Session 1 Report

General Summary

The credits to the Heart of Embril virtual reality simulation ended and Charlotte Gibbons, Valentina Nightingale, Emerton Pax, Kane Longwitton, and Nikos Breton awoke in a haze. The consoles next to them displayed their profiles. Their names and faces were unfamiliar. The memories they possessed were of Selia Roselyn Maxwell, Titta Morco, Mogi Delvin, Ladigo Farthon, and Auren Sylynn, respectively. The screen said they were criminals, convicted of smuggling Antiqui artifacts in Minerva Station on Planet Hele, in the Anga System. They were in Koval Prison. The alarm continued to sound after the voice on the intercom warned of a Xenomorph infestation. The danger was clear. They were disoriented, unarmed, and trapped in a space station prison under attack by alien monsters.   Nikos went over to the computer terminals on the other side of the room and began trying to hack in to them. Charlotte and Valentina checked the door. Emerton and Kane looked around the room for anything useful. They didn’t find anything and the door was locked. But Nikos was able to unlock in after accessing the rooms control systems. Their goal was to escape the prison somehow. From the files, they learned their ship, the Mirage, was still in the docking bay, awaiting repossession.   Instinctively, they lined up and proceeded to open the door. At that moment a prison guard had just reached the door from the other side, holding up his access card to open it. There was an instant of pause on both sides before they sprang into action. Valentina attempted to grapple the guard, hoping to force him into the room, but he shrugged her off. Nikos ran around him and tried to punch him from behind. The guard drew his stun baton and tried to take down Nikos. But Charlotte landed a knockout blow, laying the guard out. They dragged him into the room and took his weapons and access card. Then they locked him in the room as they began exploring their surroundings.   Down the hall, on the other side of a locked door, the sounds of scraping and clawing could be heard. They avoided this door and went the other way. They looked behind an unlocked door and found a doctor’s office. Nikos hacked into the computer and dug up a general floorplan for the station. The scraping sounds came from a central corridor that ran between the docking bay and Cell Block Alpha. With the central corridor obviously infested with Xenomorphs, they chose a different path.   They were currently in the medical wing, so before they continued on, they checked a supply closet around the corner for medical supplies. Kane checked the first cabinet and was surprised to find bins with their names on them. Their equipment was inside. The party geared up, donning armor and readying weapons. They also helped themselves to some medical equipment that might come in useful if things got dangerous.   The party left the medical wing and proceeded around a corridor that would lead them towards the docking bay control room. As they turned a corner, two security bots came towards them and demanded the prisoners surrender. Nikos told the security bots that there were Xenomorphs behind them. The security bots split up, one on either side of the party, ready to escort them to safety. But then the party opened fire. A few well-placed shots destroyed the robots and the party continued. But down the far end of the corridor another pair of security bots came toward them, stun batons ready. Again, after some good shooting, the robots were down.   They reached the door to the corridor that lead to the docking bay control room. Before they could unlock the door, however, two more security bots came out of the cafeteria. Another firefight ensued, with the party victorious.   Before continuing towards the control room, they decided to investigate the cafeteria. They were hungry after spending so long strapped to a virtual reality simulation. And now they were realizing that the intravenous feedings kept them alive, but not satisfied. Plus, there was no telling what kind of food supplies they would find on the Mirage.   The cafeteria was the sight of a gruesome battle. There were dead guards, destroyed security bots, and even a few dead Xenomorphs, their spilled acid blood leaving its mark on the corpses’ surroundings. The searched the kitchen and found food processing machines. They collected enough in rations for the long haul, but also prepared some quick sandwiches for an immediate meal.   After they finished in the cafeteria, they proceeded to the control room. After unlocking the door to the corridor, they entered another corridor. Referencing the floorplans, Nikos felt confident in avoiding most of the doors, which lead to offices or conference rooms. At the end of the hall, they came to the doors to the docking bay control room. They could hear the sounds of fighting on the other side. But this was the fasted way to the docking bay where they could find their ship.   They opened the door and saw four security bots in battle with two Xenomorphs. Valentina ran in and shot one of the Xenomorphs. The creature then ran around the security bot and lashed out at Valentina, slashing her with its claws and rendering her unconscious. Kane ran in and stuck her with an emergency stim. The pharmaceuticals immediately began working on repairing Valentina’s wounds. From a distance, the party shot down the other Xenomorph, careful to avoid the one closest to Valentina in case its acid blood slashed her. When she regained consciousness, she crawled away from the Xenomorph and the party opened fire. With the Xenomorphs down, they focused on the security bots. Emerton and Nikos had stepped into the room and took the brunt of the security bot attacks. They were wounded by the stun batons, but not downed. The party defeated the four security bots and locked the door behind them.   Kane used his engineering skills to work on the door so that it could no longer be opened. Nikos examined the computer terminals, looking to access the docking bay controls so they could unlock the security field that would prevent ships from taking off. His attempt to hack the system failed and it locked him out. He then found a dead technician and used his hand to circumvent the biometric security in place. Once in the system, he found the docking bay controls and granted the Mirage clearance to take off.   He learned were the Mirage was docked and the party entered the docking bay, heading towards it. There were several ships, mostly shuttles used to transport the prisoners to into the Koval Belt to conduct mining operations. But there was also a patrol boat and a pair of strike fighters. As they passed one of the shuttles, a pair of Xenomorphs appeared and came at them. The rest of the party was still considerably wounded, so Charlotte and Kane took the lead. As the Xenomorphs rushed in, the party scattered, seeking clearance and a line of fire. After several shots, they took down the Xenomorphs, but Charlotte took some damage from the acid splashes. After defeating the aliens, they continued to their ship.   They found the Mirage and boarded. Kane headed to the engine room to help prep for takeoff, while the others took positions on the bridge. Valentina fired up the Mirage and piloted the ship out of Koval Prison. They were in space, in the Anga System, and had no idea where to go. Before they got far, though, a patrol boat escorted by three strike fighters appeared in the distance. They were headed to Koval Prison. One of the strike fighters brought off from the group and flew to the Mirage, hailing them.   They answered the hail and the pilot demanded their identification. Nikos hastily produced a forgery and transmitted it. Their cover story was that they were the repossession company hired to take the Mirage away, to the Ithos System. They even warned the pilot of the Xenomorph infestation on the prison station. The pilot hesitated, but said that everything looked in order and let them go. Then he sped towards Koval Prison.   As they flew away, Nikos checked the ship’s computer and found navigation history. The Mirage, was last at Minerva Station on Hele. Before that it had flown from Rivalen City, Merakis, in the Ithos System. There was no travel history before that, suggesting that it had been erased for some reason. He checked for contacts and found three. Solario Vescovo, the Duke, from Noble Crew in Rivalen City, Merakis in the Ithos Sytem. Gael Towers of the Constellation Corporation, Constellation Alpha and Targania, Solat in the Mudaros System. Lady Nova, She Yin of the Star Lotus Syndicate in Emberlyn, Afarin, in the Luceat System. There was no further information about these contacts, so they speculated as to who they were.   Since they had last been to Rivalen City, they decided it would be in their best interest to jump to the Ithos System to see Solario Vescovo. Valentina plotted a course for the other side of the Anga System so they could make a clear spike jump.   After a while, they were hailed again. The strike fighter had returned and was demanding they turn the ship around and come with him to Koval Prison. It appeared that their ruse did check out after closer inspection. When the Mirage did not comply, the strike fighter opened fire, causing some surface damage to the hull. The crew took to battle stations and targeted the strike fighter’s weapons first, disabling them, then following up with another shot to completely destroy them. Once the fighter’s weapons were down, the pilot performed evasive maneuvers and began trying to escape. His ship was the faster, so the Mirage targeted the engines. A successful hit disabled them and the strike fighter was floating aimlessly. The Mirage then took another shot to disable the fighter’s communications. When they were satisfied that the pilot could not call for help, they flew away. Nikos took note of its coordinates, though.   The crew decided to change trajectory. They had already told the fighter they were going to Ithos, so they changed their plan to the Mudaros System. They continued their present course until they were clearly out of visual and sensor range, then they swung about to fly past the Koval Belt so they could find clear space to make their spike jump. When they reached the edge of the system, Valentina began the calculations to make the jump. Then, just a few minutes before igniting the spike drive, Nikos sent out a broad wave distress message giving the strike fighter’s coordinates so that a rescue ship could find it.