DEVILS IN THE DARK

MORNING (MY TIME) ALL!

before the kakky hit the fan big time in real life around here, i was able to come up with a scenario for the new 5150 sci fi rules i got from THWGs. this is the first time i have had an opportunity to share it with y'all. the subject line reflects the working title of the scenario.

WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE.
a long abandoned asteroid station has been discovered by rival independent exploration/exploitation/rescue/salvage ships in a backwater star system near the edge of HUMAN "controlled" space.

the station was originally discovered by a vessel from SANFORD & SONS, a small multi-ship family owned company. forced to cut off its initial exploration due to limited consumables on hand, the skipper and crew knew they had a salvage bonanza on their hands, one worth fighting to keep. the skipper DID NOT plant a salvage claim beacon before jumping out-system as she did not want to "advertise" the location of the station to any would be rivals. the salvage was claimed by burning the ID of the vessel, the company, the date/time of the discovery into the wall of a large cargo lock, documenting everything and then logging everything, along with the reason for the ship having to head for home before it was able to do more than a very cursory examination.

not long after the SANFORD & SONS ship jumped out-system, another vessel jumped in: this was a one ship company run by CAPTAIN "TIGHT PANTS NANCE" KENDALL. TIGHT PANTS NANCE and her crew share a somewhat colorful past, generally operated on a very tight budget, and viewed the accidental discovery of the base as the bonanza that would allow them all to " retire" to lives of leisure. they would not give up this rock with a serious fight.

while approaching the asteroid a few weeks later, the SANFORD & SONS captain/crew were alarmed to pick up chatter between another vessel and working parties on the surface, near the large docking bay outer doors, so the S & S skipper elected to land near the cargo lock on the other side of the rock and eyeball the situation before acting.

CURRENT SITUATION.
TIGHT PANTS NANCE has docked the NOSFERATU in one of the four (4) docking bays, and after conducting limited exploration of the area around the docking bays. the base has zero power, external sensory arrays are off line, the AI has been blown up, internal comms, lights, heat, gravity, or atmosphere. everywhere there are signs of smallarms fire, combat, and a hasty evacuation for unknown reasons. after a lot of work (and tapping the powerplant of NOSFERATU) NANCE and her crew have gotten the areas adjoining the docks back to a " shirtsleeve environment", so working parties are able to do their thang in warm clothing/boots instead of a vac-suit by helmet headlight. NOSFERTU's crew is scatterd all over the place, doing "stuff" daily, except for a minimal watch inboard the ship. everyone bunks in the NOSFERATU during sleep periods, and a cursory airlock watch is maintained. this is largely due to "creepiness" the base exudes, but there is no evidence of anything living in the station except the folks from the NOSFERATU. the vast majority of the base is still pitchblack, airless, and cold, but the artificial gravity field generators are back on line. they are complete unaware of the S & S ship/crew n the otherside of the asteroid

after laying low, and doing a bit of a sneaky pete sorta thang, the skipper of the S & S ship has decided to take action against these "claim jumpers" from the NOSFERATU. she has decided to infiltrate the base from the cargo lock on the far side of the rock from the docking bays and areas where the NOSFETATUS are doing their thang. she is counting on being able to overwhelm the claim-jumpers as they go about their daily chores, eliminating them, and then sending the corpses along with the NOSFERATU into the sun (after relieving NOSFERATU and crew od anything useful/valuable , of course!

the S &S crew are all wearing hard vac-suits (counts as hard armor), with lifesupports, comms, sensors, and suit headlights (12" cone shaped LOS which is 2" across at the wide end). everyine is toting his or her civvie weapon of choice as well as a big utility knife/crash axe (or both). there are three (3) powerful laser cutters (1 for each group of 4 bods). heavy, awkward, with a range of contact (CC) to 4" max.

MEANWHILE . . ..
something else is stirring inside the abandoned asteroid base. something else in the form of a long dormant colony of HAFERS! these HAFERS are XENOFORMS (or XENOS for short), brought to this secret research facility by a an unidentified megacorp for research purposes. predictably, MURPHY stuck his oar into the op and things went to hell in a hand basket when the HAFERS escaped from their containment block. the HAFERS went through the research, support, and security staff like EPSOM SALTS through a constipated man. the survivors (along with a few HAFERS!) fled the station in a docked megacorp supply ship. the ship was in the process of making a FTL jump when the HAFERS erupted from their places of concealment, and one made it to the bridge. the result was a mis-jumped ship, one that vanished without a trace. the newly awkened HAFERS are hungry and aware that there is "meat" near at claw. ..

NOSFERATU INFO.
NOSFERATU is a small, lightly armed vessel capable of conducting salvage/rescue ops (among other things) on the surface of a planet or in the depths of space. at present the ship is docked in BAY FOUR, connected to the station via power cables and other umbilicals which take time to disconnect. BAY FOUR and the area around the docking bays are all cold, "shirtsleeve environments". the other bays and the remainder of the station is "dead".

aside from the weaponry mounted on the ship, the crew has access to personally owned civvie weapons only. NO high tech military or police weaponry! there are limited numbers of various tools inboard that could be used as improvised weapons, how ever. personal body armor is limited to civvie armor only. the hard vac-suits worn in space or other hostile envornment are units w/ lifesupports, comms, limited sensors: typical deep space rigs, that are heavy, awkward, and tiring to wear in 1-G environments.

NOSFERATU's crew consists of eight (8) somewhat rough edged individuals from a variety of backgrounds, but all are HUMAN. CAPTAIN KENDALL (STAR) and her FIRST MATE (STAR) are both REP-5. the remaing cre are all "GRUNTS": four (4) of the crew are REP-4s and the remaining two (2) are REP-3s. "STARS" are allowed to choose one (1) ATTRIBUTE, "GRUNTS recieve one (1) randomly determined ATTRIBUTE

SWEET SUE INFO.
this ship is roughly the same "size" as NOSFERATU, but decades newer and in better operating shape. SWEET SUE is also lightly armed, capable of conducting salvage/rescue (among other things) in deep space or on the surface of a planet. at this time, SWEET SUE is docked at a landing pad on the surface of the asteroid's far side. there is a large, open cargo lock here that was used to transfer "items" the megacorp did not want exposed to casual viewing. this is how the S & S crew plan on entering the research base undetected by the NOSFERATUS. several kilometers of pitchblack, airless corridors cut through rock seperate the SWEET SUES from the claim-jumpers.

a long slog with 1-G gravity in hard vac-suits (counts as hard armor for CC and shooting) seperate them from the unsuspecting claim-jumpers). the only illumination available to the S & S crew are hand lights (6" cone shaped LOS 1" across at the wide end) and the helmet lights on the vac-suits (cone shaped LOS 12" long and 2" across at the wide end). everyone has a large utility knife or a crash axe (or both) in addition to personal weaponry limited to civvie weapons only.

SWEET SUE'S, FIRST MATE is a REP-5 (STAR) while CAPTAIN SAM SANDFORD is a REP-4 (STAR) each has one deliberate selected ATTRIBUTE. the majority of the crew are all long service employees from a variety of colorful back grounds. there are seven (7) REP-4 GRUNTS, and three (3) less experienced REP-3 GRUNTS. all of the GRUNTS have one (1) randomly determined ATTRIBUTE.

THE HAFERS. these XENOs are taken right out of the 5150 rulebook, and follow the rules for generating them (where do they come from, where are they, how close are they, how many are there, etc). rules for normal and bound movement, attracting their attention, acid blood, being taken home to meet MOMMA, shooting into CC with HAFERS, gruesome death trauma test, and attempting to take some HAFERS to HELL with "you" in a hopeless situation all apply.

ALL HAFERS have the following ATTRIBUTES: INFRARED VISION, VICIOUS, STEADY. HAFERS are strictly MELEE critters. HAFERS are considered to have HARD BODY ARMOR. HAFERS have very acidic blood. this means the blood could spray anyone within 2" of a HAFER OD (obviously dead) or OOF (out of the fight), so the BLOOD SPLATTER TABLE is applicable. MOVEMENT is 12" regardless of terrain.

GAME START INFO.
i played the game on a 4-ft by 4 ft table, using those ever useful SPACE HULK tiles to represent the various connecting service tunnels, passageways, and compartments of the base interior that would be encountered during the slog to the area inhabited by the crew of the NOSFERATU. i reduced the normal movement of the SWEET SUE crew to 6" because they are wearing hard vac suits in a 1-G gravity field.RMEMBER, all HUMAN LOS is determined by a carried handlight or the vac-suits headlight. HAFERS are not bothered by the pitchblack conditions.

the first game (played solo) involves the crew of the SWEET SUE's attempted infiltration of the base from the cargo lock, and termination of the NOSFERATU claim jumpers. all movement begins after the S & S folks enter through a slightly larger man sized hole cut through the closed inner airlock door that leads to the base interior. the entire S &S crew is assumed to be standing around just inside this area at game start. the S & S folks are aided in their transit by mapping info acquired on the previous visit but still have a chance of "getting lost" and having to backtrack.

i used the BUG TUNNELS QRS to generate the passageways changing levels, direction, and discovering compartments (page 101) of 5150 rule book.

Dawgie

Sci-fi Scenarios