Dec 27, 2018
This is the fouth mission from Beam Saber: The Cenotaph.
BRIEFING: The Wrights of the Ascent have sent out a call for support because Lady Elreth is fighting a dragon in the town of Wander! Wander is located in the mountains to the West of the Journey City area.
EMPLOYER: The Wrights of the Ascent (tier 1W; Church of the Celestial Myriad)
TARGET: Tell the players that Lady Elreth is the target, but the real hidden target is The Burden (tier 2S; Independent).
OBJECTIVE: Help out in Wander.
ROE: Threatening, or employing force against civilians. Firing upon or presenting as a clearly marked medical transport or facility.
COMPLICATION: The dying dragon’s body is in the middle of the town and one of its two ignition glands has ruptured. The local buildings have been badly damaged in the fighting and some of the town is on fire. There are wounded and buried civillians. The locals are suspicious of outsiders (including Doctors Beyond Stars). A small Burden cell is present riling up the locals. The mountains are rough terrain. The Wrights have been constructing a cathedral in Wander and it has sustained structural damage during the recent battle so they are repairing it instead of helping the locals. The Wrights are subtly destroying local buildings so that they can help with rebuilding in their image. Should the dragon’s mate come looking for it?
CHARACTERS:
Hannah Copeland, populist politician/secret Burden cell leader. Lithe build, late 30s, pale brown skin, curly purple hair. Knew one of the pilots (if they are from the Journey City area) when she was a kid. She/her.
Grout DeVinter, Wander’s mayor. Former criminal contact of another pilot. 50s, wears a head scarf, soft build, east Asian ethnicity. They/them.
Senior Kin Arrow Slide, Wrights’ leader. Frail build, sickly, 40s, bald, pale white skin. He/him.
Dr Panel Strap, lead medic in Wander from Doctors Beyond Stars. 40s, salt and pepper hair in a pony tail, fit build, dark brown skin. They/them.
CHALLENGES:
The town is on fire and falling apart.
There are people injured and buried under rubble.
The dying dragon may thrash around causing more damage, including spraying the flammable and caustic fluid from its ignition gland.
The locals won't coordinate with the pilots without convincing. They'll also need to be convinced to let Doctors Beyond Stars help. If their relationship with the pilots get bad enough, the locals will attack the pilots and/or Doctors Beyond Stars.
The Burden cell is too small to fight the pilots directly but they'll try to turn the locals against the outsiders (pilots, Wrights, Doctors) and supply weapons if things get bad.
If the Wrights' work on the cathedral is interrupted, or if its further damaged, it may collapse.
The construction vehicles the Wrights have on site are “accidentally” destroying the local buildings around the cathedral.
The dragon's mate could arrive at Wander to retrieve (or maybe consume?) it's dying partner.
NOTES:
Between the Wrights destroying the locals' buildings and their prioritizing the cathedral over helping the locals, the players may decide to stop them. If the pilots openly attack them or if the cathedral is destroyed, then the Wrights will NOT pay the supply roll.
If the players do decide to work against the Wrights, Hannah Copeland will approach them as a local leader and offer her support. If they agree then The Burden becomes their Employer for the mission. This does not provide a supply roll as The Burden are an Independent squad.
Only use the dragon's mate if the mission is going exceedingly smooth and you want to draw out the mission a fair bit.