Getting off Frenavos was never optional, and turn two opens with Old Reliable burning six credits in fuel just to relocate. There’s a brief scare when Tinhead, still smitten with the last planet, needs a story point spent to drag him aboard, though a lucky “time to reflect” roll hands that point straight back. No harm done.
The new destination is Valtherus, a world with no licence requirement and a thriving bot manufacturing scene, meaning cheaper upgrades for Tinhead down the line. Both rivals from Frenavos follow the crew here, Directive Zero among them, so the heat is far from off.
With Tinhead, Jaryn and Tace all still out of action, only three crew members are fit for tasks. Dante volunteers himself as a decoy to throw off the pursuing rivals, while Dust and Colt head out looking for patrons and strike gold, turning up not one but two. The standout is a job from the Valtherian sector government, and thanks to Dante’s decoy trick, the rivals fail to track the crew down, clearing the way to take it on.
The Job
The owner of a popular chain of budget pubs on Valtherus has blamed a recent spate of plagues on the government’s chief epidemiologist, Dr Septimus Blight.
Tin Martian, “the Android Alehouse Keeper,” claims Blight isn’t curing the plagues – he’s causing them, and in doing so has devastated the planet’s once-booming hospitality industry.
Dr Septimus Blight and Friends
Though these allegations have been vehemently denied by the Valtherian government, Tin Martian may finally have found his smoking gun. The flustered Dr Blight recently left a briefcase of important documents in a particularly unpleasant area the locals refer to as “the Sludge Basin.”
It is unclear what business Blight had in the Sludge Basin, though he has since claimed it’s part of his role as patron of a sick rats’ charity.
Martian has hired the notorious Ruddles Asset Recovery Corporation to obtain the briefcase from the toxic sump. The Valtherian government haven’t been so lucky in their quest to hire anyone stupid enough to accompany Blight back down there to retrieve his property. In the end, they’ve had to put their faith in a beleaguered gang of fugitives called the Lucky Strikes. Or what’s left of them, anyway.
So will it be last orders for Dr Blight, or can the Lucky Strikes get him safely into a taxi before it all kicks off outside the chippy?
Colt Narro (left) was the first of the gang to die
The mission type is Protect, escorting the unarmed Dr Blight to the centre of the table. With only three crew fit to fight against five bounty hunters, the odds look grim, but the plan holds: Dante draws fire in the middle while Dust and Colt work the flanks. Dante proves surprisingly handy in a brawl with his duelling pistol, dropping the enemy lieutenant, while Dust picks off their specialist with a lucky rifle shot.
Ruddles Asset Recovery
It’s not without cost. Colt, drawn out of cover chasing two bounty hunters, is gunned down. But Blight reaches the centre of the table, grabs his briefcase, and holds it long enough to win the mission. Dante finishes the fight in style, throwing a concealed blade to finish off the stunned specialist.
Aftermath
The post-battle sequence brings mixed news. Ruddles Asset Recovery, humiliated, becomes a third rival, but the Valtherian sector government signs on as a patron in return. Sadly, Colt doesn’t survive his wounds, the campaign’s first proper casualty, though his death opens a free recruitment slot for the next turn. Dante and Dust both pick up enough experience to improve their combat skills.
Turn two closes with eleven credits, three patrons, three rivals, and a growing sense that this world isn’t done with the Lucky Strikes yet. Rest in peace, Colt.