Return of The Reroll

Attention: Images from Spy Satellite Virgin-Sprint #998 were not available due to Cosmic Wind Vortex interference.

“Attention! The Bloated Whale has been spotted! Battle stations!”

Anderson checked his body armor again.  The pirates were eager for loot and Captain Grognard had told the crew that he wanted to board and capture ships. It was a heck of a lot easier on the loot if they don’t send a missile into it first.

That was why Anderson was crammed into an airlock.  He had drawn ‘First-In!’ duty and he would be one of the first pirates through the airlock if they boarded.  His only company was a guy in a black hood named Skippy.

“At least we get first pick of the loot, right?” he asked Skippy.

Skippy said nothing.  Anderson didn’t like the way Skippy flexed his hands.  The guy wasn’t wearing armor and he didn’t have a weapon but Anderson was creeped out by him.  The rumors said that Skippy hasn’t taken off his mask since the mutiny.  Other rumors said that Skippy should have never passed the psych exam for enlisted penal crewmen.  Anderson’s gut was telling him that Skippy was the wrong person to be stuck in an airlock with.

Anderson took a deep breath.  If they were lucky, The Reroll would board a merchant ship and Skippy would be the merchant’s problems, not his.
***

Welcome to the 2nd AAR of my Space Pirates Campaign.  Time to break out the rum and the odd colored dice.  It's space pirates time!

The Reroll has three PEF’s on the big scanner and one of them was a Rep 5.  It was farther away from the planet than a PEF 4 but I was concerned that it might activate faster than the others and reach the planet.  If one ship reaches the planet, then the Patrol Mission is over and the pirates get cranky. I headed towards it first.

It turned out to be a Class 5 Grand Freighter with a Rep 4. Using the PDF Prime scanners this time for the merchant, we yielded 2 successes for the merchants and 2 successes for the pirates.  Yeah, that seems much more realistic than the Star Navy’s scanners that I did last time.

Reading the rules for who activates first, I make a stunning realization. Last time, I thought who goes first alternates between turns.  I realize now that it is ACTIVATION that alternates, not who goes first.  I play a lot of Arkham Horror and I realized that I had carried over that rules sensibility rather than you know, reading the actual rules themselves. Oops!

We start off 48 inches away and the Merchants go first.  Five turns later, the Pirates are within 9 inches and fires missiles.  The slow Grand Freighter fails both evasion rolls.

One missile crashes into the Grand Freighter’s Life Support! This might be over already!

The other missile smacks into the hull for a single point of damage.

The Grand Freighter passes one success for their received damage test.  Since The Reroll is of a lesser Class, the Grand Freighter decides that it isn’t afraid.  Curses!

The Grand Freighter goes.  I use concentrated fire to see if the 2 guns can penetrate the 3 shields of The Reroll.  Final result is one shield goes down.

The Grand Freighter sends out a distress signal.  To my utter shock, they get an answer! 

***
Captain Grognard leapt out of his chair.  “Am I seeing this?” he yelled.

“Three Star Navy ships are forty-eight Scribe-units away!” Isis yelled.  “The Atlanta and The Savannah are both destroyers! The Waffle is a frigate!”

“Captain?” the helmsmen said.  “What do we do?”

Captain Grognard ran the math in his head.  Three Class 3 ships.  The Destroyers has missiles.  All of the ships combined had twice the guns of The Reroll.  They might be able to take them.  They might not.

It would be a glorious fight.  It would be the kind of fight that would gave him the reputation of a great pirate.  It would be the kind of fight that would impress all of the women in any brothel.

It could also be the kind of fight that completely destroyed The Reroll.  The thing is, Captain Grognard just didn’t know and if you don’t know the odds, don’t play the game.

“Retreat!” he commanded.

***
Anderson felt the shake of the ship as it jumped into hyperwarp.  He let out the breath he was holding.  Maybe he wasn’t cut out for boarding duty.  He had been nervous as hell but now he could finally relax.

He heard an angry growl.  It had come from Skippy.  The hooded man stood up and punched the wall of the airlock. 

Anderson felt the nerves come back.

***

Well that was disappointing.  I had been look for a fight with navy ships but three on one was a bit much.  I fear that the 4 missiles alone could have messed me up not to mention that the four guns would rip through my two shields.  Still, I can’t help but feel I was too cautious.

I performed my After the Battle rolls and The Reroll was able to repair their shields.  I am still not 100% convinced that you do this test after each battle in a mission.  The rules use the term ‘Mission’ a lot and I am not clear if they mean the entire Patrol Mission or just this part of the patrol.

Oh well, at least The Reroll is alive to battle again.