Five Parsecs from Home – Episode 9: “Mech Graveyard”

Starfire Scoundrels Campaign Turn 9 – also called into the jungle...

The secretive group’s dead-drop hit the Vanguard’s comms like a cold knife between the ribs. No face. No name. Just coordinates deep in the canopy and one line that made Aria’s scar itch:

“Iron Veil Recovery is inbound on the old Unity heavy mech. Data core in the cockpit holds black-site transport manifests from the Vita Synth prototype era. Secure the core intact before they arrive. Danger pay only if the core comes back undamaged. Corporate spook riding with them — kill him and his corp, Vesperon Arms, puts a bounty on you. Worth it if you want the leads he carries.”

Aria stared at the drone feed. The mech lay half-swallowed by glowing muck — gray-and-yellow Unity relic, cockpit cracked like a broken jaw, one massive arm still raised like it died mid-swing decades ago. Vines thick as cables choked the plating. No lights yet. No perimeter. But Iron Veil’s dropship signature was closing fast. This was a race.

 

She looked at her crew in the bay, voice dropping low and rough-silk.

“Dice hate us tonight, loves. Extra teeth, rattleguns, axes, and a spook worth twice the lead. We beat them to the core, we get paid and whatever ghosts the mech is hiding. Kill the spook that is with them and his corp is sure to be pissed.  But he is carrying information that may be worthwhile”

“Also, mark this bounty” - Hex flashed her bounty chit. “One of their heavy's on my list. 2 credits if he drops ugly.”

“No need to wipe every last bastard — just don’t let them touch that core.”

Pod doors hissed. Thin air clawed their lungs. The canopy swallowed them whole.

Elite team. 10 total:

·         Captain and Lieutenant with shatter axes

·         Two rattlegun specialists (those bastards suppress like demons).

·         Three grunts with military rifles. Two with Flak Guns

·         Corporate spook in unmarked armor—cold, watchful, hovering near the cockpit hatch. Kill him, and you get a quest rumor + new rival (his corp ties lead somewhere nasty).

 

Crew is NW corner, Iron Veil SE corner

 

The Drop – Initiative Seized

Voss and Hex took the center route, boots pounding straight for the mech through thick glowing ferns. Kai and Korra held north, using the vines for cover and overwatch. Jax and Elias flanked south, creeping through the undergrowth to hit the enemy from the side.

Iron Veil’s dropship roared in seconds later. Ten elite bastards spilled out — Captain and Lieutenant with shatter axes gleaming, two rattlegun specialists already scanning, five grunts with military rifles and flak guns, and the corporate spook in unmarked armor, moving fast for the cockpit.

Iron Captain orders crew to take the mech before the Scoundrels
 

Round 1 – Three Crew Goes Fast

Hex moved like liquid shadow, new hyperblaster up (Ebon Veil black-site special, still warm from the last fight). Only one target in her line: the corporate spook stepping into the open. She didn’t blink. One clean shot. The spook’s head snapped back before he could even open his mouth. First kill. Unique individual. Hex whispered, “Bounty’s just there next to the fresh corpse.”

Korra pushed north through the vines, rattlegun roaring across the entire clearing. One rattlegun specialist across the map turned into red mist mid-step. Korra muttered “Bounty claimed,”

Iron Veil spread out fast. Their captain led the grunts straight for the mech — two shots at Hex, two at Korra. Hex took a hit square in the chest. Deflector Shield flared; the shot never landed. The rest missed.

Kai slid into position from the north, shell gun barking. The area round erupted right in the captain’s face. One grunt dropped dead. Another staggered, stunned.

Voss charged the mech wreck from center, new hyperblaster singing. She put three rounds into the captain’s chest. He turned into paste against the rusted plating.

 

Round 2 – Two Crew Go Fast

Voss kept moving, hyperblaster barking again. The second rattlegun specialist dropped hard. Korra pushed through the jungle cover like a tank and pasted the lieutenant — shatter axe flying from his dead hand.

One flak gunner reached the mech and unloaded on Korra. She held her ground, took one stun, and laughed that dry Murderbot laugh.

The second flak gunner swung on Voss. Three solid hits. Voss ate all three stuns. Her first luck point burned — she dove behind wreckage just as the remaining grunts mag-dumped where she’d been standing. Second luck point gone. She hit the dirt hard, breathing heavy, but still breathing.

Jax crept around the mech from the south, machine pistol up. Three shots at the flak gunner on the wreck. All misses. Elias slid in behind her and finished the bastard with his own flak gun.

Hex moved up to cover Voss, hyperblaster singing. The other flak gunner dropped.

Kai and Korra pushed forward together from the north, unloading on the new threats — stunning the remaining rattlegun and one grunt.

 Flak Gunner takes aim

Battle Event – Reinforcements Arrive

A fresh special and grunt dropped from the trees. Iron Veil wasn’t done yet.

Round 3 – Three Crew Go Fast

Jax and Elias slid around the wreck from the south. Machine pistol and flak gun barked. The last two grunts went down screaming.

 

Taking the flank
 

The reinforcements moved up. Rattlegun roared at Hex. Three hits — pure stuns. Neural Optimization implant laughed at them. The flak gunner connected hard. Hex’s luck point burned — she dove into the mech pile, bruised but alive.

Kai and Korra moved up fast from the north, unloading on the new rattlegun and flak gunner. Both stunned hard.

Run meatbags 

Round 4 – The Withdrawal

The two surviving Iron Veil bastards looked over the bloody corpses of their comrades, the mech core still untouched, and made the smart choice. They ran for their dropship like the jungle itself was chasing them.

Voss and Hex, both battered, bruised, and out of luck, let out the same exhausted sigh. Voss cracked the cockpit, pulled the data core, and froze.

“Well, fuck me gently… what’s this?”

Quest Rumor secured — the mech’s core contained old Vita Synth manifests pointing straight to a hidden cache on Lumara Verge’s smart-forest core.

 

Victory

Jax rifled through the smoking corpse of the corporate spook and yelled, “Hey Cap, get over here… check this shit out.”

Second Quest Rumor secured — the spook’s data-slug named a new rival corp and a shadow buyer already hunting the same echoes.

 This guy never knew what hit him

 

 Come out to the jungle, meet new people...kill them...

 

Post-Battle – Mech Graveyard

Danger pay hit the account hard. 9 credits total (base + danger + bounty + loot). New rival locked: Vesperon Arms — major weapons contractor that wants to weaponize bio-tech. They now have the Starfire Scoundrels on their shit list.

Loot: one Concealed Blade (flak gunner’s personal toy) + 2 credits of debris.

XP: Hex +5 (first kill was the unique spook), everyone else +3.

Campaign Event: Some wide-eyed admirer from Lumara Verge wants to join the crew. Voss took one look and said “No thanks.”

Character Event: Local friends — Jax made some new contacts in the Root Market while slicing nets. +1 XP and a quiet favor owed.

Voss stood on the swaying platform, data core in one hand, new hyperblaster still warm in the other, scarred face lit by the pulsing canopy glow.

“Marek’s copy is still out there. Iron Veil’s just the warm-up. We’ve got two fresh rumors burning holes in our pockets and Vesperon Arms putting a bounty on our heads. Good. Means we’re doing something right.”

She looked at her crew — battered, bloody, still standing.

“Strap in, loves. Lumara Verge isn’t done with us yet. And neither are the ghosts.”

To be continued…

 

Five Parsecs from Home – Episode 8: Hard Target

No time to breathe after Ebon Veil Bloodbath

The Ebon Veil doesn’t let go easy.  

Violet glow still veins the rock. Air tastes like recycled piss and bad decisions. Crew stayed behind after bagging Specimen Zero—turned the loading hangar into a killbox. Cargo crates stacked for cover. Double doors shut. Waiting.

Kai’s voice cuts through the comm from Vanguard, low and clipped: “They’re here, Captain. Dropped two craters over. Armored ATV just rolled into the access tunnel. Headed straight for you. They don’t know we’re home.”

Voss doesn’t blink. “Copy. Warm up engines. Hot evac if this goes sideways.”

Jax and Elias spent the wait breathing life back into pirate scrap. Hyper Blaster hums in Voss’s grip again. Hot Shot Pack ready to bite.

The Job

The job was simple, dirty, and nameless. No patron stepped forward with a face or a signature—just a shadow drop of credits and a single line: make sure the Voidstalker salvage team never leaves the asteroid alive. One-time contract, no carryover, no questions. The shadows wanted the people who might claim Specimen Zero gone, not the crate itself. Clean. Quiet. Dead.

We set the trap in the loading hangar, crates dragged into hasty cover, double doors sealed like a coffin lid. The Voidstalkers rolled in cocky—Captain leading, two Lieutenants swinging Shatter Axes, two Shell Gun specialists, four regulars (two packing Flak Guns), all with Hand Lasers hot. Elite bastards, moving like they owned the place. They didn't know we were already home.

The big loading bay doors groan open.

Dull green ATV rolled in slow. Voidstalker salvage team piled out—not a clue in the world.

 

Surprise was ours. They couldn't act in the opening seconds. Initiative seized, we hit hard and fast.

Hex is already sighted. Driver clears the hatch; two needle rounds punch through his chest. He folds before boots touch deck.

Voss steps out, Hyper Blaster roaring. Lead Shell Gunner splits in half, wet chunks painting the side of their ATV.

Korra lights the Captain up full-auto. Armor holds—just barely. Sparks shower like dying stars.

Jax and Elias slide to cover as the hangar turns into a slaughter pen.

Round 1

Hangar turns into a slaughter pen.

Voss keeps the trigger down—another pirate drops mid-stride, chest blooming red. Korra displaces across the loading bay, blinks over open ground, rattlegun chewing through a fourth man in wet bursts.

Hex snaps two more needles at the Captain—armor swallows them again, the bastard barely flinching, visor still gleaming.

Elias lines up careful and drops the Captain clean through the visor—brain matter sprays in a neat arc.

Jax snaps a round into one Lieutenant’s chest; the big man staggers stunned, cursing, axe half-raised.

Voidstalkers finally wake up. Flak Gunner hoses Voss—armor eats most, but the impacts ring her bell twice, stun stacking like bad whiskey. Shell Gunner screams “For the Captain!” and lobs a grenade. It sails wide, slams the wall, blooms into a useless fireball that scorches paint.

 

Round 2

Three Scoundrels go fast.

Korra slides behind a crate and turns another Flak Gunner to mist—rattlegun howling like it’s hungry. Voss fires on the Shell Gunner—one solid hit stuns him hard against the crate. Hex follows up—Shell Gunner out, body crumpling like wet paper.

One Lieutenant snaps a laser through cover; burn sears into Voss, stuns her deeper, cyber-eye flickering red. The other Lieutenant boots forward heavy, axe gleaming.

Jax and Elias auto-fire the shooter—Jax blows his head off in a bright red pop, helmet spinning away.

Random event—

Ricochet clips a life-support relay.

Fog rolls in thick and fast. Six-inch visibility. Center of the bay turns whiteout.

 

Round 3

Voss has had enough.

She walks straight into the soup. Cyber-eye cuts through like it’s nothing. Last Lieutenant never hears her boots. Hyper Blaster presses to his chest—double-tap. He slumps, axe clattering.

Echoes fade. Fog swirls lazy around cooling meat.

The bay went still. Just the hiss of ruptured lines and the copper stink of violent ends.

 

Post-Battle – Ebon Veil Black Site

Post Battle The Voidstalkers were done. Every last one of them cold on the deck. The contract cleared clean—one-time deal from shadows who never bothered with names. Credits hit the account. No strings, no carryover.

Really Shiny Bits—a fistful of iridescent credit wafers yanked from the Captain's boot (+2 credits).

Battlefield finds: Rage Out stims and a Flak Gun still warm from the last idiot holding it. Loot haul was decent—Hyper Blaster, Shell Gun, Quality Sight, 3 credits reward. We dumped the busted Frakks. No one bleeding, no one screaming. For once, the Fringe played nice.

Then the comm pinged.

Intercepted transmission—unencrypted, sloppy, like someone wanted us to hear it. A low-frequency rumor floating through the black: whispers that Specimen Zero isn't getting buried. Someone's planning to crack the crate open and wake whatever's inside. No names, no proof, just the kind of chatter that gets mercs killed or rich. (campaign event, Rumor)

Voss stared at the screen for a long beat. (Personal Event, new quest) Then her personal line lit up. Encrypted. Header read: “From someone who knows what you just buried.”

The message was short, sharp, personal:

“Specimen Zero wasn’t just a weapon. It was the key. They’re not going to bury it, Voss. They’re going to open it. Meet me on Elyria. Come alone. — Old friend from Valtor-7”

She deleted it without a word. Scar pulled tight. Looked at the humming crate in the hold like it was staring back.

“Another fucking mess,” she muttered.

The Ebon Veil was behind them.

Elyria waited ahead—glowing jungle, thin air, K’Erin clans, and one old ghost from her past who knew too much.

Something worse waiting ahead.

To be continued…

Five Parsecs from Home – Episode 7: "Ebon Veil Bloodbath"

Pre Turn : Captain Starfire Voss didn’t waste a single night mourning Rax—empty bunks meant empty firepower, and the Ebon Veil wasn’t going to clear itself. She slid into the darkest booth at the Rusty Wrench, bought a round for the right scum, and sent the message down her Nexus-9 pipeline: dock rats, ex-Unity welders, anyone who moved hot metal. “Need a heavy assault bot. Built to kill, weapon mount intact. Ten credits budget. No fucking questions.”

Word came back before the ice melted in her glass. A decommissioned military assault frame, K-7R9, fished out of the drift near Thalor after a reactor “accident.” Salvagers had already stripped the original rattlegun—some half-melted piece yanked off a privateer that barely crawled out of the Ebon Veil—but the mount was pristine, the multi-wave threat scanner still humming, and the extra plating the miners had welded on over the years made the chassis damn near indestructible. Miners that had employed her called her “Korra” for the deadpan “korrecting” every time she fixed their screw-ups.

Elias ran the scans, nodded once. “Toughness off the charts. Mount’s perfect for our rattle. She’s ours.”

Ten credits changed hands—barely enough for a bottle of the good stuff—and the hooded, scorched frame thumped onto the Vanguard’s deck like a coffin. Elias patched the fried logic bus, slotted the rattlegun home, and hit the power.

Orange visor slits flared. The gravelly vox rolled out, low and pissed:

“You bought me for ten credits? Either you’re cheap or I’m more broken than I thought. Let’s kill something and find out.”

Korra was home.

 

K-7R9 “Korra”

 

The Starlight Vanguard slid into the crater like a blade between ribs.

Ebon Veil lived up to every nightmare story. Violet light crawled across the asteroid like veins under skin. Gravity felt wrong. The air tasted metallic. Even the pirates looked like they regretted every life choice that brought them here.

But Biomorphix was paying top dollar.

The Job: Clear the pirate squatters from the old Vita Synth black-site lab, secure the container known only as Specimen Zero, and hand it over so Biomorphix could bury the nightmare forever.

What the crew wasn’t telling Biomorphix was the rest of the plan: the incoming Voidstalker Salvage team (quietly hired by Vita Synth remnants) was about to walk into a very ugly ambush.

Simple. Clean. Bloody.

They parked in the crater, life-support systems still down from the pirate takeover. Voss led the breach through the air shaft, Korra’s heavy boots clanging softly behind her. The rest followed in silence: Elias, Jax, Hex, and Kai—still pale from the med-patch but moving like a ghost again.

The playing field

Round 1 They dropped into the maintenance tunnels and moved like smoke. A roving pirate patrol passing nearby never even looked up.

 

Shhhhhhhh

Round 2 Voss was first into the upper lab. She didn’t hesitate—pulled the pin on a Frak grenade and lobbed it clean through the doorway. The blast lit the room violet. Two pirates went down stunned hard. The third staggered, coughing.

The pirate captain was upstairs in the secure office, already screaming into a comm.

Then the random event token dropped: three tokens. Possible reinforcements.

Kaboom
 

Round 3 No reinforcements. Two tokens left.

Initiative was a disaster—everyone moved last except Voss. She didn’t waste the chance. Second Frak grenade. The blast ripped through the remaining pirates. One specialist and another goon dropped for good. The last stunned pirate bolted for the stairs, screaming for the captain.

The captain leaned over the railing and fired at Voss. Missed.

Jax slid in, machine pistol barking—cut the fleeing pirate in half mid-stair.

Kai ghosted up the stairs, leveled her blast rifle, and put one perfect shot through the captain’s forehead. The man dropped like a sack of meat.

Hex, Korra, and Elias took position to cover the lower hall as the rest of the pirate patrol finally woke up.

  

One more Frak, a little return fire, let the bodies hit the floor

Pirates engage from down the hall

 

Round 4 No reinforcements. One token left.

Remaining pirates almost on them. Hex dashed across the open hall, shattered the reactor room window with her shoulder, and opened up with the needle rifle—dropped the first pirate like a puppet with cut strings.

Voss charged back to support, shotgun roaring, blowing the second one off his feet.

The remaining pirates tried to return fire from cover. Missed.

Then Korra stepped into the hall, takes position..."Meatbags, 

The rattlegun screamed. Three hits. Pirate turned into red mist.

Elias took a shot and missed the last one—then the random event flipped: Cunning Plan. All crew goes first next round.

Hex running and gunning, taking cover in a dangerous place

 

Round 5 No reinforcements.   The Scoundrels converged like wolves. The last pirate didn’t even get a shot off.

What a mess....

 

 

“You bought me for ten credits?”

"Good girl Korra, good girl"

---

Post-Battle – Ebon Veil Black Site

Biomorphix was thrilled. Persistent patron status locked. Quest conclusion confirmed—next battle is the finale.

Specimen Zero is now in the Vanguard’s secure hold, humming quietly like it’s dreaming.

Payday: 8 credits (5 base + 2 danger pay + 1 curious item). Loot: Combat Armor (VIP bonus), plus a pile of broken gear (Military Rifle, Hyper Blaster, Stabilizer, Hot Shot Pack). Battlefield Find: One usable dose of stims. No injuries. The dice gods were smiling tonight.

XP: +3 to everyone. Voss and Kai both hit +4.

Campaign Event: Spent a Story Point to dodge a disaster roll that did not make sense → Settled Old Business.

The rival they’d picked up from the package delivery job—Kael “Ghostwind” and her Dust Hounds—suddenly backed off. A terse message came through: “Serious judgment error on our part. Please accept our sincerest apologies. We’re square.”

Voss just smirked and deleted it.

Character Event (001...ugh, ): This felt really appropriate -“All This Endless Violence”  Kai stood over the pirate captain’s body, staring at the massive hole her blast rifle had punched through his skull. Blood was everywhere. She muttered something about “all this blood… just like Rax…” and walked away without another word.

Voss put a hand on her shoulder. “Go back to the Vanguard. Chill. Prep for a hot evac if this next part goes sideways.”

Kai didn’t argue.

While the crew prepped for the incoming Voidstalker ambush, Voss handed Jax the broken Hyper Blaster. “Jax. Highest Savvy in the room. Please tell me you can get this thing running.”

Jax took the weapon, already turning it over in his hands. “Give me twenty minutes and a workbench. I’ll make it sing.”

Elias grinned. “I’ll help. We’ve got time before the next wave of idiots shows up.”

Voss looked at the humming crate in the center of the lab, then at her crew—bloody, tired, but still standing.

One more fight.

The Ebon Veil waited.

To be continued…