco's new papers are flagged as suspect; as the erstwhile pirate is being hauled away for questioning, he panics and yells out "I'm innocent. These other guys are who you want! They're smuggling dangerous contraband!" That gets the officials attention, and the port warden decides the cutter needs a thorough safety and customs inspection. Baron Kundra, however turns on the charm (and palms over 1000Cr) and convinces him there is nothing to see and Marco doesn't need further questioning.  The port warden concurs, carries out a very superficial inspection of the boat, and re-examines Marco's papers before releasing him from custody. 

That hurdle overcome, the party goes looking for Clinton Jager. He is on the one hand relived to hear the cargo has been recovered (Crimson Wave is really staring to lean on him), but not happy to hear of the loss of the 'Wasp'. He calls in his lawyers and has everyone sign an affidavit swearing the 'Wasp ' was lost to pirate action; this way he and his employer can claim the insurance on the ship at least. He also takes ownership of the cutter in place of the pinnace, paying out 750000Cr to an account registered to "Tacyon Advantage Security Solutions" to pay out the difference in value as well. And let's the party use it to now go back and collect the rest of the gas cylinders ('don't get this one blasted to Hell!'); he will make contact with Crimson Wave and arrange to have the cutter land at one of their docking bays on it's return, so they won't have to worry about another inspection. 

Before leaving port, however, the party decides to hire some extra help to man their new ship. First of all, a hot shot engineer to lesson the risk of mis-jumping and to keep the scout humming along. Second, a computer genius to reprogram the transponder and generally help out with the hgih tech stuff for a bit. After interviewing a number of candidates, they hire on:

Merchant Second Officer  Yasmin Cheung - 2 terms- UPP 864A93
Medic-2, Engineering-2, Mechanical-1
Short, round, and grumpy
4000Cr / month

Sylvanous Queen - 7 terms - UPP 5437B7
Computer-4, Forgery-3
Frail, ponytail, ugly tattoos, looks like a junkie

5000Cr / month

Passage out to the Wasp and the cylinder stash is uneventful. Yasmin and Sylvanous are left abroad to Wasp to start work, overseen by Mr. Fisker and his SMG. Everyone else heads back to port with the gas, and there are guided to land at a Crimson Wave platform. Met by a shady looking fellow, who has a quick look at the cargo and tells them to get it on a nearby grav-lifter and follow him. He leads them on a winding path into the depths of the base, to a nondescript warehouse section. Inside it is typical warehouse; shipping office, pallets and shipping modules, grav-lifters, and so on.  Plus another half dozen shady guys standing around a well-dressed gentleman who is obviously in change. To one side is a pair of figures, keeling and bound hand and foot with bags over their heads. Though tense, the handover of the cylinders goes off without a hitch. The party then watches horrified as the gentleman has his men fit one of the kneeling figures (who are now obviously warehouse workers) with a helmet, into which they pump a tiny bit of the gas. As they watch, the warehouseman dies a horrible death from the nerve toxin. But the gentleman is pleased, and announces he will have the payment for the gas transferred to Clinton Jager within the hour.  As the party leaves the warehouse, they hear a gunshot ring out behind them; likely the second warehouseman being eliminated. 

Making haste to get away from the lunatic fanatics ('I told you they were nuts' says Marco) the party makes contact with Clinton and gets their payout for the job [40000Cr]. Paying off Marco [394000Cr], who happily dances away with his riches, they then charter a shuttle [5000Cr] to get away from Mouser and back to the 'Wasp'. 

Edge of Night Session #5 - Plans Go Awry

DRAMATIS PERSONNAE
Navy Lieutenant Raj Kundra - 4 terms - UPP 758C8C
Mechanical-1, Pilot-2, Medical-1, Jack-o-T-2, Computer-0

Other Durjan Hammill - 3 terms - UPP A69467
Gambling-3, Forgery-1, Brawling-1, Shotgun-1, Streetwise-0

Army Lieutenant Bill Fisker - 1 term - UPP D753C9
Rifle-1, SMG-2, Admin-0

Navy Lieutenant Alexi Kurigane- 2 terms - UPP AB8579
Vacc Suit-3, Ships Boat-1, Sword-1

Mr. Kurigane slips quickly towards the cutter's airlock to sneak in behind Mr. Fisker, hoping that between them the two could surprise and overpower any opposition on the other side of the door. Unfortunately, the  pirate watching from the cargo bay door spots him and fires a shot from his laser carbine at the erstwhile naval officer.  And most likely raising a hue and cry to his compatriots inside. Time for finesse gone, Mr. Kurigane and Mr. Fisker burst through the inner airlock; Mr. Fisker heads for the door to the bridge, and opens it to find a shot gun pointed in his face and  a second person sitting in the pilots chair. There is a pair of shotgun blasts, then a flurry of swinging gun butts and brass knuckles (as the pilot joins the fight), all performed in zero G as the pirates have turned off the grav plates in addition to depressurizing the boat.   

Mr. Kurigane heads for the passenger compartment, presumably where Baron Kundra and Mr Hammill are being held. And indeed they are, tied up hand and food and covered by a shotgun wielding pirate. As the big navy lieutenant charges madly at the guard with his sword, Mr. Hammill and Baron Kundra throw themselves bodily at the same fellow, hoping to throw him off balance. Baron Kundra makes contact and is then able to brace against a seat, but Mr, Hammill misses and ends up bouncing out of control around the room. The pirate from the cargo bay now enters the fight with his laser carbine. Mr. Kurigane is able to free Baron Kundra and skewer the first pirate. However, at this point, the pilot appears in the cabin, he and the other bridge pirate having rendered Mr. Fisker unconscious. He then does the same to Mr. Kurigane, leaving three armed pirates against Baron Kundra and Mr. Hammill, who is still bouncing around the room. The pilot, who name they now learn is Cristovo 'the Pain', calls on them to surrender. Seeing no other option, the pair agree and everyone is once more tied up and secured to their seats. 

Cristovo begins to question them, to get the story on the 'Wasp'. The party tries the same combination of veiled references to the Crimson Wave before giving up and telling the truth. They learn the pirates have located the 'Wasp' in orbit around Scalpel, but have not yet boarded the starship. The arrival of the characters on the pinnace put those plans on hold. Having gotten the full story of the 'Wasp', Cristovo is now wary of risking he or his crew on board the drifting vessel. He gives the party a choice; one of them goes aboard the 'Wasp' to investigate or they all get spaced as the cutter makes it's way back to the scout ship. While neither option is palatable, in the end Mr. Kurigane agrees to scout out the scout to save their skins. Shoved back in his vacc suit, the lieutenant is sent across the void to the 'Wasp' with no weapons or tools, and a live comm link jammed open to the pirates. 

Mr. Kurigane gains access to the "Wasp" through the engine compartment airlock. Looking around, he notes everything is powered up and seems to be in perfect working order. No sign of a drive or powerplant issue. Curiously, the maneuver drive hasn't been switched from standby to active. That would be standard procedure for a ship coming out of jump, but in this case the pilot did not do so. First selecting a few heavy tools to use as weapons if needed, Mr. Kurigane searches the rest of the ship. He finds nothing unusual or out of place until he slides open a stateroom door. There he finds the body of the pilot, Nina Claire, lying in a pool of her own body fluids and vomitus. Obviously dead for some time, probably since the ship came out of jump a month ago, if not before. Which would explain what happened; the ship came out of jump and simply drifted to it's current location, getting caught quite by chance in Scalpel's gravity well. Leaving the body for now, Mr. Kurigane continues his search, ending in the upper cargo compartment. There he finds the mystery cargo, and an explanation for the gory mess below. The cargo consists of a dozen tall gas cylinders, unlabeled but painted a sickly green. One of the safety caps has become dislodged, and close examination reveals a cracked cylinder stem. It looks like whatever is in the cylinder leaked out and filled the ship; something quite nasty to have offed Nina so grotesquely. 

Mr. Kurigane goes to the bridge and report back to the pirates. Cristovo orders him to vent the ship to clear the gas, and to space the empty cylinder and Nina's body.  Then tells him to stand by, as he and one of the other pirates were coming over. Mr. Kurigane follows the orders, but then gets to work on his own plan. Gathering everything he can find that's heavy and not nailed down (including the bar fridge from the lounge), he piles it all in front on the engineering space iris valve.  Stationing himself on the bridge, Mr. Kurigane waits until he notes the pirates cycling the engineering space to vacuum and coming inside. Before they can close the door and start re-pressurizing however, Mr. Kurigane opens the inner engineering iris valve, using the rush of the ship depressurizing through the open door to propel all his loose junk into the engineering space and the faces of the pirates. One pirate grabs on to a handhold, but unfortunately has his head caved in by the flying refrigerator.  Cristovo is tumbled out of the open lock into space, and a few minutes later is vaporized by shot from the ship's beam laser. 

Meanwhile aboard the pirate cutter, Baron Kundra has been working on their guard. Trying to convince him to switch sides, the Baron offers him half the profit from selling the poison gas, convincing him they have a willing buyer lined up already. The remaining pirate is intrigued but worried the party will turn on him the minute he frees them, since it's now 4 against 1. In the end they come to a deal.  Baron Kundra will have his bonds removed so he can pilot the 'Wasp', but he won't get his weapons back. The other three party members will remained tied up and unarmed for now, until they are able to make contact with the buyer. They decide to abandon the cutter since the pirate  (who had been the cutter's gunner) couldn't trust anyone to fly it; he can only hold a gun to the head of one pilot on one ship.