Five Parsecs from Home Turn 6: Sand Runners

In which the crew of the Zouave are hired by Wapcaplett, Vendetta & Prang to clear some pests out of a building...

But first: 

Back from their last mission, the crew take some much-needed R&R. Yodel finds a cool dueling pistol in an antique shop. It's been deactivated but she thinks she can get it working again. Ulf hits the gym. Mireille meets a fixer who will find them jobs for a nominal fee; Mireille tells them that they are fine for now but will get in touch if work with their current patron dries up. 

"Reno", Unit 9 .stl

Sally comes back with a new friend in tow! Mandy Reno looks like he's been around and could be useful, so Mireille agress to take him on. Hob makes some contacts of his own, but refuses to elaborate. Mireille wonders if he is starting to feel a little too comfortable on this world? 

Kangal gets into a fight in a local bar. He wins, barely, but the rival crew of Raiders swear revenge on him and his shipmates. 

The next morning Mireille briefs the team on their next mission. The crew has been hired as exterminators! Frakking has caused local geological instability, which has pushed the resident Sand Runners from their dens. Some of these Sand Runners have overrun a research complex, and the exterminator they sent in has gone missing. The team need to emplace a lure in the middle of the complex, which will disperse through the HVAC in the facility and render the sand runners docile for future dispersal. If they can find out what happened to the exterminator, there will be a bonus! 

Their WVP contact tried to insist that the crew to go in with light weapons only, to minimize damage to the facility, but Mireille talked them out of it (whew!). (-1 Story Point). 

The Exterminator: 

Kumiko Sage, PrintMinis .stl

A pack of (juvenile) Sand Runners: 

Squig Herd, Games Workshop

The team ready their equipment and weapons. Sally is given the lure to attach to the HVAC. 

As they are about to go into the facility, though, the new guy Mandy has second thoughts. Mireille has Yodel stay behind to talk him down while the rest of the team start the mission - now significantly short-handed. 

Fortunately Mireille's sensor bot lets the shorthanded team sneak into the building without being detected. 

Ulf spots a group of small Sand Runners at the end of the hall. Seeing an opportunity target, he opens fire on the biggest one, just as Hob shouts, "No! Not that one!" As it falls, the team hears desperate screeching echo throughout the facility, as Sand Runners everywhere converge on the control room! 

Chaos erupts in the control room as the pack of beasts hurl themselves at the crew. They fire wildly at the sand runners but only manage to stun one! 

Correcting their fire, Hob and Ulf manage to down most of the first wave, but one last Sand Runner leaps over a supply box and slams into Ulf, sending him careening down the corridor. He doesn't get up. Sally, seeing the second wave bearing down on her, decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and backs away from the console, firing wildly. Mireille moves to intercept them, blasting away and waving her sword, to draw their attention. 

The lead Sand Runner leaps on Hob, but eats a knife for its trouble. A second Runner catches Mireille on her arm, just as she brings her sword down on it. She goes flying, but seems unhurt. Sally finishes off the last Runner as it turns to go after her captain. 

Ulf rolls to his feet, a smug grin on his face. "No furry mouth with legs is gonna stop me," he proclaims. 

The team find the exterminator technician hiding in a shipment of starship parts, which Ulf and Hob happily carry away before any corpo shows up. Mireille escorts the tech offsite, and the crew return to the ship. The WVP agent pays them five credits for their efforts. 

Once back at the Zouave, Mireille finds a notification: Unity has halted departures and arrivals from the starport for the foreseeable future. No matter; Wapcaplett, Vendetta and Prang has another job for them already. And Yodel has cracked the encryption on the comms device they found on the dead mercenary, those few weeks back; it seems he was hired by a shadowy criminal organization whose members follow a strict code of criminal ethics with something like Zealotry... The data includes an address that may indicate a dead drop, or a gang-affiliated hideout. Only one way to find out, Mireille muses, but work before pleasure, as they say!