Jam Session #11: Requiem for a Brother
Tango with the Past Arc Theme Song: “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” by Muddy Waters // Session Into Song: “Brother” by Murder by Death
If you would like a recap of the previous session, check out Jam Session #10: Black Dog Liturgy!
Referee’s Note: This was the first time the Crew really split up during our campaign, and I’ve got to say that Orbital Blues worked really well for this. I bounced back and forth between the three (and then later two groups) every 10-15 minutes and the players stayed engaged throughout and didn’t have any difficulties keeping up.
The session opens up with Scruffy grabbing his bags and ticket and boarding the ship that will take him to Cyllene Penitentiary to begin his four year tour of duty on the godforsaken rock. The trip is largely uneventful, but as the ship approaches its destination Scruffy is able to take in the sights. Thousands of satellites surround the moon, humming with energy as his barge docks at one of the stations orbiting Cyllene. Scruffy and his fellow Penitentiary employees sit tight for a few hours while clearance codes are exchanged and the ship begins its descent, landing in a massive compound where non-guard staff and faculty room and board during their tenure at the facility.
After being escorted to his dormitory, Scruffy is introduced to his supervisor, a man by the name of Urien Rosek, who gives the janitor a tour of the dormitory before boarding a train to inspect one of the manufacturing facilities.
“Each of the buildings has the same layout, Mr. Scruffy,” Rosek says. “You’ve got six cellblocks, a hygiene facility, guard office, maintenance hub, laundry, cafeteria, doctor’s office, and gymnasium. The manufacturing floor is on the bottom floor right by the building’s loading dock. The specifics of the manufacturing floor vary from building to building, of course. We’ve got textiles, ammunition, heavy machinery, pretty much anything. Corporations drop off raw materials, our prisoners turn them into goods, and we hand them back over. Cheaper than paying free folks and cheaper than building and programming robots.”
Scruffy begins taking in the details of the building, committing as much of the layout to memory as he can before Rosek explains the shift work.
“You’ll work ten ten-hour days at one of the facilities, then you’ll have three days off at the dorms,” the supervisor says. “Each facility has a bunkroom for guards and faculty, or you can come back to the dorm each night. Bear in mind the train takes time to move, so if you’re going back to your room you’d better wake up early. Me? Personally? I’d just sleep at the facility.”
“Mmhm,” Scruffy agrees.
“For your first posting I’m going to put you at Cell Block 23 in Facility Zeta,” Urien Rosek says. “It’s engine manufacturing and according to your resume you’ve been working on ships for a good number of years. I don’t expect you to help build anything, of course, but I assume you’ll know if someone’s fucking around with some of the parts. The prisoners do that sometimes - their own pathetic forms of protest.”
“Sounds good,” Scruffy says. “I heard that you guys vent atmo in case of a riot. Is that true?”
“Oh yeah,” Rosek replies. “Make sure you’re always wearing your mag boots and keep a rebreather in your pocket so we can lock you down in case we have to vent a building you’re in. Also Cyllene ain’t fully terraformed, so if you’re doing exterior work wear a compression suit. We have them back at the dorms. Can’t keep them at the facilities - don’t want the prisoners getting their hands on anything. Dorms, guard barracks, the facilities, and the trains are all pressurized so you’re good there.”
With his tour complete, Scruffy heads back to his dorm to prepare for the days ahead.
***
Kuru Toga (taking on the alias of “Big Pilot” form Gan De City, Ganymede) and Courtney (now “Raze Driver” hailing form Bonds, Hyperion) sign a contract with Jojang Motive to assist with some basic scab work, specifically transporting and unloading raw materials to Cyllene Penitentiary for the factories to then turn into consumer and military goods. The duo packs the gear they’ll need - a boot knife and two cartons of cigarettes for Kuru and a carbon cutter and collapsible assault rifle (disguised in a scan-proof briefcase) for Courtney.
After getting dropped off at a space port by Sirius, the two meet their new boss: a no-nonsense woman named Octavia, who lets all of the scabs know what’s going on. They are going to Cyllene where they’ll unload raw materials at a sanctioned bay, load finished goods back on to the ship, and then they’ll move to the next stop along the way. If anyone leaves the designated areas they’ll be arrested immediately and become another Cyllene inmate.
The flight to Cyllene is uneventful, but as the ship closes in on the moon Kuru and Courtney are given a bird’s eye view of the satellite defense grid surrounding the prison complex. Hundreds of laser defense systems linked together to form a near-impenetrable web combined with a skip drive block on all manufactured ships makes entering and exiting the moon feasible through a single station.
On the moon’s surface are twenty four prison facilities as well as a handful of loading and unloading stations, a guard barracks, and a dormitory for non-guard staff and faculty. The buildings are scattered across the moon, connected only by a single high-speed magnet train. Stationed atop some of the facilities are further defenses in the form of surface-to-air missile batteries.
The freighter passes through the station checkpoint, lands, and Kuru and Courtney get to work, putting in a solid twelve hours of hard labor while they get the lay of the land. Hoping to make a few friends, Courtney trades five packs of cigarettes to a man named Adric Lockley, who appears to be running a “moonshining” operation of sorts. With a new friend made, the duo hit the bunks with a plan to go through another day of hard labor to build up their alibis before looking for Scruffy.
***
As his companions get ready to break a mafioso out of prison, Sirius accompanies Roscoe “Blanche” O’Reilly on The Mississippi Queen II. The trip from the Jovian System to the Saturnian System is largely uneventful, with a soon-to-be home free Roscoe getting a little overeager and sharing too much information about his own past as well as Kuru Toga’s. After an awkward lull in the conversation the captain and his passenger decide to keep to themselves for awhile before the former learns to much about his companion Kuru Toga and has a change of opinion about the man.
Upon arrival just outside the Xihe Station orbiting Saturn The Mississippi Queen II is hailed by Imperial Khanate Military Police and is informed that the ship will be subject to a random “contraband search.” Confident that he doesn’t have anything on board, Sirius plays along with the MPs - albeit a bit nervously (no one wants the fuzz on their ship, after all). The inspection is routine and nearly ended without issue, but some old smuggled goods left behind by the ship’s previous owner are uncovered and the Mardets confiscate it, accruing 1 Debt for the Crew.
Equal parts annoyed and embarrassed (as Sirius truthfully had no recollection of those items being on the ship), the Captain steps aside as the Mardets move the items off the ship and slap him with a warning.
“Next time it’ll be a fine,” the Sergeant says as she exits the ship. “Have a good day and welcome to the Saturnian System.”
Grumbling, Sirius climbs back in the pilot’s seat and flies the ship into a docking port on the Xihe Station so the ship can be refueled before the next leg of the journey. As he waits for the pump to top off the Queen’s tanks he notices a trio of wanted posters: one for a “Blanche,” one for a “Sophie,” and one for a “Rose…”
***
During Scruffy’s first real day of work he heads to Facility Zeta, which specializes in engine parts manufacturing. After spending a few hours working on actual assignments, the janitor makes his way to Cell Block 23 to find the Crew’s marks: Giovanni Kuklinski and Marco Buscetta. Both men take an immediate liking to Scruffy and Giovanni goes so far as to offer an empty cell to the janitor in case he wants a place to kick back and relax while looking busy to the higher ups. Scruffy informs the Cremisi Capo that he’s here with some friends to help bring about an “early release” for Giovanni, much to the mobster’s joy. Gio lets Scruffy know that he has some pull in Cyllene and can probably lean on his contacts to help smooth out some details - all Scruffy needs to do is ask and Giovanni will take care of the rest. He does warn Scruffy that depending on the request it might take some time, so plan accordingly.
After learning that Scruffy is a purveyor of Saga Boy Magazine, Giovanni cuts a deal, trade a life of relative ease on Cyllene for Scruffy in exchange for the janitor helping him move some product from the faculty dorms to Facility Zeta - the next shipment being a rather extensive collection of Saga Boys. Scruffy agrees and heads back to his dorm room that very night to collect the next day’s delivery.
Before bedding down for the night, Scruffy posts a coded message on his blog: a corn bread recipe that contains the location of not only himself, but the Crew’s targets. Satisfied by a day’s work well done, Scruffy hits the hay.
***
The next day, Kuru and Courtney sneak off from the loading docks and try to figure out how to get to their companion. Kuru notices multiple coolant pipes and figures springing a leak here would force a maintenance person to be sent over, and if it isn’t Scruffy it at least provides them with some information and maybe a disguise. They get to work on the pipe with Courtney’s carbon cutter, but have to stop after a few minutes when a pair of guards rounds the bend. Thinking fast, the duo take down the guards in a rather… violent… manner before dragging the corpses into a utility closet, changing into only slightly bloody clothes. Now under the guise of “Steve” and “George,” the pair makes their way to the train station and climb aboard.
Kuru Toga checks Scruffy’s “cooking blog” and confirms the janitor’s location and make their way to Facility Zeta. While on the train the two have to deflect some suspicion from a few other nosey guards, but ultimately make their way to Zeta unharmed. It pair splits up to cover more ground, and it doesn’t take long for Kuru Toga to bump into Scruffy in the laundry room, allowing him to swap out his messy clothes for something a little less bloody. They locate Courtney, help him change as well, and are ready to head over to Giovanni’s to give him the good news that the rescue team has arrived. Before they can make it to Cell Block 23, however, an alarm goes off. A pair of bodies was found by the loading bay stripped of their gear. All facilities are on lockdown until the bodies can be identified and, if the bodies belong to guards, the culprits are located.
The trio is separated as Scruffy will have to report to his facility supervisor, a cyborg named Cydni and Kuru and Courtney will need to deal with the sergeant in charge of Zeta’s guards.
***
As the session comes to a close, we rejoin Sirius, who has just landed The Mississippi Queen II at Xihe Station and is refueling. The captain is understandably tense and each second drags on like a minute and each minute feels like an hour. Unfortunately ships require a lot of fuel and coolant and there’s no way to speed up the station’s ancient pumps. Sirius’s eyes wander as he waits for the ship to refuel and he happens to notice two things: a trio of familiar names on a bounty board nearby and a mysterious man in a dusty black coat paying slightly too much attention to the captain and his ship.
Sirius’s worst fears are made manifest when he reads the names and checks the faces: Roscoe “Blanche” O’Reily, Maurice “Sophia” Barboza, and Kuru “Rose” Toga. It would seem that the Imperial Khanate was finally catching up to Sirius’s friend, which was bound to make life more difficult for the Crew. After a few more minutes of frantic waiting, Sirius then notices the mysterious man in black approaching the ship. He readies his tranq pistol in case the stranger makes any sudden moves, but the sight of nearby Khanate Mardets keeps him from making any stupid decisions. For now…
“Howdy,” the man says. “The name’s Clark.”
“Cassanova Frankenstein,” Sirius replies coolly.
“I don’t mean to be rude,” Clark continues. “But I don’t want to waste any time, either. I know you’ve got Roscoe on the ship. Hand him over nice and quiet and I’ll be on my way. If you don’t, I’m going to have to take him by force.”
He pulls back on his coat, revealing a pair of plasma revolvers.
“Don’t know any Roscoes,” Sirius says, his hand inching toward his pistol.
Clark sighs and shakes his head. “Don’t try to be a hero, fella. You see those four men in suits back there? Over my left shoulder. Their Imperial Khanate government agents. I can shoot you dead right here and they’ll make sure no one does anything about it. Now I don’t want to do that, but I’ve got a wife and kids waiting for me back home and I’d really like to finish this job as quickly as possible. Let me on your ship, I’ll look around for Roscoe, and if by some twist of fate that’s not actually The Mississippi Queen I’ll be on my way.”
Trapped, Sirius agrees, hoping that Roscoe noticed everything and stowed away in a hidie hole. While he lets Clark on to the ship, the captain refuses to provide any real assistance and orders Monty to shut up while the bounty hunter or Imperial agent or whatever is on board. The man in black takes his sweet time searching the ship and is about to make his way to the bridge when Roscoe steps out into the corridor, oblivious to the “guest.”
“Oh shit… Dorothy,” Roscoe says.
“Wish I could say it was good to see you again, Blanche,” Clark replies. “But I was hoping you wouldn’t be here. Khanate’s got my wife and kids and won’t release them until I bring in the Golden Girls.”
Sirius, realizing what he’s hearing, steps back and slowly draws his tranq pistol, hoping Clark won’t notice.
“Is Kuru with you?” Clark asks.
“Haven’t seen him since we split up,” Roscoe replies.
“Pity.”
Hoping to catch Clark off guard, Roscoe draws his weapon and fires, grazing his former colleague. Clark returns fire, hitting Roscoe square in the chest and dropping him, but before he can do much else Sirius unloads from behind, sinking three sleeper darts in the man’s back.
“How are the fuel tanks Monty?” Sirius asks as he races to the bridge, dragging a wounded Roscoe behind him.
“Filled up, captain.”
“Okay, fire everything up, we’re getting out of here!” Sirius says as he rips a first-aid kit off the wall. He takes a minute to administer first aid to Roscoe, but even without the medical training of a doctor or EMT the captain knows his mark doesn’t have much time. From the bridge’s windows he can see the Imperial agents racing toward the ship, guns drawn.
“Fuck,” he says, strapping Roscoe into a seat before settling in for takeoff.
The agents open fire.
“Fuck it!” Sirius shouts, pulling a vial of some kind of white, powdery narcotic from an inside coat pocket. He quickly pours it on the dash, snorts up, and guns it. Trouble starts brewin’ for the good captain and as the ship clears Xihe Station alarms sound in the background and a trio of Khanate ships gives chase.
You can listen to the full Orbital Blues: The Mississippi Sessions playlist on Spotify.
