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Friday, October 24, 2014

Savage Worlds - Firefly using High Space - Finale!

Wrapping up my short campaign. This posting is a LOT late!

For the introduction, read this posting and read the sessions 2 and 3 and session 4. I am using the High Space rule set and we're playing in the FireFly 'Verse.

Planetside
After the last session, the characters were still on the planet, and we used that time to refresh memories and to tie up a few loose ends. They have a captured fighter and 4 crates of the drug for Badger. The also found documentation on the project which explains that Blue Sun is behind the manufacture and research of this drug as another attempt to subdue the populace. The drug isn't real close to being ready, but the data is ripe for blasting over the Coretex. After a few preparations, the crew gather into The Golden Ducat and launch into the black.

Orbiting Ship
Immediately upon breaking atmo, the ship is hailed. The orbiting ship around the planet that they avoided on approach is actively looking for them. They are requested to stand down and wait for the authorities who are on their way. Fortunately for the crew, the hailing ship is mostly derelict, it can maintain orbit but not much else. It is of little threat. The crew makes some nasty comments and flies off. Their destination is currently unknown as they don't think that Persephone is the best place for them right now, so they send out some messages to Badger to arrange for an alternate meeting place. Leng manages to hack into the Alliance communications network to monitor activity that might directly include The Golden Ducat or crew.


Ship Interception
Badger responds with a message that if they want paid, they need to drop off the product on Persephone, as arranged. He can help them out with some of the details of landing while wanted, but it will cost them some of their profit. Leng thinks he can create a new ship ID; it should last long enough to land and go.
Sensors and scanners identify two ships approaching for interception. There is also an incoming message informing the crew to surrender and prepare for boarding. The message is coming from a small transport which is escorted by an Alliance cruiser. The cruiser sits with its weapons at the ready.

Comms are still alive with repeated orders to stand down and allow for boarding. Various crew members notice that the ship is not responding as it should, and the AI starts complaining about rude behavior from another ship. Leng starts a security scan and finds that a hidden encrypted channel is being utilized. He traces it and determines that the small transport has linked to the ship systems somehow. Further investigation reveals that this is a hidden channel in the Coretex feed. Saul realizes that it is a private Blue Sun channel, and that the transport and 'The Duck' are both outfitted with the decryption device to access the channel. 'The Duck' appears to be a Blue Sun ship, with an easily accessible channel from the other ship. Leng figures that goes both ways and starts a counter-hack. A few perilous moments pass, and Leng manages to route the other ship into a collision course with the cruiser. Taking advantage of a short time window of confusion, 'The Duck' manages to get away.

Persephone
Communications to Badger get through, but Badger refuses to meet The Duck anywhere but Persephone. He does set up an alternate landing ID for the ship. This allows them on planet to finish the deal. Badger is quite pleased with the crates of drug, and pays handsomely.

Broadcast
After the deal is done, the crew still has knowledge that they want to spread throughout the 'verse. They decide to use the Duck's communication system with the channel that has military level access to the Coretex. However, they don't want the signal to be traced to them easily, so they look for a public transmission point. They find a public cafe with Coretex terminals that they can use. They hack in to a terminal and route The Duck's communication through it. They set up a looping message to report the information about Blue Sun, the drug program, and who really runs the Alliance government. Outside, a loudspeaker calls for the crew to surrender.

Final Fight!
The cafe empties quickly. All of the civilians who leave are arrested, identified, and put in vehicles. The crew had prepared for this eventuality and prepare the guns they brought. A firefight ensues with the crew trying to get out of the area, taking out several Alliance soldiers. A second wave of soldiers make a perimeter and several pairs of men in lab coats approach. Two by Two, Hands of Blue. The lab coats advance with no weapons in their hands, but with their hands reaching out. Each crew member of The Duck experience a tapping sensation in their heads, as if someone is knocking on their brain. Each crew member fights an invisible attacker, attacking their mind. Miraculously, they all manage to keep the attacks at bay. Under heavy stress, the guns are turned on the lab coated men and fired upon. As the lab coats drop, the mind attacks stop, and the Alliance soldiers resume their attacks on the crew. As the gunfight continues, Steady accesses the ship remotely and gets it to retrieve them. The ship hovers just above the ground as the crew boards for their getaway. Heading for the black, Badger's false ship ID keeps any interception and tracking difficult. An hour later, they seem to be in the clear, but monitoring news channels have conflicting stories about the Alliance, Blue Sun and The Duck.

Wrap up...
Well, that's the end of my little tribute to Firefly and Serenity. The players seemed to enjoy it. In retrospect, I think I may have over emphasized the use of the hacker character and I got a little heavy handed with some plot points.  Additionally, the last fight was a complete off-the-cuff creation at the spur of the moment. My plan was that the men in blue had Telekinetic powers, and they were essentially using the 'Puppet' power on the crew. They were at a negative to cast it since they are all fairly new to the power, the crew all managed to make the Spirit check vs. the casting. 

Additionally, sorry this took me so long to post. New job, less time, blah, blah, blah.