Session 38 (1 March 2024)

Location: Aboard the Dejah Thoris in the sparse stony planetoid belt of the outer Barka-Athune system (Halcyon 2424)

Date: 297–5600

Travellers: Torka Jax, Jacobe Kyman, Nogudnyk, Griff Kodiak, Ada Windsor

The pirate ship you've damaged is clearly not defenseless. While you circled the barren planetoid that the erstwhile robo-colonists call Haven, the Wyvern launched its ship's boat and launch. Both are armed. They also began working on repairing their damaged systems. When you re-appear and engage them, four missiles and a similar number of pulse lasers take aim at the Dejah Thoris.

Missiles zero in on the Dejah Thoris

In the captain's chair, Torka orders evasive action. You decide that seeking cover amidst the rocks of the belt is the best option. Ada pilots you expertly amidst the asteroids, narrowly avoiding several. Nogudnyk attempts to re-open communication with the pirate captain Gar Pelian, but he doesn't respond: evidently he's not in the mood to parley after your earlier bold ambush.

The pirate missiles are soon upon you. In a desperate flurry of point defense pulse lasery, Griff and Jacobe manage to take out all four before they impact your hull. A pulse laser from the Wyvern damages your hull, however, and another one penetrates your fuel tank, starting a slow leak. The immediate situation is not dire, but it might become so if you don't get away from the Wyvern and its small craft. Luckily for you, its damaged maneuver drive prevents it from following you deeper into the belt. The small craft also decline to follow, knowing well how vulnerable they are. In a final parting shot, you vaporize the pirates' ship's boat before slipping out of sight behind a jumble of asteroids.

Decelerating, you pick your way carefully among the rocks of the belt, running silently to avoid detection. You realize that the longer you wait, the greater the likelihood that the Wyvern will fully repair its systems and come looking for you. You decide to take a chance and strike out toward the system's outer rim, simultaneously sending a drone off on a different vector as a decoy. After a few tense hours, it become clear that the Wyvern is not pursuing — whether it's because it can't or has other plans, you don't know. Whatever the reason, you're safe for the moment. You plot a course for one of the gas giants in order to refuel and jump out of the Athune system. You're not happy about foregoing the pay on the robot retrieval job, but at least you've got some credits coming to you from the Forsian Fishing contract. They may take a while to catch up to you, of course, but you conclude that returning to Athune is unnecessary and would only give Gar Pelian another opportunity to find and attack you. As for Sigma 72, B359 and the other robots, you're forced to leave them to their fate.

Although some of you had previous experience with spaceship combat, none of you had engaged a pirate in a merchant ship before. Each processes the event in their own way: some of you find yourselves fidgeting uncontrollably; others become acutely conscious of your vulnerability and determined to address it; some seek distraction in pastimes; and still others silently register the fact that they thrilled to danger and the possibility of death.

Your develop a plan to make your way back to the Alexis, salvage the mining ship, and cash in on that salvage. Rather than retracing your steps, you opt to head coreword into the Loran subsector and pick up the Scybrian Run trade route. 

Next stop: Monados (Halcyon 2223).