65 Hilfer 2

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Thirst on Hilfer and the Trail of Ergo

PCs present: Den, Pika, Klaiton, Lyra, Yaang-kee, Daijiro.
NPCs present: O’Leary, Ealing, Informant pilot, Local beggars, Registry bureaucrat, Local gunners.

Main character and campaign developments:
The group discovers that the Kingdom of Drinax’s reputation on Hilfer is abysmal due to past bombardments that destroyed the planet’s water infrastructure. Upon learning that a local pirate, Miria Silverhand, is raiding ice harvesters and causing a humanitarian crisis due to lack of water, the group decides to intervene. Their goal is twofold: hunt the pirate to seize her ship (a 400-ton vessel equipped with a crane, ideal for their future expedition) and return the stolen water to the planet, presenting themselves as envoys of Drinax to clear the Kingdom’s name.

Loose ends:

• Why did the freighter Garland bring a massive shipment of food from a red, radioactive world like Ergo 13 years ago?
• What cargo and which passenger did an engineer take from Tech-World to the gas giant of Ergo in a local system ship?
• The relentless Captain Jagad of the Third Imperium, now in command of the Comino, is following the trail of the characters’ former corsair ship (Drinax Eagle / Banshee) and has headed toward Goertel.

The Session Joke:
“The Hacker without his ChatGPT.” During a Computers roll to access the spaceport archives, Klaiton tried to help Yaang-kee. However, they realized that Klaiton had lost his high-tech intrusion software (level 12) in the old mission against the Ihatei. Having become accustomed to the program doing everything for him “as if it were ChatGPT,” Klaiton’s help was a disaster and actively “un-helped” the group, nearly triggering the government system’s alarms if not for a correction to the roll.

Scene 1: Card game with the ghosts of the Martin II

• PCs present: Pika.
• NPCs present: O’Leary (Right side of his face paralyzed, holds his inert arm, wears crew clothing without insignias. Archetype: Traumatized survivor), Ealing (Drunk as a skunk. Archetype: Retired spacer/Drinker).
• Location: Adobe bar (Hilfer).
• Spaceships mentioned: Martin II (Freighter, Captain Torsa), Comino (Pirate hunter, Captain Jagad).
• Summary: Using a cover as a Clarke corporate prospector, Pika infiltrates a dice and card game in an adobe bar to gather information. There she meets O’Leary and Ealing, survivors of the Martin II. O’Leary tells her how the pirates massacred part of the crew and abandoned them frozen in the desert, causing him permanent physical consequences. They warn Pika about the dangers of the frontier and reveal that Captain Jagad was on the planet a few months ago investigating the attack; Jagad now obsessively patrols the sector looking for a museum-looking ship, heading toward Goertel.

Scene 2: Bureaucracy and hidden archives

• PCs present: Lyra, Yaang-kee, Klaiton, Den.
• NPCs present: None notable.
• Location: Spaceport administration offices (Hilfer).
• Spaceships mentioned: Garland (Freighter).
• Summary: Den uses his silver tongue to legally access certain spaceport records, while Yaang-kee attempts to hack the rest of the customs system (with the clumsy “help” of Klaiton, who missed his old software). They discover that the ship involved in the Ergo manifests from 13 years ago is named Garland. Curiously, the ship used to import food from Asim, but it ceased its trade routes exactly on the date Drinax conquered Asim. Its first subsequent trip was the one that brought food from Ergo (later corrected to Falcon). The Garland has been missing for years. Meanwhile, Lyra orders a water recycling plant for 80,000 credits.

Scene 3: A secret trip to nowhere

• PCs present: Den, Klaiton, Daijiro.
• NPCs present: Informant pilot (Archetype: Smuggler/Opportunist).
• Location: Alleyways near the Spaceport (Hilfer).
• Spaceships mentioned: None specific.
• Summary: The group meets with the pilot contacted days ago and pays him the demanded 500 credits. The informant tells them a rumor he heard on Tech-World: a pilot was secretly hired by an engineer to take him and some mysterious crates to the gas giant of Ergo. Upon arrival, a system ship (without a jump drive) emerged from nowhere, picked up the passenger and the cargo, and disappeared, confirming there is a hidden base or facility in the system, bypassing the Third Imperium blockade.

Scene 4: The drought and Silverhand’s trail

• PCs present: Klaiton, Pika, Lyra, Yaang-kee, Daijiro, Den.
• NPCs present: Nicolás Alexander (Mentioned), Local beggars (Cracked and bleeding lips, malnourished, desperate. Archetype: Collateral civilian victims).
• Location: Streets and market (Hilfer).
• Spaceships mentioned: MercyFuge (400-ton corsair ship, Captain Miria Silverhand).
• Summary: Daijiro follows the informant pilot, but the group’s attention shifts when Klaiton interacts with some local Bedouins begging for a credit to buy water. They discover that Hilfer is suffering from a brutal shortage; Miria Silverhand and her heavily armed ship, the MercyFuge, are terrorizing the “Belter” families who extract ice. Seeing a golden opportunity, the group (with Yaang-kee, Lyra, and Pika scouting the streets and radio communications) collects a pattern of attacks. Pika performs some brilliant astrogation calculations, narrowing down the pirate’s hunting zone in the gas giant’s asteroid belts. They draw up a plan: hunt the hunter.

Scene 5: Stained contracts and hired gunners

• PCs present: Den, Daijiro.
• NPCs present: Two mercenary gunners (Locals seeking fortune. Archetype: Soldiers of fortune), Bureaucrat (Corruptible official).
• Location: Mercenary registry office (Hilfer).
• Spaceships mentioned: Maui (Escort fighter, Polona [Pilot]), Ginger (Armed freighter, Goizéder [Gunner]).
• Summary: Preparing for space combat, the crew realizes they do not have enough competent gunners to crew the laser and missile weapons of the Maui and the Ginger. Den and Daijiro head to the spaceport bars and recruit two local mercenaries by offering them 1,000 credits a week and a share of the loot. To avoid the Drinax corsairs’ identities being legally registered, Den uses his false documentation. When the bureaucrat on duty notices the eye color on the passport doesn’t match, Den subtly slides a 1,000-credit bribe, sealing the contract without further questions and preparing the fleet for the ambush.