64 Hilfer eng

Session Summary: Hilfer Layover and Echoes of the Past

PCs present: Nemo, Fénix, Yaang-ki, Daijiro, Lyra, (and the character played by Álvaro).
NPCs present: Nicolás Alexander (and his belter family), Oleri, Link. (Mentioned during the session: King Oleb XVI, Krrsh, Jimmy, Scholar Voha, Thao Poloc, Ferrik Redthane, Miria Silverhand, Pika, Polona, Zerakiel, Goizender).

Main Developments and Campaign Goal (Kingdom of Drinax)

• End of the Siege: After months of extreme tension, the Ihatei siege on Drinax has ended. The kingdom remains standing thanks to the recent alliances forged by the PCs with the Clarke, Blue, and Byrni systems.
• Kingdom Expansion: King Oleb XVI is expected to attend the Byrni system to formally finalize the union with Drinax, which would place a vital border beacon for the ambitions of restoring the Kingdom. Additionally, the PCs have been named Marquesses of Inús.
• Search for Funding: The Drinax coffers are emptying. The crew is heading to the restricted planet of Ergo in search of the treasure of a crashed ancient smuggler ship (based on a lead from Jimmy Largo) to obtain funds and equipment.

Loose Ends

• The privateer Krrsh is successfully pirating throughout the Dustbelt (Indalian Main), but Jimmy’s whereabouts are unknown following his mission to Thalassa.
• Scholar Voha remains trapped on Dostoevsky, waiting to travel to Drinax.
• The crew stole the Martin III, an Imperial treasure ship, which is currently hidden and being modified in Drinax. The secret risks being leaked soon.
• The pirate Miria Silverhand (captain of the Mercy Fudge) is operating with impunity in the Hilfer system, stealing ships from local miners.
• What secret information about Ergo did the local at the bar have, for which he asked for 500 credits?
• Why did a recent registry show a massive food shipment destined for the radioactive and forbidden world of Ergo, before being “corrected” to Falcon?

Session Joke

Álvaro’s character, trying to act tough and wealthy in a pilot’s bar to get information on routes to Ergo, gets a contact to ask him for a 500-credit bribe. When he goes to pay, Álvaro checks his inventory live and realizes he is absolutely broke, pathetically offering some “Blue little cigars” as the only currency, to the laughter of the rest of the table.

Session Scenes

Scene 1: The Weight of the Crown and the Jump to Hilfer

PCs present: Nemo, Fénix, Yaang-ki, Daijiro, Lyra
NPCs present: None (GM Recap)
Location(s): Deep Space / Hyperspace (Drinax - Hilfer Route)
Ships: Maui (Aslan Freighter, Captain Fénix), Ginger (Raider Freighter)

Summary:
While traveling through hyperspace, the crew reflects on the agonizing months spent defending Drinax from the Ihatei and the new political alliances (such as the one with Byrni). To solve their financial problems, they decide to go to Ergo to loot a crashed smuggler ship. They agree on an approach strategy: the Ginger (commanded by Pika and part of the NPC crew) will remain hidden in the system with sensors in passive mode to avoid drawing attention, while they will use the Maui (piloted by Polona) as the main ship to show their faces, dock at the Hilfer spaceport, seek information, and buy supplies for the radioactive exploration.

Scene 2: SOS in the Void

PCs present: Lyra, Nemo, Yaang-ki, Daijiro
NPCs present: Nicolás Alexander (Father, belter miner, desperate and relieved; Archetype: Innocent civilian in distress)
Location(s): Asteroid (Hilfer System)
Ships: Maui (Aslan Freighter, Captain Fénix), Mercy Fudge (Pirate ship - Mentioned)

Summary:
Upon exiting hyperspace in the Hilfer system, the Maui’s sensors pick up a distress beacon. Deviating from their route, they land on an asteroid where they rescue Nicolás Alexander, his wife, and his three children. They had been rationing oxygen in their vacuum suits for hours after the infamous pirate Miria Silverhand (a former temporary ally of the crew on Theev) stole their home ship to put it in the Mercy Fudge’s cargo hold. The belters, immensely grateful, are accommodated on the Maui. Although they don’t know much about Ergo or distant systems, they provide some context about the harsh life in the Hilfer system.

Scene 3: Dry Land and Skewers of Dubious Origin

PCs present: Lyra, Nemo, Yaang-ki, Daijiro
NPCs present: Various local merchants.
Location(s): Spaceport and Downport (Hilfer)
Ships: Maui (Aslan Freighter, Captain Fénix)

Summary:
The Maui docks at the class B spaceport on Hilfer. After disembarking the Alexander family, the crew prepares to head down to the Downport. Informed of the strict Imperial laws of the spaceport and the planet, they leave their long arms and heavy armor on the ship, going down only with cloths (vests) and small knives. Upon stepping onto the surface, Hilfer’s desert and extremely dry environment hits them. Yaang-ki, guided by hunger, ignores the aridity and approaches a street stall to devour some heavily spiced meat skewers, cooked over animal dung embers, washing them down with local cactus juice. Meanwhile, the group agrees to split efforts to search for spare parts (such as a water recycling plant) and gather intelligence on Ergo.

Scene 4: Alleys, Failed Bribes, and Old Acquaintances

PCs present: Lyra, Nemo, Daijiro, and Álvaro’s character.
NPCs present: Oleri (Ex-Imperial marine, crippled with an unreplaced stump, drunk; Archetype: Disgraced veteran), Link (Ex-Imperial marine, drunk; Archetype: Cantina gambler)
Location(s): Taverns and Downport archives (Hilfer)
Ships: Martin II / Martin III (Imperial treasure ship - Mentioned), Falcon (Ship or Destination - Mentioned)

Summary:
The group splits up (with some PCs acting as security “shadows”) to investigate without raising Imperial suspicion. Álvaro’s character enters pilot cantinas looking for information on how to bypass Ergo, running into an informant who asks for 500 credits (money he doesn’t have). Nemo, using a cover as a retired Vespexer scholar, infiltrates local databases looking for records on Ergo’s radioactivity. Although everyone agrees that the surface is totally forbidden and monitored by Imperial satellites, Nemo finds a recent anomaly: a massive food cargo manifest that had Ergo as its original destination, subsequently corrected to Falcon. For her part, Lyra, pretending to be a corporate explorer, enters a local tavern and recognizes Oleri and Link playing cards; they are two veterans of the Imperial Navy and survivors of the Martin III, the same treasure ship that the former Drinax crew stole months ago.