Floris & Eli saw off Blake and his compatriots but the
survivors made a run for their ship. Floris gave chase but lost them,
increasing the severity of his earlier MUSCLE STRAIN Complication in the
process.
Meanwhile on the Bei Xiang Judah musters the crew to fly in
a shuttle over to Blake's ship and try to take control of it. They leave Bean
and Tuck on board with instructions not to touch anything but as they go Dr
Norris slips back and gives them the keys to Judah's wardrobe.
The shuttle heads to the Scorpio Salvage craft but they are
soon hailed by "Crazy Frog" Gillespie, the pilot. Unfortunately it
seems that the Doctor's "distraction" stopped Tuck from jamming the
Salvager's sensors...
Judah, Crazy Frog and Dr Norris exchange words; the doctor
and Judah trying to convince (SOCIAL+INFLUENCE) Gillespie to let them dock so
that they can negotiate in person while their adversary is busy threatening
them (Salvager d6+Difficulty d8). The Crazy Frog eventually cuts comms and it appears
that the salvage vessel is leaving (Blake having returned).
On the Helse Bergen Floris climbs outside to see Blake's
Ship departing however he fails (MENTAL+NOTICE) to detect a shudder in the
bowels of the wreck.
The shuttle docks with the wreck and the crew board. Leo taps into the ship's Cortex records and
downloads the logs and manifest (MENTAL+OPERATE+Cortex Speciality+Custom Cortex
Terminal Signature Asset) but is getting a bit spooked "out in the field"
and gains a "Gettin' scary" Complication.
The crew go to secure the cargo but find that the hull has
been breached by multiple explosions and the cargo is ruined. Floris curses
Blake for the pettiness of spoiling what he couldn't have. But every cloud has
a silver lining; the Helse Bergen itself might be worth the trip and directed
by Leo (rolling MENTAL+FIX+SALVAGER+Tool Belt Signature Asset) they have soon
loaded the Bei Xiang's hold with very saleable ship parts and components.
Further activity is halted by the detection of an Alliance ASREV in the near
vicinity and so the crew high tail it out of there. Eli accepts an offer of
transport to a nearby world in thanks for his help with Blake and Co.
There's a fair amount of interaction on the ship and the
crew are largely in high spirits after a reasonably successful job so we let
that play out with some scenes between the captain and his cousin & pilot,
Judah having to restore his wardrobe, Floris discussing how to offload the
parts with Leo and the Doctor having fun at various crew member's expense.
Eventually their reverie is interrupted with a Wave from a
nearby planet, Newhall. The message is
full of static but it appears that it is a Shepherd who allegedly knows Floris'
father. He needs help and was overjoyed
to detect Floris' father's ship nearby.
He wants to call in a favour and provides the crew with landing
coordinates.
Floris figures that Newhall is pretty much en route back to
Beylix and as good a place as any to try to off load some of these parts so
they set course to the Shepherd's location.
Thus we began the Echoes of War Episode; "Shooing
Fish"
The Bei Xiang touches down on Newhall and Eli bids the
captain farewell. Floris, Judah and the Doctor head to the Shepherd's orphanage
while Leo takes Bean and a selection of sellable parts into the near by town of
Endurance.
The Captain's party encounter a group of orphans who come
out to meet them and eventually get directions to where Shepherd Rust may be
found. He comes brings them into the
orphanage refectory and offers refreshments while he explains the problems he is
having with the local mayor, Buzzard Lake.
The only hope to pay off the orphanage’s debts will be to enter the
mayor's boat race and win the prize money. A sizeable purse that should also
serve to recompense the crew for their trouble.
Floris agrees to help.
Meanwhile in the town Leo has been able to befriend an
abrupt and obstructive shop owner & mechanic by impressing him with his
mechanical knowledge. He is able to get
a fair price for some of the parts and has made a potentially useful contact...