Session 5 Report

General Summary

Valentina Nightingale told the rest of the crew about her dream when she awoke on October 1, 7328. They speculated as to what this could mean. Perhaps they were prisoners of the Red Star Alliance and were in a simulation right now. Perhaps it was related to her psychic ability. In the end they were left with more questions than answers.   In the morning, they did some shopping for some last minute supplies they needed for the upcoming job, specifically rope and duct tape. Then they waited to hear from Mine Johnson. He eventually called them and scheduled delivery of the items they requested from him the day before. By five o’clock, they received their goods and inspected them. They made sure they knew how the cutting tools and explosives worked and decided who would be carrying what within Mathisi I. When they were done, they settled in for an early night at they had to be up pretty early the next day.   They awoke, prepared, and flew the Mirage to Ferrous Shipping by 5:00 am on the morning of October 2, 7328, for the scheduled pick up of the supplies to be transported to Mathisi I. They landed and were greeted by a Ferrous warehouse employee. Not recognizing the crew, he commented on it and asked them if they were new. Emerton Pax answered that they were not, having worked at Ferrous for two years. The warehouse employee seemed surprised and asked them if they were in the corporate building. Emerton told him they had transferred from a different location. Again, the employee paused and seemed confused, asking them from where. When Emerton said they transferred from the location on the planet Solat, the employee paused again and told them he would be back shortly, needing to check on the supplies.   The crew waited for several minutes without the employee returning. They began to grow suspicious that their cover might have been blown. Another ship, two bays down was being loaded, but activity around that ship slowed as well. Then, eventually, a group of guards came towards them from the main building. The crew of the Mirage knew something was wrong and got back on the ship quickly and took off. Valentina flew them off planet and began heading for the edge of the solar system.   The job was botched before it even began and they were desperate to figure out a way to salvage. Surely, Ferrous had figured out they were fake employees and would have removed their ship’s clearance. They couldn’t go to Mathisi I now. Then Kane Longwitton and Nikos Breton brought up that Ferrous would schedule a replacement ship as soon as possible, probably within a matter of hours, not days. A contract like Valcon Industries would take top priority and Ferrous would want to make good on their promises.   Valentina flew the ship in a wide arc away from Touthas, but eventually getting back on course for Mathisi I, along the likely route the replacement ship would travel. They would lie in wait and intercept the ship. This was their only chance at completing the job.   A couple hours later, they sensed a ship approaching on their long range scanners. Nikos cloaked the ship from the opposing scanners and Valentina flew it a distance below the ship’s sightline, hoping to avoid visual detection as well. As the transport ship was flying past them, they came up from below and jammed its long range communications. Then the Mirage opened fire. They targeted the ships weapons, engines, and communications in a surprise strike, knocking out all three systems. The transport ship fixed its communications system quickly, but Nikos continued jamming their long range, preventing them from sending out a distress call. Valentina flew up to the ship and Kane prepped the boarding tubes. When they were right alongside, Kane latched on to the transport with the boarding tubes and forced open the transports door.   Charlotte Gibbons, Emerton, and Kane formed the boarding party while Valentina kept the ship steady and Nikos continued to jam their communications. The boarding party took fire as soon as they opened the door. Charlotte ran in, avoiding the fire and shoot down one of the closest crewmembers with her rifle. The man fell to the floor dead. Then Emerton rushed in and shot down another defender with his pistol. Kane also followed them in, taking out a third. The last crewmember defending the transport dropped his pistol and surrendered. Emerton bound his arms behind him with duct tape and sat him in the corner while Charlotte rushed to the bridge. Kane worked on stabilizing the fallen crewmembers, trying to save those who he could. Emerton then ran into the engine room where an engineer was attempting to fix their propulsion systems. She surrendered and he taped her up and led her into the other room, sitting her down in another corner. Charlotte took the man on the bridge down to the others and he was bound and sat down as well.   By now, Valentina ran into the transport and used her psychic ability to heal the two fallen crewmembers who were still alive. The first man shot could not be saved. It was clear she did not approve of how the boarding party handled the situation and made her feelings clear after hearing the cold manner Emerton was speaking to the captured crew. Valentina then spoke to the transport crew and told them they would be borrowing their ship, but that they would get it back when they were done. Then they took the crew to their bunks and tied them down.   When the prisoners were secure, they began preparing for the flight to Mathisi I. Kane and Emerton moved their gear onto the transport and Charlotte cleaned up the blood from the dead crewman. They took their access cards and each one chose one of them as their new identity, hoping it would pass once on Mathisi I. Then they flew both ships away some distance, noting the coordinates. They left the Mirage in space while they took the Star Finder to Mathisi I.   They reached the research station and hailed it. They were granted clearance to land and flew in. They lowered the ramp and were greeted by a Mathisi I employee. Valentina noted four guards and four security bots in the hangar bay as well, just like in a psychic vision she had had the day before. Emerton prepared to show the manifest and hoped that everything checkout when scanned under scrutiny.