Their journey was comfortable and pleasant, with good food and light speculation on how they’d capture the ship if they wanted,  but midway the Belinda was jumped by a Type R engaged in a bit of piracy. Captain Stobart came to request the passengers’ help after the turrets were shot off and a boarding hatch attached; the pirates had the run of both cargo holds and he needed help to dislodge them before they broke into the drives or bridge. He and two of his crew were armed up and ready, though the PCs lent them better guns than their basic shotguns. Cameras showed four pirates in each hold. 

Session 3 TacMap

Nevada put a HEAP RAM through the first pirate trooper as he opened the door the thug was trying to crack through, spraying bits everywhere. Feng rolled through the door into the Special Cargo bay and took down a man there, while Dr Wombat readied a grenade. Nevada followed Feng through the side hatch and took down a third man. Wombat threw his grenade to try and drop it through the lift at the back of the hold onto the two thugs below, but it bounced off the hatch and landed at his feet. To his relief, he realized he’d forgotten to pull the pin... Feng sprinted across and took the last foe in the upper hold at a run.

Sturnn dropped into the lower hold through the iris valve and opened up, attracting rather a lot of return fire. Crewman Marks followed and wounded a thug, and Jesse Wales dropped down after them. 

Nevada, Wombat and Feng dropped down the lift shaft and opened up on the two troopers from behind, taking both out, then sprinted around through the Jump room to come up on the last two from behind. As they did so, Sturnn dropped one and when Nevada opened the hatch, it was to raised hands and a gun on the floor. 

With that man’s radio, he called over to the pirate ship, simulating battle noises to disguise his voice, and demanded reinforcements. The pirates recalled ‘their’ troops, and Nevada and Feng decided to try and take the pirate launch, still grappled to the underside of the Belinda. When they cycled through the boarding hatch lock, however, it was to find the launch facing them. The pilot noticed they weren’t pirates and bailed; a while later the pirate ship fled. Nevada was enormously disappointed not to have been able to capture it. Meanwhile, Wales had been quietly going around the downed pirates making sure each was safely dead. He knew their sort.

Captain Stobart was immensely grateful, and refunded their Mid Tickets as well as promising them discount if they ever flew with him again. 

Finally they disembarked at Shadira highport. Collace awaited below, its massive oceans glittering rather coldly. Captain Stobart thanked them again for their assistance in beating off the pirates, and said the Belinda will be spending a couple of weeks in the port getting repaired.

Moath Hatab

Collace had a massive Scout ‘base’ - all over the system - and Wombat and Feng went to pay off some of their MedDebt. They met Scout Administrator Moath Hatab who dealt with the payments, gave them some advice on the planet, and hinted he might have a job for them in the near future - having read Captain Stobart’s report. He declined to sell them IISS ammunition. He offered to store their non-local-legal hardware, and strongly recommended only using robotaxis. 

Arriving dirtside, the PCs headed cautiously out into Shadira Arcology - after Wales had been sent back to stash his grenades. It was one of the poorer ones and they felt watched almost immediately. They also noticed that the local crims had picked out a fellow passenger, so they rescued her and guided her to the robotaxi for Kelroth arcology, a rather more well-to-do district. 

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Session Date Feb 21st, 2023