The salvage ship Medusa’s Scow was headed to the Bray Reach to salvage a failed colony. Contractually, most of the crew were sleeping in cryo for the 8 month trip. Three of the crew were awake for the journey.
- Smitty. (Brian) Captain. A focused spacer with a remote built in so he could control drones, gifted with sharp senses. He had a salvage kit and a drone named Jethro.
- Gasper. (Jesse) Disfigured ship’s medic.
- Clyde Bruskin. (Mr. S) Tech and all around tough guy.
They ran across a massive ship in space, over 50 kilometers long, and its archaic (and since outlawed) weapons sheared through their defenses. They were pulled in, battering through the hull of the craft and rolling over a couple times in the jungle of its interior before the crash halted.
What’s Going On?
They made sure the cryo tubes were alright, but didn’t wake the rest of the crew. The atmosphere in the jungle outside was breathable, but they still opted to wear space suits. They saw that a force field held the breach, and the metal would eventually be repaired. They headed out to scout their strange surroundings, heading for a massive beam of light a couple kilometers away in the vast open space.
Then wavering howls split the air, and they were attacked by wolf-men. They shot up the pack hunters, and retreated as the pack gathered and pressed their advantage. Clyde got to the gun control, but only could get the flak and main cannon online, not as useful as could be hoped. The other two fought off hunters until they fell back into the airlock, escaping into the ship. Clyde played painfully loud music on the PA to chase the hunters off. Smitty had intimidated them, but it was not enough to chase them off for good. He got his drone ready for some further reconnaissance, and they got the computer damage reports back.
Damage Reports
They needed a few things to escape back into space.
- Atmospheric micro-scrubber unit. Otherwise life support wouldn’t hold. About the size of a cooler chest, installation is 10 technician hours.
- Multi-phasic burner catalyst. Manages energy flow. Otherwise, won’t have enough to get where we’re going. About 300 lbs, 15 feet across. 20 technician hours to install.
- Administrative access. Otherwise the ship will just collect them back in again.
- 10 technician hours to get the hull fixed enough.
They noticed a figure approaching the ship, undisturbed by the hunters. It turned out to be Jack, a humanoid interface of the Simulated Intelligence, Guardian Ship (or Sigs.) Jack brought them a tablet with maps, and a yellow clearance bracelet. Jack’s job was to make their stay comfortable and help them with anything they needed while in Telmar Bay.
He told them the multi-phasic burner catalyst was in Alta Durel. He also told them that Commander Josephe could alter their clearance, and when pressed, admitted he had not been available for an appointment in over 400 years. He was in the Sorrel Control Station. They decided to head that way, and they figured the beam of light (a spaceship elevator) was their best bet.
They also complained to Jack of being attacked, so Jack put in a ticket with tech support to address the issue.
Teksuppar
They traveled through the twisting jungle floor, and interrupted some men who were raiding the interior of a ship for supplies. (Turns out all the hills around them were overgrown ships.) They warily let each other pass. The captain did ask Jack to assign extra security to their ship, until it could leave; it cued to their bracelets to allow them to come and go uninterrupted.
They reached a burned off area with poles sporting dead wolf creatures, and there they were confronted with the Teksuppar, miserable cyborgs consumed with pain and hate. Two of the Teksuppar attacked, one with an energy flail and the other a retractable cyber machete. The crew managed to put them down, though Clyde took a hit. (He was able to walk off the damage.)
More Teksuppar were coming, so Smitty managed to run forward and put in a bulk sealant collapsable patch to trap the Teksuppar in the administrative building at the base of the ship elevator long enough for them to escape.
Into the Fire
Returned to the road through the woods, they were confronted by the reddish hunt leader of the wolf creatures, Gnawdit. They talked briefly of a possible alliance, then Gnawdit led them through the jungle to a hidden freight elevator, and they rode it up for 40 minutes to get up near the roof of the Bay. They entered the hunters’ lair, the Sorrel Control Station.
There they met Scratched Skull, a cyborg hunter. They also saw a wall of trophies, with Captain Josephe as its centerpiece, a mummy with a red wristband. They saw cages of prisoners, including a rabbit that looked almost dead from beating, and a mushroom person, and a mutant teenage girl.
Seeing that they could maybe do a deal, Scratched Skull tasked the visitors with managing a prisoner exchange; the half-dead rabbit thing named Rabbadab back to the Bounders, his people, in exchange for 600 feet of coaxial cable. Smitty wanted the bracelet in exchange, but Scratched Skull was too canny, and instead counteroffered with security for his ship until he could leave.
They drank to their new partnership.
Fictive Fantasies 