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Story 18

Cinder-Beard the Retiree

A comm comes in and you nod to one of your officers to put it on. As your screen resolves you see one of the great menaces of the black ocean, Cinder-Beard the Pirate.

“Avast ye! I come with an offer.

In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labor; but in this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power; and who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sour look or two at choking. No, a merry life for me which I expected would be much shorter. When I started this my beard was solid black, but now it is gray all the way through.

It is a glorious thing To be a Pirate King, but now I look for my swan song through a passing of the baton, as it would be. I offer up my ship and my own base, Athamantis, but for some coin as I look to retire to a calmer life fit for a prince.

I will give you each one stand to make an offer and then leave access to my effects at the Kiln, but know that I will not accept too paltry a sum.”

With that final pronouncement, the view screen fades to black, but the appearance of the garishly dressed old salt remains in your mind.

Your comm officer cuts into your thoughts, “It appears that his message was sent on a tight beam to a very limited audience.”

You simply nod, as that is about what you expected.

Each player, at the end of their turn, may make a silent offer to purchase both Cinder-Beard’s ship and his asteroid base. After every player has had an opportunity to make a silent bid, writing the number down, all the bids are revealed. If the bid is for less than 5,000 credits, it is thrown out as not being a serious offer. The highest bid wins and immediately wires the funds to Cinder-Beard. Remove Cinder-Beard’s ship from the board and place Athamantis Asteroid Base at TK-421 on a space with asteroid debris (the winner of the auction may choose the precise location). If for some reason that sector has not been revealed, as soon as it is revealed you may place Athamantis then. 

If you are the winner of this silent auction, receive your new ship at the Kiln. You may sell your current ship at 50% value. You will need the ship that was flown by Cinder-Beard to access the Athamantis Asteroid Base. Your new ship does begin play with an outlaw marker and add 1,000 credits to any bounty you currently have. Athamantis can only be accessed by you and is well protected. You may safely dock there to avoid entanglements, you can store supplies and materials there, and its generators produce enough excess power that you could refuel your ship up to 10 energy if you dock there. Winner of the auction also gains 2 fame points.

Clarifications: If there is a tie, then those players may make additional bids out loud until there is a winner. If no one makes an adequate bid, Cinder-Beard simply does not retire, and the asteroid base does not come out. 

Additional info about the Athamantis Asteroid Base: Only Cinder-Beard’s old ship can dock there, no other ship can. The asteroid debris space functions as regular asteroid debris for others when trying to pass through, but when Cinder-Beard’s former ship passes through that area it does not need to roll for damage.

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Story 17

Space Dad

While docked at the Kiln, a text only comm comes through letting you know that your father is also visiting the station and would like you to join him in the Casino during dinner. You figure that you haven’t seen him for awhile, and that it would be good to catch up.

– – – –

Upon arriving at the Casino, you let them know whom you are here to meet with and they show you to your table. Apparently you got here ahead of your father as no one else is at the table.

The lights go dim and curtains part revealing a stage with a familiar looking man under the spotlight.

“Good evening ladies, gentlemen, Ilex.”, your dad declares while looking around the room. “Did you know that the Ilex are their own best friend?”

“I’ve been asked to do some stand-up comedy, but really I prefer to sit down.” Your dad gives a meaningful look at the stool he’s seated on. “I love telling jokes, but it’s even better when one of your children is in the audience. Hey Kiddo, wanna hear a joke?”

Another stage light finds your table, “No thanks.”

“Awesome possum, I have some great ones for you.”

“Wait, that’s the opposite of what I just said.”

“Oh look, here’s a ukulele. Maybe I can sing them instead.”

As your dad begins to strum the ukulele, you let your head ‘thunk’ on the table. Then the song begins…”

This is my Dad’s joke song
I sing it with socks and sandles on
I hear you groan but it’s true-oooh
You smile on the inside too
When vegans start to argue, is it still called a beef?
I knew someone addicted to soap, but now they’re clean.
I like puns, that’s how ‘eye’ roll.
I know they’re terrible, but I made them musical so sing along
This is my Dad’s joke song
I sing it with socks and sandles on
I hear you groan but it’s true-oooh
You smile on the inside too…

The routine continues and somehow the audience ends up liking your dad. Your dad’s inclusion of you in his routine even gains you some notoriety on the Kiln. (+1 Fame Point)

If you have any actions left, you may continue your turn.

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Story 16

The Great Reset

You hear a strange insect-like buzzing noise come over your comm system. Suddenly the entire Drift System has a massive shift! 

One of the unique things about the Drift System that physicists and philosophers have been pondering for over a millennium now is why the Drift System functions so differently from every other observable solar system with sectors occasionally shifting location and yet not experiencing catastrophe during those shifts, but never in recorded history has something of this magnitude happened to the Drift System.

You thought you had a pretty good idea as to where everything was and where you were heading to next, but that’s not true anymore. Remove every tile if it is not one of the Nyr [Star] tiles, or if it does not have a player ship, an NPC, space station/lab or ice asteroid on it. The tiles that are left still sitting out, draw them in closer to Nyr [Star] until they all connect, edge symbols do not need to match. If there are any tiles that seem difficult to discern where they should go, allow the player to the right of the active player to make any final tile placement decisions.

The tiles that have been removed are to be shuffled and need to once again be discovered through exploration. In addition, The Hive sector also now needs to be added to the stack of tiles that are being shuffled. Relics and Exploration Tokens will be placed on these tiles as they are discovered again. If tiles had overlays on them, you will need to replace overlays on them again immediately when those tile(s) are re-discovered. Debris tokens and virus tokens on the tiles that were reshuffled have been removed. If a planet was killed by a virus, a space kraken, or the Rikishi Event, it is still dead when it is re-discovered.

It doesn’t take long for the media outlets to start referring to this event as the Great Reset. Place the Great Reset Token on Nyr to signify that this occurred.

When The Hive sector is discovered, read/listen to Story 56.

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Story 57

Exotic Exhibits

You agree to be tractored in and soon find yourself docked at the Space Zoo. As you disembark from your ship, you notice signs advertising various exhibits such as the Loath Land Apes, Mono-horns from Neo Damascus, and the Giant Isopods of Lunari. It would be fascinating to explore all of these if time allowed, but you were summoned here for a specific reason. Before you can contemplate further, a man with a snowy beard, dressed in a loose white button down shirt, khaki pants, a straw hat and a unique looking cane waves at you from across the landing bay.

“It is an exciting day, an exciting day indeed. Follow me to my office and I’ll go over the details of my offer.” As you follow him, he continues his enthusiastic explanation, “I have spared no expense in starting this zoo. What we have here is the largest zoo in the entire Drift System, with animals from various Lawful, Neutral, and Outlaw planets. We function as a preserve for various rare species and a way to spark the imaginations of children and adults across the Drift System. However, I want to go one step further.”

With that statement hanging in the air, he steps into his office and waves for you to follow him in. Once the door is closed, he continues, “I want species that have never even been seen by people that don’t live on a specific planet, maybe even some species that have never been in the Drift System at all. This could be quite the lucrative opportunity for you, are you interested in helping?”

If the Captain and crew of the ship experiencing this Encounter are primarily Human or Ilex, read/listen to Story 67.

If the Captain and crew of the ship experiencing this Encounter are primarily Strayon, read/listen to Story 68.

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Story 49

Master of Puppets

“Thank you for allowing us to visit.”, intones your engineer.

The puppet beside him mimics, “Thank you for allowing us to visit.”

“Oh are you just going to copy everything I say?”

The puppet also says, “Oh are you just going to copy everything I say?”.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“Your hand!”

The audience on board the colony ship laughs. Luckily your comm officer had the script in advance so she could tweak the universal translator. The people on board would notice if you slipped away, so you leave it to your navigator with three days worth of stubble to leave instead with his shaving kit. Hopefully the Strayons just chalk it up to being an oddity of your species. While looking for a restroom, your navigator will also take this opportunity to go visit the cryogenics bank in the genetics lab and make a withdrawal. It was really nice that the senior officers greeted you and offered your crew a tour of the ship prior to the show, now your navigator knows exactly where to go. Hopefully the decryption device from your ship is up to the challenge of getting you into the lab, but security seems relatively lax as this feels more like a civilian science vessel.

Let’s see how much material your navigator can get into his shaving cream canister.

Once you return to the Space Zoo you will receive ([d4]+2)x1,000 credits along with your next job provided you make it within three rounds. Otherwise, the coolant system in the shaving cream canister will fail and all the genetic material will be permanently lost.

When you return to the Space Zoo, listen/read Story 50.

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Story 40

Dock with the lab

When exiting your craft you find that the robots on board the lab have literally rolled out the red carpet for you. Strolling up the red carpet to meet you is the three-eyed self proclaimed genius from the commercial. 

“Hello and welcome. My name is Merv Arken, but you can just call me Merv. It’s great to have a few additional sentient beings aboard and I already know of you and your crew for your recent exploits in space. I know everyone is terribly busy, so let me start by showing you about. I know you and your crew are already familiar with the standard array of Blasters and Missiles along with Shield Piercer Mods all of which are available here, but I would like to introduce you to my more unique offerings.”

“Over here is my specially designed and heavily patented freeze ray. It takes the same amount of space as a Tier I (Nock) Blaster, but instead it does ice damage each time it is fired. This handy little tool could be yours for just 2,000 credits.”

The Freeze Ray can be fired up to twice in a turn causing 1d6 ice damage each time it is fired and the ice spreads orthogonally at the end of the turn for the player’s turn for the ship that was damaged. If an NPC is shot by the Freeze Ray, the NPC will gain 1d4 additional ice damage at the end of its turn.

“I once heard someone say that ‘The best defense is a good offense.’ To test this theory I have developed the Arken Auto Armament. It allows your computer to automatically retaliate when your ship is shot.”

The Arken Auto Armament is a Mod that allows your ship to use one of your armed markers to retaliate with one shot from any of your weapons against an attacking vessel. Unlike your shields, you do not get to re-arm that marker till your next Status Phase.

Your first officer speaks up, “The name of your Mod reminds me. I’ve been wondering since we first saw your transponder ID about the long name that is registered for your lab.”

“Merv’s Missiles or Arken’s Arsenal were two different names that I was considering. I tried asking the opinion of an old woman at the Department of Space Vehicles and without responding she keyed in my query as the lab’s name.”

“One thing I’ve always found consistent on every planet is the general ineptitude of the DSV.”

“Behind those doors is my BioLab. Most of the projects in there are attempts to enhance my own life, but I have some projects that may eventually have some applications against an enemy as well, or maybe even a particular old woman that works for the DSV.”

“Over here are some of my specialized missiles. I have a ranged missile to be able to hit your targets from further out, a programmable drone missile to hit targets that you might not have a direct line of sight on, and an armored missile that can be shot either into or out of a debris field or asteroid cluster.”

Ranged Missiles require a line of sight and is a single-use missile shot by your ship’s missile outfit. The damage is determined by your outfit, but it can fire at a range of 7-9 spaces away and costs 1,000 credits.

Drone Missiles do not require a line of sight and can travel 2-6 spaces before exploding. You can set it to maneuver complex paths . This is a single use missile launched by your missile outfit. The damage it causes is also determined by your missile outfit. The Drone Missiles cost 1,000 credits each.

Armored Missiles are capable of being launched into, or out of debris fields, asteroids, and even ice asteroids. Armored missiles have the traditional range of 2-6 spaces and require a missile outfit to already be installed. This is a single-use weapon and its damage is determined by the missile outfit. Armored Missiles are 1,000 credits each.

Your first officer speaks up again in an attempt to better understand your host, “Do you worry about your safety, being out here all by yourself?”.

“No, I’m not worried. Between being an arms dealer with lots of missiles, a number of robot minions, my own cloaking technology, and the fact that you’re actually talking to a 3 dimensional holographic projection of myself. If you had pulled a weapon on me I would have sealed the doors, gassed everyone present, and then revived you in order to use you for testing a biological weapon I’m developing. Nope, I’m not worried at all. Oh look, here’s the next weapon I want to show you, Merv’s MIRVed Missile. It allows your missile to split up its payload and hit multiple targets. The MIRVed part of the name stands for Multiple Independently targetable Reentry Vehicles. I love this missile so much I named it after myself.”

Merv’s MIRVed Missiles are single use missiles launched by your ship’s missile outfit. This missile has the capacity to hit multiple targets within a 2-6 space radius provided you have line sight. Merv’s MIRVed Missiles cost $2,000 credits each. The damage for each type of missile outfit varies as follows:

Tier I – can hit up to two targets doing 1d4 damage to each ship hit this way (you may choose to hit one target multiple times causing 2d4 damage).

Tier II – can hit up to 3 targets doing 1d4 damage to each (you may choose to hit one of the target multiple times causing 2d4 or even 3d4 damage to it).

Tier III – can hit up to 5 targets doing 1d4 damage to each (you may choose to hit some of the targets multiple times).

“Also, I know that there is a lot of deep space travel going through this sector. If someone needs energy rods I have my robotic minions fill them from my fusion reactor at the going rate of 1,000 credits per energy rod.”

If you ever need anything, you know where to find my lab.

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Story 14

Merv’s Missiles

As you enter the sector, a space lab uncloaks and the transponder ID pings with the lab’s name, ‘Merv’s Missiles or Arken’s Arsenal’. 

“Captain, we’re being hailed by an automated message”

You nod and your comm officer puts it on.

Your view screen changes to what looks like a commercial. A spiraling camera view of the labs which then fades to an interior shot with a man in a lab coat with a clear dome covering his brain and a third eye in the center of his forehead. “Welcome to Merv’s Missiles or Arken’s Arsenal, your new favorite place to buy weapons of destruction. Between my brain power, and the tireless work of my robotic workforce I can make more and better weapons than anyone else. Need to shoot people that are trying to hide around corners? Want to hit multiple targets at once? Just want to send a message with a freeze ray? I am here to help for a reasonable price. I am transmitting my product catalog now. If you dock, I’ll make sure the red carpet is rolled out.”

“That was unusual.”, are the first words out of your mouth.

“Sir, the catalog is coming over now.”

“Let’s see what they have.”

The first thing you notice is that the catalog is titled, The Book of Armaments. A quick skim through this catalog shows all the common missiles, blasters, and the shield piercer mod, but there are also a few new things. A freeze ray, which is a type of blaster that does ice damage instead. An auto armament triggering system to automatically return fire on anyone that shoots you. Long range missiles which can be launched from further out. A drone missile that can be programmed to travel around corners. Armored missiles that can travel through debris and asteroid fields. Then there is his high end missile, Merv’s MIRVed Missile. MIRVed stands for Multiple Independently targetable Reentry Vehicles. Apparently it can hit multiple targets at once. As a convenience, it says that they also sell energy rods. The catalog says they are actively developing other new weapons as well.

Do you choose to dock with the lab to learn more about their inventory, or just keep on flying.

Dock with the lab, read/listen to Story 40.

Just keep flying and continue with the rest of your turn, but the first ship that does dock with the lab should read/listen to Story 40.

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Story 47

Zhian Prime

This is a lab that looks exactly how you expected it. Stainless steel walls and tables with lots of ongoing experiments everywhere evidenced by all the beakers, hot plates, magnetic stirs, microscopes, and sleek looking computer displays. An old Zhian woman in a lab coat turns to look at you upon entry and attempts a smile, but the warm intent is lost on you as you see all her large teeth. 

“Thank you for bringing the sample with you, it is most helpful. We Zhian are an overly proud people as we have been ahead of most of the other species when it comes to technology for centuries. However, that pride is honestly based on hubris. In a relatively short period of time the other sentient species have gained near parity with our level of technology. I would like to think though that our long history of classifying and studying diseases allows us to bring something unique to the table. While waiting for a sample to be delivered I found an ancient text about an obscure old religion that is only practiced by a few people. It makes mention of a disease with very similar attributes. With your sample to use for comparison, I have been digging through all of our old archives and various other places looking for leads. What I found most interesting was something cataloged on the Aether Processing Station. One of the relics they had sifted a while back found an ancient virus with a remarkably similar helix structure. It is likely what wiped out the people on that dead world. They were probably dead before the Great Rikishi Event even took place. It appears that the Great Rikishi Event that happened all those hundreds of years ago may have been what obliterated the disease back then. I will be sure to include all the data that I can.”

Something about her wording gives you pause, “Does that mean that there is data that you can not share?”

“I really wish your people understood our scent language. You completely missed all my subtext while I was speaking. Of course my government puts limitations on the dissemination of sensitive information. What I am really trying to communicate is that I am sending you all the data that I can share, and maybe a little bit more. Be careful how you handle that information as I really like my research position, my head being attached to my body, and the general welfare of my grandchildren. Hopefully that is plain enough.”

Remove a virus token from your hold, and replace it with the purple triple helix token. This represents the data collected from Zhian Prime. It may be taken to Merv’s Missiles or Arken’s Arsenal at any time. Gain 1 fame point when you deliver it to Merv’s Missiles or Arken’s Arsenal.