Previously on 2nd Parsec to the Right, we looked at the condition of Avernus Prime, where our story opens. But it's time to get our boots on the ground and start making some cash.
If you've read this far, thanks for your patience while the crew and world were established. It was a lot of text, but your reward is cool pictures! Note: I'm playing with the rules as they are printed in the book, as I hadn't discovered the errata when this game was played.
After safely docking the ship in a modest port town of Ilged on the coast of Marrow Bay, each member of the crew got their instructions from Inquisitor al-Nasr: Acetl and Gill-on'Tou would meet with Acetl's contact and try to nurse a job out of him, assuming the could even get into a meeting, that was. Jalen Ren would stay with the ship and practice his shooting (which he groaned about, loudly). Ysuranel was to flood the local chatterhalls with false meetings the crew was taking to keep any rivals from lurking too close. Al-Nasr tried to give Trin Flintfinger a job, but he had already slinked his way off the ship and was hopefully not making too much trouble for himself. Meanwhile, al-Nasr would go on what he called a "treasure hunt," meaning he was out snooping around for tech. He didn't expect to find much immediately, but he could hopefully catch the ear of someone with the affluence and influence to make the time on-planet worthwhile.
Gill and Acetl's meeting went... fairly well. They didn't get to talk with Lero directly, but they did secure the rights to a job that paid decently and didn't seem too dangerous. Best of all, it had the promise of more jobs wrapped in with it. Trin returned from whatever hidey-hole he had snuck down with a trio of maps of the area. They would be helpful if any further jobs came in. Ysuranel also successfully ensured any information about their whereabouts would be so buried in misinformation it would take a week to sort it all out.
As al-Nasr was still away, Ysuranel decided the best course of action would be to take Acetl's patron up on their job offer. But, as the crew was suiting up, the Inquisitor returned to the ship filled with giddy energy and a scribble of writing on a piece of parchment. There was a report of a shipping corporation that had received a shipment of goods from off-world. The report al-Nasr had gotten was that there was the possibility of xenos tech in the shipment. Acetl and the crew knew it was a fool's errand to try and keep the Inquisitor from his prize, and so Acetl's job was put on the to-do list. No matter, it had a very loose completion date, as long as they communicated to Lero's people that they were going to undertake the job before they started. For now, Al-Nasr's mission took preference.
Gill silently slid down the repelling rope from the back bay of the Ulysses, touching down with a soft thud. He quickly dashed for the cover of a mound of shipping containers as the next member of the crew followed after him. The descent from the ship, 750 meters up, took longer than he would have liked, but they needed the cover to mask their approach and ensure they weren't seen.
It had been relatively easy to figure which company's shipment had come from off-world. It turns out not many do, and apparently the shipping bosses had grown complacent. It only took Jalen a few minutes to track the container to it's final destination and pinpoint its location in one of the kilometers-wide yards around Ilged. Now the plan was to drop in, search the container and get out before someone found them out. They didn't want to lift the entire container out of the yard, as Acetl had suggested, and al-Nasr had insisted he be there when they opened it.
As the last of the crew landed, al-Nasr ordered the ship to rise to 3000 meters where it would wait for his summons. Following Gill, the crew darted between containers and outbuildings, quickly reaching the shipping container. Jalen plugged into the interface, hit a few keystrokes on its dataslate, and the locks all disengaged, the doors slowly opening automatically.
It was empty. Save for one small wooden box about half a meter square, the container didn't even contain more than a few specks of dust.
"Check the manifest again." al-Nasr barked.
Jalen nervously scrolled through a dozen screens, shaking his head. "This is the one. The cargo must have been moved out already."
Al-Nasr shook his head, growling "We're not going home empty-handed. Grab that box and let's go."
Jalen picked up the box, with was certainly full, just not heavy enough to be much interest. "Huh," he said, bringing the box outside, "it's not even heav--"
As soon as Jalen's foot touched the ground of the shipping yard, two shots rang off side of the shipping container. Jalen dropped the box, which tumbled a few meters away.
In this distance, a figure dressed in a dusty uniform raised his rifle to fire again, with three others quickly following up beside him. Al-Nasr quickly pushed the button to summon The Ulysses, but it would be a few minutes until it would be back. They just needed to last until it did.
Forces
- Inquisitor al-Nasr: Hand Laser, Blade, Frag Vest
- Jalen Ren: Handgun
- Ysuranel: Handgun, Glare Sword, Distraction Bot
- Gill-on'Tou: Colony Rifle, Glare Sword
- Acetl: Colony Rifle, Blade
- Trin Flintfinger: Shotgun, Insta-wall
- Shiny Bit: some wooden box
- Lieutenant: Military Rifle, Blade
- Specialist: Shell Gun
- Merc: Military Rifle
- Merc: Military Rifle
Deployment
The merenaries playing at secutiry guards deployed towards the middle of the field on one side, keeping roughly in cover. Because there's no strict deployment zones in Five Parsecs From Home other than keeping forces 18" from each other, I opted to set them 9" from the centerline of the table.
The crew set up ensuring they were in cover, with al-Nasr, Jalen, and Gill taking the left, Ysuranel and Acetl flanking right, and Trin sort of holding the center. The Shiny Bit from the Notable Sights table in the book ended up just in front of where the crew was deployed.
Turn 1
Wanting nothing to do with the shell gun carried by the specialist merc, Ysuranel and Acetl ducked around the shipping container that had once been so full of promise for al-Nasr, but was now nothing but an empty metal shell. They hoped to dash across the distance to a small outbuilding before the merc's heavy weapon could be brought to bear.
Also keeping to cover, the trio of al-Nasr, Jalen, and Gill scooted around to the left, going around the building. Jalen managed to grab the small box as he passed, strapping it to his back with a short length of rope.
Holding his position, Trin licked his chops as a couple of the guards peaked their heads around the corner of one building, apparenlty hearing Ysuranel and Acetl's approach. He quietly cocked his shotgun and, as the two guards stepped into the open, let both barrels sing out in raucous cheer. When the smoke had cleared, both guards had been brought down. He licked his finger and made a couple of quick checkmarks in the air. Unfortunately, no one on the crew was paying attention, and the 2 remaing guards were staring straight at him, angrily.
Turn 2
On the right, Ysuranel dashed across open ground, ducking behind the corner of the building. Acetl checked for his moment, but a flash of hesitation meant he didn't have time to join Ysuranel. The guard Lieutenant locked eyes with his remaining squadmate and made a quick chopping motion towards Trin before he rushed towards Ysuranel.
Trin was hastily trying to reload his shotgun as he ducked behind the small barricade, but the pins controlling the break-action had been damaged when he last fired, and he simply could not get the gun to close. It would play no further part in the fight. Frustrated, Trin pressed up against the barricade. He wasn't about to dash across the empty ground to try and get to the other two mercs. But maybe he could get one to come to him.
He peeked his snout around the edge of the barricade and saw the Lieutenant circle the building towards Ysuranel, being covered by the remaining merc. Then, he did what he swore he would never do, and jumped out of cover, sticking two fingers in his mouth and whistling loudly. "Hey, flatface!" he yelled, then turned around and flicked his tail at the merc. "I'm gonna stick what's left of you in one of these containers!"
It worked. instead of lobbing a grenade towards Ysuranel and Acetl, the merc took a couple steps forward and fired at Trin. Seeing the incoming projectile, Trin's eyes went wide and he let out a shocked squeak. Ducking behind the barricade again, he activated his insta-wall just as the grenade landed and showered the vicinity in shrapnel and dirt, not a speck of which got through the wall. Quickly turning the wall off, Trin let his tail and one leg drop lifelessly out from behind the barricade, squinting to keep one eye open just enough to watch if the merc approached.
Al-Nasr, seeing the shell gun fire towards Trin, dashed around the edge of the building towards the merc, motioning for Jalen and Gill to follow.
Turn 3
As they rounded the corner, they saw the merc, creeping out from behind cover, trying to verify that he had hit Trin. Unfortuantely for him, as he walked out into the open, all three were able to train their pistols on him. In a barrage of slugs and laser beams, the merc was cut down. All that was left was the mercenary leader.
Somehow, the Lieutenant caught Ysuranel off-guard and was able to charge him, swinging his blade wildly. However, even getting caught off-guard for a member of the Aeldari race meant he could easily deflect the swings of the mercenary and drive him back without injury.
Seeing his crewmate attacked, Acetl shouldered his rifle and charged in with his blade. Though ferocious, Acetl was a bit clumsy with his weapon, and the merc leader managed to fight him off despite being forced to give ground to Acetl's forceful charge.
Turn 4
Acting before even Ysuranel, the merc drew his rifle and emptied his clip in the direction of the Aeldari and Acetl. Though they were hurried and unaimed, he still managed to put a shot into Ysuranel's arm, catching him between two armor plates by sheer luck. As Ysuranel fell, Acetl caught him with one arm and forced himself between the Aeldari and his attacker. A quick application of spray-band staunched the flow of blood and ensured no further harm would be done.
Racing up to support their crewmates, al-Nasr, Jalen, and Gill fired on the merc as they approached, managing to bring him down with sheer weight of fire.
The sound of a mass of approaching boot steps was quickly drowned out by the roar The Ulysses' engines as it dropped out of the low-hanging cloud cover. As the ship touched down and the rear ramp descended, Acetl relinquished Ysuranel to Gill as the two climbed aboard. Jalen dashed up, still carrying the wooden box, with al-Nasr close behind him. Acetl fired a few shots in the direction of the security guard reinforcements, causing a couple to leap for cover. "Trin, extraction!" he bellowed, as the Ratter scurried out of cover and leapt onto the ship, swiftly followed by the Saurian. The Ulysses roared to full power as the ship lifted off the ground, banking hard southward as the dust settled in the shipping yard.
Woo, that was a big one. Thanks for reading all this way. Next time, on 2nd Parsec on the Right, what's in the box!
