“Seeing as how most people aren't exactly chomping at the bit to live inside a volatile, radioactive hellscape, the pirates are staring down the barrel of a genetic diversity crisis. Without new blood to introduce into the gene pool, it'll only result in a steadily-shrinking population of inbred degenerates. And it seems they know this, because they've been 'recruiting new settlers' over the course of some of their raids.
An 'acclimatization facility' has been discovered on a nearby asteroid, where captive colonists are inprocessed and 'prepared' for the conditions in the rift to try and increase their chances of survival. I'll leave it to you to imagine what goes on in there. Naturally, we're heading up a rescue operation, but it'd be naive to even hope that a place like this would be anything less than well-defended.
They have a number of anti-aerospace gun emplacements set up around the site which you need to take down before we can effect any kind of rescue. Otherwise, the rescue craft are just going to get lit up and shredded upon arrival. We also have reason to believe that a quick reaction force of enemy fighters is garrisoned nearby, so this certainly won't be easy. But you all know what to do. Take out those AA guns, and if enemy reinforcements do show up, take them out too. Good hunting.”
This scenario follows the rules for Custom Setup on page 25, with the following changes:
1) Setup Asteroid Facility:
2) Setup AA Gun Emplacements:
Objective: Rescue the Captives – Destroy all anti-aerospace gun emplacements and clear the way for the rescue teams.
Reward: 10,000 cR (per player) plus any Kill credits scored.
Destroyed Players: These players earn 50% fewer Reward credits, but receive full Kill credits.
“Great job out there. The rescue teams were able to make it inside and get everyone out. The former captives are going to be repatriated and will get to see their families again, thanks to you.”
“I hope you don't need me to tell you this, but that was an absolute disaster. The enemy forces are digging in now, and any future rescue attempts will be all but impossible. You blew the only chance we had… The law may entitle you to three meals and bed to sleep in, but if it were up to me, you'd get what those captive colonists are getting right now.”
Increase Preparedness by 1.
Some ships in the table below have a variable amount of Hull and/or Evasion points. When setting up this ship, alter its starting Hull/Evasion points by the value shown.
Die Roll | Ship |
---|---|
1 | Pirate Marauder (+2 Hull) |
2 | Pirate Marauder |
3 | Pirate Marauder (+1 Hull) |
4 | Pirate Marauder |
5 | Pirate Ravager |
6 | Pirate Ravager (+1 Hull) |
7 | Pirate Ravager |
8 | Pirate Ravager (+2 Hull) |
Blank or Critical | Pirate Ravager (+3 Hull) |
An optional roll can be made when generating enemy ships to determine the enemy pilot's level of Resolve. An enemy's Resolve determines the damage threshold at which they will attempt to flee. A fleeing enemy will no longer attack, and will only make a Long move towards its initial deployment edge during its turn. Fleeing enemies can still be attacked and destroyed by player ships.
Die Roll | Resolve Level | Damage Threshold |
---|---|---|
Blank | Cowardly | Hull < 50% of its starting value |
1 – 4 | Average | Hull < 35% of its starting value |
5 – 8 | Brave | Hull < 25% of its starting value |
Critical | Foolhardy | None (Enemy will fight to the death) |