Jam Session #6: Canticle in Crimson

Outer System Rhapsody Arc Theme Song: “Dawn of the Dead” by Does It Offend You, Yeah? // Session Intro Song: “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones

If you would like a recap of the previous session, check out Jam Session #5: Fearless Reprisal!

As they so often did, the Crew discussed the different jobs available to them over morning coffee. The two most promising were a drug run on behalf of the Fu Syndicate that Sirius picked up on through Chilong and, if they were feeling a little more altruistic, taking some missionaries from St. Dominic’s Cathedral to Proteus to provide the refugees from a corpo-war with much-needed supplies.

Their contact for the first job would be one Yip “Shrimp Boy” An-lo, a veteran member of the Syndicate known for his merciless temperament and shrewd business acumen. The Syndicate was looking to haul 6,000 kilos of “kumo,” a particularly powerful strain of opium that was manufactured in Pharos on Neptune’s moon Proteus. An-lo was willing to pay the Crew upwards of 4 Cred to complete the job, and they’d be in the good graces of one of the most powerful criminal enterprises in the System. Sister Aria would be their contact for the second potential job, one that wouldn’t pull in quite as much money, but the church was willing to cover any reasonable travel expenses. While less lucrative, the Crew figured taking the missionaries to Proteus would help cover the expenses incurred by bringing the kumo back from Proteus to Lassell City.

More interested in what An-lo had to offer, the Crew decided to test out their newly refurbished Aviazione Motors Calabrone-model hoverbikes and head into Lassell City proper to meet An-lo at the Lion Lips Lounge. They were met by a hostess and quickly taken to a private room where they found a very short, very old man waiting for them. He introduced himself as “Shrimp Boy” and offered a seat and fine liquor to each member of the Crew. An-lo, ever the prudent businessman, immediately started talking details - exclusively with Scruffy, the only man even remotely close to his age: the Crew would pick up the shipment of kumo opium, traveling to the coordinates that An-lo would deliver once the Crew was on Proteus. From there they’d bring the shipment back to Lassell City and make six deliveries, again moving to coordinates that An-lo would share once The Mississippi Queen was back in Triton airspace. For their efforts, the Crew would be paid 4 Cred - assuming they make each delivery in a timely manner.

With business concluded, An-lo invited the Crew to enjoy a seafood buffet, in which he also partook until Syndicate activities drew his attention elsewhere. Shortly after his departure, the Crew caught the following newsbreak on the private room’s holocaster:

IKN NEWS BREAK!

The war between Yapo Conglomerates and Jojang Motive on Proteus has escalated. Bolstered by hired mercenaries, Jojang Motive has encircled the moon's capital city of Pharos, which is tenuously being held by Yapo Conglomerates. A blockage has been formed, preventing all travel in or out of the city. Refugee camps overseen by Jojang Motive are full to the brim and even with their considerable resources the zaibatsu is having difficulty feeding and caring for those affected by the corpo-war. In a stunning move, the Imperial Khanate has shut down all but one Gate leading to or from Proteus and has placed an embargo on all products created or owned by either corporation, stating that said embargo will be lifted only when the war is ended. The Imperial Council is currently in session to determine if Khanate war frigates will be dispatched to the moon. Officials at the Torone Gate are overwhelmed as refugees attempt to flee Proteus. All travel to the moon is currently banned.

It dawned on the Crew that their job was about to get a whole lot harder…

With pits in their stomachs, the Crew made their way to Saint Dominic’s Cathedral to speak with Sister Aria and get the details regarding their role in the church’s relief efforts. Sirius led the boys into the cathedral where they found Aria waiting for them. The young nun asked them to follow her back to her office where she let the Crew now that the refugees on Proteus needed the church’s help now more than ever. She wanted to know how the Crew of The Mississippi Queen planned on sneaking past the blockade and getting the missionaries and their supplies to the refugee camp. Sirius explained that he had an idea or two in his back pocket, but that it would cost the good sister and her church a little more money. Sister Aria offered up a meager protest, but ultimately agreed to help cover any additional travel costs, as she had few other options for transport. The Crew departed, letting Sister Aria know they’d have something for her in a few hours and they’d meet at the agreed-upon pick up location.

The Crew returned to the ship and contacted Ripley, hoping the AI coordinator of Jupiter’s Black Gates might have something for them. Unfortunately the AI’s reach didn’t extend to Neptune, so after some light flirting with Scruffy she directed them to her “sister,” an AI named Barrett who managed the illicit Gates of the Neptunian System. A nearly identical voice entered the call and Barrett offered the Crew the use of one of her Gates that would drop The Mississippi Queen just outside of Hippocamp, a small moon close enough to Proteus to get the Crew in-and-out without being spotted by planetary scanners. She warned the Crew not to dilly-dally around Hippocamp, as the moon was home to a long-abandoned corpo-city now taken over by rogue androids.

Before heading off on the job, Sirius, curious about the origins of the Provecta holotape, reached out to Mifune to see if the fixer had any ideas as to how they could hack into it or, failing that, sell it off for a nice chunk of change. Mifune asked about Sybil, and was given the cliff notes on the hacker’s grisly fate. Taking the information given to him, the fixer took a few minutes to scan the boards for information and found a potential lead - an individual going by “Miss Wonderly.” Mifune let Sirius know it’d take some time to get in contact with this potential buyer, and was about to sign off when Sirius asked about getting Imperial Khanate credentials for The Mississippi Queen, which he figured would get the Crew past the blockade a whole lot easier than sneaking in. Mifune’s reply was to ask if the Crew had three options: forged credentials, stolen credentials, or bribe money to get legitimate credentials. All three would either take weeks or a small fortune to acquire, neither of which the Crew had at the moment.

Happy to have a plan, the Crew reconnected with Sister Aria and her fellow missionaries, including one Brother Vito, and were somewhat surprised to see a score of armed mercenaries led by Cpt. Achille. Sister Aria explained that looters and criminals had tried and succeeded in stealing similar supplies from the church before, and so while they weren’t fans of armed force, had felt it prudent to hire guards to make sure these supplies weren’t stolen from them. As the missionaries and some of the mercenaries got the twelve half-ton, code-locked, and sealed crates on to the ship, Achille and one of his men shot the shit with Courtney and Kuru, offering both of them jobs if they ever got tired of the smuggling life. Courtney, reminded of his past as a hard-hitting enforcer and guard for a powerful family, was overcome with feelings of remorse and nostalgia and took a Blues for his troubles.

The cargo loaded and The Mississippi Queen gassed up and ready to fly, the Crew took off for the Lassell Gate and entered Barrett’s coordinates, setting a “destination” to Titan, Saturnian System. Barrett let them know they’d be in for a sixteen hour flight and suggested everyone settle in. Having little to do, each member of the Crew found a way to distract themselves.

Sirius remained on the bridge to monitor the autopilot and take over if needed, but spent most of his time writing a message for Mei, continuing their correspondence. The two had shared some intimate details about their pasts - Mei and Chilong had grown up together as orphans and when the Fu Syndicate took him in, he insisted that Mei could be of use behind the scenes. Sirius in turn shared his past as a street urchin on Ceres and his sudden change in life trajectory when he betrayed his mentor and was forced to go off world.

Scruffy, being Scruffy, decided to do his best and attend to the guests, offering turndown service mere hours into the flight. His offered was rejected, and he returned to the crew lounge dejected himself.

Courtney and Kuru, realizing they were men of similar background, spent some time together fixing up their hoverbikes and swapping some war stories, gaining insight and respect for one another. With the basic tune ups completed, Kuru excitedly moved on to painting his bike, matter-of-factly informing Courtney that a red racing stripe would make it go faster. Their chat and work was interrupted on multiple occasions by various missionaries coming into the cargo hold to check on the crates. Courtney, suspecting foul play of some kind, coyly informed one of the missionaries, Sister Virginia, that she should relax and not try so hard to hide her true intentions - it just made things more obvious for someone familiar with that particular racket. Flustered, the so-called nun departed from the cargo hold.

In case there really was foul play, Courtney and Kuru called for the captain and were soon joined by Sirius (and Scruffy) in the cargo hold. The four discussed their next steps, with Sirius wanting to open the crates and possibly take the goods for the Crew. Scruffy, accusing the missionaries of “transhrubstantiation,” sided with the captain, but both men were talked down by the much more level-headed Courtney, who figured that A) if the “missionaries” were hiding something, they had paid for discretion, B) the Crew had a reputation to uphold and wouldn’t find work if people learned they were stealing from clients and C) they were outnumbered two-to-one.

Sirius backed down, but not before calling Sister Aria to the cargo bay and asking her to open one of the crates. The sister explained that the crates were climate controlled and that opening the crates too early would result in everything spoiling before they could be used. She offered Sirius the manifest again, which he took and perused, but the captain remained unconvinced and stormed off to the bridge. The rest of the flight passed by uneventfully, with the ship arriving at the Hippocamp Black Gate without incident. Barrett thanked the Crew for their patronage, and reminded them not to “bring guests” along for the return trip, or she wouldn’t open the Gate.

A short skip from Hippocamp to Proteus’ southern hemisphere later and The Mississippi Queen was entering the atmosphere. Monty, the ship’s AI, picked up some Jojang Motive patrol ships and plotted an evasive course that Sirius navigated with surprising ease, having taken a more active role in piloting the ship since his daring escape from New Galveston. With the end of the job in site, Sirius directed the ship toward Sister Aria’s desired destination, an abandoned mining outpost a few klicks south of Jojang Motive’s siege lines, explaining that it was far enough from the corporation’s front lines to be safe, but reasonably fortified in case they had to defend themselves.

Before Sirius could express his suspicious, Monty raised an alarm as a pair of rockets came racing toward The Mississippi Queen. Sirius attempted an evasive maneuver, but failed to avoid one of the rockets. Crew and passenger alike lurched as a rocket tore a hole in the ship’s hull, causing casino chips to fly out into Proteus’ upper atmosphere. In the distance a pair of armored hovertrucks and a dozen bikes were flying toward The Mississippi Queen - were they raiders, or did the so-called missionaries have enemies?

A second rocket hit the ship, blowing a massive hole in the hull and causing the ship to rapidly vent its atmosphere as it careened toward the surface. Sirius yelled for Monty to find a way back to the Black Gate, but the AI informed him that with the damage sustained, traveling through a Gate would cause the ship to implode, killing everyone on board. Cursing, Sirius prepared for an emergency landing, yelling for the rest of the Crew to grab their atmo-suits. Scruffy, Courtney, and Kuru Toga raced to the cargo bay while the captain remained behind on the bridge to try and guide the inevitable crash. As the oxygen levels dropped, Sirius and Kuru lost consciousness, with the captain’s last act being a desperate attempt to bring The Mississippi Queen down as gently as he could.

He failed.

Concussed, Scruffy watched as Brother Vito and Sister Aria opened one of the crates and retrieved Type 99 Battle Rifles. Vito ran to the bay door, which had been forced slightly ajar during the crash while Aria did her best to wake up the various “missionaries” that had been knocked unconscious during the crash. Shaking away the fog, the maintenance man with atmo-suit in hand prepared to run back to the bridge to bring the captain his suit, but noticed Courtney lying on the ground out cold. The older man went to his crewmate and managed to return Courtney to consciousness and together they made their way back to the bridge.

Meanwhile, Sirius, awakened by Monty’s stuttering alert that the ship’s hull had been compromised (“Critical - Crit - Crit - Critical Damage to the Hull!”) extricated himself from the pilot’s seat and staggered toward the cargo bay, finding Kuru Toga splayed out in the corridor along the way. He managed to wake his friend up just as Scruffy and Courtney arrived, and after a brief conversation about what to do next (during which Courtney had to talk Sirius down again about misdirected anger toward the “damn nuns”) the Crew decided to work with their guests to defend the crashed wreckage that was The Mississippi Queen.

Aria, dropping all pretense, met the Crew in the hold and let them know that she wasn’t a missionary or a nun or anything like that, but was in fact a member of the Cremisi Family and that she and her team had been told to hire Sirius and The Mississippi Queen crew by one Aurelio Lupo - an old friend of Sirius from his days on Ceres. Enraged and irritated, but with bigger problems on his hands, Sirius decided to focus on defending his ship, working with Aria to ready a Tanegashima Arms EWPC-12, better known as a “plasma caster,” while the rest of the Crew and the Cremisi mobsters defended the ship from the circling assailants.

A brief, but intense, firefight ensued with Courtney suffering some considerable wounds while Kuru Toga was knocked out for the second time that day - this time due to shock and blood loss rather than oxygen deprivation. Amongst the Cremisi Family Vito was killed, but between Scruffy’s surprisingly capable marksmanship and Sirius on the plasma caster, the raiders - later identified as members of the Heathens Gang - were repelled. With the immediate threat handled, the Crew turned their attention to Aria and her associates, demanding their pay and recompense for the damage to The Mississippi Queen, which wouldn’t be able to fly through space until it received repairs. Aria asked if she could call her associates for a pickup and that she’d get the Crew their money once the weapons were collected. She also told Sirius she’d do what she could to cover the costs of repairing the ship, but that he might have better luck if he reached out to Lupo, who was something of a “mover and shaker” within the family these days. She offered the Crew the medical supplies they needed to patch up their wounds and return Kuru Toga to the land of the conscious before tending to her own men and getting everyone ready to move out.

A deal struck, the Crew retrieved their belongings at Aria’s recommendation (“Scavvers come out at night around here and they will take everything not nailed down and on fire.”) and prepared their hoverbikes, with Kuru tucking Cynthia the cat into his suit for safekeeping. By the time they were ready to move, the Cremisi Family’s contacts arrived with four halftracks and what supplies could be loaded were thrown into the backs of the trucks. As the sun set on the lonesome moon of Proteus, the Crew took off, following the Cremisi Family’s soldiers to their safe house.

The credits roll as “Dawn of the Dead” begins to play. The camera plans through the abandoned wreckage of The Mississippi Queen, taking a moment to focus on one of Monty’s screens shutting down as the AI prepares for a stretch of loneliness in Proteus’s unforgiving wasteland. Before the screen goes dark, the camera zooms in on the drunk tank where a banged up Bastion Sisto wakes up and asks if anyone’s out there.

You can listen to the full Orbital Blues: The Mississippi Sessions playlist on Spotify.