Turn 2 - Poaching
“This is the place, stay sharp,” Dask said as he took his gun out and tumbed the safety to off.
The rest of the crew did likewise, weapons powered on, safeties unlocked and blades drawn.
“It’s beautiful in its own way,” Estra said as her gaze drifted upwards and studied the slab sided ruins of long collapsed habitat blocks that were interwoven with the thriving vegetation of the deep forest that had long since reclaimed this area.
“Is now the time for this?” P’hol asked Estra.
“Stress less, dearie, you’ll live longer,” Estra replied with a smile, then returned to gazing at the overgrown ruins.
P’Hol hissed in annoyance then returned to covering her sector.
“Caution, I hear movement up ahead!” Shoutheri growled as he raised his laser and began to move towards the scant cover of the ruins on the left side of their avenue of approach.
The party took only a handful more steps ahead, then the underbrush ahead of them thrashed as something big and angry tore it’s way through it, then burst out the other side.
“Contact! Gellec!” Shoutheri yelled as he dashed to one side and jumped onto the ruins for a better line of fire.
P’Hol and Estra dashed forward with their weapons at the ready as Shouteri, lased the first Gellec right in the centre of mass. The Gellec roared and staggered as the beam lanced it, but it remained standing and charged on. Estra and P’hol opened fire, buckshot and small calibre rounds mostly being stopped by the Gellec’s thick hide, until a lucky shot from P’Hol’s machine pistol stitched the leading Gellec in the eye, the Gellec scudded to the ground with a thump and lay still.
While the first Gellec went down Dask and Whillem dashed up the right flank, their guns up and spitting fire at the second Gellec. A blast from Whilem’s pistol caught the second Gellec in the throat and killed it instantly.
“Clear!” Shoutheri yelled as the two blue carcasses of their quarry lay dead before them.
They kept their weapons trained on the unmoving creatures before them, but without warning and with a terrible roar. The underbrush trashed aside and two more Gellec charged towards them.
“Oh hell,” Dask yelled as he spun around on his heel and faced down the two charging creatures.
Next to Dask Whillem bellowed a guttural warcry and drew a bead with his weapon. Dask and Whillem opened fire, their shots found their marks, but the creature's tough hides absorbed the punishment.
The Gellec smashed into Dask and Whillem. The creature on Whillem smashed him off his feet and sent him tumbling through the air, over the heads of Shoutheri and Estra. Whillem landed with a hard thump behind them and lay still.
The Gellec on Dask raised it’s fists over it’s head and brought them down on top of Dask, only for Dask to casually step out of the way of the incoming blow, raise his hand cannon and shoot the creature in the head with one graceful movement.
Brawling Roll: Dask rolled a six and the Gellec rolled a one
The Gellec went down with a pained howl. While Estra, Shoutheri and P’Hol pumped shot after shot into the remaining Gellec. The creature slumped to the ground and after a frightening amount of gunfire, it died.
“Now we are clear, someone see to Whillem,” Dask called out.
Poaching Aftermath
Whillem sat on the edge of the spare bed in the Hand of Fortune’s medical bay while Estra ran an autodiagnostic over him.
“Other than a slight concussion nothing appears to be broken, you’ll be fine, big man.” Estra said with a smile, then reached out and stroked some of the fur on Whillem’s arm.
Whillem post battle casualty roll - Equipment Damaged: Boarding Sabre
Whillem studied Estra for a moment, unsure of what to make of what she was doing.
“Please stop that,” Whillem asked with a low grumble.
Estra recoiled as if shocked, “I’m sorry, I just wanted to see how your fur felt on my skin. It won’t do that again.”
Whillem got to his feet and looked towards the bed where Dask sat next to Midori, who had just watched the whole scene.
Estra’s face went red, then she put down the autodiagnostic unit and left in a hurry.
“Whillem, I’m sorry about that.” Midori called out.
Whillem walked over to Midori's bed then sat down beside her and Dask.
“She’s an odd one, but I think she’s harmless,” Whillem said.
“Anyway, has our fee from the job come through?” Midori asked.
“I checked our accounts and the funds have landed, both from Jessop and from the dealer who purchased the carcasses. Fourteen large for everything, a tidy and well paying job. And Jessop sent us a Unity Military Battle Sight in appreciation for a job well done.” Dask said with a satisfied smile.
Mission Successful Pay: 14 credits
Post mission loot table roll: Unity Battle Sight
“Furthermore, we have received word from ETU regarding the remains of their survey team that we were able to recover. They have passed on their gratitude and have suggested that they may have more work for us in future.” Dask said then leaned back in his chair.
Battlefield Salvage - Vital Info: Corporate Patron (Enterprise de Terraformation Unity)
“Good news overall, sadly my equipment fared poorly. The phasing solenoid on my weapon fused sometime during the fight. That and with the damage my boarding sabre took, I think I’ll need to take some time to do some repairs.” Whillem said.
Character Event - Whillem - Don’t make them like they used to: Blast Pistol is damaged
Midori sighed and leaned back in her bed.
“I’m sorry that I missed the fight, but I’m glad we all made it out fine and we got paid well for our trouble. You did good, Dask, keep it up.” Midori said.
Other Events
Campaign Event - Making friends with the locals +1 story point.
