Rogues Digest 3.4, 3.5, & 3.6 - Harrowed Halls · Rogues Digest Volume 3, Issue 4 & 5 ... to...

Rogues Digest Volume 3, Issue 4 & 5

The Hologram from Mac Mac’s smiling face brown blurs on to the screen. “A covert operation has gone tits up kids. We need your help soonest. Our operatives were transporting a priceless piece of hardware, a feddie datacore, aboard the yacht Essex.” “The last wave we received came from the Burnham system in the area of Xin. We had a team hardball it to Xin, but no luck. No signs of a crash and no record of a landing.” “After sifting through the local security nets, wehave some intel reports placing a distress call in the area of Ezra. Make no mistake the area is not friendly to our cause. Independent pirates maybe involved in downing the Essex. You are the only option we have in the area now. Move in like a ghost and retrieve the datacore.” Mac’s face becomes uncharacteristically serious, “Two things. One, you are going to have to find the core the old fashioned way. Tracking the core by satellite or wave signature is impossible. This wave contains embedded within it our best-estimated coordinates. Two, we are relatively certain this are is under the control of Adelei Nishka.” “Our reports on Nishka show him to be a powerful crime boss with brutal reputation. Hisorganization has several fronts and plenty of clout with the Magistrate.” “To the point then. Get in there and retrieve the core or confirm its destruction. Secondly, Nishka is to be captured alive and delivered to us. We have to figure out what he knows. This is a recovery mission guys, not wetwork and you are on a tight schedule, twenty four hours max. I will have the Constantine in orbit over Ezra within the next thirty six hours” Mac’s face fades into darkness as the wave ends.

The Last Few Weeks

3.4: A Prize Too Precious The story starts off with crew getting a wave from the Khan, via one of Jason’s drop boxes. The urgent wave implored the crew to get to Ezra soonest to meet up with a contact. A few hours later the Aces & Eights broke Ezra’s atmo and landed in Cranston. An hour later the crew was huddled in the back office of the Lil’ Devil Tavern getting briefed by Reager. He played them a holo wave from Mac. Mac needed the group to go in and recover some precious cargo, a datacore, out from a local crime boss. The crime boss, Nishka had a brutal reputation and overwhelming power in the area. There was also the possibility of problems with Independent pirates. Reager filled in some more details and told them their ride was almost here. The group would be riding aboard, “Sally”, a solid but aged skimmer. Adolpho the driver, made his living as a mule working the local circuit. The crew mounted up and prepared for a long ride. Two hours into the ride, “Sally” jumped by some rival bikers. Eight skimmer bikes spread out in a line and made a run at the skimmer. Beth stood by Adolpho giving him helpful instructions and soothing words. Marcus and Jason caused chaos among the bikers with some accurate long-range fire. The skimmer bikes careened into each other and a few flipped front-over-end. What was left of the bikers broke off the chase and lived to die another day.


Adolpho kept the skimmer rolling and before long ht aging skimmer came to rest in Harbinger, a small almost non-existent coastal village. After some deliveries, Adolpho got them moving again, this time over the open waters of Ardent Sea. A few hours later the skimmer skidded over another beach and into a thick jungle. The crew took their leave of “Sally” and Adolpho in a small canyon clearing within the jungle. The world suddenly seemed deafeningly quiet after constant thrum of the skimmers pods. The crew got out their maps out and checked their coordinates and trudged off into the jungle. Up ahead lay a small village. After a brief meeting with the village guards, a collection of males from 12 to 60 with battered and rusty rifles, the group made contact with “Silent Dove”, one of Mac’s contacts. The man was deathly ill from a nerve toxin. Tel recognized the symptoms and leapt into action, even arranging a transfusion from Jason. By nightfall Rodriguez, “Silent Dove”, was able to sit up and talk. Rodriguez was able to instruct the crew on how to get to Nishka’s compound, affectionately known as the Citadel. He also warned the crew about the men and material at Nishka’s disposal. Not to mention the Russian criminal’s reputation for ruthlessness. The crew got moving before dawn and closed in on the Citadel. Two hours later the sun was over the tree line and giving the crew a good look at the fortified compound. Nishka’s men were awake and apparently quite busy. Crews came and went through the main gate and tromped off into the surrounding jungle, while men moved back and forth excitedly from the main house and the garage. Jason leads the crew after one of the work crews down around the compound. An autogyro hovered over the jungle canopy searching the area. Oddly enough the engine blew and he had to return to the compound ☺. Jason kept pace with Nishka’s men, hoping to follow them to the core, but it would appear the prize was already captured. Tel snuck across the clearing and into the compound, while the rest of the crew lay along the tree line waiting for the alarms to start blaring. Surprisingly for some, Tel managed to sneak over the wall without rousing the whole place. That would come soon enough though.

Tel struggled on the sheer stone wall of the compound, but fortunately didn’t draw any attention to himself. He finally scrambled over the wall into the northern guard tower. Tel drew his newtech ninja-to and went to work. The guards never really knew what hit them.

Grendel Fun Fact: I should have known that at some point in my gaming life I would use the phrase, “you leave his headless corpse atop a pile of bloody porn magazines.”

Tel signaled the crew with his mirror and they made their way across the clearing. Meanwhile the damaged autogyro landed on the tarmac and Nishka’s men readied the shuttle. The crew crossed the clearing and came over the wall, while Tel laid low in the guard tower. Only the guard dogs seemed to notice that something was odd, but none of them started barking.


Marcus took a cover position in the guard tower, while Jason and Beth stayed down under cover. Tel got ready impersonate a guard, just as two men in newtech Power Armor, left the main house heading for the shuttle. Tel head out and engaged the closest batch of guards and tore into them. Marcus waited for Tel cut loose before taking measured shots at the guards in the closest towers. The men in Power Armor headed into the shuttle. Tel fearing Nishka would get away dashed toward the shuttle. Marcus continued to take pot shots at the guards, while Jason and Beth ran for the tarmac. Tel tossed a frag grenade into the Warbird, which killed the pilot. Tel then dove in just after frag exploded, confronting Nishka and Sergei.

Sergei, one of Nishka’s bodyguards suited up in Assault Power Armor unleashed his minigun on Tel. The air was suddenly full of steel that nearly tore Tel to pieces. Tel’s armor and intestinal fortitude won through and he was left dazed against the bulkhead. Meanwhile, Nishka, in the Scout Power Armor made a run for the cockpit. Tel followed Nishka and drove his ninja-to slamming through the control board. A belch of black smoke and a shower sparks marked the end for the controls. The Warbird was now sliding around uncontrolled. Jason and Beth ran around the now pilotless ship and worked their way on board. Nishka and Sergei broke and ran from the ship, while one of the guards dove on Tel, cutting the big man badly with a steel combat knife. Beth, perhaps watching Tel one too many times, saw Nishka dash out and gave chase. She dove after the crime boss, despite the Scout Armor.

She slammed against the unyielding steel plates and slid off in a pile.

Jason dashed up into the gun cupola, shooting the guard, and throwing his body aside. He took over the big gun. Marcus seeing the struggle by the shuttle, peppered Sergei in the Assault Armor. The return fire from Nishka minigun blew the top of the guard tower to splinters. Marcus dropped like a cat landing on his feet and took cover amongst the wreckage. Beth dove back aboard the shuttle and quickly found the secondary pilotry controls in the bay. A moment later she was trying to coax the angry monster back under her control. Sergei, seeing the cupola moving and tracking, played it safe and blew an AP rocket through it. Jason was seared, but not pureed as the breech of the twin minigun vaporized. Things didn’t look good as the following scrolled across the screen: TO BE CONTINUED…


3.5 The Citadel The story started off with the crew caught up in a deadly fight within the walls of Nishka’s Citadel.

The main action revolved around the tarmac. The crew had chased Nishka and his bodyguard off of the Warbird. The front of the main house was in total confusion as some of Nishka’s prisoners escaped their cells.

Things started off with Nishka running for cover in the garage, while Sergei provided a deadly distraction. “Little Beth” had dived back aboard the Warbird and got control of the ship with the back up unit. Jason slid back into the corner of the cargo bay and held his insides, well inside… Beth got the Warbird moving despite the poor controls and the damage to the ship, she coaxed ship into an arc and opened up with the minigun sponsons on a nearby tower. The result was quite destructive…

With that done, she slammed the ship across the field towards Sergei. The Assault Armor absorbed most of the blow and he was thrown clear. Sergei momentarily stunned, had to shake it off.

Inertia drove the Warbird through a small building almost though the Citadel’s stonewall. Marcus broke from cover and rushed across the field, incidentally away from the impact zone of the rear of the Warbird. He popped some smoke and moved into the open firing some rounds off at the guards in the southeastern tower.


The guards took some pot shots at Marcus from the house, but most were content with laying low and awaiting orders. While Beth drove the ship slowly forward, Tel dove from the cargo bay onto the roof of the garage, the same garage that Nishka had recently disappeared into.

Tel quickly made entry and began scouring the garage. Marcus ran around and into the garage from the first floor. The pair would narrowly avoiding throwing lead at each other. They searched the garage and found a bolthole down in the floor. Meanwhile outside, Sergei ran out of the compound and rallied the troops. A platoon of guards and even a few Scout Armored men closed in from the north. In the Warbird, Jason found what he hoped was the data core. Curiosity killed the cat and damn near killed Jason (and Tel, but we will get to that). Jason tried tracing the power feeds into the crate and thought he had things just right as he opened the outer shell. Several mercury switches and timers greeted him and for a moment he actually thought he was safe. Then four nozzles began pumping the

shuttle full of a nerve gas cocktail. Beth led the way through an escape hatch in the front, with Jason hobbling immediately after her.

Tel and Marcus briefly considered chasing down Nishka, but the near earthquake of the ship landing hard on the tarmac and the sound of gunfire changed their minds. Beth and Jason were out there. They rushed out to find Beth jumping aboard a skimmer and Jason crawling forward on his knees. Tel and Marcus ran over and took stock of the situation. Jason managed to catch his breath and say he thought the core was on the Warbird. Beth muttered something about nerve gas, but Tel didn’t stop to mull it over. He dove headlong into cargo bay and through willpower, brute strength, and the constitution of a horse; he managed to stumble back out with the corroded metal core in his arms.

Tel stumbled across to the skimmer and spiked his precious cargo into the rear seats. Jason lay crumpled in a pile in the back with just the slightest grin on his face. Tel plopped down next to the engineer.


Beth punched the gas and sent the skimmer barreling out of the compound. Nishka’s guards didn’t act fast enough to concentrate any fire on them before the skimmer slid into the jungle. Beth and Marcus took cautious looks back at their crewmates and tried not to breath much as they sped off: TO BE CONTINUED…


3.6 Double Blind Poker The story started off with the little skimmer blasting through the jungle at speeds that only Beth could manage. Trees and leaves slapped the passengers as they put distance and time between them and Nishka.

Beth fiddled with the collision radar while they screeched through the jungle. Marcus noted this in passing as a yukka leaf tried to throw him out of the skimmer. Soon she had the radar set to a hundred meters. Next up, get to some place where they could tend to Jason and Tel. It took nearly an hour to find a stream, but Marcus managed to spot one. Jason and Tel got a good scrubbing in the water. Marcus went to work on Tel first with a scrub brush and package of neutralizing ointment. Beth stayed in the skimmer, eyes glued to the modified collision radar. Before Marcus could take care of Jason, she had some incoming contacts. Jason shrugged glumly and walked back to the skimmer, squishing in his boots with each step. Tel lingered a bit and nearly missed his ride. He had paused to get a bucket of water. Water, which he used to douse the passenger compartment of the skimmer. Beth kept the skimmer moving, while the crew tried to plot their next move. Finally they decided to head back to the canyon where they were dropped off and hopefully link back up with Adolopho. They got to the canyon and spread out, waiting for trouble. Tel hiding in a thicket took careful aim at the skimmer bike jouncing through the jungle. Just as he was about to apply the last few ounces of pressure he

realized it was none other than Captain Grey and Li-Ming.

Everyone’s spirits rose a bit with the Captain’s arrival. Li-Ming went to work on Jason and checked over everyone else. Grey hashed through the crew’s story and told them the Alliance was on Ezra in force, with a Cruiser parked in orbit. Grey summed it up pretty quick. All kinds of heat from at least three different factions was waiting to come down on some one. “Step one, do we have the core?” Um, maybe... Jason got to work tearing apart the corroded steel package. Ten minutes later Jason was able to say, yes we have the core! But… the central data storage device was missing. “Alright, we don’t have the data, and we don’t have Nishka folks. We need intel fast on where he is. We find him, odds are we will have the data.” Jason and Tel decide Rodriguez was there best shot. They led the group back over to the small village they found last night. Rodriguez, “Silent Dove”, was recovering nicely. Li-Ming took a look at him and discovered he had indeed been poisoned. She looked accusatorily at Tel. Tel shook his head no, but he did seem to know an awful lot about the particular type of poison. Rodriguez, feeling much better, was more than happy to lend a hand, both in planning and operations.


Nishka breaks radio silence “To the common criminals who have broken into my home, killed my men, and stolen from me, I apologize that I am not able to see to your capture personally. Rest assured my men will make every effort to insure that you are alive when they bring you to me. Then we, you and I,

hi i h ”

Right about then a burst of high-pitched noise came blaring over all the radios. Nishka had a message for the crew…

After few minutes another burst of noise preceded some coded instructions in Russian from Nishka to his troops. Jason and Beth made Nishka pay for getting to gabby and dissected the message. Nishka was heading to the ruins of Henrich, specifically the Jackson, what used to be a Browncoat Base. The crew sped off towards the ruins of Henrich, about three hours later Marcus moved up and took his first look. He found some skimmers parked down in the ruins and guards milling about the buildings. Apparently Nishka was already here. The crew took a moment to plan their entrance.

Marcus would creep in amongst the northern most building and play the role of sniper. Beth and Li-Ming would deliver Tel and Rodriguez down into the midst of things on the skimmer, while Grey would circle around hopefully flank anyone who reacted too quickly to Tel and Rodriguez. Things got moving a bit earlier than intended, when gunfire erupted from the southern most building.

Marcus scanned the area, determining the southern most building was the location of the firefight. Two guards got out of the parked skimmers. Marcus took aim and dusted one. The other guard dove under one the cars. And soon Marcus realized he wasn’t the only sniper on the field as a hypersonic round cracked across the field. Fortunately, Marcus wasn’t the target of some kind of railgun, yet…


Meanwhile, Beth roared up to the edge of the jungle and dumped Tel and Rodriguez out by the southern most building. The pair hit the ground running and entered the southern most building. Beth gunned it back into the trees; she and Li-Ming would be mobile reserve.

Tel led the charge into the ruins of the first floor. Inside the ruined first floor he found four gray uniformed soldiers with silenced assault rifles. Their attention was focused on the firefight upstairs, and not the lunatic that burst among them with ninja-to and submachine gun. Soon Tel and Rodriguez held the bottom floor, but going upstairs without back up looked to be suicide. Rodriguez kept an eye on the rear door, not wanting to go out the same way as the soldiers he just helped take down. Upstairs it is hard to say what exactly took place. An explosion rocked the third floor and sent smoke and shrapnel flying. Then a man flew out of a window on the third floor. Grey and Jason got a beautiful view of Nishka’s flailing arms. It would appear their target was now captured by the flying man…

Sergei looks on powerless to stop the abduction

Grey shook his head ruefully while he gunned the cycle. “Stranger and stranger with each passing day”, he thought to himself. Then his eyes went back to combing the ruins to his left. A sniper was around here somewhere. TO BE CONTINUED…


Cut Scene: The Gamble… Teague crouched in the under the rubble of what used to be a fire control console. Nishka and his man had pinned him down while some bloody sniper took potshots at him. This would almost be funny if it wasn’t his balls in the pliers. Fuck this, I have come too far and risked too much to let this backwater wannabe Mafioso get the better of me. I am going in close. Putting thought to action, Teague bounced a stun bomb out into chamber and followed the bomb’s hollowing blast. The bastard in the assault armor spun in a circle riddling the walls with his mini gun, while Nishka batted half-heartedly at his helmet, trying to shake out the cobwebs. Teague knew he would get close, maybe even close enough for a kill, but he really was a bit a surprised to see he might actually salvage the mission. Teague savagely yanked Nishka’s right arm outits socket; the one with mini gun. Then he wrapped his own left arm around Nishka throat. Without a further thought he dove out of the third floor and engaged his Posi-field Lev harness and roared off to the south.


Cortex Dump [Ad] Donnie Shovel plays, Muddy Bob, whose search for his family has him hittin’ the road and keepin’ it real with every lowlife he meets, including a sweet hottie (Tram Mai), a janitor (Christopler Krawling), and a psychotic cannibal. Through it all Muddy Bob keeps on flyin’… all the way to Bernadette, where Mr. Universe targets Muddy Bob as the butt of his latest broadwave.

Don’t miss the Legend of Muddy Bob! [Ariel News] Governor Isa died today having succumbed to an assassin’s poisoning. Marcus Thiel, Ariel Security Head, stated he had several suspects in custody and stated more warrants are yet to be served. Inside sources state that a ship known as the Stacy Todd may have been central to the plot. Currently the ship and its crew are in Alliance custody. [Parliament] The Parliament’s Committee on Civil Law and Committee on Housing are to be combined to form a new committee, the Committee on Civil Affairs, later this week. There are some who say this places far too much fiscal power in the hands of such a small political body.

Jobs Listing [Burnham System] Discreet passenger looking for quiet passage from Silverhold to Paradeso, willing to pay a bonus of $500 for quick and quiet trip. [Georgia System] Medium freight cargo run from Highgate to Boros and back to Highgate. Looking for skilled private runners interested in making some extra square.

News Sorry the newsletters are behind. I will try to get them caught back up shortly. Once again the newsletter can be seen at www.harrowedhalls.com


Rules Stuff Just a place to talk about troublesome rules. Let me know your questions and I will try to address them here, so all of us can learn from them.

High Volume of Fire Some weapons, such as the Minigun or Anti-Aircraft guns, have such a high rate of fire that they place a Burst Template and attack everything underneath. These weapons, depending on their cyclic rate, vary in their bonuses to hit and damage, as well as the area that they can affect. Minigun: 30/60/120, ROF 1, 2d8+1, AP 2, SBT or MBT (attacker chooses) +4 to hit / +4 to damage. Twin Miniguns: 30/60/120, ROF 1, 2d8+1, AP 2, SBT or MBT (attacker chooses) +6 to hit / +6 to damage. Quad 23mm Autocannons: 50/100/200, ROF 3, 3d8, AP 4, HW, Anti-Aircraft, +4 to hit / +4 to damage.

Power Armor Power Armor is another breed of newtech battlefield hardware. These suits have been around since the war, but for the most part haven’t been produced in large enough numbers as of yet to become commonplace. These are normally completely sealed suits of armor with varying degrees of protection. Two types you have seen in action are the Scout Armor and the Assault Armor. Scout Armor: Armor +12, Leg Servos +2 Pace, Mini Gun Assault Armor: Armor +16, Arm Servos +2, Enhanced Power Unit, Strength Die types, Mini Gun, Rocket Launcher, Targeting Computer There are countless variations on the theme within the Alliance armories and research labs. These suits are far from commonplace and demand a huge chunk of square on the market. Not to mention they are specialists with armory skills to repair them are almost non-existent.


People, Places, and Things

Adolpho Adolpho is local from Ezra who makes a living as a mule of sorts in the various trade ventures. He drove a beat up old skimmer he affectionately called, “Sally”.

Ardent Sea The Ardent Sea is one of two large water masses on Ezra.

Citadel, The The Citadel was Nishka’s home on Ezra. It was a large compound in the jungle that sat atop a hillock dominating a large cleared field.

Ezra Ezra is a border planet in the Burnham system. Ezra is in a transitional period. Once it was a relatively peaceful world known for farmers and ranchers. Then near the end of the war, its governor died unexpectedly, throwing the planet into chaos. To make matters worse refugees and former soldiers from both sides flooded the place and unemployment soared. It was during this time that an opportunistic crime lord parked his skyplex in orbit over Ezra and the balance of power shifted.

Nishka, Adelei Nishka is a notorious crime lord on Ezra. His men recovered the Alliance datacore. So far he has been an illusive customer.

Reager, James Nondescript man with almond shaped eyes and a kindly smile. He was the crews contact for the mission on Ezra.

Rodriguez, “Silent Dove” Rodrigeuz was Mac’s man on the ground on Ezra. He had successfully infiltrated Nishka’s organization.

“Sally” Aging skimmer driven by Adolpho on his deliveries on Ezra.

Sergei Sergei is Nishka’s personal bodyguard. He is a dedicated friend, talented soldier, and deadly enemy. You haven’t really met him, but you have fought with him.

Teague Teague is a player in the big scheme, but you don’t know for whom just yet. He apparently had some sort of deal with Nishka, ostensibly for the datacore.

Tusk, The He is mentioned to be one of Nishka’s subordinates.

Warbird The Warbird is a class of military landing craft whose use predated the Unification War. It was also the name of the shuttle Nishka used as his shuttle.

Rogues Digest 3.4, 3.5, & 3.6 - Harrowed Halls · Rogues Digest Volume 3, Issue 4 & 5 ... to...

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