The Jackals (Campaign Turns 4-6)

 
 Let's be bad guys.

Check out the start of this campaign here.

CAMPAIGN TURN 4:

This next set of campaign turns was mostly about fighting the long arm of the law. In turn four, while the whole crew felt safe enough to go "trading," the local constabulatory took advantage of the jackals laxity and tracked the crew down.

All that being said, the crew managed to obtain a Displacer, a "gently-used" multi-cutter (broken), 1 credit's worth of scrap, some quality food and booze, a single-use, military fuel cell and a "gently-used" snooper bot (also broken.)

So basically, most of what the crew stole was food and trash. Definitely fitting for jackals.

The jackals were enjoying their spoils (weren't many freshes to go around) when the law man dropped in with a couple of flame throwers to clean up the critter mess that's been disturbing the peace around these parts lately.

Moving in, the Enforcers initially took cover behind their quality pre-owned patrol car.

The jackals set down their spoils and moved in, looking for a good angle to keep themselves in cover.

Two of the Enforcers moved in from the side, looking to pull off a flanking maneuver.

Meanwhile, Skadi and Apollo rushed straight at the closest group of Enforcers and unloaded enough lead to drop two and scare off two more.

Pip was quick to move up to try to counter the Enforcers' attempted flanking maneuver.

Moving in the next turn put Wepa in the perfect position to blast the closest Enforcer. Pip then rushed in and stunned the second-closest with a cloud of hot buckshot.

Winning initiative, Pip then put his target down.

Skadi, Freki and Apollo moved in, but it was Skadi who brought the pain. More boxcars!

Coming up alongside Pip, Wepa put the last of the Enforcers on the ground.

The jackals held the field!

Unfortunately, the skirmish against the local Enforcers wasn't a brutal enough whippin' to dampen their resolve any, so they remained a rival.

All told, the crew recovered +1 rumor, +6 credits in salvage, a curious data stick (+1 Quest Rumor) and A packet of Cyber Configurable Nano Sludge (given to Pip.) Apollo, Anpu and Freki all levelled up, and when Apollo had the opportunity to purchase a Needle Rifle for 3 creds, he took it. The deal was made all the sweeter by the fact that the crew sold 6 creds with of cargo.

In the middle of all of this, Apollo had a change of motivation (from Order to Escape - because he wants to get out there in the stars, not be constantly scratching in the dirt, I guess) that resulted in +1xp.

After this battle, I decided that I needed a "quality of life" mod for this campaign, so I whipped up the following, which you can feel free to use in your own game. The "Notable Sights" mechanic just wasn't doing it for me as-is.

CAMPAIGN TURN 5:

The next campaign turn started with the crew deciding that it was time to deal with the local Enforcers. On their own homeworld, force was one of the ways to establish one's place in the pecking order, so going after the law itself (it's just another gang, right?) seemed like the next necessary step.

Pip and Wepa went to track down the crew's Enforcer rival and found their station in one of the nicer (less junk-filled) parts of the local colony. A plan came together, and Captain Anpu steeled herself to offer the lawmen an ultimatum. Back down or be destroyed.

Also, Anpu, Apollo, Freki and Skadi went "trading" again before the inevitable showdown, finding 1 credit worth of starship fuel, 3 Frakk Grenades (again!), a Unity Battle Sight and a revolutionary who bought one of the crew's spare shotguns for 2 creds.

The crew of The Anubis issued their challenge and the Enforcers met it with determination and a fair bit of preparation. Blocking off the entrance to their station with patrol vehicles, sandbags and armored, pop-up cover, they prepared to face the jackals.

Other abandoned vehicles made opportunities for advancing under cover. The Enforcers even had a pair of snipers with auto-rifles covering them from the roof of the station. It was a well-built killzone.

Skadi and Freki advanced along one side of the nearest building, Anpu and Apollo took to the roof, and Pip and Wepa moved in from the other side.

The troops (led on the ground by their lieutenant) advanced into armored cover.

The jackals held back, waiting for a clear shot. When Anpu advanced, it was suddenly, and her rattle gun was more than enough to put down one of the nearest Enforcers and stun the other.

Apollo followed up with a good 'ol TKO, giving Skadi and Freki the breathing room they needed to dash into cover. Meanwhile, Pip rushed out into the open, flanking one of the enforcers and rattling him with buckshot.

Skadi won initiative and popped the closest enforcer through the window in the armored cover.

That's when bad luck struck. The snipers on the roof of the station got a pair of lucky shots off at Pip and Wepa, catching them out in the open and downing them.

But the bad luck didn't last long. Clear shots from Apollo and Wepa, even at range and with cover, put down the two snipers, taking them out of the equation entirely.

Freki was the last one to rush in, finishing the job. One clear shot was enough to drop the last Enforcer trying to sneak his way around the bushes.

In the end, the massacre was enough to convince the local Enforcers that the jackals were not worth the effort to try to dislodge from Byng III. The crew found four credits worth of salvage, and post-battle triage revealed that Pip just had a few dents (no long term effect) and Wepa had some minor injuries to keep her in Sick Bay for a turn. Beyond that, the crew found a broken blade and a broken rattle gun, but 9 credits of shopping revealed a nerve adjuster (to Anpu), an Analyzer and an Insta-Wall. Unfortunately, another three credits was lost when the tax man came calling, probably trying to collect for all the damage the crew had done to the local infrastructure. To top it all off, Apollo got into an argument with the rest of the crew and was too busy fuming to do any crew tasks.

CAMPAIGN TURN 6:

This campaign turn started with the crew seeking out another rival, a group of bounty hunters waiting for the right opportunity to pounce. Unfortunately, despite sending out Pip and Freki to track down the bounty hunters, the crew's rival gave them the slip. Captain Anpu sold some scrap for 1 cred, and Skadi went looking for the Specialist Merchant, Captain Deaf. A few good rolls later, and not only did she find him, he was open for business! An underbarrel launcher and a couple of cling-fire grenades for Freki seemed like a smart purchase and left the crew with a grand total of 1 cred left in their communal rainy-day fund.

Unable to track down one of their two remaining rivals, the jackals ended up taking a mission to check out Space Station IN-248 (a supplemental scenario for Five Parsecs available on the Nordic Weasel Games Patreon.)

The mission was simple. Local corp had an agricultural research station that suddenly went quiet. For ten credits (and some gear) as upfront pay, the jackals only had to pop in, download some files and bug out.

Simple, yeah. Nothing simple about hordes of swarming horrors climbing out of every vent and crawlspace on the station, eager to eat some jackals. Not only were these things some tough bugs, they had acid for blood, as Skadi discovered when she made the first kill.

A horrible metallic rending noise echoed through the station. Terrifying things were waking up!

Immediately, Apollo and Pip made contact with another couple of horrors. Pip downed his, but Apollo did the old spray and pray (and maybe didn't pray enough) apparently.

(Also, I forgot to do the gas cloud that comes on 1's.)

Freki decided that he was tired of waiting around behind everyone and used his displacer to teleport to the center of the map where the crate with the Phase Shotgun in it was. It was a risky move, but the dice favored him and he ended up right next to it.

Other vents started opening as horrors clawed their way toward the crew.

An intense brawl between Apollo and one of the horrors put him down on the ground, leaving the crew one short right at the beginning of the mission. That needle rifle would have been handy to have!

Rushing in, the remaining crew split up. Freki sealed the spawning vent in the room with the Phase Shotgun while Skadi downloaded the first of the files. Pip made his way toward the arboretum and Captain Anpu kept her rattle gun pointed firmly at the vent in the corridor.

In a feat of pure grace, Skadi then popped open the nearest door and wasted one of the horrors with a couple of shotgun blasts.

Freki and Pip closed in on the vent in the corridor and tried to close it, but couldn't quite manage it.

Bad luck! Before they could close the vent, one of the horrors popped out of the vent and immediately initiated a brawl with Pip. Both went down hard. There goes our assault bot!

Other horrors were screaming out of vents further inside the facility, but Captain Anpu was lining up her shots while the rest of the crew sealed the vent in the cooridor.

Taking such heavy losses so early left me seriously considering a tactical withdrawal.

Gotta love that rattlegun. Three shots, and none of them ones. Blammo!

(This was where I started to feel like maybe we had a chance.)

Deciding that Captain Anpu was more than capable of handling herself with her rattlegun aimed down a long, straight corridor, Skadi, Freki and Wepa moved on with the intention of closing the vents in and around the arboretum. 

Unfortunately, new horrors were already crawling out of those same vents.

A quick brawl between Freki and one of the aliens left another horrific corpse on the floor.

Skadi, Freki and Wepa all moved in on the next vent, but sealing it proved difficult.

Meanwhile, Captain Anpu was having a blast (literally.)

More horrors popped from the vents further in the bowels of the station.

While Captain Anpu kept putting them down in her stretch of the station.

Working together, Freki and Wepa finally managed to seal their vent while Skadi delivered swift judgement with her shotgun.

More aliens swarmed through the arboretum, but Freki made quick work of them with his underbarrel launcher and a carefully-delivered cling-fire grenade. Turns out, when aliens explode in a group, the acid blood can add to the chaos!

Surveying her handywork, Captain Anpu prepared herself for the next wave of horrors.

Making their way into the arboretum, Wepa and Skadi had their attentions split. Not only would they have to deal with the incoming aliens, they'd set their sights on sealing one of the vents and downloading another set of files.

Bad luck sent the alien after Skadi and the resulting brawl left her stunned. Even more bad luck, and Skadi's shot was a miss that ruptured some kind of chemical sprayer, pausing the alien's advance. Pulling back, Wepa tried to seal the vent but was unsuccessful.

While the alien paused in the fog, Skadi, Freki and Wepa worked together to seal the vent.

Another horror came after Captain Anpu, so rattled by the captain's rattle gun that it was knocked unconscious.

Five (count 'em) five aliens massed to come after Captain Anpu.

Wepa's luck came to an end as another alien moved into brawling range and munched her.

The squad is now at half strength! Another moment where I took a long, hard look at the board and considered retreat. Must have passed my morale check!

Freki didn't wait around. He bolted and let Skadi put down the beast.

Captain Anpu discovers that the more aliens there are in a swarm, the more likely they are to take each other out when the acid blood starts spraying. The rattle gun definitely helps.

All that noise must have drawn even more horrors to the scene of the carnage.

Line 'em up and lay 'em out.

Freki downloaded the second set of files and Skadi lined up her shot. Another vent was in sight!

Lots of new blips showing at the back-end of the hive!

Skadi was the first to reach the vent in the wrecked room beyond the arboretum, but didn't manage to seal it.

The swarm grows - again!

And Captain Anpu keeps stacking them up like cord wood.

Another vent closed and another shotgun blast from Skadi. The way forward into the hive was clear!

Another alien popped from the vents and came after Skadi and Freki. Multiple shots went wide, popping another fog canister and blocking off the hallway. Fortunately, enough shots hit the new alien to knock it unconscious.

Meanwhile, the rattle gun kept rattling.

Hey look! More cannon fodder!

With access to the hive blocked, Skadi and Freki decide it's time to link up with Anpu and try to get the files on the one remaining computer -- in the back end of the hive itself!

By a stroke of luck, all that work sealing vents actually bought the crew a little breathing room!

Pop goes the alien! More corpses for the corpse walls!

Splitting up, Skadi sealed the vent closest to Captain Anpu while Freki downed the alien that slipped past the captain's gauntlet of death.

Now came the hardest part. With four vents still active in the bottom of the station, the jackals had to deal with the very real possibility that they might be overwhelmed. Captain Anpu led the way, ready to shield the two more tech-savvy members of her crew while they approached the next vent with the intent to seal it.

Sure enough, bad luck popped three new aliens at the two nearest vents. They were even joined by a friend who popped out earlier!

Captain Anpu seized initiative and mowed down two of them in classic style.

Meanwhile, more of the horrors moved in, two of them closing on Captain Anpu while one came right at Skadi. Buckshot flew wide again, catching the lone alien in a chemical fog that kept it paused for a moment.

The sound of aliens banging against sealed vents was deafening, but at least the welds held.

Two brawls for Anpu and two victories. Thank goodness for the pistol she's got strapped at her side.

The fog cleared and Skadi found herself in another brawl, fighting off the alien and tossing it into the piles of its bretheren.

Getting ahead of the group, Captain Anpu was ready when the next alien tore its way through the closest vent. Rattle rattle!

Skadi and Freki moved in and tried to seal the vent, but couldn't quite manage it.

More bad luck! Two new horrors popped out of the vent, right in Freki and Skadi's faces!

Freki managed to push off one of the aliens that engaged him in a brawl, but taking on two at once turned out to be too much for him and he went down, leaving Skadi and Anpu to finish or bug out.

(Personal morale check passed!)

The remaining jackals chose violence.

Hey! It was super effective!

More targets for Anpu and that rattle gun. It's the stabilizer that makes it so darn useful, honestly. I gotta get the crew a few more of these.

Thank goodness for long hallways. 

Anpu kept tossing slugs downrange while Skadi tried in vain to seal the vent.

Blammo! Another one bites the dust! 

Come on, Skadi! Seal that vent!

Another turn where nothing popped, but the sound of claws on sealed vents was everpresent.

Get some! Man, that vent must be VERY hard to close!

Another quiet turn, and enough breathing room for Captain Anpu to help Skadi seal the last bit of the vent. Seven vents sealed!

More (lucky) ominous silence.

Moving forward, Skadi sealed the next vent in one go while Captain Anpu lined up her rattle gun to take out anything that might come at them from the remaining two vents.

Step back and blam! One less alien.

Now they only spawn on 10's and 3's!

The silence is ominous. The heart of the hive is just ahead. Even the last computer is finally in view.

Pop! An alien drops out of the vents and brawls with Captain Anpu, but she shakes it off with nothing but a bit of a stun.

Moving in on the next vent, Skadi fails to close it. Anpu points her bullet hose in the direction of the heart of the hive.

Good rolls. Skadi seals the vent while aliens try in vain to pop from those that the crew already closed.

Captain Anpu investigates the heart of the hive while Skadi downloads the last of the files.

"Yeah, no way I'm going in there," Anpu says.

As fate would have it, Anpu didn't need to go into the hive. The hive came to her!

A quick brawl, and the alien was shoved back and stunned.

Instead of fighting it, Anpu and Skadi hurried out of there, making a tactical withdrawl!

Another brawl between the alien and Anpu cost the alien its life.

Knee deep in the dead. Captain Anpu admiring her handiwork from earlier while making a hasty retreat.

In the background (in the arboretum) you can see the alien that popped from the remaining vent still chasing the jackals during their retreat.

Here it comes! Go go go!

The thing was practically knocking on the elevator door as the two remaining jackals escaped back to The Anubis.

Only after I was done playing the scenario did I realize that I not only made the enemies fearless (they had a zero panic, after all) but I also forgot to have them dash. It probably balances out in the end and I think Captain Anpu would have carried the whole crew anyway.

All things being equal, the crew of the Anubis got very, very lucky. Not only did they get a story point (for their kill count) they only had to spend one to keep the crew whole. Spending all of their earned credits covered the cost of medical care to get everyone back on their feet again, and the XP earned got Skadi a level up (+1 Luck!) Anpu a +1 to Toughness and Freki a +1 to Savvy. Freki also got a +1 to luck in the Campaign event. Add in the broken motion tracker, broken shock attachment and the phase shotgun that the crew acquired, and it was a decent run overall. At the start of turn 7, the crew sold a shotgun to cover the cost of upkeep and Skadi and Anpu celebrated their victory by going "shopping."

I'll put a new entry up (and link it here) once I've played a few more turns in the campaign.

I'm also working on some small mods and will post those as I finish and test them as well!