The Proverbial Barfight

Having successfully arrived at the spaceport orbiting Heya, the crew immediately turn to replacing their lost arms and equipment. Ibrahim immediately heads for the local dispensary in order to replenish the medical drugs that were lost on Focaline, where he also inquires about the amber status of Corfu. From the head physician there, he learns that the pseudo-plague mostly affects Vargr, but that it is under control. On a whim, he also inquires whether they have any cargo or passengers destined for the planet since the Aimless Pilgrim is scheduled to go that way. This leads to him putting the coordinator in touch with Haank to arrange for the Pilgrim to carry these supplies. Abe departs the medbay rather pleased with himself as he’s now provided the crew a legitimate excuse to visit Corfu.

Meanwhile, Eddy goes hunting for an under-the-ladar arms dealer to replace their weapons and, after some time searching (and selling off some of their captured loot), successfully locates an appropriate merchant. From him, Eddy learns that the local control rating has jumped up a notch following some recent “unpleasantness” involving a group of Vargr who caused a great deal of trouble. As a result, starport authorities have clamped down hard on all weapons, which results in the price for replacements being significantly greater than normal. Eddy attempts to get a better deal by banking on the argument that the weapons aren’t doing the dealer any good just sitting in his warehouse, but is expertly countered with the fact that this clamp down will ease soon enough and, even if it doesn’t, there’s always going to be a market for guns. In the end, Eddy goes for the current price and hands over the list which the dealer agrees to have shipped to the Pilgrim. His part in this complete, Eddy informs Ella that he’s got a date to get to; she advises him not to be late when they ship out in three days.

While here, Kelso disembarks and disappears into the orbital starport, having taken a few trinkets obtained from Focaline as payment. He intends on selling them and finding his way back to his home.

On Day Two, Armin and Ibrahim take a shuttle dirtside to arrange for the replenishment of shipboard stocks with fresh supplies (although to be fair, Abe is mostly along to obtain some dirt for his ongoing collection from every world he’s visited.) After arranging for the shipment to be sent to the orbital starport and the Pilgrim’s docking berth, they decide to visit one of the local taverns for a pint of Heya’s best. Almost at once, Armin is accosted by several ruffians who promptly begin making lewd suggestions and unwanted passes at her. She is having none of this, however, and tells them to go pound sand; one of the men doesn’t take no for an answer and reaches for her hand … but immediately finds himself snared in her deceptively powerful grip. Armin smashes the man’s wrist against the bar, breaking it instantly, before telling him coldly to leave her alone. The man’s companions spring to their feet, furious at this, and the fight is on!

While Abe successfully holds his own against one of the men, successfully locking him down with an arm lock, Armin wipes the floor with the other three using a combination of acrobatic dodges, elbow strikes and brutal kicks to the head. Two of the men are knocked out completely – including the first one – and a third staggers away, hurt and moaning about telling his father about this. Abe’s foe is released once the short fight is over and he wisely bolts for the door at top speed, leaving the two Aimless Pilgrim crewmembers to return to their drinks and for Armin to bask in the adulation of the crowd who are greatly impressed by her martial prowess.

Shortly thereafter, local authorities arrive, having been summoned by the bartender the moment he saw that the fight was beginning. They are understandably surprised that this tiny slip of a girl did the most damage but still have to take the two to the station to get a proper statement. This means that Armin and Ibrahim will miss the last shuttle back to the starport, so they must spend the night. While in custody, Abe asks to call Ella to advise her of their situation; upon receiving a call from ‘Starport Security,’ she automatically presumes that Eddy has gotten into trouble and is thus somewhat flabbergasted to learn that it is her kind-hearted doctor who has gotten into a fight! He assures her that everything is fine and that neither of them are being charged, but they will have to take the morning shuttle.

The following day, as Armin and Ibrahim head out to the shuttle pad, they realize that the are being followed by a pair of rough-looking fellows. Rather than risk another fight, the two take off at a sprint, hoping to reach the landing pad without incident. Their pursuers have other ideas, however, and chase, going so far as to draw sidearms and take a couple of wild shots at them. One of them even tries to scramble up a ramp thing and then tackle Abe from above, but the doctor narrowly parries this. By the time they reach the starport, they find armed security in a high state of alert, having heard gunfire. Abe shouts out a warning – ‘Guns! They’ve got guns!’ – as he and Armin scramble for cover; this results in a brief firefight between security and the pursuing thugs, with the latter retreating once it is clear that they aren’t going to be able to take out their targets. Some of the security types pursue them while the others quickly begin to interrogate Armin and Ibrahim about why they were being chased by McMurphy’s men. Seeing no reason to lie, Abe admits that they might have been upset that Armin kicked some of their asses in a bar fight last night. Thankfully, these guys have seen those vids and recognize her so to the two are allowed to board their shuttle after giving a quick statement; one of the security guys comments on how familiar-looking Armin is, which prompts Abe to realize the same though he cannot quite put his finger on who she reminds him of. Once back aboard the Pilgrim, Abe describes these crazy events to Ella who is disgruntled that they may have obtained a new enemy (even if it is just a local.)

Eddy returns soon after, though he’s walking funny and quickly seeks out Abe for some sort of soothing cream for his … ahem … rashes; during the treatment, Ibrahim inquires whether Eddy knows who McMurphy is, then has to explain the

Now with a valid excuse for visiting Corfu – the medical supplies and several doctors who need transport- and the entire crew assembled, a debate transpires about their next course of action, whether they should try to sneak into the system or enter legally. Buck brings up the possibility of changing their transponder code (which brings its own problems, particularly with the whole ‘shoot on sight’ mandate that the Imperium follows for ships without transponders) or simply deactivating it and then claiming it is malfunctioning. In the end, they decide to operate legally and in open (which is a massive relief to Haank.) Onto Corfu they go.

Upon arrival six days later, they immediately start receiving warnings from a jump beacon about this being a quarantine zone. A local Imperium system patrol boat races toward them, transmitting an order to stand down and prepare to be boarded for inspection. This is to be expected, of course, and Gloval instructs everyone to comply as they surely have nothing to hide. Eddy grins and then disappears to double-check that none of their ill-gotten artifacts are openly visible. The Imperium forces board soon after and complete their scans – in the process, the officer gives Armin a strange look, as if he almost recognizes her; several of the crew note that Gloval tenses at this, then relaxes when they let it slide. Once the inspection is complete, they are directed to move onto the orbital spaceport to dock.

Upon approach, as the Aimless Pilgrim moves into their docking berth, the personnel on the command deck recognize a ship berthed next to them: it is the far trader that fled Focaline ahead of them. The lowlifes they thought were weeks behind them are already here!

Player Notes:

• Due to circumstances outside her control, Loki had to drop out of the game for a while. Mel played Armin during the bar fight.
• As stated above, we’ve started livestreaming our games. We play on Saturdays at 6:00PM Eastern and the live stream can be found at Ronnke’s Twitch channel. He’s also setup a YouTube Channel. Bear with us, please. This is still in it’s infancy. We have discovered that Twitch keeps the recordings only for two weeks, so it’s a good thing that he published to YouTube. With that in mind, I’ve removed the Twitch link for the “LiveStream” bit at the top.