Mynock Alley 2 - March of the Murder Militia

 Campaign Turn 2

Kenthe and Kyra Train, getting +1 XP. This nets Kenthe an Advance; his movement goes from 4.5 to 5 (as a dedicated brawler, a faster movement seems prudent).

Terpfen, Adric, and Mister No all Collect Revenue. Having shown their general chops in the last campaign turn, people pony up a full 3 Credits.

Reelo heads out to Prowl, and proves that last turn's un-wisdom is not an isolated incident. This time he is laid up by a binge of chemical boosters. While this takes him out for a full campaign turn, it also nets him +0.5 Toughness.

Kenthe is the subject of the random Character Event this turn, getting +0.5 Reactions; this makes sense with his Advance, and I think that it indicates him returning home for a training stint with his "parents". The Unifiers are halfway between an order of monks and a cult, raising their children communally and training relentlessly to be "Force Warriors" (regardless of any actual Force Sensitivity).

In the wake of last turn's weapons embargo, the up-and-coming Scarlet Syndicate make a deal with an arm's smuggler this turn thanks to the Campaign Event. Many in Mynock Alley recognize that the Syndicate might be extorting them for money-- but they're also going toe-to-toe with Imperial bootlickers. This far into the sub-levels, the Empire isn't precisely in as much control as they claim. Gangs like the Blackband and other neo-Imperial militias are instrumental in keeping the populations here under the Empire's thumb. In any case, Kyra gets a shiny new Gorevetti I-95 "Scrap" blaster pistol and ditches the underwhelming Zip-13 snub-nose.

Unfortunately for the Syndicate, their all-gas-no-brakes approach to things continues to create its own opposition. The Background Event indicates that gang tensions are on the rise-- the Blackband, the Mynock-Eaters, and even the Glitterguts Swoop Gang are all recruiting muscle. When and if things pop off against them, the Syndicate will face greater numbers.

This turn, however, is contextualized by two things: the opposition rolled are "Militia" and the battlefield condition is "bitter struggle" (giving the opposition a Morale bonus). The Empire is outsourcing its gang-control problems. Still no Enemies yet, so this represents an Opportunity Encounter.

March of the Murder-Militia

"We should chat sometime." Adric said, sliding up next to Mister No at the bar. They were in the Repulsar Failure, a dive-bar south-and-down from Scarlet Heights. It wasn't officially their territory, but no one was willing to contest them-- and besides, it wasn't particularly fertile territory anyway. That made it a decent place to blow off steam.

"We're not chatting?" Mister No asked, with feigned innocence.

"Not yet." Adric said, with some edge. His nickname was All-Smiles and most days he lived up to the gregarious reputation; he didn't enjoy playing tough. Especially not with the boss.

"Then let's chat." Mister No said, dropping into the same kind of tone. His eyes were hard on Adric, who nearly flinched.

"Terpfen is maybe the only other person in the outfit who can see what you're doing," Adric pressed, "And he's too loyal to say anything about it."

"And you're just disloyal enough to mouth off, huh."

"You named me second. That means it's my job to be a little disloyal." Adric said, slamming back his drink and turning to face Mister No fully, "We're making money, but I'm starting to think you want to get political, boss--"

"Imps!" came a cry from outside the bar, and the denizens of the Repulsar Failure broke into panicked movement. "It's a sweep!"

"The armor's Imperial, but they're wearing it wrong." called Terpfen, peering out the window as patrons flooded out the exits. The rest of the Syndicate--barring Reelo, who was sleeping off some Booster Blue back at the Heights--checked their weapons. "Militia. They're not here to arrest-- they're here to disappear folk."

"You think I wanna get political?" Mister No said aside to Adric, who grimaced, "They're not giving me much of a choice here."

March of the Murder Militia

At Mister No's direction, Terpfen took to the bar's rooftop with his blaster rifle-- being one of the better shots in the outfit.

Adric and Kenthe, exited the front while Mister No and Kyra exited the back.

The militia was spread out. Two squads converged from east and west, while their leader took to an overpass to coordinate.

Adric and Kenthe wasted no time, sprinting for the cover of some industrial bric-a-brac. Kenthe crouched down at the corner, hazarding a peak to the east; Adric took up overwatch to the west, sighting down the battered blaster-carbine he used.

Adric was not kept waiting. The two milita moved up with some practiced ease, one member breaking into a sprint as the other lay down suppressing fire from cover. Adric let off an ineffectual squeeze of the firing-stud before flopping back to the safety of his own cover.

To the east, the militia squad had greater cover and only a single target-- the Mon Cal Terpfen. Their blasterfire briefly kept Terpfen behind his cover as they advanced.

But not for long. Terpfen had been drummed out of military service on his home-planet due to insubordination. He'd come to the Syndicate a vagrant, addicted to spice and self-loathing. But in the Syndicate, he'd found something of a sense of loyalty that ran both ways-- and Mister No had found a use for Terpfen's training.

The Mon Cal popped up from cover long enough to put a blaster-bolt through the eye of one of the advancing militia, then dropped back down.

The militia leader had been watching the back of the Repulsar Failure, and as Mister No and Kyra exited the establishment he opened up with his blaster. The two gangsters scattered-- Kyra to the scant cover of a ladder, and Mister No to the northwest corner of the Repulsar Failure.

It was all Kyra could do to stay out of the militia leader's fire, but Mister No managed several shots on the move that caused the militia leader to briefly relent.

Adric fell back towards Kenthe, unwilling to test the mettle of the two militia advancing on him. His parting shots were wild and useless.

"How's it look?" he said, sliding into cover next to Kenthe.

"Terpfen got one. Can't see the other-- he's keeping his head down."

"Head down is good." Adric grunted, peaking back towards his previous position. The militia hadn't advanced.

Mister No's return fire had given himself and Kyra breathing room, but only a little. The militia leader still held a very good, defensible position. They couldn't move up on him without getting caught in the open.

Thankfully, Terpfen was on a more level playing field. The militia leader tried to pan his blasterfire towards the Mon Cal's sniper-nest, but wasn't quick enough.

A single scarlet bolt took him in the chest, sending him staggering back. He collapsed with maudlin speed.

"Boss, that's not even real stormtrooper armor." Terpfen grunted over the comms.

Adric's puzzlement that the militia had not advanced to his former cover turned to an icy fear.

"Boss, behind you!"

In ducking around the corner of the Repulsar Failure, Mister No had presented his back to the militia-- who reacted with a preparatory clarity.

Blaster bolts rimed Mister No from two angles-- but Adric's barked warning had served its purpose. Mister No's overcoat had several new holes in it, but one of the militia had been dropped.

Adric hurled himself west, leaving Kenthe to keep tabs on the remaining militia. He rounded the industrial crate without heed of cover, pulsing fire at the militia he found there. Blindsided by the aggressive move, the man tried to fall back-- then fell down, helped by a blasterbolt to the throat.

"All clear, here." Terpfen said in his usual, unconcerned drawl.

"Good." Mister No said, slumping against the nearest wall as the adrenaline caught up with him. "Who has the fifth?"

"He's still behind cover." Kenthe answered on the comlink. He bounced his stun-baton with anxious energy. "I-- actually I think he might've run off. Hold on."

"Wait for one of us." Adric started, jogging towards Kenthe's position, "No use risking--"

There was a muted explosive thump, and Kenthe screamed.

The Aftermath

The final militia fled the battle, but in rolling post-game loot Kenthe ended up getting injured. I wrapped it into the fiction by supposing the militia rigged up a small trap on his way out, which the young ascetic fell for. He survived, but unfortunately will miss the next three fights and reduces his Reaction down to 1. Not great.

Still, it is mostly good news for the rest of the crew.

The Syndicate earns 5 Credits (3 from "notable objects" on the battlefield, +1 for a Benefactor, and +1 for it being an Opportunity Encounter). The gang's Stash was at the point where I could start thinking about trying to get them better gear.

Adric, Kyra, and Mister No all received 3xp ("survived and held the field"). This nets Kyra an Advance, bumping her Reaction from 1.5 to 2.

Kenthe earned 4xp ("survived and held the field", and "became a casualty").

Terpfen, meanwhile, had scored a solid 5xp from his performance ("survived and held the field", "first to inflict a casualty", and "inflict a casualty on the enemy leader"). He earns an Advance, bumping his Speed to 5.

All in all, this was a very quick scenario thanks to my garbage rolls; the militia solidly had the drop on Mister No twice, and both times failed to capitalize. We'll see if his luck is better in the future.