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Disclaimer: not actually run on Rogue Trader. Probably only loosely based on WH40k.

All hail the brave and daring Captain, head of the motley crew of rogue traders which plies their trade from star to star. You are...

>Kay Smith. Generalist, pragmatist, opportunist. Dirty fighter. Loyal. Grew up in a hive world slum. Can cook with _anything_, as long as you don't ask what the meat is.
>Louis Peter Jameson-Fitzpatrick. Goes by "Fitz". A nobleman's son on the run from Terra due to what he calls "just a misunderstanding". Pretty sheltered and naive, but very well educated. Posh. Only member of the crew who could recognise a cake fork.
>Emily Torvald: Teenage girl. Engine specialist, mechanic, engineer. No-one's quite sure how long she's been in the rogue trading industry already. Always has a sharp pencil and a handful of cogs.
>Other

Your ship is...

>A rundown merchant vessel from last century. Most of the ship is held together by blue-tac and staples. Has an air of motheaten luxury.
>An old Imperial Guard ship. Cramped, spartan and warscarred, but with good shields and weaponry.
>A homemade ship built by Emily in a "shed" on some space station. Welding lines and cables are everywhere.
>Other

You first mission is...
>Transporting food supplies to a hive world
>Collecting weaponry from a forge world and transporting it to an border planet
>Scouting a jungle world as contractors for a mining corporation
>Other

I'll be running in about an hour.
>>
>>1293367
>Emily Torvald: Teenage girl. Engine specialist, mechanic, engineer. No-one's quite sure how long she's been in the rogue trading industry already. Always has a sharp pencil and a handful of cogs.
>A rundown merchant vessel from last century. Most of the ship is held together by blue-tac and staples. Has an air of motheaten luxury.
>Collecting weaponry from a forge world and transporting it to an border planet
>>
>>1293367
Double Emily and scouting
>>
>>1293367

>Kay Smith. Generalist, pragmatist, opportunist. Dirty fighter. Loyal. Grew up in a hive world slum. Can cook with _anything_, as long as you don't ask what the meat is.
>An old Imperial Guard ship. Cramped, spartan and warscarred, but with good shields and weaponry.
>Scouting a jungle world as contractors for a mining corporation
>>
>>1293396
Vote
>>
>>1293367
>Emily Torvald: Teenage girl. Engine specialist, mechanic, engineer. No-one's quite sure how long she's been in the rogue trading industry already. Always has a sharp pencil and a handful of cogs.
>An old Imperial Guard ship. Cramped, spartan and warscarred, but with good shields and weaponry.
>Scouting a jungle world as contractors for a mining corporation
>>
>>1293367
>Emily Torvald: Teenage girl. Engine specialist, mechanic, engineer. No-one's quite sure how long she's been in the rogue trading industry already. Always has a sharp pencil and a handful of cogs.

>>A homemade ship built by Emily in a "shed" on some space station. Welding lines and cables are everywhere.

Something about building from the ground up to go out into space sounds fun.

>Scouting a jungle world as contractors for a mining corporation
>>
>>1293611
Vote
>>
Right guys, things ran on a little longer than I'd expected but I'm here now. I'll be counting the votes as they are from now. The voting period is over: no more votes, no vote changing.

Looking forward to seeing what you guys chose.
>>
I had to go to the bathroom, but now I'm actually here. Counting votes then writing up.

Sorry for the delays.
>>
>>1293842
Emily's a given, Scouting the Jungle's a given.
I think the Ship is actually a tie.
3 Guard, 3 Emily-Homemade, 1 Merchant.
>>
>>1293842
Which opens up the important question of how you're gonna handle ties as a QM? Gonna mix the options or hold another vote?

I'm usually a fan of mixing the options or having the character be in character conflicted over the options when it's really close.
>>
>>1293866
>>1293863
Only 1 guy said homemade? I have recorded three votes for the IG ship.

As for how I'll resolve ties, it'll generally be by next-vote-wins.
>>
Looks like we're playing:

>Emily Torvald
>Old IG ship
>Scouting a jungle world

Writing up.
>>
Well, two voters said homemade. Old IG ship still wins.
>>
>>1293896
I'm pretty sure Double Emily means Emily for both character and Ship. Which puts it at 3 and 3.
>>
If there's one thing jungle worlds are, it's green. Veeeeery green. You're slouched comfortably in a tattered groxhide cabin chair, comfy in a t-shirt and a pair of grease-stained overalls.

On the dashboard in front of you are a collection of joysticks and buttons, but you're not using any of them right now. The interior of the cabin is not exactly luxurious - there's no carpet, no wallpaper and no ornamental fishpond - but that's how you like it. The ship is ex-Guard, small but plucky and packing a good punch, built for... well, scouting. Its original name was the rather humble "Scouting Ship 25", but you'd like to give it a _proper_ ship name soon. For now you call it "Scoutie". You drum your fingers idly on the leather, looking down through the ship cameras. The word of Ator is covered with a dense canopy of forest, refusing to let up anywhere into clearings or scrubland. It's very... verdant. Probably quite warm. Definitely very humid. You take a moment to ponder what things are in a jungle, besides the trees. Nothing's really coming to mind... you conjure up a vague image of ruined cities and bone-wielding cannibals. Not a place where you can get a screwdriver.

But a job is a job, and this job comes from Celeres Mining Corp., a medium-sized mining company based in the neighbouring system. Your role is to scout the planet for any dangers that might obstruct them getting the resources they want - animals, pirates, natives, tax lawyers... then report back and take your payment. Time is money, and you have a week's time to get the planet broadly surveyed. How should you begin?

>Brief the crew
>Cruise over the world from low orbit
>Sample the atmosphere
>Other
>>
>>1293991
Not really, no. There are three votes for Guard ship, two for merchant ship and two for homemade.
>>
>>1294010
Learn to count, QM

>>1293386
>>1293611
>>1293626
>>
It's fine.

>>1293995
>Brief the crew
They need to know what is to be expected. Once we have plan we act.
>>
>>1294010
There's also only one for merchant ship.
>>
>>1293995
Anyway, I don't see cute mechanic girl having some big briefing with her crew. Obvious choice is

>Sample the atmosphere.

As part of the same scan, more detailed information might be nice, like a quick scan for any high technology or signs of civilization.
>>
>>1293995
>Sample the Atmosphere.

If the place's more toxic than we can handle, the briefing is "Well, it's a dud, we're heading home."
>>
Seems like I miscounted the votes, sorry. Even though I made a notepad tally and looked at them multiple times... sigh... Do you guys want to tiebreak or shall we continue?
>>
>>1294048
I don't know, you can mine or audit tax returns in an environment that would be fatal for living, breathing humans.
>>
Well, I'll write up for
>Sample for atmosphere
if no-one wants to tiebreak the ship vote.
>>
>>1293995
>Brief the crew
>>
>>1293995

Sample the atmosphere
>>
>>1293995
>Sample the atmosphere

Go! Samplers! Taste the sky!

You lean forward in your seat and flick a few levers up. The comfily primitive readout screen bursts into life... well, "bursts" is a little too strong a word. Unless it's exploding. White, block-capitaled, utilitarian text appears on the black-pixeled background. You like Mr. Readout's style.

>ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN

>TODAY'S MOTTO: ~BY OUR WRATH ARE THE BULWARKS OF THE EMPEROR DEFENDED~

>ATMOSPHERE
>NITROGEN = 70%
>OXYGEN = 28%
>CARBON DIOXIDE = ~2%
>METHANE (TRACE)

>HUMIDITY = 20%
>TEMPERATURE = 40 DEGREES
>TREES DETECTED: WARNING - MAY BE FLAMMABLE

>NO RADIO SIGNALS DETECTED

==THIS ANALYSIS BROUGHT TO YOU BY A LOYAL SERVANT OF THE EMPEROR OUR LORD. LET US ALL WALK IN HIS HOLY LIGHT==

An underspace cursor blinks. You can just sense its earnestness.

Mr. Readout is rather devout. "Good work, old man," you say.

>Brief the crew
>Run more readouts
>Cruise around
>Send a signal]
>Other
>>
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Character portrait for what is apparently a shit and dead quest.
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>>1294163
>Brief the crew
>>
>>1294327
If there's no more votes in the next 15 mins then I'll go with this.
>>
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>>1294370
Don't be sad author, your quest has potential, just get us to know the characters, have some exciting thing happen and it might pick up momentum.
>>
>>1294163
>>Brief the crew
>>
>>1294316
You're a new quest. New quests have trouble getting three votes to decide the first decision. You got seven.

Things will be slow your first time around. I've done a quest where there was literally only one player at a time, me and these other two guys were almost never on at the same time. But it was still a lot of fun.
>>
>>1294163
Brief the crew.

And might as well send a signal out, and check for return messages when we get back from briefing the crew.
>>
>>1294163
>Brief the crew

Now that you have a better idea of the situation outside, you'd better talk to your crewmates. You pick up a two-way radio from where it lies on a toolbox. There used to be a built-in ship radio system, but now it's deader than a heretic at a SoB barbeque and you didn't want to fuck around with it right before a job. Speaking into the mouthpiece, you say: "Ground control, ground control here. Summoning all minions to the bow for briefing. Make haste, make haste."

There is a pause.

"Yuh-huh," says Kay's voice. "Just cooked us up some grub, but... guess you couldn't appreciate our crude minion food."

...

After a fried algae bar and some super-long-life barley tea, you summon them to the cabin for real. You've got quite a lot of stuff hanging around in here so it's a bit... cozy, but you make them squeeze in anyway. You want to sit in the captain's chair. You swivel idly back and forth in your chair as you face them: Kay has elected to stand, whilst Fitz sits on an upturned crate. You drum your fingers on the groxskin, then clear your throat. "So, uh, guys. Well."

You rise from the chair and gesture grandly at the main screen, showing the great jungle canopy beneath.
"Behold!" you cry. "The world of Ator!"

There is a silence. You sit back down. "Well. Let's brief. I mean, I'll brief you. Briefly."
Kay puts her hands in her pockets.

"Well, you know the job. We look for anything fucked up on the world and report it."

"Without getting fucked up ourselves," Kay butts in.
"Yeah," you reply. "Exactly."

Fitz speaks up. "We identify any malicious anomalies, I see."
"Yeah," you say. "That's what I said." You look around the room. "Well, we have a diagram."

You pull out a chart of the planet and pin it to a cluttered pinboard.
"Ah... a cartographic record! How convenient!"

"Right. Well, this is the schematic."
"Map."
"Whatever. Now then, we're here." You point at a point in the upper left. "But the whole place is green anyway so frankly, it's fucking pointless."

"But there are altitudinal indication lines..."
"Yeah. That'll show us the hills and valleys."

"And no-one's set foot on this world? You would've thought some Catachans would have built a summer resort here... not enough toothy things?" asks Kay.
"That's one thing we've got to find out for ourselves."

Fitz's face betrayed poorly concealed excitement. "Then, your suggested course of action in the reconnaisance of the planet..."

>Cruise around
>Scout on foot
>Send out radio signals
>Other
>>
>>1294537
>Cruise around
>Send out radio signals
>>
>>1294558
Supporting.
No reason we can't do both, right?
>>
Ending voting at half past.

>>1294392
>>1294514
Thanks guys. I've run quests here before, but I guess I forgot how slow this place can be for new quests.
>>
>>1294537
>Cruise around and send out radio signals

You take hold of a big yellow lever and push it forward against a satisfying resistance. With a grumble, the realspace engine fires into life. A lovely vibration hums gently through the ship as you softly accelerate it. You flip a smaller switch on the dashboard and take a large microphone from its rest; chucking it to Fitz, you say "You talk to the natives. Tell them, you know, the usual stuff. That we're a peaceful scouting ship wanting nothing but to be their best friends."

Kay pipes in. "Don't mention that Celeres will probably deport them all fifteen minutes after we report."

"Yeah," you say. "Don't mention that. _We're_ still patrolling peacefully so it's not like we're lying."

"I understand, Captain. I'll venture to induce them to reveal themselves."

You turn to Kay. "_You_ never call me captain. Don't think I haven't noticed."
She shrugs.

A distant voice reaches you from deep within Fitz's world of private delusion. "Just contemplate the sort of native savages with whom we might make contact! They might attire in leaf skirts, and reside in the treetops, and sustain themselves on all manner of queer jungle fruits! And then at night, dance strange tribal dances around a cannibal's cauldron!"

At times like this, you just don't know how to reply.

Kay takes her hands out of her pockets and folds her arms. "Is it wrong to eat a cannibal?"

"...What?" you ask.

"To eat one, is it wrong? It doesn't really seem like they have a right to complain."

"Well, Kay, if you catch one then you can eat them. Just don't bring any back with you."

"It was just a question," she says.

"Let's get back to business," you say. "Fitz, start chatting."

He pauses. "...Greetings, esteemed peoples of Ator! It is our greatest pleasure to make contact with you today..."

And so he continues for some time.

[Roll me 1d10 for the effectiveness of this strategy.]
>>
Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>1294769
>>
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>>1294786
You have blessed this quest, anon.
>>
>>1294786
Holy shit, I think you just convinced them to deport themselves.
>>
>>1294769
You've dawdled along less than a hundred kilometres when the ship radio crackles into life and a male voice can be heard.

"Hailing scout ship! Hailing scout ship! Do you read me?"

"H-Hello," Fitz replies. "Scouting ship 25 recieving your signal loud and clear. May I ask your identity?"

It's nice to have a secretary.

"I am Sergey Karpov, head engineer of the Lirtan Ator colony! Please, come down to the surface, you must join us for dinner! You will be our guests of honour, we will have much to talk about! How many are your crew?"

You don't want to leave this sort of talk in Fitz's hands. You mime for him to throw you the mic, and you catch it deftly.

Talking into it, you say "Hello, I am the captain of this vessel."

>Tell the truth that you have two crew members
>Lie, claim to have fifty crew
>Change the subject
>Other
>>
>>1294898
Tell the truth. Our best defense is them thinking we mean no harm and peace is our aim.

Which is toootally true. Maybe the mining corp'll work out a deal with these guys.
>>
>>1294898
>Tell the truth that you have two crew members
>>
>>1294898
>Tell the truth
Then steer the convo towards getting them to reveal more about themselves.
And in the meantime MORE SCANS. Identify where the signal is coming from, the tech level of that area, and whether they appear to have weapons that might threaten our glorious ship.
>>
Voting closed, writing up.
>>
>>1294898
"As a peaceful scout force," you say, "I have just two crew members. I am Captain Emily Torvald."

You flick on the single tracer; the readout screen says TRACING... PLEASE WAIT. Got to try to take control of the conversation. "...Well," you attempt, "have you been here long?"

"I was born here in our beautiful colony, I have lived here all my life. Ah! You mean our colony? We have been established here for many years, perhaps two centuries."

Huh, that's quite a while. Luckily, it seems like their language hasn't become unintelligible.

"Uh-huh," you say, "I see. So you've got a nice little corner of the world here? Better than your old planet?"

"Ah..." says the radio. "Of course, I have never seen Lirta with my own eyes, only in old photographs and illustrations. There were - are - it has many beautiful raised gardens and fountains. But it would not be wise to think that all of Lirta is that way. But we will talk more over dinner!"

SIGNAL TRACED

EST. DIRECTION: ~23.18 DEGREES BEARING
EST. DISTANCE: 50 KM

SIGNAL DENSITY AREA SCAN COMPLETE

SIGNAL DENSITY IN TARGET AREA: VERY WEAK

You lean back in your chair. Returned data is a great thing to have.

"I'll keep this signal transmitting," he says, "just follow it here and I'll meet you when you land."

>Go to the colony
>Don't go to the colony
>Keep him talking
>Other

(This'll be last update for tonight. Next session, let's say tomorrow at 7PM GMT.)
>>
>>1295153
* signal tracer
>>
>>1295153
Go to the colony. Maybe don't go down for dinner yet, but it'd nice to see what you're looking at.

And hey, if we are in a guard ship, we might as well put those shields to use.
>>
>>1295153
>Go to the colony
>>
>Go to the colony.

Maybe we should make one of our loyal crew stay behind. Maybe Kay, we don't want her eating them (and she seems the most competent, if someone has to save us.)
>>
>>1295153
I'm going to be honest and admit my confusion and ignorance: I seem to be the only one puzzled by this sudden reveal of a colony.
Wasn't this planet only supposed to have a primitive (possibly cannibalistic) population?
One that would likely get relocated? Did we expect to encounter an already established colony? Is it with the Imperium or what?
>>
>>1295153
>>Don't go to the colony
>>
Ending voting at half past. New thread in an hour.

>>1296389
Well, sometimes old colonies get lost from the records, you guess... though it does seem pretty strange...
>>
>>1296784
You don't have to make a new thread.
>>
>>1296809
Well, alright then, I won't make a new thread.

Next _session_ starts in ~30 mins, in this thread.
>>
>>1295153
>Go to the colony

It'd probably be best to check the place out. After all, you are scouting peacefully and meaning no harm to man, beast or techpriest. You give the ship an affectionate pat, then grasp the wheel and steer it to towards the signal, pushing the accelerator lever slightly forwards. You hum softly to yourself as Kay and Fitz leave the cabin. Lately she's been trying to teach him gambling card games... he says he knows some, but they all need four players. You told him that wasn't a good enough reason to take on more crew.

Looking down through the viewscreen, you see only more forest canopy. It's still as green as an ork's arse. Scoutie motors slowly through the sky, giving you time to make preparations for your arrival. Though you talked nicely over the radio, you're not sure you quite buy into their colony claim - CMC didn't hint that any idea that the place existed. It's just as likely that it could be a pirate trap. Luckily, Scoutie's like a wasp: a little ship that stings hard for its size. You power up the turrent gun that sits on top of the hull, activate the main guns and turn on the ship shields, the least decrepit part of your wandering home. These things can take a fair sized hit and shrug it right off.

"Hey," you request over the walkie-talkie, "chuck me my good overalls? The ones with the least patches?"

Travelling northeast at a leisurely pace, you finally see the canopy break and give way to an area of what looks to be cultivated land; in its centre are a cluster of wooden buildings. The ship vibrates gently as you cautiously descend. Eventually you find an area of freshly-cleared land at the edge of farms and land there, Scoutie bumping down to the jungle world's ground.

>Run scans
>Exit the ship
>Try to reestablish radio contact
>>
>>1296911
>>Run scans
>>
>>1296911
Seems like another case of "two prompts in the following order":
>Run scans
>Try to reestablish radio contact
>>
>>1296932
seconding
>>
>>1296955
>>1296932
>>1296928
Voting closed, writing up.
>>
>>1296911
>Run scans
>Try to reestablish radio contact

You do a couple of full chair swivels to celebrate your safe landing. You have you keep your legs in tight to avoid hitting the crates and toolboxes lying around the room. "Good job, Scoutie. Soft as a feather." Leaning back in the chair, you stretch your arms out and crack your knuckles, taking a moment to rest. Then you turn on the scanners and collect some environmental info.

SCANNING. WAIT. declares the readout screen.

TAKE THIS TIME TO CONTEMPLATE THE GLORY OF MANKIND'S HEROIC GUARDSMEN

You don't. Soon, the results of the scans return:

HUMIDITY = 20 G / SQ M
TEMPERATURE = 30 DEGREES
AMBIENT NOISE = LOW -- MEDIUM
ACIDITY = NEUTRAL
WEATHER = CLEAR. NO PRECIPITATION

Seems pretty safe. On to the next job. You turn on the radio, still set to the same frequency.

"Scouting Ship 25 to Lirtan Colony," you say, "this is Captain Emily Torvald. We come peacefully as scouts."

You do _not_ make any claims to be unarmed.

"Ah, you are here!" says Karpov's voice. "I will come out and meet you, you will surely enjoy our humble little town."

This guy still sounds like he's on the little happy pills with the smiley faces on. "Understood," you say, "we'll prepare for a ground rendezvous."

>All leave the ship
>Leave one crew member behind
>All stay inside
>>
>>1297063
>Leave one crew member behind
The wise choice.
Instruct them to radio us at the first sign of trouble too.
>>
>>1297063
>>Leave one crew member behind
>>
Voting closed, writing up.
>>
>>1297063
You leave the cabin an walk into the ship lounge / dining area. Kay and Fritz are playing cards: she's sitting in a wicker chair and he's kneeling on a rolled-up blanket. There is a large crate between them, emblazoned with a picture of a tree and reading "Henry's Finest Luxury Algae Bars" in cursive. There was nothing luxurious about those bars.

"Uh," you say, "crewman and -woman. Guys. The colony bloke wants to meet us on the ground pretty soon, but I figure one of us should stay here and hold the fort. Well, one of you. Captain gets shore leave privileges."

"Shore leave into the steaming hot jungle death world?" asks Kay. "Got to envy you, Em."

"Well," you reply, "you're coming too. I know you're good at getting out of tight scrapes. Hope you packed your sun cream."

"You hold the fort, Fitz," He looks crestfallen. "Cheer up," you say, "those aren't romantic uncontacted savages, they're just regular commoners. They won't have handkerchiefs. You wouldn't like them anyway." You get serious. "I've taught you properly how to operate the controls and understand the readout displays. I'm putting you in charge of the ship because I trust you. So, you know, don't fuck it up. Hopefully there won't be anything to fuck up."

He makes a sarcastic salute. "Just leave it with me, Captain. I'm the second only to two on this ship in not fucking up."

You take a pistol and a personal radio from the cabin, open the door of the ship, and manually winch down the metal stairs. The automatic motor broke and you had to improvise. Exiting the ship, Kay behind you, you are hit with a blast of heat and humidity which you try your best to ignore.

"This is like a free bath," says Kay. "Except there's no dirt in the water."

>Explore
>Talk to Kay
>Scrutinise the area
>>
>>1297221
>>Explore
>>
>>1297221
>Scrutinise the area
Doesn't this kind of imply exploring? Or is exploring=wander off?
>>
>>1297253
Explore = wander off, yeah
>>
>>1297261
Mh, then I confirm scrutinize the area. Unless I'm doing a poor job of following what's going on, we're supposed to wait by the ship for the colonists to pick us up, right? (If we weren't, we wouldn't wander about, we'd head for the intended destination, I'm assuming)
>>
Voting closed, writing up.
>>
>>1297221
>Explore
>Scrutinise the area

You turn to Kay, who is idly leaning against the ship's hull. "Let's stretch our legs, shall we? Get a look at this place?"

She shrugs. "Alright."

Together you set off in the vague direction of the centre of the colony, towards where you remember seeing the wooden buildings. You pass through some crop fields; men and women are working tending to what appear to be massive spring onions, rising above your height. All the workers wear shorts, and bands of cloth around their upper bodies. As you pass by, they stop work and stare your way.

"Uh. Hey." you say lamely, raising a hand. "Nice day."

You continue along the dirt path, glad to be moving rather than stewing in the hot, wet air. After a time, you arrive at a small wooden building resembling a watchtower.

"Captain Torvald!" shouts a voice from above, and you look up to see a bearded, middle-age man looking over the top of the tower. "And your... first mate! I am Head Engineer Karpov! Please wait just one moment!"

He disappears from view, but quickly the building's door opens and he joins you on the path. "It is a lovely day today! Not a drop of rain! I will take you to the town, it is just straight along this path and - well, I will guide you there."

>Talk about _____________
>Walk in silence
>>
>>1297428
Actually, let me give you some defaults if you want them:

>Ask him about the history of the colony
>Ask him about the planet - minerals, savage natives, dangerous animals etc.
>Ask him why this planet was chosen for colonisation

Only time for one of the above.
>>
>>1297458
>Ask him about the history of the colony
What we want to know more than anything is why this colony is here when we thought the planet only inhabited by primitives.
>>
Voting closed, writing up.
>>
>>1297428
>Ask him about the history of the colony

"This colony... you look pretty established, huh?" you ask. "With all these giant leek things and so on? And the buildings? It must have taken a while to set up, right? Is any of this stuff recent?"

"We built our lovely little colony quite quickly... but the wooden buildings need regular maintenance. It's the moisture, rots the wood."

"Uh-huh. I see." You pause, continuing to stroll along the path. "And your people came from... Lirta? This is the Lirtan Colony, right? And that's what, a planet? A moon? Must have been pretty rough there to make people want to settle in the middle of some unknown jungle world..."

He looks away and is quiet for a moment. "...Yes, things were tough for our ancestors. They underwent a lot of hardship, bad things that happened to them before they came here..." He tails off, apparently lost in thought.

You allow a span of silence. "We're scouting for Celeres Mining Corp. You know them?"

"We have no contact with the outside world... nor do we wish for any. Just to live our lives in peace and isolation."

"How, er... tranquil."

"You know," says Kay from your left, "CMC didn't mention your two hundred year old colony. You would've thought it would have been recorded."

"Ah, well... records... old records are easily lost, you know... beaurocrats are awfully inefficient... ahaha..." Karpov runs his fingers through his retreating hairline.

"Where _is_ Lirta?" you probe. "We could stop by it. See those raised gardens you mentioned. I'm sure you've kept the coordinates, right?"

"And we've just arrived at town!" he cries out hurriedly. "Would you look at that? Time sure passes when you're having fun."

You have come to outskirts of a settlement of wooden houses, facing onto a stone-paved road.

>Pressure him about the subject
>Politely say that you should be getting back to the ship
>Go into the town
>>
>>1297673
Well, we are pretty much boned.
These people obviously have no intention of letting us go. Like ever.
And it seems like it's already too late to turn tail and escape.

At the very least, I can't think of any good excuse to politely refuse continuing in and explain needing to go back to the ship.

Well here's two things we can try. First off, do we and Fitz know some form of morse code? We could try to signal to him by repeated pressures of the radio button "RUN".

If that's not an option, we can ask Kay to pull out (of her pockets) the X.
Where X is the most reasonable item that can fit pockets and could be used as a present when visiting a settlement (one that we might plausibly have at the ready even when not expecting to find a colony).
Before Kay can produce a complete response (in case she doesn't catch on quick enough), we berate her for forgetting and say we'll go get it from the ship real quick and that he can wait here or come along if he wants (might work better if he thinks he can keep an eye on us. Not really hopeful though).

I'm putting the morse code option first because it seems like it has a better chance at working and if Fitz makes it he may be able to get the Imperium on these isolationist heretics and come rescue us. Though I'm not too optimist about that either.
>>
With our heroines in a predicament at the hands of the smiley villain Karpov and his giant leeks, we leave the session here for tonight. Let's not forget, though, that rogue traders don't go out unarmed.

Tune your ship radio in again some unspecified time for the next session.
>>
Another thing you have is the so-called "fuckup button". It transmits a text signal from the radio, which says verbatim "We fucked up, bail us out. Coords: [x] / [y]". It's for just this sort of situation.
>>
>>1298100
Good to know!
Now we just need to find an excuse to hesitate at the edge of town long enough to get picked up.
>>
>Go into the town

We should probably be playing it cool here. Yeah these guys are shady and mentioning the mining company was a bad move, but if we run we blow any chance we have to negotiate or make it seem like we're not here to evict them or can't be bought off. And if we push too hard, same thing.

We should keep the fuckup button close to hand, but I say we try to play it cool and imply (truthfully) that we have no real loyalty to the mining company.
>>
>>1297673
>>Pressure him about the subject
>>
All going well, I'll be running the next session tonight, in a new thread.
>>
Woah, totally forgot about this.

Running right now.




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