Five Parsecs From Home Turn 0: A Starport Shanty

One time, in the stash house, Tina complained to Jhonny about their moniker. "Why you gotta call us scum, Jhonny?" she whined. "We can't even be rats?" 

Jhonny Rat took a long drag on his stogie. "Rats are smaht, doll. And resourceful. And vicious fightahs. You wanna be a rat? You gotta earn it." 

Terrain and mat by Battle Systems. Zouave's crew on the left, scum on the right. 

After another night on the town, the crew heads back to the starport. They are ambling through the Iron Triangle of makeshift huts and ramshackle shops when a sudden silence descends. Sally starts sniffing the air and Mireille's sensor bot gives a quiet warning beep - too late! A group of local thugs round the corner. The crew have uninvited company! 

Johnny and the Scum, awaiting their next unsuspecting victims. 

Front row: Johnny Rat, Loot Studios. 

Back row: Unit 9, various

Sensing danger, the bystanders start to flee, kicking over chairs and leaving behind belongings in their haste. Ulf sets up to shoot across the plaza, as Hob moves to flank and Mireille waits to pick her spot. 

Sally takes up a firing position at the corner of the nearest building, while Anja sprints across open ground to close with the enemy. The scum waste no time in attempting to join her. 

A Scanner Bot (foreground) observes the Starport Scum charging around some shipping containers. 

The Scum are caught in a vicious crossfire, but manage to weather the storm! 

Sally tries to hold down the flank but does little more than slow down the enemy with desultory fire from her Colony Rifle. Mireille springs from cover and adds her Beam Pistol to the weight of fire, to no effect. Finally, the combined fire of Hob, Yodel and Ulf finally bring the scum boss down - but his minions are undeterred! 

Anja looks to be in a rough spot. Civilians are impeding her actions. The scum don't care though - the first one dives onto Anja, blade flashing, but it pushed away at the last second! 

Anja finishes him off with a concealed knife, then moves to join her crewmates. Her shotgun fails to down a second ganger. The sudden violence causes one of the scum to flee! 

Ulf, surging forward, brings down Anja's target, his big Plasma Rifle booming. Finally, Yodel connects from downrange with her infantry laser, piercing the last of the scum before she can escape. 

The young gangsters seem to have nothing of value on them, and the crew decide to flee the scene before law enforcement arrive and start asking delicate questions.