Boasting Cat: Campaign Turn 2

  The crew departs Maslone, though no one seems set on calling them enemies yet, the crew thinks it wise to let things cool down a bit after their last jobs. After all, they managed to gun down men from three different factions, and all in the name of The MAN.  Lot of folks don't take to kindly to that sort of thing.  So they hit the stars landing on Aonus, Valhalla Colony.  Minnie, being an experienced Traveler, makes some calls to contacts on their way into the system looking for a Patron, but no one is talking.

Once landed and the docking fees paid, the crew sets out into town.  Trak stays behind to guard the ship, and keep an eye on Kazoc.  He's recovering well, the bionics are bonding correctly, but he needs rest.

  Mason sets out to do some Training, finding a combat instructor just outside of town.  It turns out Mason forgot more about combat just yesterday than this guy ever knew, so it was nothing but a waste of time.  Well, for him it was a waste.  The "combat instructor" no doubt learned some fascinating new derogatory phrases, and it was pretty obvious he'd never seen that particular hold maneuver before, so at least he learned something.

  Since he was left guarding the ship the last time they arrived somewhere, Sylvester was adamant that he was going to see the sights the colony had to offer.  Turns out...it's a colony.  Everywhere looks pretty much like everywhere else, especially when Humans are involved.
  So he ended up in bar, which wasn't bad, it was clean and had a good selection.  He also managed to overhear a conversation. (okay, a lot of conversations. The ears aren't just for show, you know.)  It seems that the Colony Mayor has been meeting with a representative of The MAN.  That representative is ready to leave but there's credible threats of violence against him, specifically from a group of Isolationists that are really not fond of The MAN.  The Mayor is paying for any group willing to escort the representative safely across town and to his shuttle. With that bit of knowledge, Sylvester wandered back to the ship.

   Minnie set out looking for a Patron for a new job, checking contacts and stopping in places that only seasoned Travelers ever managed to find.  She wasn't having any luck though, no one seemed to be talking, at least not to her.

   Surrendering the search, she made a last stop in a rather rambunctious out of the way watering hole on the edge of the less civilized colony sections.  It was there that she met Emery White, a rough and ruggedly handsome man, a fellow warrior, and a recent arrival from her home planet of Chuna 7.
    Sharing much in common, the two struck up a conversation that ran deep into the night.  Eventually, drawn by her sense of duty to the crew, her innate sense of wanderlust, or perhaps the warriors fear of becoming too close to another, she returned to the ship.  Moving through the dark, but far from deserted, streets she thought alternately about Emery and about some of the things he had told her.  It seems things had changed on Chuna.  It was still the War Torn Hellhole it was when she left, but there were signs, motions, hopes of a better and more peaceful world.  What their world really needed, he had said, was people with an outside point of view, but a native understanding to help secure some peace.  It was an intriguing notion, and one that seemed to pull at her just a bit, like a strand of spiderweb on her arm.  She would think on this more, careful to keep in mind that it doesn't take more than that single strand to trap a fly forever.

   Just short of the spaceport section of the colony, Minnie spotted Mason and Sylvester heading in her general direction.  They had come looking for her, worried that something had happened when she didn't return.  She stated simply that she was fine, she had met someone from her homeworld and they had been swapping stories.  She also told them she wasn't able to find a patron like she set out to do.

   "Then perhaps I can help with that." a voice from the darkened sidewalk said.  "I need people with your particular skills."  Minnie recognized the man sized bipedal rat shaped alien immediately. He was an Ovaxian named Virgil "Hole Puncher" Ashmadu, one of the most powerful Gang Lords on the planet, if not the entire sector.  Virgil explains that he has a crate that needs to be delivered to a Mining Site.  His own people have...tails (he smirks at this, his Ovaxian bodyguards poorly stifle hysterical giggles. Because they look like rats...tails...try to keep up!), and he can't afford to have the MAN interfere with this.  Quite frankly, he just doesn't have the liquid funds to bribe them right now, so subterfuge it has to be.
   Mason asks for a moment to discuss it with his crew, Virgil says "sure, take a couple, maybe even five minutes. But I'll need an answer then."

  So the crew has two jobs to chose from, but they can only do one.  The Mayors job sounds easier and safer, and they are down a man with Kazoc being laid up, but it pays less.  Virgils job pays better, but it's likely more dangerous.  Then again, while he didn't really threaten them at all, it still doesn't seem healthy to say no to a man like "Hole Puncher" Ashmadu, especially since he actually came looking for them specifically.  And really, the crew just finished two jobs for The MAN.  Taking on another one for them, well that's how you get a reputation, and the crew doesn't want a reputation of that sort.

  "All we have to do is deliver it?" Mason asked.
  "Yes, just take it to the mine site, hand it over to my boys, and they had you your payment.  Simple as cheesecake."
  "Alright Mr. Ashmadu", Mason stuck out his hand. "You have a deal".
  "Good", Virgil shook the offered hand, "and as a celebration of our inaugural endeavor together I'll pay double for this job!"
   Then before Mason could let go, needle sharp claws touched the vein in his wrist, and the already beady little eyes narrowed further. "But if you fail me, understand that there is no where you can run, no where you can hide, nowhere we can't get to you."
    He released the hand and beamed as jolly a smile as a rat face can manage, "So just make sure you do it right, and we'll all benefit!"

  End scene.
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  The crew ended up with two missions generated from random events, and none from regular patrons.  As mentioned, the one pays better than the other.  Plus, Virgil's mission gets to add him as a Patron Contact for the planet, and those are nice.  The Mayor job doesn't have that.

  Still, working for someone described as a "Gang Lord" doesn't sound all that safe to me.  So I decided that for the first mission, he pays double.  Enticement and all that.  The balance being that if the crew fails, Virgil and his gang automatically become Enemies, Enemies that only fail to follow our Crew to another system on a roll of a 1 or a 6 (which is the opposite of what normal Enemies do).
   The auto-Enemy penalty remains in place for any future missions the crew takes from Virgil, though he will only pay normal rates for any other missions.

   Minnie rolled a Personal Milestone on her character event, if she ever rolls that again, she will actually leave the group permanently.  So I had to come up with something for that.  I settled on her learning things about home, showing that she has started to at least entertain the idea of returning home and possibly settling down some.

I'm looking for some suitable pictures or graphics to use for this type of post in the future, so bear with me while I try to figure that out.  Suggestions are welcome.

This game is excellent, I'm really loving this!