My adventures in Core Space continue with Mission 5 of the Perseus Arm Campaign from the rulebook.
In this thrilling episode, the crews of the Saucy Sue and Black Maria have landed on a near-deserted starbase to rescue Callen Butler, the CEO of the rapacious Tau Cross Corporation. He had been captured by the mysterious Proletarian Viscounts cult/terrorist group some time ago, but with the Purge rampaging through this sector, the majority of civilians have fled, including the majority of the cultists. Only a tiny hard-core of cultists therefore remain guarding Butler and the time is ripe to infiltrate the base and rescue Butler for the cash reward, before the Purge completely take the base. As a secondary objective, the Proletarian Viscounts’ main data-server should be able to provide a wealth of extremely valuable information with a high re-sale value.
Above: The route from the airlocks to the objective is a convoluted one and will take the crews past the main point of Purge infiltration (I’ve indicated the Purge entry-points with red arrows for clarity). While there are some Purge entry-points near the airlocks and the objectives, there is a 50% chance of the Purge appearing on the southern edge of the map. The Purge Hostility Level starts at Level 6, slightly higher than previous missions, so higher-powered Purge such as Devastators will start to appear almost immediately, along with increased numbers of Harvester foot-soldiers.
Above: Here’s how the crews look at the start of the game. The crew of the Black Maria are on the top row, with the Saucy Sue‘s crew below. In the last mission, all crew-members made it back to their ships (for the first time, in Captain Jace’s case) and therefore added a Career-Point to their character-boards. This has enabled Jace and Renton to ‘level up’; Jace is now able to perform a third action in each turn (like Arianna) and Renton has added a second purple skill-peg to his dashboard. Gak has also managed to repair all his broken equipment.
Both crews have managed to build up their assets during the last mission to a point where they can further upgrade the airlock defences of their ships to Level 3. This means that the defences can act fully autonomously and can be activated essentially as another character. However, the defences have more firepower if they are actively directed by a character (spending two of their purple skill-pegs). Both crews have also permanently hired a fourth crew-member; Lukas Beck for the Black Maria and Dávid Tirgarde for the Saucy Sue. Tirgarde already has a Career-Point from an earlier mission with the crew of the Saucy Sue. I must confess however, that I didn’t notice that the scenario specified a maximum of three crew-members per crew for this scenario… Ah, well…
Both crews have sufficient quality firearms in their cargo-hold with which to equip the new crew-members, though the Black Maria is short of melee-weapons (a situation made worse by Jace accidentally losing his trusty hand-axe). However, Jace’s armour includes with integral melee weapons, so that will have to do for now. Lars and Beck equip themselves with cheap knives from the ship’s galley. Before leaving the ship, everyone tools up with a med-stim and the new boys are ordered to carry the spare ammo.
Speaking of armour; Jace, Renton, Roykirk and Gak all have armour or shields (both in Renton’s case), while Arianna is reluctant to wear armour, as she’s ordinarily a fast-mover and it will slow her down. The rest of the crew-members will have to either find or buy their own armour, though Lars and Beck both have skills that will be lost if they wear armour. After his previous experience, Gak has decided to wear his shield-pod. Wearing armour reduces his fighting-skills, but to compensate, Gak has used his Career-Point wisely, increasing his fighting-skills to compensate for wearing armour.
Above: Both crews head straight for the choke-point of a doorway leading to the zig-zag central corridor. Neither crew really wants to take the only alternative route via the eastern edge of the map, as it takes them straight past the main Purge entry-point on the southern side of the complex. However, Roykirk from the Saucy Sue goes that way (out of shot on the right) in order to establish an overwatch position.
Above: The Saucy Sue‘s new boy Tirgarde lollygags behind in the airlock loading bay, searching for loot. He finds a med-stim, but already has one and doesn’t have room for another, so drops it on the floor for collection later. He’s so busy that he fails to notice the Purge Devastator appear at the hatchway behind him!
Above: The Devastator immediately opens up on the hapless crewman and to everyone’s astonishment, completely misses! Tirgarde draws his pistol and whips round, dropping the Devastator with his first shot! The astonished crews immediately decide that Tirgarde will henceforth be known as ‘Lucky’.
Above: Elsewhere in the complex, a Harvester is on the hunt.
Above: The Harvester is spotted through a window by the Viscount fanatics, who put the thing down in a hail of fire.
Above: With the Viscount cultists now starting to get a bit trigger-happy and nervous about the Harvesters, it’s only a matter of time before they decide to kill their prisoner. Jace sprints into the corridor and rounding the corner, spots one of the cultists. He’s in cover, but Jace manages to gun him down. The remaining cultist ceases to be a threat soon afterwards, as she’s vaporised by a pair of Devastators.
Above: Having dealt with the cultist, the Devastators can’t see another target to engage, so go stomping around the corner to find another, where they run straight into Jace and Renton!
Above: Jace immediately takes down the first Devastator with his integral armour spiky-bits and then attacks the second, but can’t seem to land any blows. Renton then steps in and similarly can’t seem to take the monster down. At last Gak charges in with his prized possession, the Paragon Sword and cuts the Devastator in two!
Arianna uses the distraction to sprint past and head for the objective. She’s not going to be beaten to the punch like last time! However, a Harvester soon picks up her trail. Lars also uses the opportunity to slip past the melee and head for the loot.
Above: As Arianna appears at the cell door, Butler gets up from his bed. “Well it’s about time. I trust that chef has prepared my eggs as I like them this time? Yesterday they were overdone.”
“I’m not catering! I’m here to rescue you! Come on, we have to go!”
“What?! Are you mad?! There might be Purge out there! I’m bally-well staying right here!” Butler shudders as he notices the two smoking corpses of his former guards in the hallway outside his cell and then screams as he spots the Harvester following Arianna.
“Just hold on a sec.” Arianna draws her pistol and blasts the Harvester to smithereens.
[In game terms, Arianna completely fluffed her Persuade action, rolling absolutely no ‘hits’ on four dice. She only needed to roll two hits out of a potential five in order to persuade Butler to leave his cell and join her crew.]
Above: “There will be more of those here soon! We have to go now!” Arianna tries to drag him out of his cell, but the belligerent Butler is having none of it and decides to fight it out, adopting a traditional and bloody ridiculous pugilist’s stance.
“Unhand me, you oik! I should warn you that I boxed for my college and while I would never normally strike a lady, I will not… Ow! Bugger!” As he tries to land a haymaker on Arianna, he trips over the step and cracks his face on the doorframe.
“Have you quite finished? Right, come on! See that blue-skinned monster over there? His name’s Gak and he’ll look after you. Now go!”
The arrogance blown out of his sails, Butler now looks rather sheepish and frightened. “Aren’t you coming too?”
“I’ve still got some other business to attend to. Go! Now!”
[In game terms, having failed to be persuaded by Arianna, Buter’s NPC die-roll then required him to attack her (the ‘explosion’ on the white die above), which had no effect (the blank blue combat die above).]
Above: While Lars and Tirgarde sprint past to loot some likely-looking crates in the south-west corner of the complex, Jace runs over to take cover behind another crate near the main Purge entry-point. He may as well conduct some light larceny while he’s there and is rewarded with a nice pair of pistols.
Above: Renton, Gak and Beck take cover behind the corner of the corridor, also covering the main Purge entry-point. However, Renton spots another crate in the cell next door to Butler’s so runs off to check it out.
Above: In the next room, Roykirk establishes his overwatch position in the window, ready to cover Arianna’s and Tirgarde’s withdrawal.
Above: To the west, Lars and Tirgarde race to the loot.
Above: Whimpering and glancing fearfully around him, Butler scuttles toward safety.
Above: Arianna meanwhile, heads for the Viscounts’ command centre to retrieve the valuable data [the green token at the terminal in the top-right of the picture]. There are also two large crates in the room, but her inventory is already full with high-value items (a good pistol, a good sword and a grenade, in addition to the data) and with serious opposition starting to appear elsewhere, the crew are screaming at her on the comm to get back! With a pang of regret, she is therefore forced to rapidly exit the control-room without pausing to examine the looting possibilities.
Above: Meanwhile, a Purge Assassin appears and immediately locks on to Jace, who is still hiding behind his crate.
Above: The Assassin charges at Jace, guns blazing! The cover offered by the crate and his armour manage to save Jace from a few hits, but some energy-bolts find their mark and Jace winces in pain.
Above: A Devastator and a Harvester also appear. Immediately spotting Roykirk in the window, the Devastator fires a volley of energy-bolts to no effect.
Above: A civilian suddenly appears in the midst of the battle! Frozen in shock, he dithers in the doorway, unable to choose a direction in which to flee. In panic the civilian draws a small pistol and closing his eyes, fires blindly in the direction of the nearest enemy. To everyone’s shock, the Devastator slowly keels over, a neat hole drilled in the side of its gleaming white head.
Above: With the Assassin now at very close range, Jace blows the thing away and reaches into the crate for a med-stim. Stabbing it into his thigh, he sighs with relief as the pain recedes. Beck meanwhile, fires at the approaching Harvester without effect.
Above: Lars meanwhile, opens a crate to find a very nice stash of melee weapons, which is just what is crew needs! However, he needs to makes space in his pockets, so drops a med-stim and hopes he doesn’t need it later. Tirgarde meanwhile, is disappointed to find a crate filled with absolute rubbish. However, there isn’t time to mope about it, as he’s now the furthest from the airlock and urgently needs to get back there!
Above: Renton has taken the opportunity to search the other holding-cell and finds a few useful items, including a large med-kit and an ammo magazine.
Above: A massive wave of Purge now surges into the southern loading-bay! Jace, Beck and Roykirk have the area covered with fire, but they’re going to struggle to deal with this lot!
Above: However, there is already a distraction in play and the civilian’s horrified screams are quickly silenced as he is overwhelmed by the Purge…
Above: Jace finds himself once again targeted by an Assassin, but rather more pressingly, is jumped on by a Harvester! Jace again suffers some superficial wounds, but remains on his feet. In the meantime, Roykirk is wounded by fire from one of the Devastators, but manages to blow the scarlet monster apart with his return-shot. New-boy Beck on the other hand, sends lots of ammo down-range but can’t seem to hit a barn door.
Above: At the north end of the complex, near the Black Maria‘s airlock, another civilian appears. However, they don’t appear to be too flustered by the sounds of gunfire and the Purge rampaging through the complex.
Above: Suddenly the truth emerges, as the holo-cloak disengages and a ‘Live One’ is revealed! However, it soon disappears again…
Above: “Some help here, please?!” Jace’s problems only worsen as he completely fails to kill the Harvester, which is now joined by another Assassin! Jace is wounded once again, but somehow survives the onslaught and manages to destroy the Assassin with his axe. Beck meanwhile, finally manages to hit the Harvester. Jace stabs another med-stim into his thigh and makes a run for where Roykirk is emplaced.
Above: However, Jace is wounded almost immediately by yet another Harvester attack! Jace picks up yet another med-stim that Roykirk has dropped and stabs it into his now-perforated thigh. He’s now starting to feel a bit woozy… “So I’ve had a few too many wossnames… med-skins… medestim… med-stims… That was it. So what? I can handle it… Can’t I? Alright Roykirk, mate? I bloody loves you, mate…”
Above: As Butler runs past screaming in terror, more Harvesters attack! Beck, Jace and Roykirk have to hold the line long enough for Arianna, Lars, Renton and Tirgarde to return from their foraging expedition. Gak meanwhile, has already withdrawn to cover the line of retreat back to the airlocks.
Above: Suddenly the ‘Live One’ reappears next to the Saucy Sue! Roykirk, in the middle of a firefight, receives an urgent message on the comm from the Saucy Sue’s automated defences. “Thank you <insert name here> for choosing Acme Automatic Airlock Defences. We hope this product gives you years of satisfying maiming. You have <2> new messages: Message 1. You have not yet registered your product warranty. Would you like to register now? Y/N?”
“For f@ck’s sake… ‘N’!”
“Thank you. I will remind you to register your product in 1 hour. Message 2. There is a Live One outside the airlock. Would you like me to 1. Open the airlock? 2. Ask them to call back later? 3. Engage automatic defences? 4. Engage manual aim-assist for more accurate firepower. 5. Other <please specify>?”
“Four!”
“‘Floor’ is an unrecognised command. Would you like me to 1. Open the airlock…”
“FOUR! F@CKING FOUR! FOUR!”
“You have selected…. <agonising pause>…. Option Four. Enabling aim assist. Please place the target-reticle over your chosen target and click ‘Go’. Thank you for choosing Acme Automatic Airlock Defences for your home defence needs.”
Staring intently at the tiny screen on his comm, Roykirk frantically jabs ‘Go’…
Above: Back at the Saucy Sue, the Live One is most surprised as a pair of tri-barrelled rotary heavy plasma guns pop out of previously-unnoticed hatches on either side of the airlock. There is a brief blizzard of fire and the Live One is reduced to a light coating on all the surfaces of the docking-bay. “The crew can’t come to the hatch right now. Thank you for calling and please have a nice day.”
Above: Although he achieved it remotely via the ship’s automated defences, Roykirk feels no shame in claiming his reward for killing a Live One: a bonus Career-Point.
Above: The Black Maria‘s automated defences meanwhile, have also claimed a scalp, in the form of yet another Assassin!
Above: At last, Butler, Arianna, Renton and Lars have all passed the rearguard and are heading for the airlocks, but where is Tirgarde?
Above: Gak meanwhile, is hacking his way through some more Harvesters as he clears a path back to the docking-bay.
Above: Jace is attacked by yet another Harvester, who seems to have been programmed by Bruce Lee. Jace only survives by the skin of his teeth and is revived by Roykirk, who very kindly stabs him with his own med-stim. “Whoops! Thanks Mrs Miggins! And here comes an artichoke!”
“Er, How much of this stuff have you had, Jace?”
Above: The latest attacker is dropped by Beck, whose shooting skills are getting better, though he is burning through an enormous quantity of the Black Maria crew’s reserve ammo. To everyone’s surprise, a large group of civilians suddenly appears at the southern entry point. “Hello?! Has anyone seen our tour-guide?!” It seems that a group of ‘danger-tourists’, who had come here for the thrills and to see the Purge up close, have become detached from their tour… Just the distraction the crews need to get away…
Above: At long-last, Tirgarde re-appears and sprints past Beck, heading for the docking-bay. It’s finally time to go! Beck runs over to Jace, “I’m just a lost little sheep who has lost my way, baa, baa, baa…”
Beck looks at Roykirk, who just shrugs. “OK Boss, can you stand? Right, lets just be getting you back to the airlock…”
“I remember you. Bick? Bock? Yeah, Bock. You’re my mate, you are…”
Above: As Beck and Roykirk lead the rambling Jace back to the ship, another Assassin appears! Assassins are programmed to lock on to leaders, but Jace has thankfully been led away by Beck.
Above: The Assassin instead locks onto Tirgarde, who his running away as fast as his fashion-victim white shoes will carry him!
Above: Back at the southern entry-point, the Purge have arrived and drag the tourists away screaming to their grisly fate.
Above: With the tourists overwhelmed, a horde of Purge run off in pursuit of the crews. However, they now have a good head-start on the alien horrors.
Above: The Assassin hurtles round the corner, but Tirgarde has diappeared.
Above: The Assassin is not to know that Tirgarde was the Perseus Arm Hide & Seek Champion for four successive Galactic Standard Annual Cycles.
Above: However, the Assassin is now clearly visible to Arianna, Gak, Roykirk, Renton and the Saucy Sue‘s automated defences and swiftly disintegrates in a hail of fire!
Above: Lars and Renton have almost reached the airlock, but pause to cover Beck and Jace as they catch up. There are a couple of Purge entry-points nearby and they don’t want to lose crew-members now to last-minute surprises.
Above: However, the Purge now all seem to be pouring through the southern entry-point. Five Harvesters and an Assassin are swarming up the central corridor.
Above: Two Devastators meanwhile, have finally finished off the last tourist and are advancing through the eastern wing of the complex.
Above: At last, the crew of the Black Maria is concentrated and they bundle the giggling Jace into the ship.
Above: Meanwhile, at the Saucy Sue, the crew have arrived at the airlock-hatch along with Butler.
“Hello <insert name here>. Congratulations for choosing Acme Automatic Airlock Defences for all your home defence needs. Would you like to complete the product warranty now? Y/N”
“OPEN THE F@#&ING DOOR!”
Above: The scores on the doors at the end of the mission. All crew-members have managed to make it back to their respective ships in full health, though in Jace’s case that was only achieved through the ingestion of truly heroic quantities of drugs. The crew of the Saucy Sue have managed to escort Butler back to their ship and Arianna even managed to retrieve the data-drive as a secondary objective. Roykirk also managed to find a stash of credits, so the crew of the Saucy Sue are massively quids-in on this occasion. Gak also managed to find a shield-belt and has therefore passed his old shield-pod on to Tirgarde.
The crew of the Black Maria meanwhile, managed to find some decent stashes of kit. Jace came back with a brace of good pistols with a reasonable resale value, while Lars found a couple of melee weapons for himself and Beck. Beck also managed to find himself a shield-belt.
All in all, a slightly easier mission than the previous two and both crews’ luck held sufficiently for them to extract with a good haul of loot. Time to head to the nearest branch of Chatsubo’s for celebratory drinks, as who knows what the next mission might bring?
