Sessions 19 to 21

Session 19 (22 September 2023)

Location: Aboard the Dawnstar, in orbit around the ringed gas giant Karvor IX in the Lansote system (Far Home 1329)

Date: 109-5600

Travellers: Griff Kodiak, Torka Jax, Jacobe Kyman, and Dr Fomstep

During the 51 hours that pass before the arrival of the Rimworld Federation Navy patrol cruiser, you debate what to do about the situation. There's some temptation to loot the Dawnstar of valuables and to retain RG-10's advanced robotic brain for your own use, but you realize that in order to do so without risking suspicion you'd have to scrub all evidence of the robot's homicides, likely by crashing the freighter into Karvor IX and crafting a very good lie to tell the authorities. In the end you decide to play it safe and secure the freighter until the cruiser reaches the scene. You do take the time to study the experimental robot brain (with appropriate precautions), noting that many of its most sophisticated components were manufactured by the Matsuda Corporation (information that you file away for future reference). You also skim hydrogen from Karvor IX and process the fuel to fill your tanks.

Your caution turns out to be wise, for the cruiser's captain is a suspicious type. He has his marines board the Dawnstar, weapons drawn and ready for trouble. After a long day of moderately unpleasant interrogations and evidence-gathering, however, it becomes clear enough that your story — the unvarnished truth — checks out. You're free to continue to the starport at Lansote.

Farhad Cinlu, manager of the Sharks.

Two days later, you dock at the class-C starport and begin your usual search for passengers, cargo, and jobs. As you move through the starport's public areas, you notice two scrawny youths staring at Griff. They signal to an equally scrawny man whose eyes widen when he sees the burly ex-marine. He approaches, his sons in tow, and introduces himself as Farhad Cinlu, manager of an up-and-coming professional laser tag sports team called the Sharks. He has a proposition for you.

The Sharks' star player, Yinka Liu, is currently bedridden with the Jarubian Fever, a non-life-threatening but socially embarrassing STI. As it happens, Griff bears a remarkable resemblance to Liu, so much so that Cinlu thinks it feasible that Griff take the athlete's place in the morrow's grand tournament, a major sports event that consumes public attention on this low-tech world. The fact that all the competitors wear helmets and visors (more generally, it is a cultural taboo on Lansote to expose the crown of one's head in public) only improves the odds that this deception will go undetected. Cinlu will pay you Cr25,000 to compete as Liu and the Sharks, and is even willing to let you have the winning purse of Cr200,000 if you take first place in the tournament. For him, it's worth it to preserve the Sharks' (and Liu's) reputation in the eyes of the fans. You take the offer: it seems like pretty easy money. No one expects you to actually win.

The next day passes in a flurry of preparations. While Cinlu's staff brief you on the rules of the game, Cinlu himself coaches Griff on how to impersonate Yinka, teaching him the athlete's characteristic strategies, signature moves, and catch phrases (such as "You're gonna need a bigger boat"). You steal some sleep between training sessions. At last, the fated hour arrives, and you are hustled into vehicles that whisk you across town to the vast triangular arena where the laser tag game will take place.

Session 20 (29 September 2023)

Location: The triangular laser tag arena on Lansote (Far Home 1528)

Date: 114–5600

Travellers: Griff Kodiak, Torka Jax, Jacobe Kyman

You're impersonating a team of professional laser tag athletes. You stand in a small windowless room, holding plastic laser pointers rigged up to look like TL 5 slugthrowers. The tournament is about to begin.

The rules are simple: three teams enter, one team leaves (so to speak). It's a "king of the hill" scenario, where each team enters at one corner of the triangular arena and makes its way to the centre where a 20-foot tower stands. Whoever manages to hold the tower for ten consecutive minutes wins. In addition to battling players from other teams, you must face hazards in the environment: animatronic and holographic animals and plants whose attacks can cost you "health points", as displayed on your vests and the HUD inside your visors. Each team member must choose one ranged and one melee weapon; "ammunition" — the number of shots you can fire — is limited. The ranged weapons — in reality harmless lasers — are designed to imitate the slug throwers that are familiar on this TL 5 world: shotguns, SMGs, pistols, and rifles. The available rubberized melee weapons are similarly diverse: daggers, swords, polearms, and axes of various kinds. When any of these weapons makes contact with your vest or helmet, the device registers a decrease in "health points." When they reach zero, you're out of the game.

A horn blares, the door before you slides open, and you step out into an artificial jungle environment. Dense foliage in a riot of colours rises above your heads on all sides; a cacophony of hoots, cries, and growls emanate from loudspeakers hidden here and there in the scenery. Some 300 metres away, you see the central tower rising above the bushes, its summit just about level with the arena's stands from where a multitude of sports fans — tiny figures at this distance — peer down at you. Three narrow paths snake through the bushes: which one to choose? Should you separate or stay together? 

Playing laser tag in the Lansote arena.

You elect to stick together. You, the Sharks, are the Green Team; Red and Blue Teams are somewhere out there. All that you know for sure is that they will make for the tower. Following the trails is faster, but forcing your way through the dense bushes is the more direct route.  You opt for speed, moving swiftly but quietly along the middle trail.

The next half-hour is a blur of action: scuttling along winding trails, dodging the tendrils of giant jungle plants, climbing trees to snipe at distant enemies, and discovering hidden "loot boxes" that replenish your vest's "health points", provide extra ammo, or grant temporary immunity to various environmental hazards. When the trail you're on winds quite close to the tower, you strike out for its base, bushwhacking your way through the foliage. You soon come to the edge of a small lake: the tower rises from a tiny islet in its midst. The back of something large and leathery breaks the surface: the lake, it seems, has an aquatic guardian. To your right, a slender bridge crosses the moat-like body of water: it's looks safe to cross, but suddenly a scout from Blue Team emerges from the bushes just opposite you and opens fire. You shoot back. The struggle for the tower is on.

Session 21 (6 October 2023)

Location: The triangular laser tag arena on Lansote (Far Home 1528)

Date: 114–5600

Travellers: Griff Kodiak, Jacobe Kyman, Nogudnyk

Your laser tag guns bark and buck as if they were actual primitive slugthrowers. Your combined fire "kills" the Blue foe. Cheers erupt from the arena crowd. The way to the bridge is open!

Unbeknownst to Griff and Jacobe, a mishap has befallen Torka (who had assumed a sniping position in the crook of a tree further back along the trail): he has slipped from his perch and sprained his ankle. He hobbles out of the arena. Farhad quickly sends in a replacement: Nogudnyk, a scrappy laser tag athlete who has been a Sharks second stringer for a while. Their low-level, undiagnosed psionic abilities give them an edge in the game that they cannot fully explain. For too long they've languished in Yinka's shadow; now's their chance to shine. They sprint forward along the trails, eager to catch up with the rest of Green Team and get into the action.

Meanwhile, Griff and Jacobe break from cover and sprint across the bridge. Before they're even halfway across, rubbery tentacles shoot forth from the placid waters of the lake and a monstrous form heaves itself onto the bridge before you. Part frog, part octopus, the grotesque animatronic aberration blocks your path. You must fight it! Fortunately, your reactions are lightning-fast. You pour gunfire into the thing, then Griff charges it with his rubber broadsword and deals a lucky killing blow. It slips back into the water below. The way is open. You charge into the base of the tower. Seconds later, cheers erupt from the arena crowd as Jacobe climbs onto the roof. You've got the tower! The only question now is: can you hold it?

Nogudnyk reaches the bridge just as three members of Red Team step out of the jungle. They're clearly preparing to storm the tower. Nogudnyk attempts a clever ploy: lowering their gun, they challenge Lozar, the hulking Red Team leader, to go mano a mano. The taunt is simultaneously slightly mocking and subtly alluring, targeting both Lozar's pride and his desire. He falls for it! The fans go wild as the two square off. Lozar swings wildly with his rubber machete while the slighter Nogudnyk, aided by ESP powers of which they are barely aware, deftly dodges blow after blow, all while keeping up a stream of dialogue that enrages Lozar and thrills the spectators. He's finally defeated, though in a manner that underscores his prowess and salves his ego. It all takes place to the tune of Nogudnyk's signature theme song, an ancient Terran classic known as "Hounds of Love."

The rest of Red Team is done with waiting. They charge toward the base of the tower, but a well-placed "grenade" from Griff takes them out. From the tower's summit, Jacobe dual-wields pistols to devastating effect against the remaining assailants. Suddenly, the horn blares: you've held the tower! The Sharks win!