Five Parsecs from Home Turn 7: Cultists

 

In which the crew are hired to escort an esteemed academic to investigate an alien monument that may or may not be a hoax. 

But first: the crew disperse for their usual post-mission activities: 

• Yodel stays on the shuttle, tinkering with her dueling pistol, but can't seem to get it working again. 
• Mireille, minding her own business at what is fast becoming her favorite watering hole, strikes up a conversation with a smuggler who is able to sell her some military weapons: a boarding saber and two infantry lasers! 
• Hearing this, Hob finds a fixer working for an erstwhile resistance group who is desperate to get their hands on any kind of weapons; Hob's happy to hand over some of the team's more basic gear for an influx of hard cash. 
• On his way back to the shuttle bay, Ulf finds a stim pack hanging half out of a Dumpster - it looks like it might be fixable. He doesn't tell anyone where he found it. 
• Sally goes off to a far quarter of the city to draw attention away from the rest of the crew, and comes back unscathed. 
• The two new crewmembers get in trouble again. Kangal comes back pretty banged up, having been jumped for his colony rifle. The gun won't be missed but the bipod attached to it was useful. 
• Mandy returns looking pale and jittery, claiming that he ate something bad. They both end up in Sick Bay. 

The next day Mireille's Wapcaplett, Vendetta and Prang contact offers them another job. Rumors are floating around that a cult has formed out in the sticks, in one of the private mining collectives. This cult is alleged to be centered around an ancient monument constructed by a long-dead alien civilization. The WVP contact wants the team to escort a staff xeno-archaeologist to the site and determine if any of this is true, as any ancient alien artifact may prove to be immensely valuable. The cult is known to be armed and dangerous, so the crew can expect the team to encounter resistance. 

Because the mission will take place in a populated area, WVP insists that only four crew members participate, and adhere to a strict time limit so that neither local authorities nor itinerant journalists are alerted. Given these constraints, the corporation is willing to include a significant completion bonus. 

Keeping her reservations to herself, Mireille accepts the job. 

Dangerous Cultists! (Unit9 stl, special guest appearance: Wolfgang Amadeus Wolf by Corvus Belli)

Dr. Arasaka, Xenoarchaeologist (Unit9 stl) 

The Scene of the Investigation

The crew split into pairs and make their way swiftly to the site. Soon, however, Dr. Arasaka is spotted by a group of nearby cultists, and the mission turns hot! The team is outnumbered almost 2 to 1, but the Cultists are armed only with short-ranged and makeshift weapons, and so are cut down en masse in their futile attempt to protect their shrine. Sally, meanwhile, is able to identify the curious object nearby, and determines it to be a Cybermask holo-spoof, presumably used by the recently-deceased cult leader to lure the credulous into his service. She shuts it off and packages it up, knowing it can fetch a fine price from the right buyer. Nearby, in a pile of rubble, Ulf finds a full set of spare parts for the Cybermask, along with a brand new Blast Pistol. He grins and tucks it into his belt. 

The Tragic Consequences of Fanaticism

Pleased with the result, WVP pays them a staggering sum. The credits are starting to roll in...