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A game about the pilots of powerful machines in a war that dominates every facet of life. They are trying to do their time and part, and get out physically and mentally intact. The organizations that perpetuate the War through all of known space are too incomprehensibly huge to take down. There is no “winning” the War, there is only surviving it.

These are their stories.

 

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  2. Mission Report 18 - Pest In Show

Mission Report 18 - Pest In Show

Jul 29, 2020

This Mission Report is provided by Proxy Tango, a member of the Beam Saber community and discord server!

Briefing: Trans-Horizons has received word of a horrible mishap with one of its offworld shipments! It appears a type of vermin native to Izya (specifically the Journey City sewers) had found its way into the vessel and gorged itself on the expensive rare Izyan produce inside all the way to its destination. However, when God closes a door he often forgets to lock it and the beast’s escape from the ship put it in the path of a famed ExInc socialite who declared it adorable and set off a massive demand across ExInc space. Is this job glamorous? No, but it’s easy money and the only known activity down there is some Squaddies, so get a cage and go Gremlin hunting!

 

Employer: Takuma Transportation Solutions (Tier III, Corporatocracy)

 

Target: The Squaddies? (Tier I, Independent)

 

Objective: Capture and contain a breeding population of ‘Gremlins’.

 

ROE: No employment of chemical, biological, or explosive weaponry (especially the latter). The Gremlins are not to be purposefully harmed. Path Cascade is to be eliminated on sight (Trans-Horizons makes exceptions for that particular gremlin).

 

Complications:

  • The Squaddies are already dead by the time the squad gets there, eliminated by a unit of the 99th Intelligence Group (Tier I) led by operatives ‘Montressor’ and ‘Fortunado’ here to intercept a DFS Scientist’s defection to the Adamant Council of Nor.
  • The Knives of Nor (Tier II) are waiting for a cadre of corrupt Burden (Tier II) members to escort the scientist to their position in a cistern where they intend to smuggle them to a safehouse on their way to Might.
  • The Burden members are planning a double cross on the Nor and intend to ransom the scientist to the highest bidder along with any Knives gear they can loot off the bodies.
  • None of these groups are going to believe the squad is only here to catch some Gremlins and will attempt to deal with them in different ways.
    • The 99th’s operatives will attempt to engage the squad in cryptic tradespeak until their charges get frustrated and try to scare them off.
    • The Knives will attempt to play them against the Burden in an attempt to get the scientist for less cost than paying the Burden.
    • The Burden will try to kill the squad outright, believing the Knives got wind of their planned betrayal and hired the squad to take them out. 
  • The Gremlins are rabbit-sized reptilians with iridescent scales and bioelectric traits that essentially make them immune to electrical shock, this gives them their names as they have a fondness for chewing on vital power cables. Due to this they’re usually killed or scared off on sight by anyone familiar with the infrastructural threat they pose.
  • The constraints of the sewers mean only light vehicles at most can access them without causing structural damage and risking a potential cave in.
  • The Nor getaway vehicle is an airboat with passenger space and cargo space along with a machine gun turret controlled by a targeting app linked to the team leader’s palm computer. Unbeknownst to the Knives, a Gremlin has gotten into the internal systems of the targeting computer housing the app and the resulting damage has destroyed its friend or foe programming, creating a bloodbath waiting to be activated.
  • The scientist himself-if secured-will quickly agree to become an ExInc asset and keeping him alive becomes a secondary objective, he can also be handed over to any of the three parties if friendly or neutral with the squad for a status increase.

 

Characters:

  • Montressor (She/Her) and Fortunado (He/Him), 99th Intelligence Group lead agents, features obscured behind tactical gear other than Montressor being short and stocky while Fortunado is tall and thin. Montressor is gregarious yet calculating while the less experienced Fortunado is a bag of nerves for his first field operation.
  • Diplomat-Class Citizen Celestine McClain (She/Her), Knives of Nor lead operative, early 50’s, caucasian features with a silver-grey bob haircut, wearing traditional Norrish jumpsuit. A veteran diplomat and spy for the Knives, Celestine’s experience is being clouded by an arrogant belief in her superiority to native earthlings.
  • Jazz Magnum (They/Them), Burden Cell leader, late 20’s, latinx features, shaved head, wearing scavenged military gear from multiple factions, no less than a dozen dog tags of multiple squads are attached to a necklace around their neck. Fiery and aggressive, Jazz has been plotting against Celestine for a while and their desire to get one over on the Offworlders has made them borderline myopic.
  • Professor Oberlain Basilthorp (He/Him), defecting DFS scientist, late 60’s, caucasian features, balding white hair and thick eyebrows, walks with a cane, dressed in an ostentatious cloak he believed would keep him hidden from view during his escape. A prestigious name in the field of AWV R&D, Prof. Basilthorp’s attempted defection is the result of his prototype AWV design being discarded in favor of another, he keeps the blueprints in a compartment in his cane.

 

Challenges:

  • The three-way battle for the Professor.
  • General disbelief at the squad’s objectives.
  • Capturing the Gremlins.
  • The haywire app controlling the boat turret.
  • Extracting the Professor.