An Uninvited Guest

I'm certain you've noticed I haven't mentioned Cole in the last Stars Without Number entry. That's specifically because Cole's player was absent during that seesion and, as such, we left out his shenanigans on the ship out of the narrative.

An inevitable consequence of going after the Players

As our fight in a pub rages on, we instead turn our attention to the ship and, more specifically, the captain's quarters. An intruder alarm causes Cole to pull his trousers back on, leave said captain's quarters and search for the intruder by shouting out if anyone is anywhere on the ship. He stealthily made his way to the cargo hold while using all his special abilities to negate his failed Stealth rolls. When he finally ran out of options, he had to accept the failed result of not noticing someone sneacking up behind him with a pistol to his head.

Meanwhile the fight rages on in the pub. This time we were missing Yannick's player so Cole's player graciously offered to take control of him for the duration of the fight scene. He mainly supported Ian in taking out the armed mooks while Jokkenson took on the sword wielding brute. When Ian shot down the last enemy soldier, Jokkenson was on his last breath but instead of giving up, he gave his opponent an offer. He gave his word he would let his opponent go provided he would tell them who sent this group after them. He made a very convincing case but his opponent simply opened his mouth to show he had no tongue... so Jokkenson chopped his head off.

At the conlusion of the fight, Jokkenson was very close to falling down and bleeding to death so he looked through the men's bodies for any medical equipment he could use. Cyrus was in a more immediate danger. Although he was our main medical professional, Ian's combat training included field medicine. A quick look at Cyrus showed he suffered internal bleeding from the gun shot wound and we were about to lose him. He had only enough time to roll three times to stabilise him. Keiran assisted him by putting pressure on key points of his anatomy, which provided Ian with a bonus to his roll.

For a moment there,
I thought he'd be a goner

The first dice result was a failure.
The second dice result was a failure.
The third dice result was a success.

We were relieved to see that Cyrus regained consciousness after some of his wounds were taken care of. He quickly put his mind to work, focing his own body to accelerate the healing process and doing the same for Jokkenson. It did put considerable strain on both of them.

Keiran received a message from Cole about an uninvited guest on board. It was about time we left before any authorities were to arrive but not before Jokkenson found the proprietor of the pub and handed him a compad with more than enough credits to cover the damage cause... which he found on the men we defeated.

As the fight was still going on, Cole managed to distract and annoy his assailant enough that when he lost his concentration, he went for his gun. He overpowered him, threatened the guy who didn't want to say anything... so he shot at the guy's knee. He didn't know the weapon he was holding had plasma rounds which burned his knee right off. Unfortunately, he refused to be questioned any more about his motives by screaming in pain until he lost consciousness. That was the point when Cole contacted Captain Keiran.

Upon our arrival, we transported our uninvited guest to the medbay where we restrained his remaining limbs. We recognised the man as the same one from the pub Jokkenson was talking to and who most likely sent the group that we've only just eliminated. Ian stayed with him to monitor his lifesigns and make sure he'll eventually recover enough to be questioned while Cyrus went off to go over the security footage to find out how he got on board our ship. The rest of the crew, especially Jokkenson, needed a moment of downtime to recover from our most recent ordeal.

The Classic Bar Brawl

Our story continues on two fronts.

Firstly we've got Jokkenson, Keiran and Cyrus enjoying a not-so-quiet drink at a local pub while waiting for Keiran's contact to arrive. Eventually he notices someone at the bar discreetly peeking at them and tapping away on his data-pad. The man didn't fit the description of his contact mainly by not appearing to be female so he glimpsed into the future and saw an assortment of armed men led by a huge dangerous looking fellow. They glanced around the place until their eyes locked in with theirs and they approached with ill intent.

Jokkenson asked for a fancy drink last session

He informed his two companions of the vision. As captain, he decided they would stand their ground but also contact Ian and Yannick to join them in a counter-ambush. In the meantime, Jokkenson had to relieve himself in the lavatory. On his way back he came up to the suspicious looking man at the bar to warn him of having made a horrible mistake. Jokkenson wasn't fooled by the man playing dumb. He simply told him that he may lie as much as he likes but now Jokkenson knows his face and will eventually come for him. Jokkenson finished the man's drink and let him leave unmolested.

In a different part of the city, Ian helped Yannick get out of the pile of rubble that he found himself under. Fortuitously, the collapse revealed some parts that Yannick thought would be useful to add onto the ship. Together with Ian they bargained a price that included delivery to the ship's location. Shortly after, they have received a message from Keiran informing them of the situation. They received the location and orders to wait by the entrance to engage the enemy after they show their intent.

I wouldn't be surprised if it had been raining
all this time on this planet

On their way they were approached by a one-eyed woman by the name of Rulan Lee claiming she heard they were looking to buy ship parts to buy but Ian reminded Yannick that they had no time to waste right now. Yannick took the woman's contact details and they continued on their way to the pub. When there, they took a few empty glasses, put them on a table by the window nearest to the entrance, sat down and started to play cards.

Utilising their comlinks, Ian informed the rest of the party that an armed group was approaching the pub. Upon hearing this, Jokkenson headed over to the entrance to make sure he would accidentaly bump into the group as they entered. While he expected them to open fire on his sight, instead, they let him pass. His plan not working out, he tried to walk back in only to find the door to be locked from the inside... so he kicked it down, the door slamming into the closest assailant.

Seconds before this, one of the men looked around the place only to point a rifle at Keiran and demanded him to go with them but he was interrupted by the ensuing fight. When the door slammed into one of their number, someone shot Cyrus, taking him down and out of combat.

Yannick took out his weapon when the window they were sitting by was smashed by an invisible force, Ian jumped through it, landed inside and shot the nearest assailant with his newly acquired thermal pistol that shot plasma, leaving a cauterised would in his intended subject. As the battle progressed, Ian took out more of the enemy's number while Jokkenson engaged their biggest and toughest fighter in a one-on-one chain-axe versus sword brutal melee. Yannick used the window frame as cover for his shots while Keiran looked through the ever-shifting threads of probability for a possible future that he could grab onto.

We had to finish the session there with most of the party fighting and Cyrus bleeding out. Hopefully, someone will eventually notice that we were a party member down.