Mynock Alley 3 - Over The Abyss

 Campaign Turn 3

Reelo has recovered from his Booster Blue binge, but is unavailable to do any jobs for the outfit. Mister No is unhappy.

Kenthe is out of commission, still recovering from his head-wound; parting gift of the Imperial militia who survived the last dust-up.

Kyra is sent out to barter for some new and better equipment. She manages to hawk a crate of goods for 1 Credit. Additionally, she picks up a dataslate of holo-vids for Mister No (+1xp).

Adric  visits an old friend in a neighboring hab-district who helps him tune his carbine's spin-regulator-- the weapon gains +1" range permanently. He names the JHL-7 carbine "Jester".

Mister No goes on the prowl, with bad intentions. And he finds them. An argument near Blackband territory sees one of their number dead, with Mister No the prime suspect. Conveniently, he loses his blaster; the investigation is unable to pin the murder on him. He nets +1xp which pushes him to gain an Advance-- his Combat goes from 1.5 to 2, officially making him the most dangerous member of the group.

The Character Event sees Kyra gain +0.5 Reaction (bringing her total to 2), which I imagine is very much a growing realization that working with the Syndicate is Really Dangerous after getting caught in the open with the militia, last fight.

A couple of things make me excited for the game-scenario, as the Background Event conspires with the Enemy Tracking roll. No law enforcement this turn! And the Blackband gang makes a move on the Scarlet Syndicate. Taken together, it seems like Mister No's alleged murder of one of their member finally tips things into all-out-war; and with their Imperial sympathies it is probably easy to get law enforcement to back off for the showdown.

I roll up what kind of gang the Blackband is and get "rich gang", which indicates to me that they're more than just some neo-Imperial bootlickers. It's entirely possible they're being directly funded by COMPNOR slush-money. Further, the Battlefield Condition for the showdown is "bitter struggle"-- the Blackband will have to fail three Morale tests before they run, which makes it likely that this is a fight to the death.

Things do not look good for the Scarlet Syndicate...

Over The Abyss

"Ssorry we couldn't make a deal," hissed Tarla Keeg, "But thiss sshould be a very profitable relationssship."

Mister No grunted, shaking the Arcona's hand. The weapon dealer headed for the stairwell leading to the rooftop where his speeder was parked-- Adric chattering his usual pleasantries as he and Kyra escorted the Arcona. The rest of the outfit gathered around the table looking at a map of traffic near the Magistrate's District.

"So no explosives." Terpfen grunted. "Means we'll need another way to get the armored speeder to go to ground."

"Can we get someone in their control tower? Maybe just order them down." Reelo said. Mister No shook his head.

"Law enforcement is playing deaf-and-dumb to the undercity right now, so they've got twice as many eyes to toss around upside." Mister No said, "If we--"

There was a sudden burst of light and the stitching-whine of a heavy blaster revving up; followed shortly by a heavy metalic thump as the weapon dealer's speeder blew apart at the seams.

"Blackband on the roof!" Adric bellowed over the comms. "They've got military hardware, boss. What kind of hornet's nest did you kick?!"

Mister No could not but help hearing the recrimination in his voice.

"Kenthe, pack our shit and get it loaded in the speeder-- we're gonna hold 'em off."

The Aftermath

Mister No led Terpfen and Reelo to the roof, but the Blackband was ready for them. They had barely made it out of the stairwell when blaster bolts started raining down on them-- Adric and Kyra were similarly beset on the neighboring rooftop.

"Let's show these assholes what--" Mister No began, but was cut off by the keening-whine they'd heard before. A heavy blaster cannon. Scarlet bolts stitched across the rooftop, dropping Mister No before he'd even finished his defiant quip.

Terpfen dove for cover, resting his blaster on the roof's lip. He sighted quickly, taking a long breath in-- and pulled the firing stud. The heavy blaster cannon briefly spat its bolts into the sky as the Blackband ganger went down.

Reelo took the covering fire as an opportunity to vault onto one of the catwalks which bridged the buildings, sprinting for any kind of flanking angle on the Blackband.

Terpfen's brief ululation of victory was cut short as the Blackband returned fire. A bolt caught him in the collar, sending him spinning and down next to Mister No.

Huddled by the stairwell's entrance, Kyra and Adric exchanged desperate blasterfire with their opposites.

Terpfen went down just as Kyra and Adric made it to the roof's edge. Adric saw the writing on the wall, and called for a fighting retreat-- whatever Kenthe had managed to save would have to do.

Adric scored a lucky hit on the Blackband leader, though it was not enough to take him out of the fight. Kyra fared better, catching her opponent in the neck and putting him down more permanently.

As the Blackband leader re-organized his thugs, the Syndicate withdrew-- dragging Terpfen and Mister No downstairs and into the waiting speeder.

The Aftermath

It was a bad day for the Scarlet Syndicate, with only a few silver-linings. The first was that Mister No and Terpfen's injuries were relatively minor. The second was that Reelo had some wherewithal and managed to save 1 Credit out of their Stash-- along with what Kenthe had loaded into the speeder, that meant they'd be able to pay everyone next campaign turn. But that was it-- no bonus for an Opportunity Encounter, no bonus from the Benefactor.

Mister No gained only 1xp (becoming a casualty).

Terpfen gained 2xp (becoming a casualty, inflicting the first casualty)

Reelo, Adric, and Kyra all gained 2xp as well (survived but ran away).

This was enough for Reelo and Adric to get an Advance; Reelo bumped his Toughness to 4, while Adric got a Combat Skill of 1. Both were likely to be useful in the coming fights.

Otherwise, things looked grim-- no Reputation was gained, and so the Syndicate still faced tough prospects to make ends meet, much less become Top Dogs of Mynock Alley.