All this for a little disk? – A Serenity RPG Adventure Idea

This is an adventure idea for the Serenity Role Playing Game, by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.

The player characters are approached by a woman claiming to have the salvage rights to a derelict boat. She asks to be taken on a four-day journey to the Higgins Asteroid Belt, where a luxury liner has been disabled. She also requires assistance getting into the boat and retrieving certain items.

If pressed for more information, Selene will say that she was a passenger on the boat when the captain wanted to show off for the passengers, and subsequently veered the boat too close to the asteroid belt. The liner was disabled, an then battered heavily. Several passengers and crew were killed, and the remaining escaped via life pods. She wants to retrieve as much of the luggage as possible (or so she says), and it will require the help of the player characters (they’ll have to board the salvage with her).

The salvage papers are actually legit, though she had to grease a few palms to make it happen (hey, passenger luggage from a luxury liner can fetch a fat payday). Particularly savvy characters will notice that, although Selene is dressed down to look “average,” she seems to be hiding the truth – that she is (or was) a sanctioned companion.

Upon arrival, the characters will notice that the salvage is indeed on the edge of the Higgins Asteroid Belt, but it seems to have veered a bit off, making it safe for docking. The boat has sustained major damage, and most of its life pods have been jettisoned.

After a few hours of retrieving passenger luggage, the player characters (or simply the pilot) will notice a freighter coming in very, very fast. They can make Notice or Awareness rolls, but the results will only determine how fast they can get back onto their ship and get ready for a fight. If they hail the incoming boat, all they get in return is a throaty growl (they will say nothing else). The ship is larger than the PCs’ ship, and has a large magnetic clamp. It isn’t a matter of getting out of there in time, it’s a matter of how prepared the characters can be when they get boarded.

The boarding party is only interested in stealing the cargo and luggage that the PCs are collecting, but will board the ship with hostility. Leading with flashbangs, they will enter and start shooting. Regardless of how many pirates are killed, more will contnue to board, preventing any of the PCs from entering the pirate ship. As the number of dead or dying pirates starts adding up, one of the pirates will receive a communication via earpiece. He’ll try to respond over the gunfire, “WHAT? SAY THAT AGAIN… ROCKY, JONES… WE… ARE… LEAVING… NOW!!!” With that, the pirates will try to leave. If they are prevented from doing so, the pirate ship detaches anyway and takes off.

An Alliance cruiser (three times as big as the PCs’ ship) is approaching. It will initially chase the pirates, but will veer off and close in on the PCs’ ship, preventing escape. When Alliance soldiers board the PCs ship (assuming the PC’s don’t shoot), they will disarm the PCs, take any surviving pirates back to their ship for medical attention and arrest, and then inspect Selene’s salvage papers.

They will interrogate the PCs, asking about what was brought on board, and if the pirates were able to take anything. They will then search the ship, tossing everything inside out – they will even search the PCs thoroughly. Highly illegal weapons will be confiscated and not returned.  However, they will pay special attention to the newly acquired luggage.

When they are done searching, the PCs are told that their salvage rights have now been revoked, and that the luxury liner is now off limits. Weapons are returned, though they have been emptied of ammo and disassembled. Lt. Haviston is not interested in pestering the PCs with infractions and fines, and instead lets the PCs go. As he and his soldiers leave the PCs’ ship, he can be heard giving orders to get ready to tow the luxury liner.

What’s going on, really?

In the middle of the fight with the pirates, some PC can see Selene hiding something in a small nook somewhere on the ship. The Alliance soldiers were looking for this item, but they didn’t find it.

If confronted, she’ll say that she is an unregistered companion, and was with a client on the luxury liner when it was disabled. Her client (Michael Chan) confessed to her that he purchased a video from an Alliance officer, and wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it. She’s seen the video, and apparently finds it of some value. That’s why she spent so much in bribes to get the salvage rights to the liner.

The Video

The video shows General John Cherokee of the Alliance interrogating four recently arrested Browncoat “terrorists.” The terrorsts were recently caught damaging and defacing Alliance supply depots. General Cherokee presses them for information on finding more of their contacts, but quickly grows tired of this, and executes them personally (bullets and brains don’t mix). He’s then heard telling his assistant officer to dump their bodies, delete records of their arrest, and then to delete the video that was recording the interrogation.

And Michael Chan?

The assistant officer, in a moment of weakness, instead sold the video to Michael Chan for a large sum of money. Chan then went on a cuise liner with Selene (she was posing as a registered companion). He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it, he just thought it was an amusing piece of “art.” He died when the cruise liner was battered by asteroids.

And the Pirates?

When the assistant officer finally came to his senses, he felt the money he received from Michael Chan wasn’t enough to hide him from General Cherokee if the video went public. So, he hired the pirates to get it back. They were to retrieve it from the cruise liner if possible, or destroy the ship with a lot of plastic explosives if they couldn’t find it.

And the Alliance?

The assistant officer sold the video to Michael Chan, and then hired the pirates to get it back. He then confided to a “friend” about what was going on. This “friend” (unfortunately) reported to General Cherokee about what was going on. General Cherokee then dispatched a cruiser to get to the liner to acquire the disk.

And the PCs?

So, what do the PCs do with the disk?

1. Do they try to sell it for some quick cash?
2. Do they bleed it onto the Cortex for all to see?
3. Do they give it to a news company to do it themselves?
4. Do they make copies?
5. Do they let Selene pay them for the job, and let her take it?
6. Or do they destroy it so as to rid themselves of what could be one heck of a gor-am headache?

Whatever they do, Selene may or may not stick with the PCs (hey, having what appears to be a companion on board, can possibly open some doors for them).