Session 36 Log

6/16/16 - Log We're home, after a visit with the Valkyries. We call the Malthar about a problem he has and we're going to try to help him out. Mr. Beadle has the station held hostage. He's wired to explode and has a deadman's switch. We offer to use the the Freeze Field gun to take out Beadle and save the station. We're talking with the Malthar about getting on to the station and take out Beadle. Is his deadmans switch on to off or off to on? We fly up to the station and disable the external cameras and open the airlock. Inside the airlock is an L6 warbot. Acting quickly, Kyle jumps the bot and deactivates it. We get the functions and reprogram the bot to obey us. We move to a computer station and hack into the cameras and security systems. We find Beadle and see that he's pushing his deadmans switch every 10 seconds, maintaining the bombs so they don't explode. It's a direct wire system, so no way to radio it out. We're trying to find the best route to get to Beadle and incapacitate him and deactivate the bombs. We set up a plan of attack, but we head down to the shop level to load up on all the equipment we could need. We're going after Hush Screens to avoid the Warbots Sonic Devastators. As we get there and enter a shop, we see a blood trail headed into a store room. Following it, we find a dead security guard. We recover a holopad he had been carrying. On the holopad it has his orders from the Malthar to keep an eye on the station. He tried to contact the Malthar via laser and was found by the a combat bot and killed. He saw something and felt it was very important to get a hold of the Malthar. Yaz does a rewind on the cameras to see what the guard saw that was so important. A ship landed in the docking bay and 4 warbots escorted 6 sathar on to the station. Yaz starts tracking the sathar by tracing their steps via the cameras. The sathar are with the WNB and have attached a device to it. They are also downloading information as fast as they can from the station's computers. We roll the cameras back to see what happened to the guard and see that he was trying to use his pistol as a signal gun. A combat bot saw him, called others via wall plug and they came and killed him. In the room with the bots and sathar is a large trunk. The sathar are nervous about it and the warbots are covering it. Kyle comes up with the idea to activate the fire suppression system and take out the oxygen to kill the sathar. Yaz hacks the computer to turn off the life support. The sathar collapse due to deprivation and the robots pull Beadle out of the chest. The robots get confused and plugged into the wall to get information. When they do this, we hack them and break the sathar programming. The sathar collapse due to deprivation and the robots pull Beadle out of the chest. He's unconscious and one of the warbots hits him with a staydose. We go to the WNB and analyze the device attached to it. Eusyl figures out that it is a device that made it into an encrypted subspace radio. We deactivate the WNB and moments after we feel an explosion. Looking at the external cameras, we see a fighter has shot the station. There are 5 fighters attacking, all with assault rockets. The station ends up taking enough damage to become a useless hulk in space. We also see that the Sathar fleet has jumped in. The pirate clans are attacking the UPF...so are the sathar. We load up 5 warbots and the 6 dead sathar into our ship and thrust away, toward Pinnacle Station. Mumba gives us priority to land and we get on the station. The session ends on a cliffhanger. We end up with 5 Warbots. One is armed with a pair of Machine Guns and the others are all armed with a pair of Laser Rifles.

XP from two sessions: +1 log 35 +10 major goal (alliance / truce with the Rabbit) +1 log 36 +5 minor goal (save Mr. Beadle from "blowing up the station") +10 major goal (discover Sathar involvement on the station) New total: 285 + 27 = 312 xp

Also loot: Sathar WNB mod device - this device modifies a WNB device so that it still functions like a WNB except on SSR frequencies. For those, it instead broadcasts a constant "white noise" encrypted signal. A receiver that has the encryption key would be able to filter out the white noise to determine the message hidden behind.  Note that since a WNB only interferes with nearby SSRs, to detect the broadcast over the background white noise of the universe, a listener would need to know to focus on a message from a known location.  In addition, to overrule the background noise, the WNB is forced to broadcast three times in sequence, so broadcast speed is reduced.  Alternately Now that you understand the function, the device would be easy to replicate. A pile of Sathar data disks and several small computers and converters so the technology can interface with Frontier design. 6 weird Sathar weapon #1 - each Sathar was carrying a strange, almost simplistic weapon that depends on propelling a small bladed shaft by use of wire tension and a bent piece of fiber.  It also has a mechanical trigger so the shaft can be locked when loaded. Note: it's a crossbow, which doesn't appear in the rulebooks, so I assume was never invented in StarFrontiers tech.  It works like a bow, but double the weapon damage (2d10) at half the reload speed. Advantages?  None besides the fact that you can carry it around cocked.  Or half-cocked in the case of people like Dack. 6 weird Sathar weapon #2 - the bolts used in the weapon above were each tipped with a bead of neurotoxin designed to dissolve in liquid. If a bolt penetrates armor, it then applies a STA check or disables the target similar to Staydose.  However, if the target fails a second STA check, then it counts as a second poison attack (1d10 damage).  Not very deadly by original rules, but revised damage makes it kinda scary. 6 weird Sathar weapon #3 - each Sathar was carrying a pistol which is effectively a modified laser pistol.  It fires only on non-visible frequencies of light (microwave?) and makes no noise.  Effectively, it's a laser pistol, but at half weapon damage (2SEU per 1d10, max 5d10). Advantage? You can't see the laser blast, so it's harder to track the damage back to the source.  In fact, you might not even know why you are suddenly hurting. 6 Sathar albedo suits ... not easily usable, but maybe could be kept as trophies? 6 Sathar gas masks ... same 6 Sathar sonic screens ... not that different from Frontier build Various other Sathar versions of Frontier tech... a RobComKit, a TechKit, IR goggles, smoke grenades, etc... 5 mostly-loyal LVL 6 crab-leg warbots, 8 laser rifles, 2 machine guns with plenty of ammo

Also, post-game info, upon reaching Pinnacle station: UPF footage shows that at about the same time you launched from Darkstar, a piece of junk drifted out of the wreckage of the station, then powered up its engines and headed for the outer system. Magnification shows this to be the HS 5 freighter that was in the docks.  So apparently, it still had crew inside?  If you count Sathar as crew... The Sathar fleet must have been lurking at the edge of the system, because they powered up simultaneously to the WNB-mod device being unhooked. In fact, the location appears suspiciously close to Lost Reach and the suspected pirate presence there.  Right now, they seem to be hanging in space in that area, but telescopes under magnification show that they are up to something, with several large freighters moving things around and lots of welding going on.  The current theory is that they are constructing a space station. Alarmist have declared it is a super weapon of some sort.  Unfortunately, it's dark out there, and there's lots of signal obstruction. The Malthar and several of his personal ships have landed at Pinnacle station and have been taken into custody, but nobody trusts his crews, so the UPF is calling for civilian or militia spacers to fly them temporarily. Individuals on both planets are quickly arming ships with makeshift weaponry.  Even if a rocket launcher isn't an effective weapon on a spaceship, you might get lucky.  Others are loading civilian ships with industrial explosives, planning to use them as missiles.  Signals have been sent to nearby star systems, but they are also reporting Sathar ship sightings (but no shooting). Regardless, nobody is coming to help yet. The current order of battle: Strike Force NOVA Admiral Clinton (battleship) - undamaged Centurion (assault carrier) - undamaged as well as 4 fighters (6 destroyed) Capable (light cruiser) - undamaged Dragoon (light cruiser) - undamaged Samus (destroyer) - destroyed Zebes (frigate) - destroyed Tireless (frigate) - heavily damaged Hatchet (assault scout) - destroyed Saber (assault scout) - destroyed Griffin (assault scout) - heavily damaged Inner Dramune Militia Majora Station - Armed Space Station Scrapper (assault scout) Odessa (assault scout) Draminid (assault scout) Republic (destroyer) Outer Dramune Militia (the Malthar's ships) Pinnacle Station - Armed Space Station Goldenrod (assault scout) Maltharia (assault scout) Drasimian (frigate) Starhawk (frigate) Plus various freighters and armed civilian ships (not many) Versus Sathar Fleet: Assault Carrier (10 fighters) 2 Heavy Cruisers 3 Destroyers 3 Frigates Pirate ships:  unidentified destroyer 3 unidentified frigates 3 "corvettes" a HS 4 ship with a LC and LB (note: UPF command is very perturbed about these military-grade ships, b/c there is no record of their construction) (is there a hidden Class II construction dock somewhere?  Or did the Sathar build Frontier style ships and give them to the pirates?) Plus various "freighters" and armed "civilian" ships

Did Admiral Clinton blame the Sathar attack on a video? <rimshot> We should see if we can "persuade" Mumba to part with a Corvette.  Also, where is Gullwind? If we could...since we did scrap YET ANOTHER Sathar plot...we would have a couple of ships that would be good to further our business ventures. The Tiger's Tail would be great for moving cargo, with its ion engine, along with its atomic engine, should it need to boogie out of a bad situation.  The Corvette would be a good ship, if we needed to flex our muscles a bit. The Bounty Hunter's Ship - which I'm calling "The Kraven" (see what I did there?), would make a great in-system courier. Jumping on a type A engine is tedious, so it'd be a last resort thing for that. Also, if we could mod into the Tail a way to dock the Kraven to it, we'd have a planetary lander. Also...damn. I wanted that ship that was in the docks...poo. I'd like to pair up with Galatea and see if we can give the wetware and hardware on the warbots a good diagnostic.  I wouldn't mind refitting one or two of them with some thrusters. Having a robot in space may not be the worst idea.

Unfortunately, the corvettes are an unknown design, but clearly follow Frontier design sensibilities (not Sathar).  Officer Mamba doesn't have one to give to you.  Maybe if you could pry one from the cold hands of one of the traitor pirate crews - assuming they still exist.   The Gullwind fits into the "various armed civilian ships" on your side.  It already has a crew. Regarding Galilea, she's planetside, so unless you want to take a trip down the well, she isn't available for consultation.

Random note wil be half a hr late this week

Hello, Please note I will be out on travel and game I can make is July 28th. I will check the site from time to time, so if you need me to blue book anything or provide some feedback, just let me know. In general, Yaz would continue to help the NT in any way he can and build up the Unseen. Scott, I still need a cohort that runs The Unseen and if you have any ideas, it would be very helpful. Enjoy and sorry I'm out for such a long period of time. Carlos

Understood.  You character will be assumed to be planetside running the intelligence network.  Perhaps I can arrange to have some extra tidbits come from your direction.  Regarding a cohort, it's all in the description.  On paper, characters are just a collection of skills, so if you want to build a cohort with additional interests or background, that's up to you.

I'm good this week, next i'd only have a hr tho