All of the referee’s notes from Part 1 [1] still apply. 

The bulk of the action is this portion of the adventure takes place on the planet Laco.  In this issue of the Frontier Explorer is a comprehensive planetary brief on Laco [2], a referee should be familiar with the details of the planet’s environment and dangers:  flora, fauna and weather. 

As per Captain Kleevor’s habit of having a meal with the crew, use the open snack time at the beginning of the RPG session to role play this.  It’s a perfect time to review important details on the planet Laco and its general hazards.  It’s also a perfect time for Kleevor to assign responsibilities to the crew.  Laco’s day is 60 hours long but the PCs will operate on the standard GST day of 20 hours.  They will be responsible to overhaul the ship’s engines which have now made three jumps since the last overhaul (see KHs for rules concerning overhaul times).  If the ship saw combat in the Timeon system, then Kleevor will order a careful inspection of the hull, full repair of any battle damage, and a repaint of the reflective hull coating which will take 40 work hours total.  Any PC can work on the hull regardless of whether they have technician or star ship engineering skill. 

The adventure is for the PCs, thus Captain Kleevor will leave the PCs to their responsibilities while he’s arranging the sale of the ship’s cargo and procuring the next load.  The crew will work hard for 4 GST days to off load the ship’s agricultural cargo and stow a new cargo of refinery parts destined for Clarion.   Kleevor will be in orbit while the PCs are on their last cargo run.  He will indicate that on this final run they will have time to try a little side trading (if they obtained some luxury  items on Lossend) or they may indulge themselves in some R&R for three days as the ship’s next delivery allows them some time off dirt side.  Kleevor will tell them they’ve done well, pay them their wages since they signed on, and will begin the jump calculations himself. 

The article on Laco has a number of layover adventure seeds and any of them can be used as side adventures as well.  The PCs are responsible for the shuttle and all have baton keys to lock the shuttle and access it afterward.  They have just received 24-25 days’ worth of pay and have their trade goods, the next few days would be an excellent opportunity to shop or trade and have a little fun, perhaps even rent an air car to go see the Tetrarch ruins.

The Lucky Devil pirates have taken a hit because of the Venture’s crew and they will bear a grudge.  Unfortunately for the Venture’s crew, Laco is their base of operation.  While the crew is going about their business in Point Glass, the pirates will learn of their arrival and lay plans to get even.  The Lucky Devil pirates have decided to steal the Venture’s shuttle, Capitol, while it’s on the ground. 

Ramirez, if he survived part 1, has been discredited and has escaped death at the hands of his compatriots.  He is living in fear when not living inside a bottle of alcohol.  He hates the Venture and its crew but is not a real threat.  As the PC’s have encounters with the Lucky Devil pirates, he made be found and induced to give up information about his erstwhile compatriots. 

ScarletRose-300h.png [3]

An Alluring Red Head

Captain Scarlet Rose, a.k.a. Scarlet Terror, has always hated Ramirez and is glad his days are numbered.  She plans to increase her standing with the pirate band by stealing the Venture’s shuttle and crew it with people loyal to her.  With Ramirez on the outs, there is an opening for a new captain to begin running a ship within the band.  If it is someone of her choosing, her power base will be expanded.  She does not plan to take orders from “El Capitan” forever.

To steal the shuttle, Capitol, she needs to obtain a baton key from one of the Venture’s crew.  She will begin simply, by using feminine wiles and escalate to full on violence if necessary.  A referee may have to fly by the seat of his pants depending on the precautions the players take against trouble.  The following approaches might be used or the referee may invent one.  The pirates will attempt non-lethal action with subdual weapons as a mugging is much less likely to draw official attention then a murder.  The last thing they want is for Star Law to be looking into a murder of a crewmember of a ship they are in the process of stealing.  Muggings are common enough that they don’t usually get logged into the database.

Approach 1

Scarlet will single out 1 or possibly 2 PCs on the street and ask to speak to them more privately.  Her body language will suggest she is in fear.  She is wearing a pheromone perfume [see new equipment appendix] that conveys a +20 bonus in her favor to all ability checks made by a human male character.  In other words if the players try to use INT or PER to gain information or influence her the ability check either fails automatically with the character thinking it succeeded or the final result is moved 20 points in her favor. 

Her goal is to get them into a bar close at hand with upstairs rooms and subdue the PC or PCs.  Crew from her ship have effectively taken over the bar and are the only ones present except for the bar tender who is sweating bullets.  If there are two PCs Scarlet will opt to do the subdual in the bar room with her crew present but if there is only one PC, she will make like she wants to go upstairs to her room [any excuse- because her child is there, or something of value is there, or if the promise of sex will work then that].  As they go to the stairs a stealthy member of the crew will quietly step up behind the PC and stab him with doze dagger [see the new equipment appendix] and Scarlet will spin and shoot with an electro-stunner.  PC’s are at -20 to avoid surprise at the sudden attack if they are human males due to the pheromone perfume.

Scarlet Terror: (RW 60, M 40, PS 3, IM 5, RS 50, STA 45) skein suit, electro stunner, albedo screen,  holo screen , belt pack 50 SEU

3 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, doze daggers

3 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, 3 tangler grenades

3 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, electro stunners, 1 20 SEU clip

If successful the pirates will take the baton key(s) for the shuttle and leave for the “To Jack a Shuttle” encounter.  The stun effects from an electro stunner or a doze dagger last d100 six second turns and tangler grenades incapacitate for 30 minutes.  Scarlet and her pirates will be springing their shuttle jacking about the time the stun, doze, or tangler effects wear off. 

Approach 2

Scarlet will feign fleeing from scum bags who are actually her crew and cling to a human male counting on her pheromone perfume to help cover her pick pocket attempt.  The pirate toughs will distract the PCs with threats and bluster for a few seconds before dispersing.  Scarlet will seek to get away from the PCs (to return to her child or any other excuse) but if the PCs insist on escorting her she will lead them into a trap in an alley where they will have no cover nor room to maneuver.  Use the pirate stats above and rearm the pirates with doze daggers with sonic stunners. 

Scarlet and her crew will move onto the “To Jack a Shuttle” encounter leaving the PC or PCs incapacitated in that alley.  If she gets away clean then she will leave them to shop or run whatever errands, counting on the distance to the shuttle to delay them long enough.

DralasiteTough-300h.png [4]

Approach 3

If all else fails, she will use the direct approach and simply way lay a group in the street and perform subdual attacks.  A referee should increase the number of attackers as needed and probably re-arm the pirates with doze daggers with sonic stunners.

Regardless of the approach used, the goal of the pirates is to get one of the PC's baton keys.  By the end of their time on planet, at least one of the keys should be lost at some point.

To Jack a Shuttle

Once Scarlet has a baton key, she will move quickly to make off with the shuttle.  In all likelihood one or more of the PCs have been subdued and there may not even be someone watching the shuttle.  If there is no one watching the shuttle, Scarlet will begin the process of hacking its lockout program while a pirate with engineering skills preps the engines for take-off.  A large number of pirates have cordoned off the area around the shuttle to intercept the PCs if they return.  Some of the Lucky Devil pirates will have exchanged their subdual weapons for the more lethal variety.

If there is someone watching the shuttle then Scarlet will use a holo screen (20% chance to see through the deception) and approach the shuttle in the guise of a port authority customs inspector accompanied by a technician carrying a bio-scanner.  Their story is that there have been reports of dangerous invasive species arriving with agricultural goods and records show that this shuttle is one of five to off-load ag goods in the past week.  The shuttle will need to be inspected and if the PC does not comply then the shuttle will be quarantined automatically.  They will instruct the PC to wait with the disguised Scarlet while the tech sweeps the ship.  Within a minute the tech will com Scarlet and announce the shuttle is hot.  Scarlet will regretfully inform the PC that the shuttle must be quarantined and wave over members of the pirate band from the beat up hover truck.  The PC should begin to feel something is wrong at this point, if he has not already, but Scarlet will use her electro stunner on him with surprise.  If this happens they will dump the unconscious body in a crate outside the fence.

The “real” encounter will begin once the whole party knows (or even suspects) that the pirates are trying to steal the shuttle.  This will happen once the stun or tangler effects wear off of the PCs that had the baton key stolen (its assumed that their first response is to com everyone but Scarlet and her team will already be at the shuttle).  Roll 1d5+7 turns to determine how long the encounter will go.  This time period is the length of time Scarlet still needs to hack the shuttle’s lockout program and get it moving once the PCs, as a group, are aware there is a problem.  If the PCs have done anything to slow up the pirates in some way the referee can add a few turns to this time.

 If the PCs are not together as a group, they will arrive from basically the same direction (the right side of the map) but staggered time wise.  Begin rolling for each PC or group of PCs to arrive at the shuttle location at the beginning of the “real” encounter.  Each PC or group of PCs gains 15% chance of arriving for each turn of the “To Jack a Shuttle” encounter.  On turn one they must roll 15% or less to arrive on the edge of the encounter map.  If they do not succeed in arriving on the first turn they increase their chance by 15% each turn till they do arrive.  The ramp will be closed in 10 turns after the encounter begins.

Only one or two of the pirates will leave on the shuttle.  The rest will hold off the PCs until Scarlet fires the shuttle’s engines.  At that point they will pile into a beat up looking hover truck and race for their ship 1 km away.  Both ships will perform sub-orbital maneuvers and land at the pirates’ secret base 100 km from Mo’s Easy.

ShuttleLandingArea.png [5]

Map Legend: Shuttle Unloading Area

This area of the Point Glass star port is like many industrial warehousing parks across the Frontier.  It’s zoned for industrial and warehousing and most people found here are working.  The 10 meter high fencing in the area is battered but serviceable and can take 25 structural points of damage per 1m x 1m section.  Scale 1 square-2 meters.

1. Old habitat modules – These have been converted to warehousing.  They are the legacy of the emergency housing set up for refugees in the aftermath of the Frist Sathar War.  They are 10 meters high but occasionally are stacked two high.
2. Large shipping crates – various uninteresting bulk cargo and 5 m high
3. Small shipping containers – 2.5 meters high.
4. Wheeled Load Lifters – Locked but ready to be rented with the swipe of an ID card, see equipment appendix for full details.
5. Beat Up hover truck – stolen less than an hour ago it’s the escape vehicle for the pirates that don’t leave on the shuttle.
6. The old watch tower – The tower is in poor condition: with no more than 25 points of structural damage to one of the supporting legs it will fall and obstruct the gateway.  It is 20 m tall.
7. High pressure coolant pipeline – if a section receives 50 structural points of damage, the coolant will geyser out, spraying a few meters into the air and creating a slippery mess that spreads one square in every direction per turn.  Characters caught in the coolant must make a RS check or fall prone when they attempt to move.

The Mooks

Scarlet Terror aka Scarlet Rose: (RW 60, M 40, PS 3, IM 5, RS 50, STA 45) skein suit, electro stunner, albedo screen,  holo screen , belt pack 50 SEU

Pirate Engineer: (RW 60, M 40, PS 3, IM 5, RS 50, STA 45) skein suit, laser pistol, albedo screen,  belt pack 50 SEU

3 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, laser rifles, 3 power clips

3 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, auto rifles, 3 ammo clips

3 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, gryrojet rifles, 3 ammo clips

3 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, sonic stunners, 3 power clips

Aftermath

Several things will happen after the shuttle leaves the area:

1. The computers on the Venture will note the lift off of the shuttle and then the sudden cutting out of its transponder.  This will cause Captain Kleevor to call the PCs and ask them what’s going on and inform them that theft of the shuttle will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible (he’s thinking they are making off with the shuttle unless they have specified calling him). 
2. The local Star Law Marshal will arrive and order a stand down of all combatants , firing on anyone that does not obey him.  He will question the PCs and take statements and examine and identify some of the pirate’s bodies or prisoners (as the case may be).  Live pirates may be forced to reveal the general area of their base but dead pirates will simply point to a connection to Mo’s Easy – they were arrested there before or something similar.
3. Kleevor will order the PCs to recover the shuttle and ask what they need from their personal gear and the arms locker on the Venture and will send it down on someone else’s shuttle.

Should the PCs stop the heist of the shuttle this complicates things as the mission to strike back at the pirates was predicated on the need to recover the shuttle.  All is not lost should this occur.  Have the shuttle severely damaged in the process such that it’s taken out of action for a few days.  The CFM is notorious for getting even with individuals and organizations that attack its ships, crews, and captains.  The policy of making anyone and everyone rue the day they struck at the CFM is bed rock to the organization’s standard operational procedures and Kleevor will be quite fed up with the Lucky Devil pirates. 

Allow of the PCs to discover the location of the secret base but Kleevor will require on-the-ground confirmation before he shoots anything from space.  Even when he does employ the ship’s laser battery from orbit he will only target legitimate military targets like pirate ships and vehicles, mindful of UPF prohibitions against orbital bombardment.  Thus the PCs will need to actually clear the outpost the hard way.  The primary targets will be the pirate’s “hanger” and its vehicles.  Kleevor, however, will want to not only cripple the pirate band but also send a message to prevent them from ever coming against the Venture and its crew again.

If at all possible, Scarlet should escape by any means to be present at the climax.

Experience Points

Award 1-3 EXP based on performance.  Give higher experience for the PCs capturing pirates and generating clues to their hideout.  Award 4 EXP if they prevent the theft of the shuttle.

Discovering the Pirate’s Base

DevilsBasin-300h.png [6]

1. The Venture didn’t get a good scan on the sub-orbital hop performed by pirates.  The PCs may attempt to sweet talk or bribe other star ship crews for a good scan if their ships or shuttles were over head during the sub-orbital hop.  A PER ability check modified with a positive modifier for the appropriate bribe may do the trick. 
2. Prevailing on Marshal Ben to force the flight control at the Pan Galactic Corporation’s private star port to turn over their scan data will require a PER check but offering  a bribe causes automatic failure.  Role playing a surly attitude with the marshal may cause him to not bother as well.
3. They may beat the grape vine in a half dozen bars and will get conflicting rumors but among them will be the name Mo’s Easy.
4. If they have learned a general area and do a data search on the local info nets, they may discover that there is an old Streel Mercenary base in an old volcanic caldera called Devil’s Caldron about 100 km from Mo’s Easy.
5. If they supply the captain with the general location he can do a fly over with cameras and computers set to scan and that will positively locate the pirate base.
6. Travelling to Mo’s Easy and discreetly questioning some of the residents will turn up a general though not exact location for ships seen landing and taking off about 100 km away to the East.  Alternately, some pirates from the base may have come out to Mo’s Easy with a hover car for a night on the town and the PCs can encounter them and attempt to get information out of them.

Encounters at Mo’s Easy

Mo’s Easy is a notorious collection of saloons and habitat modules half way between Point Glass and the Tetrarch Pyramids (a day’s travel).  The location is plagued with sand storms and dust devils.  If it’s necessary to have encounters here, a referee can abstract the location without a map as most people go from their vehicle directly into a building.  The location is optional and not completely necessary for the adventure.

The center of interest here is the bar known as Mo’s Easy.  Some people are involved in illegal activities and thus not very likely to talk to the PCs and others are just worried about personal safety and are afraid to talk to the PCs.  The best way for the PCs to turn up solid information will be for a handful of Lucky Devil pirates to show up to blow off steam and party. 

Devil’s Caldron & the Canyon Hide Out

Devil’s Caldron was a mercenary base during Laco’s war.  Built by Streel and MerCo, the floor of the volcanic caldera was leveled and a ceramacrete landing pad put in.  It fell into disuse and was re-occupied by the Lucky Devil pirates.  The rim of the caldera provides camouflage for grounded ships and is a relatively secure landing site. 

DevilsCauldron.png [7]

Devil’s Caldron Map Legend,

(scale: 1 square = 5 meters)

1. Desert floor
2. Outward slope of the caldera – 50m high
3. Inward slope of the caldera – 40m high
4. Caldera floor – leveled and covered with star port quality ceramacrete
5. Weapons platform – 10m high with heavy laser and type 1 parabattery (500 SEU).  Weapon covered with tight fitting cover which takes one turn to remove as protection against sand and dust.
6. Weapons platform– 10m high with heavy machine gun and locker with 5 ammo belts.  Weapon covered with tight fitting cover which takes one turn to remove as protection against sand and dust.
7. Rusty hover truck – baton key is with one of the pirates in the caldera.
8. Entry tunnel to the caldera – chairs, table, crates, and sleeping cot.  The pirates have arranged crates as a wall to separate the side passage off and have a lounge for card playing and sleeping.  2 pirates : (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, auto-rifles, 2 ammo clips, doze daggers, one with IR goggles
9. Storage
10. Assault rocket reloads – 2 pallets with two rockets each.  Rockets covered with tight fitting cover which takes one turn to remove as protection against sand and dust.
11. Inoperative crane – left over from Laco’s War 30m high.
12. Jet copter – undergoing engine maintenance, the copter will not fly till another two hours of work is done.  2 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, laser pistols, 1 power clip, doze daggers, technician tool kits.
13. The Venture’s shuttle – The external locks have been changed and the lock out program has been reprogrammed.
14. Scarlet Terror’s Thruster class privateer – Requires a baton key held by Scarlet to gain access.
15. Wheeled load lifter – unlocked and ready to use (see new equipment appendix for details).
16. Large shipping crates – mostly empty, 5 m high.

Players have variety of ways the can approach the caldera.  The pirates all have chronocoms and will be able to raise pirates at the hide out .75 km away once they realize the PCs are here.  Two are in their “lounge” (area #4) playing cards and two are doing engine maintenance on the jetcopter, they will be focused on their activities and may not notice the PCs unless the players do something rash or foolish.  If the pirates at the hide out are summoned they will arrive in 2d10 combat rounds.  If the other pirates are summoned have 10+1d10 pirates arrive in a hover car and a hover transport.  Average mooks have a skein suit and a rifle with 2-3 ammo clips and possibly a melee weapon.  Officers (2-3) will have a skein suit, a defense screen, power belt, pistol or rifle with 3-4 ammo clips, and a melee weapon.  If the pirates from the hide out respond to the caldera, the hide out will only have two pirates left if the PCs investigate it afterwards.

One asset the players have is that Kleevor will have moved the Venture directly over this site and can shoot a large target in the caldera with the ship’s lasers.  Possible targets would be a grounded ship, the crane, the jetcopter or the weapon’s platforms.  Kleevor must be mindful of UPF laws concerning orbital bombardment and the above list represents legal targets for him under the law.  He might also shoot to destroy the entrance to the caldera to prevent pirates from the outpost from using it, however, he will not target the outpost lest there be kidnapped civilians there.  For that reason the players will just not be able to use him as “deus ex machina” laying done the “god smack” from orbit. 

The players can employ the laser battery on the Venture once every 50 turns.  It will effectively destroy the jetcopter, a hover vehicle or a weapon’s platforms for a 60% skill roll or do maximum damage to the privateer vessel for 50% skill roll (by Kleevor but rolled by the players).  The players must request the orbital “god smack” and direct which target they want hit.  Note if the Venture’s laser battery is used to destroy a hover vehicle while pirates are riding in it Scarlet will automatically have been in the other vehicle and thus survive to face the PCs.

Canyon Hideout Level 1.PNG [8]
Canyon Hideout Level 2.PNG [9]

Canyon Hide Out 

(scale: 1 square = 2 meters)

The canyon hide out is built into the side of a canyon wall.  It would be very difficult to find if a hover car and hover transport were not parked at the entrance.

1. Parked hover car and transport – guard in chair reading a hard copy travel magazine.  1 pirate: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, IR goggles, gyrojet rifle, 3 ammo clips, water canteen filled with strong alcohol, large free standing umbrella and folding chair.
2. Office – three desks a good search will turn up a magnetic holster holding an auto-pistol up under the middle desk.  1 pirate officer smoking : (RW 45, M 40, PS 4, IM 5, RS 50, STA 50) skein suit, auto-pistol, 3 ammo clips, sonic sword
3. Storage area – crates of food, water, toilet paper, etc.
4. Workshop – maintenance area for robotic and storage closet.  2 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, doze daggers, gyrojet pistol, 3 ammo clips
5. Passage to stairwell going up.
6. Lounge – 3 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, sonic stunners, 3 power clip, vibro-dagger with power clip
7. Dorm – beds and locked footlockers [level 2 locks].  2 pirates : (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, needler pistols, 2 ammo clips, and random melee weapon.  Overall there will be some limited identification papers here in the foot lockers that may lead to arrests by Star Law.
8. Sealed windows – look out into the canyon.
9. Second level ladder well.
10. Storage area – There are ten squares that may be searched roll on the table below.
11. Uni-species restrooms – doors are lockable from the inside.
12. Dorm – beds and locked footlockers [level 2 locks].  2 pirates : (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, auto-pistols, 2 ammo clips, and random melee weapon.  Overall there will be some limited identification papers here in the foot lockers that may lead to arrests by Star Law.
13. Computer Room – Radiocom, subspace radio, and computer.  Treat the computer and its security as level 3 each.  There are extensive records for this group of pirates on the computer though not all of them are of interest.  Buried deep in the files are files on finances (1), pirate personnel (1), and ships (1); one skill roll per set of files to locate.  If these files are turned over to Star Law, nearly the whole band will eventually be captured.  In 1d10 months there will be a reward for the PCs based on the number of sets of records turned over to Star Law: 10,000cr per set of records.  2 pirate officers : (RW 45, M 40, PS 4, IM 5, RS 50, STA 50) skein suit, gyrojet pistol, 3 ammo clips, sonic sword or vibro-dagger with power clip, baton keys to the pirate ship and the shuttle
14. Quarters – 1 pirate cleaning his auto-rifle : (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, auto-rifle, 3 ammo clips, doze dagger
15. Quarters – empty
16. Quarter: 1 pirate – (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, sonic stunner, 2 power clips, sonic dagger
17. Quarters – empty

Note: Scarlet is not keyed to a particular location.  Each referee has the option to place her when they wish as a boss encounter and she will have 1d5 pirates with her.  If the PCs look like they plan on settling for just taking out the vehicles at the hanger she can turn up in a hover car.  The goal is to hold her in reserve as a boss encounter and/or prevent the PCs from having too easy of a time with this section of the adventure.

Scarlet Terror aka Scarlet Rose: (RW 60, M 40, PS 3, IM 5, RS 50, STA 45) skein suit, laser pistol, albedo screen,  3 power clips , belt pack 50 SEU, baton keys to the pirate vessel and the stolen shuttle.

1d5 pirates: (RW 35, M 35, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 40) skein suit, random pistols (Laser 1-20%, auto pistol 21-40%, gyrojet 41-60%, Needler 61-80%, Electro stunner 81-100%), 3 power or ammo clips, random small melee weapon and power clip if required (knife 1-20%, sonic knife 21-40%, vibroknife 41-60%, brass knuckles 61-80%, shock gloves 81-100%)

The Pirate’s Response

A large group of pirates will converge on the hanger if the pirates at the outpost are alerted to the PC’s presence.  The number of pirates listed as showing up and the number of pirates keyed to particular rooms at the outpost do not match.  This is somewhat intentional as the name of the adventure is “Mooks Without Number”; so there is no hard and fast number of pirates.  A referee can increase or decrease the numbers of pirates at any point in the adventure to match the challenge to the size and health of the party.

If the pirates from the outpost have responded to the PCs presence at the hanger then the PCs will find 4 pirates guarding the front door to the outpost if they make their way there.  There will be one pirate skulking through the dorms stealing from his fellows.  He’ll have 1d5+5 trinkets of silver, gold, and costume jewelry valued at 3d10cr each.

The players could also stumble across the hide out as they make their way to the caldera.  If they attempt to clear the hide out first it is not likely that the pirates at the caldera will be called for support.  If there is a general hue and cry among the pirates over the presence of the PCs, then the pirates at the caldera will be on alert, watching and trying to raise their fellow pirates by chronocom.  The two doing maintenance will be watching from the rim of the caldera and the others will be set to defend the entrance.

If the players should use the Venture’s laser battery to destroy the entrance to the caldera the pirates coming from the hideout will dismount their vehicles and climb over the rim of the caldera.  The driver of the hover car will retreat for two turns and come racing back on the third turn at top speed and crash the hover car into the caldera wrecking it and stunning himself for 1d5+3 turns.  Referee chooses a suitable location for the hover car to come to rest in the caldera.

Aftermath

Some, but not all, of the pirates have identity cards and if these are captured and turned in to Star Law it will fill in some information in the Star Law files on this pirate band and may eventually lead to arrests.  If the computer at the hide out is hacked and key financial, personnel, and ship registry files are turned over to Star Law, it will eventually lead to most of the band being rounded up and their fence being arrested.  If the players simply obtain computer files and scans from the pirate’s ship, it will allow Space Fleet, Star Law, and militia forces to cripple the pirates capturing most of their ships.  In 1d5+5 months rewards can come in for the information (1d5 x10,000cr).

The pirate’s ship at the caldera is stolen and the players will not be able to keep it if they capture it but a reward could be paid to lessen the sting of not getting the ship.  Typically, such rewards are 1-3% of the value of the ship concerned.  In this case a Thruster class privateer costs close to 1 million credits so the PCs will split 1% of that and Captain Kleevor will collect 3%.  The portable items of value at the caldera are the two pallets of two assault rockets each, the jetcopter, the wheeled load lifter, and the captured heavy weapons.  Anything that is shot with Venture’s laser from orbit is scrap.  Note: it might seem that Kleevor makes out while the PCs do all the work but this is just how prize money is divided for capturing pirate and enemy vessels.

The players should, at the very least, be able to recover their shuttle and destroy the pirate shuttle.  On a very successful run of this adventure they could capture some information of value to Star Law which will give the Lucky Devil Pirates someone other than the Venture and her crew to worry about. 

Many of the items from the cargo search results table under room #10 could become hooks for further adventure.  For example, the data cube with a star chart is essentially a modern pirate map or it could be nothing at all.  As referee you have the option to fudge a table result if you want a particular item to use as a hook for continuing adventure.  Some items on the chart could be problematic for the Venture’s crew to sell due to legal issues.  After this encounter with the Lucky Devil pirates, the Venture’s crew will have several months of boring shipping duty before they ever deal with these pirates again.  It would be good for their reward from Star Law to catch up with them during that time and let the players think that the Lucky Devil pirates are crippled or destroyed.

It’s up to the referee to decide if Scarlet should live to bother the PCs another day.  If she is reduced to 0 STA she may still survive as per the rules on death and dying.  Other officers may survive being reduced to 0 STA as well but unnamed “mooks” reduced to 0 STA can be treated as dead.  A Scarlet that escapes or survived only to be turned over to Star Law can return at another time in the player’s adventures to be a thorn in their side.

Experience Points

Award 1 EXP for taking the hanger and a bonus point for recovering navigation data from the pirate’s starship.  Award 1 EXP for taking the outpost and a bonus point for recovering computer records on the pirate band.  The bonuses apply only if they data are turned over to the appropriate authorities; namely Star Law and Space Fleet. 

Depending on events the PCs may be tied up with answering questions for Star Law for a few days.  It could also play out that they are off Laco in a day and on to the Venture’s next port of call. 

The Lucky Devil pirates are not completely destroyed no matter what the outcome of this portion of the adventure is.  There are other ships out there.  With information provided by the PCs or recovered by Star Law investigators after they reach the pirate outpost, the Lucky Devil pirates will be crippled once Space Fleet captures their vessels.  Just enough of them will escape and come together with a plan to get even with the PCs in about 6 months.  That plan also involves them replacing their lost ships with Venture.

The referee can abstract 6 month’s activity (simply pay the PCs 6 months wages) and then run part 3 or he can run a series of short adventures to get the player’s minds off the Lucky Devil pirates.

The following pages contain the suppliment material for the adventure such as NPC Stats, Maps, and the various listings from the adventure.