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Part 1: Midnight Madness

This first episode is very linear. It should be played with haste and confusion (like a session of Paranoia) to rattle the players and limit their resources in later episodes. At the end of this episode there should be many NPC's which can be converted into player characters, so don't be afraid to kill off any player characters who move too slowly!

As the 214th Fleet jumps into the Mithril system and starts vectoring in, Lieutenant Minka will notify the player characters that they will be performing a recon mission on icy Mithril. Apparently there is a small Sword Worlds garrison force on planet. Arrival in orbit is scheduled for 0630 ship time, followed by 2 hours of orbital scans. Final briefing is scheduled for 0900 followed by immediate launch. So the player characters will get a lie-in in the morning, she'll tell them. (At least that's the plan!)

At 0612, when the player characters are asleep, the fleet is attacked by elements of the Sword Worlds' Sacnoth fleet (starting with stealth mines for surprise). They will be rudely awakened by the General Quarters alarm and know that their role is to muster on G-Deck to form damage control parties.

They have about 30 seconds to get dressed before the ship is shaken by an explosion and the Red Alert alarm starts blaring. They now know that it is serious, and not a drill. If any player tries to raise Thur Minka on the internal comm system she'll yell at them about the mines and scream at them to get to G-Deck. Calls to the bridge will be diverted.

They have, perhaps, another 60 seconds before Executive Officer Dare Chin shouts over the internal PA system "ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP! REPEAT: ALL HANDS ABANDON-". He is cut off by a second explosion (a bridge hit) and now, to make matters worse, the Decompression Alarm is sounding urgently. After this point there are no internal communications, if the player characters want advice or orders they will be unable to get any.

They now have 60 more seconds before a truly huge explosion slams into the ship. The whole ship will jolt and buck, the player characters will be bounced off the walls and thrown to the floor, loose objects will fly about, and main power goes off. Make rolls for injury (broken bones, etc).

They MUST now make it to the lifeboats (on G-Deck) to survive and everywhere is chaos. Emergency lighting is 'supplemented' by fires in some sections. A loose oxygen hose will be like an oxyacetylene torch whipping about. Metal supports and debris block certain routes. Panicked ratings will block corridors. Many bulkheads will be sealed (though there has not yet been any decompression, despite the decompression alarm). In preparation for this session create a map of G-Deck (and any others you need) and mark off blocked and partially blocked sections. In addition to pressing them for quick answers every time you ask what they're doing, make a show of accurately calculating how long they are taking to move towards the lifeboats. Imply that there is a finite time to reach the lifeboats before the ship blows up completely, and that if they don't make it that will be the end of the adventure. Remember, also, that some of the toys that the players may wish to take with them could be bulky and slow them down.

When the player characters 'finally' make it to the lifeboats, there is only one left. It is a LSP Reliant class lifeboat (variant 1C). Basically a 20 dton launch with crew=2, passengers=25, no cargo and no low berths. Designed for 1 atmospheric re-entry or unlimited use under zero-G. There will be only enough places left for the player characters, so they will have to close the door against the remaining crew. War is hell! After the lifeboat is launched it is best to skip orbit and go for a landing on Mithril. There are several other lifeboats but as the decent starts a flight of Sword Worlds Wolf class Attack Ships will swoop in and start blasting. Most of the lifeboats will be incinerated in the air and the survivors will scatter to make it harder to hit. Make a few Piloting dodge rolls (perhaps a near miss clips the lifeboat giving it superficial damage), then crash into a snow bank.

If using sound effects the 'abandon ship' message could be recorded from the Star Trek - TNG episode "Cause And Effect". A suitable 'huge explosion' can be recorded from the file Die Hard (the chair bomb scene).


 

     

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