The Jackals - Five Parsecs: Encounters 1-2-3 (Campaign Turns 12-20)

In which the crew runs through some "Encounters" missions from the NWG Patreon and works with some patrons.

Check out the start of this campaign here.

CAMPAIGN TURN 12:

After the invasion of Byng III by the Converted at the end of the Cold Eyes campaign, the Jackals were forced to burn a Military Fuel Cell to escape the planet as quickly as possible. With the roll being so low, it seemed clear to me that the Unity covered the Jackals while they escaped, perhaps as a gentle nod to the service the crew of the Anubis had given right at the start of the invasion.

All Patrons and Rivals were lost in the evacuation, and the journey to the next world was an uneventful trip that resulted in a single quest rumor (something interesting caught on the radio in the evacuation) and a simple but effective repair to a broken cling-fire pistol that was then given to Skadi.

The crew set down on Gough II, a frozen world packed with refugees (easy recruiting) and no requirements for freelancers. The cold wasn't ideal, but Captain Anpu saw enough opportunities to make the world seem ripe for exploitation.

CAMPAIGN TURN 13:

After paying upkeep and delivering a rather lucrative 6 credits worth of trade goods from Byng III to Gough II, everyone in the crew went trading. Anpu sold a shotgun and a marksman rifle to a revolutionary for 4 credits total, Skadi acquired one credit worth of scrap, Pip found 3 creds worth of fuel, Apollo found +1xp, Wepa found a stimpack (and gave it to Anpu) while Freki found another quest rumor.

After that, the crew worked together to make a big purchase: the Anubis was getting its first starship component, a large and very luxurious Living Quarters. With the extra space (and the utilization of a couple of units of "Quality Food and Booze," the Jackals decided it was time to pick up a couple of refugee humans for the crew that could be trained to be honorary jackals. 

Helen and Jaxa were decent rolls, as far as rookies go. Helen was a drifter with an interest in glory who was used to running as starship crew on freelancer gigs in the past. Jaxa, on the other hand, was a politically motivated artist and military brat who, at least, knew how to handle a gun. Captain Anpu decided almost immediately that a good opportunity mission would provide the perfect test to see how the two humans would handle themselves.

Mission "Encounter 1A" turned out to be in the remains of a vineyard, currently hard frozen, but in process of being revitalized by a series of heat ducting systems. The employer who had brought the contract to the Jackals had one request: get to the master computer for the defunct vineyard and upload incriminating data. The only downside: the computer was just outside of the security barracks, and the barracks was packed with hired muscle. Black Dragon Mercs, to be precise. Six on the outside, with reinforcements coming every other turn.

As Captain Anpu rushed into position, the Black Dragons got behind cover and started to fire.

Wepa was next to move, rattling out enough rounds to drop one of the mercs. Jaxa, Skadi and Helen spread out to the side, sticking to cover while Freki used his infantry laser to clip and stun another merc.

Quick on the draw, Wepa tossed more Rattle Gun rounds downrange, but didn't deliver much more than a stun token.

The dragons struck back, one hit stunning Wepa but doing little else.

Then the rest of the Jackals started firing. Anpu's fire knocked one of the mercs unconscious while Skadi rushed into the open and delivered a deadly blow with her shotgun. To their credit, Jaxa and Helen also fired their pistols, but couldn't manage to score any hits.

Winning initiative, Skadi got into cover and blasted the closest merc.

Anpu and Freki also won initiative, but only Anpu was able to score a solid hit.

Reinforcements rushed into cover and clipped Skadi. Only her luck saved her!

Staying in place, Wepa brought the pain!

Jaxa and Helen rushed up, following Skadi, but their rounds went wide again.

With none of the Jackals able to act in the quick actions phase, the merc closest to Skadi rushed in, planning to take advantage of Skadi being out in the open. A roll of 2 would have hit. Thankfully, he only rolled a 1.

Skadi's retaliation was much stronger and fiercer. One less merc on the table!

With no more mercs active on the table, the jackals all got into cover while Freki made his way toward the computer.

Another black dragon merc rushed out of the barracks and started firing wildly, hitting nothing but metal.

Anpu had moved into the ideal position to watch the barracks with her rattle gun. This was all standard operating procedure for her, and she'd faced worse in the past. The merc didn't stand a chance.

Freki made contact with the computer and started uploading the data.

Seeing that the end of the mission was fast approaching, Skadi pulled back and prepared to exit the field.

Then came more reinforcements, firing as wildly as the last merc, apparently.

Rattle guns do consistently good work, especially in the hands of a pro.

With the op complete and the order to withdraw clear in the air, Skadi and Helen made their way off the battlefield.

Wepa and Anpu took up positions to cover the escapes of Freki and Jaxa.

More reinforcements! This guy was lucky. He scored a hit on Captain Anpu, but her Toughness of 6 was too high of a bar for him to reach, so she only got stunned.

Must have been a bad stun though, because all she managed to do to him was stun him right back.

More stun tokens were exchanged between Anpu and the merc as everyone else withdrew.

Instead of sticking around and trading bullets with the merc, Anpu withdrew to further cover.

Jaxa and Wepa were just ahead of her, moving out of the battlefield in that same turn.

Next, Freki won initiative and pulled out of there as well.

A last, sloppy, desperate shot from the merc did nothing.

And soon, even Anpu was gone, safely off the map with the rest of her crew.

The debrief was a mix of good and bad. As the crew couldn't hold the field (and the employer was a cheapskate) all they were able to scavenge was 1 credit, a broken stabilizer, a broken seeker sight and a finely tuned handlaser (which was given to Wepa.) The seeker sight was sold, and the Black Dragons did not become a rival. Captain Anpu bought shotguns for both Jaxa and Helen to make them more effective in battle, and with the XP gain, Wepa was able to get a +1 boost to her Toughness. For their campaign event, the crew was able to sell 4 creds worth of cargo and Helen got the character event for a +1 to Luck. Once I get Freki's Savvy up high enough to make fixing broken things basically guaranteed, Helen is totally getting the next rattle gun and stabilizer. With humans being able to have 3 Luck points, she could become a heavy hitter for the team.

At the end of the debrief, news came in that the invasion of Byng III was over. Unity was overwhelmed, and the planet was lost to the Converted. Star charts were adjusted and Unity blockades put into place. No one would be going back to that planet until the war was ended, if ever it was.

Oh, and once again, I forgot to roll morale checks for the Black Dragons, so they were all just randomly fearless. Ah well, I think I needed the additional challenge.

CAMPAIGN TURN 14:

Turn 14 started with the usual mess of upkeep and crew tasks. Pip and Apollo went exploring while everyone else went trading. After getting lost, Pip found his way back to the ship just in time, bringing news of a juicy opportunity mission that would net the crew +3 credits if they took it. Fortunately, "Encounter 1B" is an opportunity mission, so the crew made a little extra scratch without much effort.

Apollo found a trainer (+2xp) while Captain Anpu read a book (+1xp). Wepa got up to her old tricks again and scored 3 more Frakk grenades (I gotta start selling these to those desperate revolutionaries) which she gave to Pip. Skadi "liberated" a Bipod that was just laying around somewhere and stuck it on her infantry laser. Freki found some contraband, then sold it on for 4 creds. Fortunately, no rivals were gained in the process. 

Neither human did well, unfortunately. Jaxa found a truly worthless trinket while Helen bought an "odd device" for 1 cred that turned out to be literal garbage. Not a huge loss, but still not good during one's probationary period. They'll have to do better at scavenging and spotting scams if they want to become honorary jackals.

"Encounter 1B" was a simple "get in, wipe out the invasive wildlife, don't step in the toxic sludge" kind of mission. Six Krorg had made a nest in the ruins and muck in a polluted industrial sector of Gough II, and for the creds, Captain Anpu was more than happy to take the job. Due to the hazards, only Helen replaced Pip in the usual lineup, but Jaxa was left on the ship with the bot.

When the Krorg appeared, the moved fast, two of them dashing to close with the jackals.

Freki was the first to pull back, firing his phase shotgun to put two stun tokens on the Krorg.

Skadi was next, doing little to the Krorg coming after her.

Helen was quick to prove herself, dropping the Krorg that was after Skadi.

Wepa and Apollo then stepped up, Wepa knocking one of the Krorg out cold while Apollo put two stun tokens on the one closest to him.

Anpu pulled the old spray and pray, but one of the shots dropped the Krorg that was ready to eat Freki.

Apollo won initiative, but couldn't make any good use of it.

In response, the stunned Krorg dropped down into cover to refresh itself with some delicious, bubbling toxic waste.

Wepa got a faceful of Krorg and mostly stood her own, pushing the alien beast off, but taking a stun hit all the same.

Anpu was then attacked by another Krorg, but proved to be too tough for the thing.

After throwing off the horror, Anpu then moved to fire on the Krorg down in the sludge. Blam! One less alien beast in the sludge.

That's when Helen stepped in and knocked the last Krorg unconscious.

Holding the field turned out to be an easy proposition in this one. All in all, the crew got six creds of pay, which they immediately turned around and spent as part of a 10 Creds upgrade to get Pip a "merchant module." Also found was some "vital info" that got the crew a corporate patron on this world. For loot, the crew found a broken boarding saber and another broken rattle gun. With the XP awarded, Anpu gained +1 Reactions, Apollo gained +1 Toughness, Skadi gained +1 Toughness, Freki gained +1 Savvy and Helen gained +1 Toughness as well.

For the campaign event, the crew was approached by a strange alien merchant. Paying him 4 credits earned them three Frakk Grenades (really?)

For the crew event, Skadi got into an argument with the crew and stomped off, unwilling to do any crew tasks next campaign turn.

CAMPAIGN TURN 15:

After paying crew upkeep, Anpu used her insider info to secure a corporate patron and spent 15 creds of the crew's communal wealth to buy a shuttle upgrade for the Anubis. The corporate patron (Xenomorphic Investments) hires the crew to do "Encounters 2A" which, like most missions, sounded really simple. A research base had gone quiet, and XA needed an expendable crew to go and find out why. Oh, and they had a "small job" appended to it as well. Take out one specific researcher involved in some "need to know" project (and the crew doesn't need to know) and get an extra 2 credits. Easy enough, right?

Before the mission, Jaxa and Helen went exploring while Apollo, Wepa, Freki and Pip went trading.

Jaxa found a patron job that could be done at any time (and even has health insurance!) while Helen secured the "small job" details with Xenomorphic Investments. Apollo found 3 credits of fuel while Wepa found a laser sight (given to Apollo), Freki found 3 more Frakk grenades and Pip sold 5 creds worth of contraband (gaining the crew a rival in the process.) 

Anpu, Helen, Pip, Freki, Skadi and Wepa deployed on site, walking into the mission area on foot. A quick appraisal of the situation, and suddenly things were looking a lot more dicey. The crew would need to recover certain "ingredients" that could lead to a cure while avoiding any hits from the infected colonists in the base. Worse, the tundra around the base was full of the horrors, so making a lot of noise was not advisable.

The crew made some noise anyway.

The infected colonists were all stirred up in the base, wandering around mindlessly.

Blam! Helen took one down that got too close.

The first target was the ingredient that had (apparently) fallen off a delivery truck.

Anpu secured it, but stayed wary.

Meanwhile, Skadi led the charge into the facility, with the other Jackals following her. Helen, on the other hand, shadowed Captain Anpu.

When a zombified colonist wandered in, Helen took care of the issue quickly and permanently.

Since Pip was immune to infection, he didn't mind getting up close and personal with the zombies.

Meanwhile, Wepa opened up and rattled her gun at a couple of the zombies.

Skadi tried to help, but her buckshot went wide.

That's how much noise the jackals made. In addition to the one zombie coming onto the map, eight dice would need to be rolled to see if any others would swarm into the base.

Six additional zombified colonists entered the fray!

Pip practicing his pest control subroutines.

Wepa, Skadi and Anpu took up positions where they could take out any zombies that might wander too close while Freki and Pip closed in on two more cure ingredients.

Ingredient six secured!

Splat, splat, splat! More zombies went down, clearing the way toward another cure ingredient.

Helen was more than happy to support Pip, covering him while he advanced.

Nine dice rolled, two extra zombies spawned. Whew! That could have been a lot worse.

Pip won initiative and secured cure ingredient #2!

Gragh! Brains? A truly spectactular hit from a zombie resulted in Pip only narrowly (luckily) avoiding becoming a casualty.

Meanwhile, Helen marked up another bogie.

Captain Anpu took a shot at a target and put the poor fellow out of his zombified misery.

Everyone was moving into position, readying themselves for the next wave of enemies.

Transmitting the data to Xenomorphic Investments yielded no viable cure. 

Eager to try again, Freki got to ingredient #4 and secured it.

Meanwhile, Skadi secured ingredient #3.

Pulling back, Pip joined Wepa and Anpu in providing covering fire for everyone else in the group.

A combination of ingredients 1, 6 and 3 turned out to be a winning combination!

Time to withdraw! Anpu and Pip led the way.

The jackals grouped up at the gate, keeping an eye out for new threats while preparing to make a run for it.

Anpu is the first to make it off the battlefield.

Pip wins initiative and goes next.

Then, everyone else makes the final rush to the end.

Sweet, sweet victory in this mission meant A loot roll plus a total of 8 Creds in pay between the standard pay, the danger pay and the "small job" of taking out the problematic researcher. The mission also called for the crew to receive an extra loot roll and "medical supplies" for one full recovery.

Unfortunately, both loot rolls yielded a lot of damaged goods (a broken cling-fire pistol, a broken rattle gun (that's our third one now,) and two broken scanner bots, one of which was immediately sold for 1 cred. Using this flood of cash, the crew immediately turned around and bought a shuttle upgrade for the Anubis.

With the XP gained in the mission, Anpu received +1 Reactions and Wepa received a +1 Toughness. To make things even more interesting, the crew decided, rather suddenly, to vote for a new captain of the Anubis. Apparently there were misgivings about Anpu's leadership, so the role of captain was then transferred to Wepa. Thankfully, Anpu didn't leave the ship. She stuck it out, perhaps biding her time.

With her new XP boost from the event, Wepa gains +1" speed. Probably feeling a little spring in her step. Of course, the character event (also Wepa) indicated that she was starting to wonder if she should move on, but since she wasn't injured, she sticks it out and prepares to shoulder her new role as captain of The Anubis.

CAMPAIGN TURN 16:

By this point, the Jackals were starting to gain a positive reputation among the local fixers of Gough II. Jobs were rolling in, jobs with good pay and even better terms. The crew was feeling optimistic about their new captain and Captain Anpu was (perhaps) quietly plotting her return to leadership.

While Skadi relaxed and took in the sights, Anpu found a trainer and got a little stronger. Wepa scrounged up some junk worth 1 Cred and Apollo met with a revolutionary and sold him 7 Frakk grenades for 14 Creds (I only realized that I'd shortchanged myself by 7 creds later and had to update this number during Turn 17.)  Pip picked up some "pre-owned" Combat Armor (broken) from a dumpster while Freki liberated a Military Fuel Cell. Helen did a little light reading of an instruction booklet (gaining +1XP) while Jaxa got very lucky, found herself a little Robo Rabbit's Foot and kept it.

The job the crew took for this turn was the Sector Government job that Jaxa found in Turn 15. For this mission, the Jackals would be facing a group of unknown mercs just starting off on their journey into the wide world of crime. Apparently the Sector Government was tired of them hitting supply trucks, so they set a trap and sent the jackals in as soon as the mercs sprung it.

For this mission, Captain Wepa brought Apollo, Skadi, Freki, Helen and Jaxa along with her. The six of them arrived while the four mercs were unloading the heavy decoy boxes that Sector Government had filled the supply truck with.

Immediately, the four mercs moved into cover.

The team split in half, with Skadi, Freki and Apollo heading south.

Meanwhile Captain Wepa took the two humans and moved north.

Wepa was the first to fire, standing out in the open and throwing rounds at the closest merc. Most of the shots missed, but Skadi's quick thinking (and quicker trigger finger) took care of the rest.

Seeing one death was enough for the one merc that was most reluctant to engage the jackals. He took off immediately.

Apollo moved into the open and took his shot, but it wasn't enough to do more than stun the soldier hiding behind crates the north end of the traffic snarl.

That same soldier took his own shot, but the distance proved to be too much for him and he missed.

That's when the merc with the rattle gun stepped up, planted his foot on a barrel of industrial grade moonshine and let the gun speak for itself. 

Fortunately, the gun didn't speak very accurately and all Wepa got was a bit of stun.

Freki lined up a shot and took care of the rest, putting the rattle gun baddie down for good.

Stunned by giving up her move in order to bring things to an end, Wepa fired her own rattle gun and downed the last of the mercs.

Victory in the mission (a rather easy mission at that) meant the crew was paid 4 credits and found some Vital Info when they held the field which got them a corporate patron. Even better, they didn't end up with a new rival (presumably because they nearly wiped out the tiny group they'd faced.) For loot, they also found a Frag Vest. Yay!

Experience points were doled out and Apollo gained +1" to Speed. Skadi, Helen and Jaxa all upped their Toughness by +1 while Freki maxed out his Savvy score.

For the campaign event, the way the jackals handled the mission seemed to sour Sector Government on them, so the crew lost them as a patron. So, sometimes you both lose one and gain one!

For the character event, Wepa heard a rumor, so +1 Quest Rumor for the crew as well.

CAMPAIGN TURN 17:

For turn 17, the crew bought a Merchant Link for the starship, paid their upkeep, and then started taking on their crew tasks. 

First up, Anpu went looking for a patron job and ended up finding two. Of these, one was more immediate (and had better terms) so Captain Wepa made the decision that the crew should take that one first, then see if the second was still the best thing going when the time came. Anpu liked the other one better, but since she was no longer captain (by unanimous vote of the crew) she didn't get to make the decision about which mission the jackals would take.

Meanwhile, with his maxed out Savvy, Freki repaired a broken suit of combat armor and gave it to Apollo. Jaxa and Helen went exploring, Jaxa finding a "free" shotgun while Helen just wandered around enjoying the view. Apollo did a little "trading" (digging in the trash) with Skadi and together, they found a broken communicator, a broken suit of flex armor and a broken ripper sword. That all should keep Freki busy for a while! Pip, on the other hand, tracked down a military fuel cell while the ship (via merchant link) secured itself 5 Creds worth of ship parts (seems appropriate.) 

The mission Captain Wepa decided to take on was your standard no benefits, no hazards, no conditions mission with a +2 Danger Pay. For this battle the crew would be facing their old rivals, the Blood Storm Mercs (or rather, a local detachment of them) while protecting a researcher of the private organization that hired them. If they got the researcher to the target point fast enough, they could even earn a bonus!

For this mission, Captain Wepa brought First Officer Apollo, Skadi, Freki, Helen and Anpu.

I also used my Five Klicks based Points of Interest Mod and rolled six points of interest, randomly placed around the map.

Seizing the initiative (thanks to Freki) the crew rushed into safe positions, Wepa and Anpu moving in to cover the area from behind cover. 

Freki was able to immediately close with a Point of Interest and received a Rumor. Must have been some kind of data core!

The Blood Storm mercs moved into cover immediately, one of them hiding behind some barrels (not visible) while one took to the rooftops, shooting at Anpu and giving her a stun token.

Anpu's trusty rattle gun made sure revenge was swift and decisive.

Wepa then moved up into the perfect angle to take shots at the merc group's lieutenant, barely taking her down.

The rest of the jackals moved in quickly, but the researcher hung back. One of the mercs was toting a shell gun and that was reason enough not to bunch up.

Apollo closed with a "Suspicious Activity" marker and rolled a six. Hey! Extra loot roll!

The guy with the shell gun passed his morale check.

Winning initiative, Wepa moved in to try to catch the soldier with the shell gun while he was in the open. Unfortunately for her, all she did was stun him.

Meanwhile the soldier behind the barrels was biding his time, waiting for the perfect shot.

Apollo tried to take his own perfect shot, but couldn't quite hack it. Instead, he spotted an alien artifact amongst the petrol cans and snatched it.

That's when Skadi stepped up and put an end to all that nonsense, like she always does.

The last merc held his ground, shaking off a stun token but keeping his morale high. The researcher rushed in, covered by the Jackals.

Winning initiative this round, the researcher closed with the terminal at the center of the table and started the countdown to victory. 

Meanwhile, the trooper with the shell gun was maneuvering to find cover good enough to protect him while he prepared to draw blood.

But the jackals were closing in.

Apollo and the soldier with the shell gun exchanged fire, but only Apollo hit and that hit was only a stun.

But that's when Skadi came around the edge of the crates and ended the mission in spectacular form.

Victory in this mission came with a wonderful payout. Not only did the crew get three decent interactions with the Notable Sights / Suspicious Activities on the field, they also netted nine creds between the pay, the speed bonus, the danger pay and the two creds of debris they found from holding the field. With this money (and some of what they had saved,) Captain Wepa gave the ok to install a Hidden Compartment starship component on The Anubis. For their two loot rolls, the crew got a Beam Pistol (to Freki - and he sold his knife) and a Stabilizer. 

XP granted in this mission allowed Anpu and Wepa to both gain a +1 to Combat Score, putting them equal in their abilities. After a character event, Freki also gained +1 Toughness.

Since this battle was against the Jackals' only rival on this planet (and the roll indicated that after this run in, the merc group'd had enough) the Jackals now stood unopposed on the snowy plains of Gough II.

Well, unopposed by anyone except the tax man, it seems, who came along and took his pound of flesh in the form of two creds.

CAMPAIGN TURN 18:

Turn 18 started with Freki fixing one broken rattle gun, sticking a stabilizer on it and giving it to Skadi. Wepa went looking for a patron job and found two, one from the local government with no time limit and one from our friends at the private organization that would need to be done before the end of Turn 20. Instead of taking either of these, Wepa decided that the best course of action would be to take the Eliminate mission offered to the crew in Turn 17 from Xenomorphic Investments.

Before that, though, Anpu, Apollo, Pip, Skadi, Jaxa and Helen decided to go trading (with one extra trade crew action for our friend, the ship.)

After Pip's Merchant Advanced Training kicked in, Anpu found a broken power claw and a broken colony rifle. Apollo found some insider info that could help the group automatically get another patron next turn and Skadi found a Stim-Pack. Jaxa found three Frakk grenades (sticking with tradition here, I guess) while Helen found two doses of Booster pills. Both Pip and the ship picked up an Auto-Rifle each.

Turn 18's mission was another job from our good friends at Xenomorphic Investments. They'd been patient with the crew of the Anubis on this one, but time was short and the precursor exiles the corporation wanted gone were not going anywhere. The contract was a basic "take out this target, but we don't mind if the whole group of them disappears as well" kind of thing. The Jackals were happy to oblige.

Fast and impossible to outwit in the first round, the precursor exiles stuck to cover while advancing.

Two went south while two went north, one immediately moving into a firing position with good cover.

Anpu and Helen made their advance, sticking to cover themselves.

Wepa and Skadi pushed north, hiding behind cargo crates and keeping an eye on both the exiles and the closest of the notable objects on the field.

Wepa, in signature Wepa style, ran out into the open and let loose with her rattle gun, obliterating one of the exiles.

The one closest to the slain enemy decided he'd had enough right away.

With the way cleared, (and winning initiative for the turn) Wepa moved in on the closest notable object only to discover-- a bloodthirsty critter!

Both of the remaining exiles pushed forward and found covered spots to take aim from.

While Skadi marched in and took care of the critter.

Trying to spray down one of the exiles, Anpu managed to put a couple of stun tokens on her, but not much else. Everyone else was still positioning themselves for optimum shot angles.

Blam! Anpu won initiative, grabbed the closest notable object (1 cred) then turned her bullet hose on the closest exile, turning him into a fine red mist.

It was Skadi though who ultimately delivered the final blow of the battle when she flung a bunch of rounds down at the last exile, mostly missing, but still sticking that final, crucial stun token.

With the last precursor exile knocked unconscious and unceremoniously removed from the land owned by Xenomorphic Investments, the mission was declared a success and the field was held. The crew found 1 credit in notable sights, and enough vital information to secure a corporate patron next turn. Four credits of pay (including the danger pay) and a hand laser (given to Helen) were the rewards for completion. 

XP awarded for the mission allowed Skadi to raise her Combat Score +1 while Helen increased by +1 in Toughness. 

For the campaign event, the crew managed to offload some cargo for 3 additional creds. For the character event, Jaxa spent some time reflecting on her adventures and gained +3 XP.

CAMPAIGN TURN 19:

Turn 19 started with Wepa using the "vital information" from turn 19 to secure a patron. In her task, she found two missions, a new one from our friends at Xenomorphic Investments and a tantalizing mission with a competing corporation called Interstellar Innovations. Of course, the captain decided to go with the tried and true for now. Xenomorphic Investments it was!

In the meantime, Freki fixed one of the broken rattle guns and gave it to Helen. Jaxa and Apollo went exploring, and while Apollo got into gambling and lost a handgun, Jaxa came back with a tip about a rival the crew doesn't even have yet. Someone talking trash about the Jackals? Maybe. All in all, a bust.

Anpu, Skadi, Pip, Helen and the ship went trading. With Pip's merchant training module, Anpu was able to sell enough arms to a revolutionary to net the crew an extra ten creds. Skadi actually got her hands on a stabilizer, then gave it to Helen to stick on her rattle gun. Pop found a broken laser sight, Helen found 5 creds worth of starship parts and the ship secured itself some trade goods for the next trip offworld. In the midst of it all, the crew installed a Database component on the Anubis for 5 creds and 5 ship parts. 

Going into the mission, Wepa brought Anpu, Apollo, Skadi, Helen and Jaxa with her. Xenomorphic Investments gave only the basic facts about the mission. Four sand runners had broken out of their shipping containers and had chased off the whole staff at the receiving station where the containers had been offloaded. Three of them were pretty ordinary, but one of the sand runners was a big, mean, alpha female who even a hardened unity trooper might have trouble taking down.

"She's a clever girl, ravenous and big" the game warden with Xenomorphic Investments said.

The crew advanced on the facility, ready to root out the threat.

Once the sand runners got moving, it was clear just how fast they were. Engaging with them in the cargo yard would surely be a death sentence.

So the crew pulled back as far as they could, aiming their guns at the two closest entrances.

In the end, it wasn't enough. One of the sand runners came darting out of the shadows and leapt onto Jaxa, ripping into her hard enough that she went down immediately. Even her lucky robo-rabbit's foot couldn't save her.

Between Anpu and Helen, enough rattle gun fire was thrown at the two giant lizards to kill one and knock the other unconscious.

A lucky shot at one of the sand runners at long range and behind cover ended another threat.

Turned out that the weight of seeing the alpha and two of the other sand runners go down was too much for this slow little guy. He got out of there as quick as he could, leaving the field of battle to the Jackals.

Holding the field and declaring victory, the crew of the Anubis collected their pay of 8 creds (6 + 2 danger pay.) No rivals were gained and the patron was kept happy. The battlefield find was a quest rumor and the loot obtained was a fake ID, possibly used to illegally import the sand runners in the first place. 

After-action medical analysis of Jaxa revealed that she was going to need 4 creds of immediate surgery and 4 turns in sick bay to recover from the damage the sand runner did to her, but thankfully the crew still had that dose of hotshot miracle medical drugs (that were acquired in turn 15) allowing for a single crewmember to make an instant, miraculous recovery. Spending that dose on Jaxa kind of felt like a waste given her inexperience, but the cost of Jaxa being out of action and requiring surgery would likely be more than the entire take for the mission, so, well, you win some and you lose some. The crew still has the quick-healing drugs from the Cold Eyes campaign, so our miracles are not totally expended yet if things go sideways later on. Not everyone on the crew can be a rattle gun wielding tank after all (at least, not yet.)

With the XP from the mission, Anpu and Wepa increased their Speed by +1" while Apollo increased his Combat Score by +1.

For the campaign event, a shady deal resulted in the crew exchanging a frakk grenade for an auto-rifle. 

For the character event, Freki suddenly went on walkabout and wouldn't be back until the start of turn 22 (but whatever he's doing, he'll be bringing back 1d6xp and 1 loot roll with him. Sure, our chief repair dude will be gone, but maybe we have enough crew with stabilized rattle guns to let Freki strike out on his own for a while.

CAMPAIGN TURN 20:

Wepa was intending to take on the tantalizing and dangerous mission from Interstellar Innovations next, so the whole crew did one last brisk round of trading in preparation for facing a threat that could result in an invasion and the need for a quick escape offworld. 

In their trading, Anpu found 4 creds of fuel while Apollo "liberated" a pair of stim packs. Wepa secured an auto-rifle while Skadi found a broken seeker sight. Perhaps figuring that Freki needed a laundry list of things to do when he returned from walkabout, Pip picked up a broken machine pistol and a broken hyper blaster. Helen showed up back at the ship having spent three credits to get a pain suppressor implant installed while Jaxa finagled a hazard suit and the ship did a deal on contraband, netting the crew a profit of +4 creds while being slick enough not to get caught.

The mission itself (Encounters 3A from the Nordic Weasel Patreon) promised to offer stiff opposition, but the pay was just too good to turn down. Apparently the local underground biolab owned by Interstellar Innovations had been overrun by some weird, psychic strain of The Swarm. Not one to ask the important questions about how they became psychic or how they got into the lab in the first place, Wepa marched Anpu, Apollo, Skadi, Helen and Jaxa down into the facility, ready to stack some bodies and make some cash.

"Alright people, don't bunch up. I want this thing to go smooth and by the numbers."

Five signals detected, all crackling with psionic potential!

Crossing into the lab's security checkpoint, the crew inspected the corpse of the security officer who had been stationed at the door. Nothing. Not one thing!

Three of the swarm released psionic bolts, but the attacks bounced harmlessly around the lab, doing little more than giving the jackals a bad case of static cling as they got into position, rattle guns at the ready.

The first swarm horror sprinted through the door and leapt straight at Anpu. Though the attack was strong, Anpu's combat score and handgun were enough to win the brawl. The hit was soft, though, so the horror only took a stun for its trouble.

Another approaching horror released a bolt of psychic potential next, but Wepa shook it off.

That's when Anpu opened up on the horror, hosing it down with her rattle gun.

Wepa took the next shot to obliterate the closest horror to her.

With two horrors down and the mission looking like it would end quickly, Anpu won initiative, rushed toward the nearest corpse and checked it, only to encounter a bloodthirsty critter!

Apollo, who also won initiative, tried to put the critter down with his needle gun, but couldn't do more than stun it.

Meanwhile, one of the swarm horrors came straight at Helen, leaping into her face and going down as she gave it what for with her combat skill and boarding sabre. 

Two more swarm horrors came out of the adjoining cargo room and rushed at Wepa. Fortunately, her finely tuned hand laser and her high combat skill were more than enough to make up the difference with the one that engaged her. The hit landed softly, though, only stunning the beast.

Between Skadi and Wepa, the jackals managed to take down the last two swarm horrors before they could arc with psychic potential again.

Nearby, Anpu engaged the critter, taking two hits while delivering one that was still strong enough to squash that angry alien bug. Having a six for toughness really pays off!

With the squashing of the last bug came sweet, sweet victory. The jackals held the field and gained +2 quest clues for defeating one of the swarmers in melee combat. No rivals were gained, no patrons were lost, and pay was six creds (3+3 danger pay) with a "personal trinket" snatched as a battlefield find. Loot was minimal, being nothing more than a single ship part.

XP was awarded as normal, with Anpu and Helen having enough to increase their combat scores by +1. Jaxa took a +1 to toughness, Skadi increased her savvy by +1 and Wepa gave herself a +1" to speed.

For the campaign event, the crew had earned the friendship and trust of the locals, gaining the jackals a +1 story point to work with. With the character event, Skadi took some time to repair the broken hyper blaster the crew had obtained earlier, giving it to Anpu while Anpu's trusty rattle gun went to Jaxa.

That's when the invasion check was made, rolling in at a solid 10. The icy world of Gough II with its eager refugees and even more eager patrons was now no longer safe. The swarm was coming, threatening to devour the whole planet. Instead of staying, the crew readied the ship and prepared to leave the system. Wepa had already picked out a safe harbor to escape to: Kaminska's Landing (a world from the Nordic Weasel Patreon) full of spare parts and opportunity.