Five Parsecs From Home

After the dust had settled on the first mission, Jaryk remained keen to leave the world and put distance between himself and the army. However, while the crew were in town to pick up supplies they overheard an interesting conversation. A government supply convoy had run into trouble in the wastes just outside town. Apparently they had been set upon by a pack of Krorg – vicious bear-like creatures – and in the panic to escape they had lost one of the supply crates. The last they saw of it, it was being pawed around by the giant creatures, presumably trying to determine if it contained food.

By the sounds of it, the couriers were very keen to retrieve the lost container, but it would take a while to requisition the gear and military personnel who could do the job. If it was worth enlisting the military then the gear was definitely worth having – Jaryk saw an opportunity! Get straight out there and grab the container for himself before the New Pallas bureaucracy could even find the right forms and sharpen their pencils.

Before setting out the crew decided it would be worthwhile finding out a bit more about these Krorg beasts.  After asking around the local market area, it turns out that the beasts used to belong to a nomad warlord who kept them as a personal indulgence and status symbol. When he died, the new leader had no interest in the food bill and the daily damage they caused, and released them into the wild. There they now roam, scavenging for food and worrying any travellers who came within half a mile of them. They were not to be underestimated!

The crew prepared quickly but thoroughly. Bots Jeff and Jim made their repair protocols useful and managed to successfully fix both the damaged shotgun they had acquired and also Leela’s damaged cyber hand. Jase grabbed the shotgun as he immediately saw it’s value against large animals. Jase also managed to trade a single frakk grenade for a “boosted arm” implant in the markets. Leela picked up some ship repair parts, which would come in useful in the future whilst Jaryk and K’Vani spent some time in training.

The crew travelled on foot, overnight, to avoid any notice from the authorities and also to scope the area and try not to alert the Krorg before they really needed to. Jase spotted the crate using a long scope and Jaryk led the crew in as daylight broke on the wasteland. The Krorg could be seen in the distance, just waking up by the looks of it. With any luck they could get a bit closer to the crate before the animals’ noses clicked into gear.

The plan worked [successful seize the initiative roll] and the crew fanned out and got themselves closer to the crate than were the Krorg.

Sensing K’Vani’s anxiousness to blood her weapons, Jaryk assigned her as his personal bodyguard. He persuaded her that there could be no glory in dying in battle at the claws of these feral beasts. She wanted a noble death, and there was no such thing to be had here. He also knew that whilst her enthusiasm was great, and her skills true, her weapons would likely break upon the armour of these savages. Reluctantly she agreed to stay on plan and not charge in.

Then, without warning, the Krorg stirred. As one their heads turned in the crew’s direction. The race was on! Jaryk, comfortably the fleetest of foot (as slippery devils often are!) made a run for the crate, covering the ground quickly. K’Vani kept pace as best she could. The others kept a wide fan to present multiple targets to confuse the Krorg and unloaded their weapons, albeit to little effect. The Krorg were big, tough, and heavily armoured.

Jaryk managed to grab the crate before the Krorg could reach it and turned tail, firing wildly behind him. His shots never endangering their target, all military training out of the window as he ran for his life. The rest of the crew kept the wide gun line, retreat, fire, retreat, fire. Jase was the only successful shooter. His military discipline (and his new shotgun!) kept a steady hand, managing to down two of the Krorg during the retreat. [I forgot that Krorg are +1 to hit because of their size, so I might have missed a few hits for the crew, but with mostly 5 or 6 to wound a Krorg and their 5+ save I don’t think it mattered much!] During the retreat it became clear that there would be no chance of destroying the remaining Krorg before they reached brawling range (and allowing that to happen would have been suicide) and therefore there was no chance of holding the field and searching the area for any other salvage – no time for heroics – the crew had their prize and they ran for safety.

Back at Enlightenment, Jaryk expectantly prised open the crate. It was indeed worth the effort. A prototype gadget called an Insta-wall (an emergency force field) and some neural optimisation implants [wearer is immune to stun] would be incredibly useful!

Jaryk hoped there would be some clues in the crate as to the location of the source of the gear, or where it was ultimately headed, but sadly not. A dead end. [This was a “quest” mission but no quest rumours were found, so no progress in the quest]

Unfortunately on their return to the ship, the crew discovered that the life support system was failing and needed repair. That would have to be paid for immediately in case they had to make a swift exit. [The 3 credits earned from the mission didn’t last long!]

Also, a strange melancholy had come over Jaryk [His character event was “melancholy”  – meaning no xp for him next turn]. Something wasn’t right but he just couldn’t put his finger on it….