TEXT:  
   
   
   
  PPRRAAYYIINNGG  
  M
  MAANNTTIISS  
   
   
   
  A
  A  TTA
  ALLEE  O
  OFF  
  SSTTO
  OLLEEN
  N  IIN
  NN
  NO
  OC
  CEEN
  NC
  CEE    
  IIN
  N  TTH
  HRREEEE  A
  AC
  CTTSS  
    
  
   
  1 
   
  PPPPPPPPR
  R
  R
  R
  R
  R
  R
  RA
  A
  A
  A
  A
  A
  A
  AYYYYYYYYIIIIIIIIN
  N
  N
  N
  N
  N
  N
  NG
  G
  G
  G
  G
  G
  G
  G        M
  M
  M
  M
  M
  M
  M
  MA
  A
  A
  A
  A
  A
  A
  AN
  N
  N
  N
  N
  N
  N
  NTTTTTTTTIIIIIIIIS
  SS
  S
  S
  SS
  S        
   
   
  W
  WR
  RIITTTTEEN
  N  B
  BYY  
  Robert Edmunds 
  Jan Hendrik Friedrich 
  Michael Chumbler 
    
  IIllllu
  us
  sttr
  ra
  atteed
  d  b
  byy  
  Laura Gullett 
  Kendal Leask 
  Jason Morales 
  Amy Guthrie 
   
  B
  Ba
  as
  seed
  d  o
  on
  n  a
  a  S
  Sccr
  reeeen
  npplla
  ayy  b
  byy  
  Joss Whedon 
   
   
  Www.cortexsystemrpg.org 
  Www.serenityrpg.com 
   
   
  Serenity © universal studios. all rights reserved 
  
   
  2 
  HERE’S HOW IT IS 
   
  What starts out as a simple delivery of farming 
  provisions to a Border World town, becomes a chase 
  across the Black to save a local woman who is 
  kidnapped right before their eyes. As they set out 
  after the kidnappers, they find out they are up against 
  a powerful Tong that is currently in the throws of a 
  leadership struggle and that a wealthy Persephone 
  socialite has offered a large sum of money to gain 
  possession of their victim. 
   
  GAME MASTER NOTES 
   
  The Premise of Praying Mantis is a simple one, to pull 
  on the morality of the players to rescue a damsel in 
  distress. The PCs will have to face a tough and 
  organized foe and even members of Persephone’s 
  elite class to rescue an innocent woman from a life of 
  slavery and unspeakable acts, all at great risk to 
  themselves with little by way of obvious financial 
  reward. 
   
  Presented a tale of heroism and morality, Praying 
  Mantis consists of three acts of three scenes each. 
  Act One places the crew in Life on the Range, and 
  leads the players into Innocent Abduction and finally 
  onto A Family’s Plight. In Act two the players are 
  Bound for Persephone, and then quickly find 
  themselves Chasing the Mantis and ultimately Facing 
  the Mantis. The gripping end comes in Act Three as 
  they find their Uptown Girl, head out on A Wing and a 
  Prayer, before finally reaching it’s conclusion in A 
  Heroes Welcome. 
   
  One thing the GM may have to prepare in advance is 
  the initial job that introduces this adventure. The first 
  scene begins with the PCs completing a job for Mr. 
  Christopher Hardy, a wealthy landowner from 
  Emerald River on Santo. The job could have easily 
  been brokered over the Cortex and only requires the 
  crew to land on Hera to pick up a boat load of farming 
  supplies, and make the short trip to Santo to deliver 
  them. The job is top rate, all legal and pretty much a 
  milk run, so most crews should jump at the offer of 
  easy money. 
   
  THE EMERALD RIVER SETTING 
    
  This adventure is based on a plot hook presented in 
  the Emerald River town setting, which is available for 
  free download from CS/RPG. While it is not essential 
  to have the setting to run this adventure, it would 
  certainly be an advantage and allow you to add more 
  flavor and life to the town. 
  No exact location is ever presented in the Emerald 
  River setting itself, so that individual GMs can place it 
  wherever they feel it best fits their vision of the 
  ‘Verse. For the sake of this adventure, the town is 
  located on Santo, one of the many Border Worlds, and 
  known for its agricultural industry, among other things 
  (for more information, see page 214 of the main 
  Serenity RPG rule book). 
    
  THE GOLDEN MANTIS 
   
  Like many Tong, the Golden Mantis is a collection of 
  aligned families that protect one another and the 
  neighborhoods in which they originated or operate, as 
  well has being involved a many illegal activities from 
  prostitution to smuggling. Also like many Tong, they 
  often find themselves involved in turf wars with rival 
  Tongs and other criminal organizations. 
  Unfortunately, the head of the clan has died 
  unexpectedly, without a nominating his successor. 
  This has plunged the Golden Mantis into a leadership 
  power struggle to fill the vacuum, now being fought out 
  between the two most influential candidates. Their 
  fight for control has lead to a series of violent events, 
  including kidnappings and assassinations. 
  The adventure begins as this leadership struggle is 
  reaching its final days, when one of the leaders 
  decides to go to extreme lengths to unbalance his 
  opponent, while bringing in some much needed credits 
  at the same time. 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  
   
  3 
  ACT ONE 
   
  Scene 1: Life on the Range 
   
  “Santo used to be a mite popular holiday destination 
  a ways back, being all picture perfect an’ pretty and 
  all, but that was before the War. Seems that during 
  those violent times, those rich folk from the Core 
  didn’t feel that inclined on coming out to the Border, in 
  case some Independent type took a likin’ to ‘em as 
  possible hostages an’ such. ‘Course, that weren’t the 
  end for Santo, as it seems it had a mite strong 
  farming  community who kept her going, as pretty 
  much all folk was in need of feedin’, ‘specially during 
  them hard times as was. That weren’t the all of it 
  though, as all them tourist places needed to find new 
  ways to get their coin, they began turning to all sorta 
  new business ventures, so it became a real fun place 
  to visit. Now days, it’s a recovering world, with them 
  resorts all reopening, but them clubs for any pleasure 
  is still there and it’s no longer just for them super rich, 
  while them farmers out in the plains is still going 
  strong as ever. Yeah, Santo is a great place; just 
  mind you leave the little ones at home.”  
  – Hugh Fletcher, freelance farmhand, Hera. 
   
  The adventure begins with the player characters 
  (PCs) aboard their ship, as they make their final 
  approach to a large farming town on the Border World 
  of Santo; a world that was once famous for its tourist 
  industry, but also maintains a thriving agricultural 
  base. The crew are feeling good, as the short two day 
  job is about to reach its completion without any sign 
  of complications. Almost filling the ship’s cargo bay 
  are numerous crates of top grade agricultural 
  supplies, from machine parts to fertilizers, all paid for 
  in advance and only requiring the PCs to haul them 
  over from Hera. Their employer, Mr. Christopher 
  Hardy, will be paying them top rate for their troubles 
  upon arrival at Emerald River. 
  As the ship breaks out of the clouds, with the Town of 
  Emerald River in sight, you, the Game Master (GM), 
  should read the following passage out loud or 
  paraphrase it. Read: 
   
  Finally breaking out from the clouds, you bear 
  witness to the vast expanse of farmlands and 
  prairies that form the agricultural heartland of 
  Santo, the beauty of which is awe inspiring. Only 
  a short way ahead, you can see the multitude of 
  buildings that shape the large town of Emerald 
  River, a man-made mark against the natural vista. 
  Off to the east of town, the wide river after which 
  it was named, shines with a brilliant green hue in 
  the late afternoon sun. While to the north, the 
  steady rise of hills and mountains stand tall and 
  proud, thick forests lining their slopes, acting as 
  a natural rain break and feeding the many life 
  giving rivers of these fertile lands. 
  You bank the ship around and down towards the 
  two landing pads and large fuel storage tanks at 
  the northern edge of town, making for your final 
  approach around what appears to be the Town’s 
  communications and control tower, before steadily 
  setting her down. 
  As you lower down the cargo ramp, you see two 
  shiny hover trucks already making their way up 
  the road from town towards you and are in no 
  doubt they belong to the Hardy family, probably 
  the most wealthy family around. 
  When they reach the ship, the hover trucks come 
  to a stop and the man himself steps down from the 
  cab of the lead vehicle. His manner of dress is a 
  little surprising, not the preened up gentlemanly 
  garb you’d imagined, but very much the rancher. 
  He strides up to the ship’s captain and offers his 
  hand, while his men start to clamber out from the 
  trucks. 
  “Ni How1 Captain, welcome to town and my 
  gratitude to you for bringing my goods so swiftly. 
  As soon as my men have unloaded the cargo and 
  checked it all off, then the agreed sum will be 
  credited to your account, or my man here can pay 
  in coin.” Christopher Hardy pleasantly informs 
  you. 
  As soon as you give permission, his men set to 
  work unloading the cargo and moving it onto the 
  two large hover trucks. 
   
  Christopher Hardy may be dressed as a rancher, but 
  he has the refinement of a highly educated and 
  cultured gent. He is polite, charming and very 
  businesslike and helps his men with the cargo, unless 
  the PCs decide to converse with him. 
   
  Once the PCs ship is down on the ground, but while 
  the pilot is still on the bridge, they can make a HARD 
  (11) Perception + Technical Engineering / Sensors or 
  Pilot / Sensors roll to notice another ship breaking 
  atmosphere and entering the airspace around Emerald 
  River, though it will be some time before it lands. Of 
  course, this will not mean much and should in no way 
  be 
  alarming, 
  but 
  merely 
  an 
  observation, 
  foreshadowing what is to come. 
   
  As the last few crates are being unloaded, an 
  encounter takes place that is of importance, but at this 
  time doesn’t directly involve the PCs. Read: 
   
  With only a few more crates to unload, you hear 
  the familiar sound of ships engines, as in a 
  surprisingly busy moment for Emerald River; a 
  second vessel is making its final approach. The 
  ship that lands is smaller than your own, but sleek 
  and no doubt built for speed and a low radar 
  signature, an odd kind of ship to be in a place like 
                                                     
  1 “Greetings” 
  
   
  4 
  this. The name on the bow shows her to be called 
  Tang Lang1. 
  As it comes to a rest and lowers its cargo ramp, 
  two large hover mules slowly make their way out, 
  before each loading up with three passengers of 
  oriental descent and speeding off into town. The 
  ramp then closes and no one else leaves the ship, 
  though you’d be sure that there’ll still be folks on 
  board. 
   
  Any PC alert PC who succeeds at a HARD (11) 
  Alertness + Perception / Sight roll will notice that all of 
  the passengers are carrying personal firearms and 
  that there are some rifles on the racks in the hover 
  mules. 
  Despite the unusual nature of the other ship and its 
  passengers, nothing further happens that has any 
  bearing on the PCs at this moment.  
  The remainder of their cargo is unloaded and 
  checked over and all found to be in order. The 
  Captain is paid 300 credits for the job, either into their 
  account or in hard currency. Read: 
   
  “Well thank you for your services Captain, here is 
  the payment we agreed upon. I’ve already paid 
  your port fees, but if you need fuel and servicing, 
  I suggest you see the good men at Jimmy’s 
  Service Station over there.” Mr. Hardy informs 
  you, pointing in the direction of the structure that 
  also doubles as the Town’s communications and 
  control tower. 
  “I’ve also taken the liberty to go so far as book 
  you all a nights stay at Blake’s Tavern, with all 
  services and drinks tab on the house…just my 
  way of saying thank you for a job well done.” 
  You are a little taken aback by the man’s 
  generosity, but a night’s stay in a real bed is too 
  good a chance to pass up, especially when it’s all 
  on someone else’s tab, though you are certain 
  that is as much to do with ensuring future 
  services as much as anything else. 
  With the pleasantries over, Mr. Hardy climbs back 
  into the cab of his hover truck and both vehicles 
  head back down the northern road into town and 
  off towards the Hardy Farmstead down south, 
  leaving you all to enjoy your overnight stay. 
   
  The PCs have now got a paid night in Emerald River, 
  staying at the place to be, Blake’s Tavern. Once they 
  have cleaned up the ship, sorted out fuel from 
  Jimmy’s Service Station, should they need it (at the 
  standard rate of 5 credits per ton), they are free to kit 
  up as they wish and head into the center of town. 
  Once in town, the PCs are free to do as they please, 
  but they arrive just as the sun is going down and most 
  businesses are beginning to close up shop for the 
  day. There is no sign of the two hover mules they 
  witnessed earlier, should anyone ask. 
   
                                                     
  1 “Praying Mantis” 
  The following is a description of the center of town. For 
  more details regarding each location, I suggest 
  reading the Emerald River town setting. Read or 
  paraphrase: 
   
  Emerald River grew around the town square, with 
  the town’s four main roads all leading into (and out 
  of) it, roughly creating a north, south, east and 
  west cross, with the square in the middle. 
  In the center of the town square is Memorial 
  Square, a small park with a few trees and a war 
  memorial to those townsfolk who served and died 
  in the Unification War.  
  On the north side of the square are the Town Hall, 
  an impressive sculptured stone building, and Saint 
  Mark’s church, a modestly sized white washed, 
  wooden building with a short flight of steps 
  leading up to two thick wooden doors and the bell 
  tower. 
  On the east side of the square is Sam’s Smithy and 
  Stables, a large blacksmiths forge as well as 
  stabling for folks horses while they’re visiting the 
  town. The smithy and stables are separate 
  buildings, but are situated next to one another. 
  Also on the eastern side of the square is Blake’s 
  Tavern, which is probably the liveliest business in 
  town. Blake’s is a towering brick and wood 
  building standing an impressive four stories tall 
  (impressive for a small town like Emerald River) 
  with a decorative wooden balcony running around 
  each floor. It is painted in a black, yellow and red 
  pattern, making it a place that cannot be missed. It 
  is a watering hole, cabaret venue, gambling hall, 
  hotel and brothel all in one, catering to locals and 
  visitors alike. 
  On the south side of the square are three 
  buildings. There is the Sheriff’s Office and town 
  Jail, the Emerald River General Store and the 
  Borderlands Bank. 
  On the west side of the square are three more 
  prominent businesses. There is Fizz ‘N’ Chips, a 
  retailer of electrical goods and scrap merchant, 
  with most of the space taken up by four huge 
  containers of scrap metal and electronics, where 
  almost any spare part could probably be found, 
  given enough time. 
  Of the other two, the larger is Dillon’s Garage, 
  which sells hydrogen fuel (and battery cell 
  recharging), has a maintenance workshop and 
  even sells second hand ground and hover vehicles 
  out front. Next to Dillon’s is Jane’s Cortex Café, 
  which is quite a small building that acts every bit 
  like a cybercafé, with access to Cortex terminals 
  and serving drinks and snacks.  
  The rest of the town is mostly made up of 
  residential dwellings, the majority of which are two 
  story wood and brick or prefabricated houses. 
  Most of the dwellings close to the center of town 
  are still inhabited and in good repair, but some of 
  the buildings on the edge of town have been 
  vacant for a number of years and have fallen into 
  
   
  5 
  disrepair, some still have faded ‘for sale’ notices 
  standing outside. The town generally has an old 
  west feel to it, with a touch of modern technology 
  seeping through, from satellite dishes on roofs to 
  electronic locks on doors, not to mention the 
  occasional hover mule cruising down the streets 
  along side the horses. 
   
  Once the PCs have done looking around town, they 
  should probably be heading over to Blake’s Tavern 
  for some well earned rest and recreation, with free 
  drinks and a night in a real bed. 
  As the crew approaches Blake’s, they can already 
  hear the music and chatter from outside, it sounds 
  like a rowdy place. Read: 
   
  With the sun going down, it would seem that 
  Blake’s has got going already. As you head 
  across the dusty road to the brightly colored 
  building, you can hear loud music playing and all 
  manner of chatter from inside; it certainly sounds 
  like a fun and rowdy place to be. 
  You step up onto the wooden boards of the 
  veranda and in through the door, past the 
  watchful eye of a hulking doorman with a certain 
  intimidatin’ manner about him. 
  Inside the place, it is lively, noisy and rowdy, but 
  not so much so as to be out of hand or 
  suggesting any kind of violence.  
  There are a lot of tables and chairs around for the 
  clientele, a bar off at the back and a cabaret stage 
  off to one side. A wooden staircase leads up from 
  the ground floor to the first floor, where a 
  decorative balcony overlooks the bar and some 
  ladies of a particular profession are advertising 
  their wares by offering teasing glimpses of flesh 
  to entice you to their rooms. 
  While there may be a lot of folk already here, the 
  place is still far from full and it is easy enough to 
  find a table and get your drinks from the grizzled 
  looking barman. 
  The drinks are fine, none too watered down and 
  the entertainment is even better, especially when 
  the dancing girls come on, all of whom are 
  surprisingly good. You hear tell that one of 
  dancers is Sophia Blake, the younger sister of 
  Owen Blake, the man who owns the place. 
  The place has a friendly feel to it, the people seem 
  decent sorts and it all helps to make for a much 
  needed, fun night out on the town. 
   
  This is a time for the PCs to enjoy themselves and 
  make the most having the entire bar bill paid for. The 
  expenses do not cover the cost of the whores (there 
  are six girls and one guy), but they are welcome to 
  use their services (at 4 credits an hour, unless they 
  can negotiate a discount price of 3 credits with a 
  HARD (11) Willpower + Influence / barter roll). 
   
  The general idea is that they get to like the place and 
  the people and feel that everyone is helping them to 
  have a good time. There should be no trouble, no bar 
  fights and no arguments. If any of the crew is a known 
  or decent gambler, they could even get invited into a 
  poker game out back. The poker games have a 5 
  credit 
  buy 
  each 
  round 
  and 
  require 
  opposed 
  Intelligence + Perception / Gambling rolls, with the 
  lowest roll dropping out of the game. There are six 
  players and the winner is whoever wins the final round 
  and gets the pot of 100 credits. Please note that this is 
  a very simplified system to represent the poker game 
  and GMs are more than welcome to expand upon 
  them, or even actually play a hand of poker with their 
  players if they feel it would add to the enjoyment and 
  know how to play the game. 
   
  Generally, the whole evening is a great chance for 
  everyone to let there hair down and relax. Should the 
  PCs start a bar fight, they will soon find themselves in 
  trouble, as the barman, Harry McKay, pulls out a 
  shotgun from under the counter and the doorman, 
  Freddy Roark, starts banging heads. Together they will 
  soon convince folk to settle down, and if the PCs 
  refuse, someone will go get the sheriff and the trouble 
  makers will get to spend the night in a cell. Ideally this 
  situation should be a last resort as you, the GM, will 
  have to make some adjustments to the next scene if 
  this was the case. 
   
  Once the PCs are ready to retire, their rooms are up 
  on the second floor and the barman provides them 
  with their keys. They have been given two of the luxury 
  double rooms and as many of the standard twin rooms 
  as is necessary to accommodate the crew. For a more 
  detailed description of Blake’s Tavern and the 
  important NPCs, I suggest reading the Emerald River 
  town setting sourcebook. 
   
  Once the PCs have settled down for the night, the 
  scene is over and you may award one to three plot 
  points for interesting and fun role-playing. 
   
   
  Scene 2: Innocent Abduction 
   
  “There are folks in the ‘Verse that ply their trade in the 
  trading of other folk. What I’m saying here is that there 
  are men and women out there buy and sell folk to 
  those that can afford them, and those poor folk don’t 
  have much say in the matter. Even worse, some of 
  these folk get taken to order, to meet the specs as 
  presented by the buyer. Yep, there is a slave market 
  out there, as much as the Alliance tries to say there 
  ‘aint, an’ it’s even out there on the Core…just you 
  won’t see no fancy folk havin’ theirs taken. Most slavin’ 
  takes place out on the Rim and at times on the Border 
  Worlds, so all in all, what I’m saying is just always 
  keep an eye open, and be careful not to spend too 
  much time alone.” 
  - Jackson ‘Cowboy’ Brown, veteran pilot, Eavesdown 
  Docks, Persephone. 
  
   
  6 
  The next scene begins once the PCs have woken up 
  and are ready to leave Blake’s Tavern. Hopefully this 
  will be early in the morning, but could take place at 
  any time of day. As Emerald River is predominantly a 
  farming town, many of its residents spend their day 
  working out in the fields or on the ranches, so the 
  town square tends to be somewhat quiet at most 
  times. 
  As the PCs leave Blake’s, ready to go back to their 
  ship, or look for more work, they walk right into a 
  dangerous encounter. Read: 
   
  It had been a good night and the beds at Blake’s 
  had indeed been very comfortable, but like most 
  good things, it had to come to an end. Now it’s 
  time to get back to the ship, sort out your next job 
  and keep flying. 
  As you step out into the morning light, adjusting 
  your eyes, your attention is drawn immediately to 
  the two very familiar looking hover mules resting 
  outside the general store. Standing around them, 
  looking alert and armed with rifles are three men 
  and one woman and it dawns on you that 
  something isn’t quite right. 
  The morning air is abruptly broken by the sound 
  of gunfire and a scream that is quickly muffled. 
  As you look on, your relaxed feeling rapidly starts 
  to fade away as two men rush out of the store 
  carrying a wriggling young woman with a cover 
  thrown over her head. They toss the woman onto 
  the first hover mule, then jump onto its sides as it 
  quickly accelerates forward and away from the 
  store. 
   
  Before the PCs can react, the hover mule accelerates 
  away and quickly vanishes up the northern road. 
  What happens next will very much depend on how 
  the characters decide to act in response to this 
  daylight abduction. 
   
  If the PCs decide to try and rescue the woman, 
  rushing towards the remaining hover mule or drawing 
  weapons, they will be attacked by the four armed 
  people outside, and will have to fight for their lives. 
   
  If the PCs keep back or step back inside Blake’s to 
  watch, they will see some townsfolk approach the 
  store and get gunned down. If they choose get 
  involved at this point, they will once again be in the 
  fight. 
   
  If the PCs keep waiting, then eventually the Sheriff 
  and his deputies will appear and a gunfight between 
  them and the kidnappers will take place. If the PCs 
  get involved now, they will find it easier as they have 
  the local lawmen distracting the kidnappers. 
   
  If the kidnappers survive without the PCs getting 
  involved for more than five minutes, those that are 
  still able, will jump into the remaining hover mule and 
  head off out of town at high speed, down the eastern 
  road, after a lap of the square to turn around. 
   
  Should the PCs get involved in the fight at any point, 
  they will face the three men and one woman outside, 
  around the hover mule, plus the mule’s driver. There is 
  one more man inside the store, but he is wounded (on 
  half his wound level and with a -2 Step attribute 
  penalty). These kidnappers are all Golden Mantis 
  Tong foot soldiers. 
   
  The four kidnappers outside the mule are armed with 
  standard rifles, pistols and knives, but the driver has 
  an SMG. The last of the kidnappers, the wounded man 
  has a machine pistol (as standard pistol, but capable 
  of burst fire and with a 20 round magazine). 
  They will all fight to the death if they have to, but will 
  try and escape if over half their number has been 
  subdued or killed. 
   
  The veranda around Blake’s Tavern and the General 
  Store has enough support posts to provide light cover 
  (+4 Difficulty to target number) and depending on the 
  direction of the attacker, the hover mule can provide 
  the Tong with up to medium cover (+6 Difficulty to 
  target number). 
  If the PCs get involved straight away, the local lawmen 
  will come to their aid one minute later (20 turns). 
  If the PCs waited until the local lawmen get involved, 
  only half of the Tong will be able to focus on them and 
  they will only fight for two turns before deciding to try 
  and escape, given that it’s not good to be caught in a 
  cross fire. 
   
  Once they have overpowered the Tong, the PCs could 
  decide to try and give chase in the other hover mule, 
  or a hover mule of their own, but by this time the first 
  mule will have already gained a good head start. 
  By all means let the PCs jump into the hover mule and 
  speed off up the northern road, but they will not be 
  able to catch up. One way to ensure this is to have 
  their mule suddenly begin to lose power and all sorts 
  of warning lights to appear on the control panel. It 
  would seem that during the shootout, the mule took 
  some hits and something critical was damaged. 
   
  Once the fight is over, all of the Tong should be dead 
  or unconscious, bar those that escaped on the first 
  hover mule. 
   
  The scene ends with the fight over and the Tong ship 
  taking off from the northern end of Emerald River with 
  its victim on board. No matter how quickly the PCs or 
  townsfolk may have thought of it, land locking the 
  Tang Lang does not seem to work. The Tong disabled 
  the land lock transmitter during the night to make sure 
  it would not stop them. Read: 
   
  While you are still unsure why, the kidnappers put 
  up a hard fight to make sure that you couldn’t go 
  after the woman that was abducted. Despite all 
  
   
  7 
  your attempts, they just had too much of a lead, a 
  situation that is only further enforced as their 
  ship, Tang Lang, sweeps over town and flies up 
  hard and fast into the clouds. The ship is no 
  doubt heading off world, and in a hurry, but as to 
  where they’re heading is anyone’s guess. If you 
  were to follow after them, the only chance you’d 
  have is to find out where they may be going, 
  possibly from the folks at the store or any 
  survivors among the kidnappers. 
   
  With the fight and possible chase over, all that is left 
  is for the PCs to head to the scene of the abduction, 
  the Emerald River General Store and find out what 
  happened. If your crew are the type that may not go 
  to the scene, even if just out of curiosity, the Sheriff 
  will round up anyone who was involved or a witness, 
  so that he can determine exactly what happened, this 
  includes the PCs. The Sheriff will also ask if anyone 
  with medical skills can help the wounded. 
   
  Depending on how the scene went, each character 
  should now be awarded with two to four plot points, 
  as well as one advancement point each if they rushed 
  to help straight away. 
    
    
  Scene 3: a Family’s Plight 
   
  “Law in the ‘Verse is a wonderful thing and something 
  the Alliance is right proud of, and rightly so. Trouble 
  is, the Law is much like the government, its influence 
  and benefits can be felt without a doubt on the Core, 
  but it starts to get a little thin by the time you get out 
  to the Rim. You go report a crime on the Core, you 
  can expect the Feds to be showing up real quick like 
  and dealin’ with the poor unfortunate who took to 
  breakin’ into your home. Now out on the Border 
  Worlds, this isn’t quite the case unless you’re in one 
  of them flashy cities with all the rich folks. Out in the 
  country towns, you gotta rely on your sheriff to deal 
  with the situation at hand and then go reporting the 
  crime if it heads outta town. Out on the Rim, well, 
  there you can be lucky if you even have a sheriff. 
  Anyway, back to that crime reporting, this is where it 
  all falls down for us Border folk, as when those that 
  have taken to crime decide to leave your world with 
  something of value, then you got to be letting the 
  Feds know about it, so they can send out the word. 
  Trouble is, sending out that word has to go through all 
  sorts o’ hoops before it finally gets aired and that 
  takes time. So if those Feds don’t think your problem 
  is all that important, then it can take days or weeks 
  before they let all their stations know about it. That’d 
  be why so many people as can afford it, end up 
  employing Bounty Hunters or freelancers to get the 
  job done instead, not that I’m all that happy ‘bout that, 
  just the way it is.” 
  - Sheriff Blaine Durham, Emerald River, Santo 
   
  The scene at the General Store is as to be expected, 
  given the big shootout. There are spent bullet casings, 
  dead and wounded folk and a lot of spilled blood. 
  Inside the store, there are signs of a struggle and the 
  family members that run the store, the Sun family, are 
  all there. The father and eldest son are both lying 
  unconscious on the floor, a bullet wound in the son’s 
  side, while the mother is crouched down by the 
  counter and comforting her younger son, tears running 
  down her cheeks. 
   
  By this time, sheriff Durham and his deputies will be at 
  the scene, trying to find out exactly what took place 
  and making sure that everything is okay, but he will 
  gladly accept any help from the PCs, especially if any 
  of them have any medical skills to tend to the wounded 
  until the local doctor arrives. Also, as is often the case, 
  some of the townsfolk have started to crowd around 
  outside, in part to see if everyone is okay and in part 
  out of curiosity to have something to talk about. 
   
  Once everything has been cleared up and the 
  wounded recover consciousness, the PCs can talk to 
  the family and any surviving Tong. 
  Shortly after the PCs have come to investigate the 
  store, Sun Cai, the father of the abducted woman, 
  regains consciousness. Read: 
   
  One of the unconscious men, an old man, slowly 
  seems to come around, recovering from a heavy 
  blow to the head, before sitting bolt upright and 
  looking around frantically, panic in his eyes. 
  “Mei! Where is Mei? No…they took her, those Ung 
  Jeong Jia Ching Jien Soh1…Rung Tse Fwo Tzoo 
  Boa Yo Wuo Muhn2. Why did they have to take 
  her?” With this, his body is wracked by sobbing 
  cries. 
  It takes time for the old man to compose himself 
  and look around at those that have gathered, 
  before his eyes fall upon you, his gaze intense. 
  “You could save her, you could bring her back. I 
  know that you came here yesterday, in a ship. I 
  implore you; please bring my sweet Mei back to 
  me.” His voice is pleading and you feel all eyes in 
  the room looking your way as he asks. 
   
  It should be obvious to the PCs that the old man, Sun 
  Cai, has just asked them to go after the Tong and 
  recover the abducted woman, his daughter, Sun Mei. 
  Of course, at this time, they will unaware that they are 
  dealing with a Tong, or where they will have to go to 
  find the girl, so there will be some questions in need of 
  answering. 
   
  Hopefully, the PCs will pursue this of their own accord 
  and start to ask around. 
  If it looks as if the PCs don’t really have any interest, 
  the sheriff will mention that it would be a real kindness 
                                                     
  1 “Filthy fornicators of livestock” 
  2 “Merciful Buddha protect us” 
  
   
  8 
  if any folk who so happened to own a ship would take 
  it upon themselves to go find the girl. They will also 
  feel the pressure of many watchful eyes form the 
  crowd looking to see if anyone will offer to do the right 
  thing and offer to save the innocent girl. 
   
  If the PCs still look as if they don’t really care, unless 
  credits are involved, then Owen Blake, being the 
  moneyed community man he is, will step out from the 
  crowd of people that have just heard the old mans 
  words and will offer to pay the PCs to track down the 
  girl and bring her back home. He will pay their travel 
  expenses; with the promise of an additional 500 credit 
  reward upon her safe return. Of course this will only 
  happen if they do not show any interest of their own. 
   
  The information available to the PCs can come from 
  two sources, any captured Tong, or the Sun family 
  themselves, and both of these are explained in the 
  following: 
   
  The Sun Family - Cai, the father and head of the Sun 
  family will freely give the following information, but 
  ask that they have the discussion in private: 
  • 
  The people that just attacked his store and 
  abducted his daughter are members of the 
  Golden Mantis Tong and the person in charge 
  called himself Lei Wu. 
  • 
  They arrived in his store that morning and 
  demanded to see him and his family, threatening 
  the lives of his wife, Hua, and his youngest son, 
  Jian, who’d been restocking the shelves. 
  • 
  Both Yi, his eldest son, and Cai had tried to free 
  his family, but the Tong had been prepared and 
  put Cai out with stun batons, while Yi was shot. 
  • 
  They will be heading for Persephone, as that is 
  where they are based. 
  • 
  His family has had past problems with the 
  Golden Mantis. 
  • 
  His daughter, Sun Mei, is a very pretty young 21 
  years old woman and they are worried for her 
  safely and virtue. 
  • 
  They can provide a picture of her and it doesn’t 
  take a professional eye to see that she is very 
  beautiful (see player handouts). 
   
  There is more information that Cai can provide the 
  PCs, but this is what he gives freely. If during their 
  conversation, any PCs succeed at a HARD (11) 
  Alertness + Perception / Empathy or Perception / 
  Intuition roll will be aware that Cai is not telling them 
  everything, but seems to be holding back. 
  If they were successful and approach Cai about the 
  fact he is holding back information that may be 
  important, he will, at first deny it. If they succeed with 
  an AVERAGE (7) Willpower + Influence / Persuasion 
  or threaten that they will not help unless he tells them, 
  Cai will also admit the following: 
  • 
  The Sun family is actually part of the Golden 
  Mantis Tong due to family loyalties, though they 
  do not often have to involve themselves. 
  • 
  The Tong members that came to them today said 
  something about taking Mei as a guarantee to 
  ensure the Sun family would not involve 
  themselves in current affairs. This is because 
  relatives of the Sun family line had once 
  controlled the Golden Mantis Tong. 
  • 
  It is because of this family connection to the Tong 
  that he is certain that they will be heading to 
  Persephone, though he has never been there 
  and cannot tell them exactly where, but feels it 
  will not be far from the Eavesdown Docks. 
  • 
  He does not believe that the Tong captors intend 
  to harm Mei, but their future intentions for her will 
  certainly not be pleasant. 
   
  No matter how perceptive or persuasive the PCs 
  where, one fact is certain, and that is that Sun Cai has 
  no idea why the Tong actually came and took his 
  daughter. 
   
  Surviving Tong member – Should any of the Tong 
  have been taken alive, this gives the PCs a chance to 
  interrogate them as to who they are and why they 
  abducted Sun Mei. It is assumed they get the chance 
  to question the Tong while the sheriff is busy clearing 
  the scene and organizing his deputies. 
   
  Convincing the Tong member to tell anything more 
  than the fact they are part of the Golden Mantis Tong 
  will require a HARD Complex Action (55) using 
  Willpower + Discipline / Interrogation or Influence / 
  Interrogation roll, where every roll takes two minutes 
  of time. The PCs may indirectly assist one another 
  with this task. The threat of physical harm will not 
  have any effect, but actually inflicting harm will grant a 
  +1 step Skill bonus on the roll. Torturing is however 
  illegal, not to mention immoral, and the Tong survivor 
  should not be harmed in any way if sheriff Durham or 
  one of his deputies are nearby. 
   
  You, the GM, must role-play the Tong member, who 
  will remain silent or only give his name, Tan Peng, 
  and Golden Mantis Tong affiliation, until the Difficulty 
  Threshold has been reached or exceeded. A Botch at 
  any time increases the Difficulty Threshold to 
  FORMIDABLE (75), as the Tong member holds out 
  that bit longer. 
  Once broken, the Tong survivor will provide all of the 
  following information: 
  • 
  Their ship, Tang Lang, is heading to Persephone 
  and will land at Eavesdown docks. 
  • 
  They are not sure exactly where the girl will be 
  taken, but their leader said something about a 
  warehouse. 
  • 
  Their team leader is called Lei Wu, but he is only 
  a lieutenant in the organization. 
  • 
  As far as they are aware, the girl was abducted 
  because she is a blood relation to a rival captain 
  and they wanted a suitable hostage. 
  • 
  The old boss of the Golden Mantis recently died, 
  and since then there has been a power struggle 
  
   
  9 
  between his two most influential captains to take 
  control. 
  • 
  His boss, and in their words, the rightful heir to 
  the Golden Mantis, is called Yu Shu. 
  • 
  Someone outside the Golden Mantis recently 
  sponsored his boss with a large some of money 
  to help finance this job. 
  • 
  They spent the previous night in one of the 
  houses on the eastern edge of town, one that 
  has been up for sale. 
  • 
  They also disabled the Land Lock transmitter 
  overnight, to make sure that it would not 
  become a problem. 
   
  This is all of the information that is available, from 
  either Sun Cai or the Tong survivor, so the PCs have 
  to decide if they are still going to help or not. 
  Both Cai and his wife Hua will plead for the PCs to 
  help them and rescue their daughter, who is an 
  innocent girl and did not deserve to be taken. 
   
  Again, if the PCs look to say no and Owen has not 
  already stepped up, he will offer to reward them, but 
  at the end of the day, any big damn heroes should 
  know that going after the girl is the right thing to do. 
  What will be pointed out by the Sun Family and sheriff 
  Durham is that time is of the essence and that with 
  every passing minute, the lead the Tong have on 
  them increases. 
   
  Sheriff Durham will take any surviving Tong to the jail 
  and lock them up, as well as confiscating any 
  weapons they had on them, as evidence, until the 
  Feds can come and collect them. The PCs can keep 
  any weapons they managed to gather off bodies 
  before the sheriff arrived, if they wish, with the 
  exception of the rifles, which are a little too obvious 
  not to be noticed. If the PCs have agreed to help 
  rescue the daughter, it is only an AVERAGE (7) 
  Willpower + Influence / Persuasion roll to convince 
  the locals to let them keep the remaining large hover 
  mule, generally with the story that it will help them 
  chase the Tong on Persephone. 
  With any luck, the PCs go to their ship and set a 
  course for Persephone and Eavesdown Docks. 
   
  Once the scene is over, you may reward each PC 
  with one to three plot points, depending on how they 
  dealt with the situation. If the PCs agreed to rescue 
  the daughter without any prompting from the sheriff or 
  Owen Blake, they should also be awarded with one 
  advancement point each.  
    
    
  ACT 2 
   
  Scene 1: Bound for Persephone 
   
  “Eavesdown docks, now there’s a barrel of fun. I 
  remember my first time there with a ship of my own 
  and I was sure glad I’d hired myself a half decent pilot 
  for the run. You see, back then, I’d just got the Liberty 
  in shape and was heading to Eavesdown to get myself 
  a crew, but pretty much only knew the basics of flight. 
  Anyway, I stood there looking out of bridge and stared 
  in wonder at all those ships, constantly coming and 
  going, this way and that, it was like something living. I 
  heard traffic control give some instructions to my pilot 
  and clearing us for a landing zone, but that didn’t make 
  it any the less confusing. Big place that spaceport and 
  I know why they say it’s not for the inexperienced or 
  faint hearted and that’s just the airspace. As for once 
  you’re down on the ground and stepping off your cargo 
  ramp, well that’s a different story altogether my friend.” 
  - Captain Alexander ‘Chance’ Chancer-Dumont, New 
  Vegas, Santo 
   
  The chase is on and in this scene the PCs are in their 
  ship and on the short journey to Persephone, hoping 
  to catch up with the Golden Mantis Tong before 
  anything terrible happens to Sun Mei. 
  Persephone is not that far from Santo and the pilot can 
  make an AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Pilot / 
  Astrogation roll to know it is a short 250 hour trip for a 
  Speed Class of 1 vessel, so for most ships it’ll only 
  take a day or two to get there. Read: 
   
  You are finally away and chasing the tail of the 
  Tong ship, steadily leaving the beautiful world of 
  Santo behind in the wake of your pulse trail and 
  heading as fast as you can for Persephone. The 
  course is plotted and by all accounts it’ll take you 
  a day or so to get there, which by all accounts may 
  not seem like much, but for that poor girl, Sun Mei, 
  it could be a lifetime. 
  From what you have been told by the Sun family, 
  they are not of the opinion that the Golden Mantis 
  Tong has any intention to harm her, but their plans 
  certainly cannot be to her benefit. 
  The biggest problem you face will be finding the 
  Tong ship, Tang Lang, once you land at 
  Eavesdown Docks, which are both chaotic and 
  vast, and then finding the Tong themselves. 
  Guess it’s time to call up some old friends and 
  start looking. 
   
  Pretty much all that the PCs can do now is to try and 
  find out as much as they can about the Golden Mantis 
  Tong and possibly getting the heads up as to where 
  the Tang Lang lands at Eavesdown. 
  While the Cortex will certainly include some general 
  information and warnings about Tong gangs in 
  general, it will not provide and specific information on 
  the Golden Mantis. 
  To find out anything about the Golden Mantis, they will 
  have to call up friends and allies and see if they can 
  give them anything of use. 
   
  
   
  10 
  If any of the crew has the Friends in Low Places 
  asset, they can spend plot points to obtain the 
  information; the more they spend, the more they’ll 
  get. The following information is available: 
   
  • 
  1 plot point – The Golden Mantis Tong has 
  its power base on Persephone, in and around 
  the 
  Eavesdown 
  docks, 
  mostly 
  in 
  the 
  warehouse districts. 
  • 
  2 plot points - The old boss of the Golden 
  Mantis recently died, and since then there 
  has been a power struggle between his two 
  most influential captains to take control. 
  • 
  3 plot points – The boss of one side of the 
  conflict is a woman by the name of Bai Lian 
  and the other is a man by the name of Yu 
  Shu. 
  • 
  4 plot points – For a long time, the Sun 
  family ruled the Tong and Bai Lian is a blood 
  relative of that line. She is the more stable of 
  the two bosses and more likely to talk to 
  outsiders. To arrange a meeting, you just 
  need to put word on the street that you are 
  looking for her and someone will find you or 
  point you in the right direction. 
  • 
  5 plot points – If you want to arrange a 
  meeting with Yu Shu, you need to put the 
  word out in the south docks area or the 
  warehouse district, but you better be careful 
  to watch your back, they’re not so keen on 
  outsiders unless a lot of money is involved. 
   
  That is all that can be gathered through use of the 
  asset. Alternatively, if none of the PCs have this 
  asset, or do not wish to use it, this information can be 
  gathered by talking to any contacts they may have on 
  Persephone. If the PCs want to ensure they have a 
  contact that knows about the Golden Mantis Tong, 
  they can spend 4 plot points to influence the story in 
  their favor. 
  Once they are in touch with their contact, they can 
  question them for information; this requires a 
  Willpower + Influence / Persuasion roll. The difficulty 
  starts at EASY (3), with each additional piece of 
  information increasing the difficulty by one step. Each 
  step of information is the same as above, with the plot 
  points spent being replaced by the level of difficulty; 
  for example, a HARD (11) roll will grant them with 3 
  plot points worth of information from the list above. 
   
  Another option is that the PCs may actually already 
  know about the Golden Mantis Tong, due to time 
  spent on the street and their understanding of the 
  culture or an actual connection to another Tong clan. 
  Any PC with the Streetwise specialty can make an 
  AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Covert / Streetwise or 
  Influence / Streetwise roll to recall the information. 
  Again, for each difficulty level step, they gain another 
  piece of information; for example, a HARD (11) roll 
  will grant them with 2 plot points worth of information 
  from the list above. 
  If the PC is part of another Tong Clan, and to 
  represents the way that the various Tong clans often 
  keep a close eye on the affairs of their rivals, they may 
  make an EASY (3) Intelligence + Knowledge / Culture 
  or Knowledge / Family roll instead. Again, for each 
  difficulty level step, they gain another piece of 
  information; for example, a HARD (11) roll will grant 
  them with 3 plot points worth of information from the 
  list above. 
   
  Of course, the crew may attempt to gather the 
  information from all of these sources and therefore be 
  able to confirm the information. A botch on any attempt 
  means that they can find no information and raise the 
  difficulty of any further attempts by one step. 
   
  Next up, the PCs may wish to find out where the Tang 
  Lang will be landing, or has landed and maybe find out 
  anything else they can dig up relating to the ship. 
  Obviously, they can initially ask any of their 
  Persephone contacts to keep an eye and let them 
  know, but no contact will actually get involved to the 
  point where they try and stop the Tong from leaving 
  the ship and they will loose them if they try and follow 
  after them. 
  It is down to you as the GM as to whether any of the 
  PCs contacts find out where the Tang Lang has 
  landed and contacts them about it. 
   
  If the PCs want to be more directly involved, they can 
  try to find out for themselves. If any of the PCs has the 
  Friends in High Places asset, they can use this to get 
  docking information and landing permissions for 
  Eavesdown Docks, but obviously can only be done 
  close to their arrival at Persephone (within ten hours of 
  estimated time of arrival). Gaining this information 
  requires 3 plot points to be spent and it will take 1d4 + 
  2 hours before their contact is able to retrieve and 
  supply the data they require. After this time they told 
  exactly where and when the Tang Lang landed (see 
  Act 2, Scene 2), as well as who the ship is registered 
  to. The registered owner of the ship is a small haulage 
  company, 
  Jade 
  Dragon 
  Interplanetary, 
  in 
  the 
  warehouse district and the Captain is listed as Lei Wu. 
   
  If none of the PCs have this asset, or do not wish to 
  use it, then there are a couple of other ways of gaining 
  the information. In both cases, the information can only 
  be obtained when the PCs are close to Persephone. 
   
  The first method to gather the data as to where the 
  Tang Lang has landed would be to get access to the 
  Eavesdown Docks traffic control records. This will 
  require a dedicated Cortex terminal and some fancy 
  computer skills. To access the traffic control computer 
  via a remote link requires a FORMIDABLE (15) 
  Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking roll. 
  Once the hacker has got the link, they then have to 
  find the correct data files, which requires a HARD (11) 
  Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking or 
  Computer Operations roll. Now that they have the files, 
  
   
  11 
  they need to bypass the security and encryption to 
  finally 
  get 
  the 
  data, 
  this 
  requires 
  another 
  FORMIDABLE 
  (15) 
  Intelligence 
  + 
  Technical 
  Engineering / Hacking roll. After this, the hacker will 
  now have the information that is quoted above, but 
  they still need to log off the system undetected. This 
  requires a HARD (11) Intelligence + Technical 
  Engineering / Hacking roll to break the connection 
  without alerting any security programs. It takes 3d10 
  + 5 minutes to find the correct data files. 
   
  A failure at any time increases the difficulty of any 
  further rolls by one step, as security gets suspicious, 
  while a botch means that security has been alerted 
  and their connection is terminated. Should the 
  attempt to log off result in a Botch, security will 
  unsuccessfully attempt to track the source of the 
  signal, but they will alert the Feds that a breach took 
  place and provide them with details of the information 
  that was accessed. This will have an impact on the 
  next scene. 
   
  The second option risks being fined by the Feds and 
  a visit by Persephone’s customs officers upon 
  landing, not to mention some fancy flying and this can 
  only be attempted as their ship is coming in to land at 
  the docks. 
   
  Firstly, the PCs have to wait until they have been 
  given clearance to land and assigned a docking 
  location, but instead of taking the flight path they have 
  been issued, they could attempt a fly-past of the 
  docks around and close to the warehouse district, to 
  see if they can spot the Tang Lang. Obviously, this is 
  not something that the port authorities take kindly too 
  and given the level of traffic at Eavesdown docks, it 
  could be an incredibly dangerous thing to do and 
  possibly even result in a collision. Their reason for the 
  fly-past is that due to how busy the docks are, there is 
  no way of spotting the ship by following their flight 
  path and as the Tang Lang has landed and powered 
  down, she can not be traced with sensors without her 
  exact transponder codes, something the PCs do not 
  have. 
   
  To safely attempt the fly-past in the crowded airspace 
  above Eavesdown Docks requires a HARD (11) 
  Ship’s Agility + Pilot / Appropriate Specialty roll, while 
  spotting the Tang Lang herself requires a HARD (11) 
  Alertness + Perception / Sight roll. Should both rolls 
  succeed, the crew survives the maneuver and find 
  out where the Tang Lang is docked, though they do 
  not get the details of ownership.  
  If Pilot fails their piloting roll, they end up in a near 
  miss with a large transport ship and have to take 
  evasive action, which increases the difficulty to spot 
  the Tang Lang by two steps. Anyone not seated or 
  strapped in must succeed at a HARD (11) Agility + 
  Athletics / Appropriate Specialty roll to avoid being 
  thrown around the ship. If they fail, they take 1d6 
  points of stun damage from the various cuts and 
  bruises inflicted. 
   
  Should the pilot Botch the roll, then the near miss 
  becomes a collision instead and the PCs are in big 
  trouble. To establish the level of damage as their ship 
  scrapes against the hull of a large transport vessel, 
  their pilot must make a HARD (11) Alertness + Pilot / 
  Appropriate Specialty roll. Success inflicts 1d6 points 
  of basic damage to their ship, while a failure indicates 
  1d6 + 1 points of basic damage for each point by 
  which they failed their roll. A Botch here means that 
  their ship has sustained critical damage and crashes 
  down into the docks, going up in flames, as well as 
  leaving a damaged heavy freighter limping away to 
  come down hard elsewhere. All in all, it’s a scene that 
  makes the evening news. 
  Any crew that are not strapped down as the ship’s 
  collide, must make a FORMIDABLE (15) Agility + 
  Athletics / Appropriate Specialty roll to avoid being 
  thrown against hull plating or the deck of the ship. If 
  they fail, they take 2d6 points of basic damage from 
  the impact. 
   
  No matter the outcome of the fly-past, the crew will 
  find themselves in trouble with the authorities, and 
  they will be waiting to meet them when they eventually 
  land. Exactly how the situation plays out will depend 
  on how successful their fly-past was. The Alliance 
  Customs team consists of one ranking officer, two 
  technical engineers (who search the ship, if so 
  required) and four armed support personnel. 
  • 
  If the initial piloting roll was successful and 
  there was no near miss or collision, the 
  Alliance 
  Customs 
  officers 
  will 
  only 
  be 
  annoyed. In this case, they will demand to see 
  the ship’s papers, will have a stern word with 
  the Captain about pulling this sort of stunt and 
  impose a fine of 50 credits, as well as a black 
  mark on the Pilot’s license. If the pilot had 
  achieved an extraordinary success, the crew 
  manages to avoid the fine, as it is clear they 
  were in control. This holds the crew up for 
  1d10 + 10 minutes while the ranking officer 
  chastises the crew for their reckless actions. 
  • 
  If there was a near miss over the docks, but 
  the pilot managed to avoid a collision, the 
  Alliance Customs officers are furious, but 
  reasonable. In this case, they will demand to 
  see the ship’s papers, conduct a detailed 
  search of the ship, will have sterns word with 
  the Captain and crew about pulling this sort of 
  stunt and impose a fine of 100 credits, as well 
  warning the Pilot that if they try anything like 
  this again, they may have their license 
  revoked. Should the customs team find 
  anything illegal on the ship, it will be 
  confiscated and the owner will be fined 10 to 
  100 credits, depending on the nature of the 
  item; better hope those automatic weapons 
  and Fedband scanners are well hidden. This 
  
   
  12 
  holds the crew up for 1d4 + 1 hours, as they 
  are required to remain on the ship during the 
  search. 
  • 
  If there was a collision, but no actual crash, 
  then the Alliance welcoming party is more 
  substantial. The PCs ship is immediately land 
  locked as it touches down and is met by the 
  Alliance Customs team plus a twelve man 
  squad of Alliance troops. Their ship is 
  boarded and they will demand to see the 
  ship’s papers, conduct an extremely detailed 
  inspection of the ship, will have stern words 
  with the Captain and crew about pulling this 
  sort of stunt and impose a fine of 500 credits, 
  as well warning the Pilot that if they try 
  anything like this again, they will have their 
  license revoked. Should the customs teams 
  find anything illegal on the ship, it will be 
  confiscated and the owner will be fined 10 to 
  100 credits or possibly taken away and 
  imprisoned, pending a trial. It all depends on 
  the exact nature of the items they find; so you 
  better hope anything the Alliance considers 
  particularly illegal to have in your possession 
  is very well hidden. This holds the crew up for 
  2d4 + 2 hours, as they are required to remain 
  on the ship during the inspection. 
  • 
  If the PCs were unfortunate enough to crash 
  their ship, they are met by rescue crews who 
  pull them to safety. The remains of their ship 
  is impounded and the pilot has their license 
  revoked. If the crew does not manage to get 
  away during the initial chaos, they are 
  arrested 
  and 
  imprisoned 
  for 
  reckless 
  endangerment of lives and the destruction of 
  government property (serving a term of five to 
  eight years). To escape in the confusion after 
  they are rescued requires an AVERAGE (7) 
  Agility + Covert / Appropriate Specialty roll, 
  but the only possessions they have with them 
  are those items they were carrying on their 
  person at the time of the crash, as well as 
  leaving them all with a minor Branded 
  (Alliance) complication. 
   
  If the PCs are determined to find the Tang Lang and 
  have not already tracked her down, they can do so 
  once they land and this is covered in the next scene. 
  Finally, one way or another, the PCs touch down at 
  Eavesdown docks and are ready to disembark and 
  track down the Golden Mantis Tong and it’s time to 
  move onto the next scene, assuming they did not 
  crash and were not arrested that is. 
   
  All of the action of the last scene should reward the 
  PCs with two to five plot points each, plus if any PC 
  spent two or more plot points on Friends in High or 
  Low 
  Places, 
  that 
  person 
  also 
  receives 
  one 
  advancement point.    
   
    
  Scene 2: Chasing the Mantis 
   
  “One word the Alliance likes to toss around is ‘Unity’, 
  like its some kinda badge of honor. How humankind 
  durin' the Exodus learned to see past what made `em 
  all different and found a way to be all lovin' and carin' 
  and such. Well if we went and got all so fired unified 
  an' all, why do them Huen Dahn1 Tongs still exist? 
  Way I heard it told was the Tongs started back on 
  Earth-That-Was. Seems folk back then didn't cotton to 
  Asians for some gorram reason and used do all sort of 
  unseemly things to `em. So them Asian fellers banded 
  together to form some protective group, figurin' they 
  would be safe in numbers. Worked for awhile, but folk 
  being folk, the Tongs, got it into their heads that since 
  they was accustom livin' hidden an' all and they was 
  so good a keepin' outta sight, that they could start 
  smugglin' in others of their kind. First it was kin, then 
  anyone as could pay. Well, smugglin' folk soon drifted 
  into just plain smugglin' and next thing you know them 
  Tongs was just another den o' thieves and whores. 
  Guess things in that there Exodus weren't as all rosy 
  as they claim and them Tongs survived the trip, or hell, 
  mayhap they started new here, I ain't got the learnin' to 
  know. All I do ken is if you ain't o' Asian stock, you ain't 
  welcome with ‘em, unless you go an’ crack the code to 
  makin' friends with `em and they invite ya’ll in. They is 
  still out to protecting their own and if you cross one, 
  you done gone and crossed `em all.” 
  – Pops McMurty, itinerant spacer and long time Rim 
  resident 
   
  The PCs are now docked at Eavesdown Docks and 
  ready to start chasing the Golden Mantis Tong. Now 
  they may have some information that can help, then 
  again, they may not.  
   
  Port fees at Eavesdown Docks are set at a fixed 2 
  credit landing charge, plus 1 credit per 100 tons of ship 
  per week, to a maximum of 50 credits per week. This 
  charge includes administration costs, power hook-up, 
  septic flush and fresh water fill. Fuel must be 
  purchased separately, but it is cheaper here than at 
  many other docks, due to fierce competition among 
  vendors, so fuel is charged at 4 credits per ton. 
   
  Once port fees have been deducted and any matters 
  with Alliance Customs have been resolved from scene 
  one, the crew can leave the ship. Read: 
   
  Stepping down off the ramp of your ship, the 
  chaotic throng of life that is Eavesdown Docks 
  stands before you. There is a vibrancy of color 
  from the variety of garb worn by the many folk of 
  many ethnicities and from the multitude of market 
  canopies that border the landing bays. Your other 
  senses are assaulted by the complex mixture of 
  smells from cooking food to engine oils to human 
                                                     
  1 “Bastard, jerk” 
  
   
  13 
  and animal odors, and by the cacophony of noise 
  generated by hundreds of people, animals, ships 
  and vehicles. 
  It’s a sensation that can intimidate folk that have 
  not been to the docks before, but one that would 
  be sorely missed by those that frequent them. 
  By experience you know that Eavesdown docks 
  are not a safe place for the unwary, with all 
  manner of thieves, pickpockets and organized 
  crime families doing as much business as the 
  market holders and cargo haulers. It just so 
  happens that today you are actually looking for 
  one of those very same crime families, which 
  could end in all manner of hurt unless you play it 
  real carefully. 
   
  Now it’s time for the PCs to track down the Golden 
  Mantis Tong. If the PCs do not feel that they have 
  enough information to be going on with, they can start 
  asking around. Most folk will be too frightened to help 
  when it comes to informing on a Tong, but eventually, 
  on a successful AVERAGE (7) Willpower + Covert / 
  Streetwise or Influence / Streetwise or a HARD (11) 
  Willpower + Influence / Persuasion or Discipline / 
  Intimidation roll, they will find out the ‘word on the 
  street’. If they fail the roll, they find out about the first 
  three points below, but they will also alert the Tong 
  that they have been asking questions about them. On 
  a Botched roll, the PC is unable to get any 
  information. The following information can be 
  discovered and it requires approximately an hour of 
  asking around: 
  • 
  The Golden Mantis Tong has its power base 
  in the Eavesdown docks and they can usually 
  be found in the warehouse district. 
  • 
  The old boss of the Golden Mantis recently 
  died, and since then there has been a power 
  struggle between his two most influential 
  captains to take control.  
  • 
  Getting in touch with either of the bosses 
  would probably just involve asking around for 
  them in the warehouse district. Someone will 
  come and find you; just they may not be 
  friendly. 
  • 
  The boss of one side of the conflict is a 
  woman by the name of Bai Lian and the 
  other is a guy by the name of Yu Shu. 
   
  If the PCs know where to find the Tang Lang and 
  decide to check her out, she is docked on a bay near 
  the warehouse district and some distance from where 
  they were able to land. It takes around an hour to 
  reach the Tang Lang, as much due to the crowds and 
  traffic as to the actual distance traveled.  
   
  If the PCs had not previously been able to locate the 
  Tang Lang, they can head out into the docks and 
  search for her. This requires a physical search of the 
  docks and is a HARD (55) Complex Action requiring 
  either Alertness + Perception / Search or Perception / 
  Sight to find the ship for themselves or Willpower + 
  Influence / Persuasion to convince people to point 
  them in the direction of anything that matches her 
  description. Each roll takes 20 minutes of time, but 
  eventually they will discover the correct docking bay. 
  The Tang Lang will be powered down and locked up 
  tight, with a couple of Tong keeping guard. They will 
  be hostile to anyone who approaches and give only 
  one warning to go away. If the PCs decide to fight 
  these guards, they are joined d4+2 turns later by 
  another six Tong that appear out of the nearby crowds. 
   
  If, in the previous scene, the PC hacker rolled a Botch, 
  there will be a squad of six Feds keeping an eye on 
  the Lang Tang, with backup close to hand. A 
  successful HARD (11) Alertness + Perception / Sight 
  roll before the encounter, will alert the PCs that there 
  seem to be an unusually high number of Feds in the 
  streets around the Lang Tang. This should give them 
  enough warning to know that starting any trouble 
  would be a very bad idea. 
    
  As soon as any violence breaks out, the Feds will 
  appear from the crowds and order everyone to drop 
  their weapons and cease fighting. So long as everyone 
  does as they are told and nobody has been shot, the 
  Feds will question them and eventually release them, 
  after a 50 credit fine each and the confiscation of any 
  unlicensed weapons. If the PCs had shot anybody or 
  attack the Feds, then they are going to be in a lot of 
  trouble, as they will call for their backup and fairly soon 
  the area will be swarming with armed men and 
  woman, all very much focused on the crew. They can 
  expect to be imprisoned and dealt with accordingly. 
  The PCs can, of course, choose to run and hide, so as 
  to not be stopped by the Feds in the first place, which 
  requires a successful HARD (11) Vitality or Willpower 
  + Athletics / Running roll to get away from pursuing 
  officers, or a HARD (11) Alertness + Covert / Stealth 
  roll to blend into the crowds and sneak away. 
   
  If the PCs decide to retreat at any time in their fight 
  against the Tong, assuming the Feds were not 
  involved, they are allowed to do so. Should the PCs 
  challenge and defeat the Tong guards, they can 
  question any survivors. 
   
  Getting any information out of the Tong guarding the 
  ship requires a HARD Complex Action (55) using 
  Willpower + Discipline / Interrogation or Influence / 
  Interrogation roll, where every roll costs five minutes of 
  time. The PCs may indirectly assist one another with 
  this task. The threat of physical harm will not have any 
  effect, but actually inflicting harm will grant a +1 step 
  Skill bonus on the roll. Torturing is however illegal, not 
  to mention immoral, so should be done out of sight. A 
  Botch at any time increases the Difficulty Threshold to 
  FORMIDABLE (75), as the Tong member holds out 
  that bit longer. 
  If successful, the PCs discover that their captives do 
  not have access to the Tang Lang, but the can tell 
  them that they work for Yu Shu and that he is the 
  
   
  14 
  rightful heir to the Golden Mantis Tong. No matter 
  what the PCs threaten, they will not, and cannot, tell 
  them exactly where to find him, but will let them know 
  he is somewhere in the warehouse district. 
   
  Breaking 
  into 
  the 
  Tang 
  Lang 
  requires 
  a 
  FORMIDABLE (15) Intelligence + Covert / Disable 
  Device or HEROIC (19) Intelligence + Technical 
  Engineering / Appropriate Specialty roll to bypass the 
  security to open any of the hatches or the cargo 
  ramp. A failure results in a loud alarm sounding for a 
  few minutes and the entry security increases by one 
  difficulty step, obviously, this may attract unwanted 
  attention, but this is up to you as a GM. A Botch 
  sounds the alarm, but also locks down the ship, 
  preventing any entry at all for ten minutes and also 
  increasing the required difficulty by two steps.  
   
  Getting inside the ship will not actually provide the 
  PCs with any additional information as to where Sun 
  Mei has been taken, but it could provide them with 
  the opportunity to disable the ship, should the wish to 
  make sure it won’t quickly follow them later. Disabling 
  the ship in such a way as to make sure it is not 
  quickly noticed requires a HARD (11) Intelligence + 
  Mechanical or Technical Engineering / Appropriate 
  Specialty or Intelligence + Covert / Sabotage roll. 
  They could also loot the ship, which will net them a 
  couple of standard rifles, 100 credits worth of food 
  and drink, a set of standard medical supplies and four 
  vacuum suits, but will also take around twenty 
  minutes to find. There is an outside chance that 
  particularly lawless crew of PCs may decide to steal 
  the Tang Lang, but they should bear in mind that 
  doing so means they will have to take it now and 
  loose any chance of rescuing Sun Mei. Additionally, 
  they will need to fairly quickly find someone who can 
  forge ownership papers and no matter what they try, 
  a world of trouble will soon be following them, form 
  Feds checking out the reported theft to angry Tongs 
  who want their ship back. 
   
  If the PCs ask any of the folk in there area around the 
  Tang Lang, they will easily discover that the ship 
  landed around five hours ago and that a large hover 
  mule departed soon after, heading into the heart of 
  the warehouse district. If they ask about the 
  passengers, every witness they speak to remembers 
  seeing a beautiful, but deeply saddened young 
  Chinese woman being held in the back of the hover 
  mule by two men. If they show Sun Mei’s picture to 
  whoever they are talking to, they will confirm that it 
  was indeed the same woman they saw. 
   
  One way or another, the PCs should realize by now 
  that to contact or find the Golden Mantis Tong, they 
  are going to have to enter the warehouse district and 
  ask around. 
  The PCs cannot arrange a meeting with either of the 
  Tong bosses unless they go to the warehouse district, 
  as any outside requests will be ignored. Once they 
  finally enter the district, you are ready to continue the 
  scene. Read: 
   
  The Eavesdown Docks warehouse district bears a 
  stark contrast to the port itself, as the crowded 
  throng of people and colorful market vendors are 
  replaced 
  by 
  large, 
  looming 
  buildings, 
  dark 
  alleyways and large open access roads. This is 
  where all the bulk goods to and from Persephone 
  are stored, ready for shipment out on a heavy 
  freighter or off to one of the many cities and 
  communities spread across the planet. That is not 
  to say that it is quiet, as the people and markets 
  are replaced by manual laborers, trucks, mules, 
  hovercraft and lifters. The warehouse district is 
  just as noisy, it’s just that the noise is different, 
  just as the smells. No longer do you have the 
  sweet smells of a thousand foods and spices; now 
  it is all sweat, engine oil and chemicals. 
  Somewhere in this huge expanse of colossal 
  buildings are the two factions of the Golden Mantis 
  Tong, a family at war, but one you need to find. Yet 
  one decision still remains, which side are you 
  going to approach? 
   
  The warehouse district is predominantly made up of 
  huge warehouses that store the giant cargo containers 
  hauled by heavy freighters, but there are all manner of 
  buildings to be found. There are warehouses of all 
  sizes, bars and food vendors for the workers and even 
  cheap hotels and brothels. The only real difference 
  between the businesses here and out on the docks is 
  that in the warehouse district they are cheaper, 
  seedier, dirtier and even less safe for the unwary. 
   
  To arrange a meeting with one of the warring Golden 
  Mantis bosses, the PCs will need to ask around, or 
  leave word that they are looking to meet with them. It 
  is advisable that they only ask after one of them, as 
  asking for both will have a negative impact in scene 3. 
   
  Finding a likely source to get word to the Tong 
  requires an AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Covert / 
  Streetwise or Influence / Streetwise roll. On an 
  Extraordinary Success, the PCs have actually 
  managed to find a bar that is operated by the Tong 
  faction they are looking for and it only takes one hour 
  to arrange the meeting with the boss they wish to talk 
  to. On a success, they get word to the right people and 
  it takes d4 + 1 hours to arrange a meeting, after which 
  time a dozen Tong members will arrive to escort the 
  PCs to the meeting place, which is where the next 
  scene begins. The discussions to find the right people 
  should be role-played as much as possible. A failure 
  means that the arrangements take an extra hour to 
  sort out, while on a Botch, they accidentally ask in a 
  bar run by the rival faction and will face a beating from 
  four angry Tong members, but if guns are drawn they 
  will back off and let the PCs go.  
   
  
   
  15 
  Once they have found a contact, actually arranging 
  the meeting does not require a roll, as the Tong are 
  as interested to find out who has been asking after 
  them, as the PCs are to meet the Tong boss. 
   
  Now they have the meeting arranged, we move onto 
  the next scene. The PCs should be awarded two to 
  four plot points for their actions in Chasing the Mantis. 
    
    
  Scene 3: Facing the Mantis 
   
  “I am glad you brought up the subject of Indentured 
  Servants and their rights, as it is something very dear 
  to my heart. You see, many people here on the Core 
  Worlds really have no idea what life is like for those 
  poor souls that pay debts with their lives. While it may 
  not be slavery, in many cases it is not far from it, 
  especially with unscrupulous employers. Yes, it is 
  legal to become indentured, but many of those that 
  choose this life do not realize what they are agreeing 
  to. You see, agreeing to become indentured binds 
  you to a contract, usually in agreement to pay off 
  significant debts accrued to you or your family and by 
  working off those debts without wage for a specified 
  duration of time; though the employer is expected to 
  feed, cloth and home you for that time. While this may 
  seem all very amicable, this ideal is not always a 
  reality for indentured servants. Both male and female 
  laborers can be subject to violence, occasionally even 
  resulting in death. Female indentured servants in 
  particular might be raped and/or sexually abused by 
  their masters. Cases of successful prosecution for 
  these crimes is very uncommon, as indentured 
  servants are unlikely to have access to a magistrate, 
  or to be believed by the authorities, especially out on 
  the Rim. Also, unlike paid servants or employees, 
  indentured servants tend be poorly treated, often 
  seen as second class citizens and forced to sleep 
  together in large communal bunkrooms with no 
  regard for privacy or sex. Another part of indentured 
  life is that many wealthy owners often sell on the 
  contracts of particularly skilled, attractive or hard 
  working servants to other employers and while this 
  may not change their term of servitude, it can be 
  distressing to be moved away from what is familiar 
  and possibly even a great distance from any family. 
  The work undertaken by indentured servants is often 
  in the form of hard labor, such as is the case with 
  many ‘mudders’, but can also involve employment as 
  maids, gardeners or handymen, though this type of 
  work is less common. One final, lesser form of 
  indentured service is that of the traveler who agrees 
  to work for a ship’s captain in payment of passage 
  and subsistence, though this will rarely result in the 
  drafting of a contract, relying more on the bond of a 
  man’s word. Now, the reason this is all dear to my 
  heart is that I feel it is time for these workers to have 
  some form of official representation, so their voice 
  can be heard, by way of a guild or union…” 
  - Dr Albert Hayworth, The Big Debate program, Cortex 
  channel 36  
   
  After an intense search, the crew get to meet with the 
  boss of one of the two warring factions of the Golden 
  Mantis Tong, and depending which they side they 
  chose will depend on how things play out, especially 
  as they may be unsure as to which side abducted Sun 
  Mei, unless they interrogated any Tong survivors in 
  Emerald River or the Tong guarding the Tang Lang. 
  As the PCs can meet with either boss, each will be 
  dealt with separately. Just as an advance warning, this 
  is a long and involved scene. 
   
  Meeting with the White Lotus, Bai Lian 
   
  The PCs have decided, for one reason or another, that 
  meeting with Bai Lian is the best way to go, quite 
  possibly due to the fact she is a blood relation of the 
  Sun family, and if they have all the available facts, they 
  know she wasn’t responsible for abducting Sun Mei. 
  Read: 
   
  Tracking down the Golden Mantis has taken longer 
  than you’d hoped and it is already getting dark by 
  the time a dozen members loyal to Bai Lian come 
  to escort you to the meeting. 
  They are polite, if not friendly, and instruct you to 
  follow them and keep any weapons holstered, 
  slung or put away, and until this request is 
  honored, they refuse to go any further. 
  Once you have your weapons out of hand, you are 
  lead through a maze of alleys and down long open 
  streets until you eventually come to a stop at a 
  relatively small warehouse, somewhere to the east 
  of the district. One of the doors slides open and 
  you are escorted inside, to be greeted by a dozen 
  more armed men and women, though they do not 
  have their weapons raised. 
  The warehouse is cluttered with cargo crates of all 
  descriptions and there are two trucks at the front, 
  as well as a large hover mule that has seen some 
  heavy customization. 
  Your Tong escorts lead you to the far end of the 
  warehouse and to a metal stairwell that leads up to 
  an upper walkway and raised office area. 
  You continue up the stairs and eventually come to 
  a stop at the door to the offices, a secure and 
  armored door by all accounts, and probably not 
  the original office entryway. 
   
  At this point their escort requests that any PCs wishing 
  to meet with Bai Lian must leave their weapons 
  behind. If they refuse to give up their arms, the 
  meeting will be over and they will be escorted from the 
  building. Starting a fight is inadvisable given how 
  outnumbered they are. 
  Only the PCs that are attending the meeting have to 
  disarm, anyone who wishes to stay outside can keep 
  their weapons to hand. 
  
   
  16 
  For those PCs that agree, their weapons are placed 
  in a metal locker outside the offices and the armored 
  door is opened from the inside, enabling them to 
  enter. Only half their escorts stay with them now, as 
  the rest wait outside with the PCs that kept their 
  weapons, if any. 
   
  The first room they enter was once a large office, but 
  it has been converted to become something akin to a 
  barracks, with a number of bunks, a shower room, 
  weapon racks on the walls and a security station in 
  one corner with a bank of security monitors displaying 
  varied views form inside and outside the warehouse. 
  There is only one other door from this room, which is 
  guarded by two Tong men armed with SMG’s. The 
  Tong that have been escorting them to the meeting 
  inform the PCs that they are to enter through the door 
  and to show proper respect at all times, as Bai Lian 
  will see them now. Read: 
   
  You enter into a room that would have once been 
  a supervisor’s office, but it would be difficult to 
  tell if you had not just walked through the 
  warehouse. It is a scene of decadent opulence, 
  with fine drapes over the windows, expensive 
  tapestries on the walls depicting traditional 
  Chinese animals and scenes, a lush rug across 
  the metal floor and a large, real polished wood 
  desk in front of you. 
  Behind the desk sits a middle-aged Chinese 
  woman who is finely dressing in an expensive 
  looking and colorful silk kimono. A young woman 
  stands either side of her, both similarly dressed 
  in a silk kimono, but also holding a sheathed liuye 
  dao sabre1 in their seemingly delicate hands. 
  There is an alertness in their almond eyes that 
  suggests they are carefully watching your every 
  move. 
  There is the smell of sweet incense and perfume 
  in the air, which is pleasant and at the same time 
  intoxicating. 
  The woman behind the desk stands as you enter, 
  without any hint of emotion crossing her carefully 
  painted face, looking reminiscent of a white mask, 
  as she gives the slightest of bows. She gestures 
  to three empty chairs in front of the desk, with a 
  graceful sweep of her hand. 
  “Ni How2, please be seated. My name is Bai Lian, 
  and who is it I have the pleasure of entertaining?” 
  The woman enquires in a soft, careful voice. 
   
  Now it’s time for the PCs to role-play the meeting Bai 
  Lian. Firstly, all those in her presence should give 
  their names, least they offend her. If there are more 
  than three PCs, those that intend to do most of the 
  talking should be seated, while the others should 
  stand at the back and preferably remain quiet.  
                                                     
  1 A traditional of Chinese sword 
  2 “Greetings” 
  All of the PCs will be offered a cup of tea, which if 
  accepted will be poured with great ceremony by their 
  host, who will not talk until she has completed the task. 
  An Average (7) Intelligence + Knowledge / Culture roll 
  will ensure the PCs are warned by the GM before they 
  do anything that may be seen as an insult, unless any 
  of their characters are linked to or from a Tong, at 
  which point, they can be considered to already know 
  how to present themselves. If the PCs fail or Botch the 
  roll, they are generally unaware as to the relevant 
  customs and they will not be warned should any of 
  their actions be potentially seen as insulting. 
   
  With pleasantries out of the way, the PCs can finally 
  get down to asking their questions and they should do 
  so respectfully, without issuing demands. It would be 
  best not to have crude folk talking here. 
  Bai Lian will quietly listen to what they have to say 
  regarding Sun Mei and will respond with short, polite 
  answers until they have finished. In all likelihood, the 
  PCs will ask if she has Sun Mei or knows where she is 
  and who does have her. They can also try and use the 
  angle that Sun Mei is actually related to Bai Lian, to 
  try and gain her support. To convince Bai Lian to 
  assist them, the principle communicator of those 
  present must make a Willpower + Influence / 
  Appropriate Specialty or Willpower + Performance / 
  Oratory roll. For the difficulty of the roll, refer to the 
  following list: 
  EASY (3) – If the PCs were respectful during the 
  meeting, without making demands, did not try to 
  contact both Tong bosses and they told her all of the 
  facts. 
  AVERAGE (7) – If the PCs were respectful, but did try 
  and contact both Tong bosses or if they held back any 
  important information. 
  HARD (11) – If the PCs were respectful, but did try 
  and contact both Tong bosses and they held back any 
  important information. 
  FORMIDABLE (15) – If the PCs were disrespectful at 
  any time during the meeting, including demands, 
  threats or insults. 
  If the PCs brought up the family relationship between 
  Sun Mei and Bai Lian, they gain a +1 step Skill bonus 
  to their roll. 
   
  If the PCs should fail or Botch the roll, Bai Lian will 
  refuse to help them, because they have not shown the 
  proper respect and she will ask them to leave. If they 
  take this chance to apologize for not being respectful, 
  pleading their case that they are unaware of certain 
  customs and that they meant no offence, they get a 
  second chance and can make the roll again, at the 
  HARD (11) difficulty. Alternatively, as GM, you can rule 
  that the only way to recover the situation is to alter the 
  story with the expenditure of plot points, which in this 
  case would be in the region of 4 to 8 points. 
   
  If the PCs gain an Extraordinary success on the initial 
  roll, Bai Lian will be very impressed at how they have 
  presented themselves and once the immediate 
  
   
  17 
  situation is over, they can try and cultivate her as a 
  contact (with the potential to gain the asset Friends in 
  Low Places at a later date, should they remain in 
  touch and maintain good relations). 
   
  Should the PCs attempt to force the issue with 
  violence, then they will be attacked by a warehouse 
  full of armed Tong, and most likely be killed. As this 
  should be obvious, the GM should at least give any 
  PCs a warning to remind them that they are heavily 
  outnumbered and attacking the Tong is ill advised. 
  Should you wish to act out the fight, there are 
  currently thirty six Tong members in the building, plus 
  Bai Lian and her bodyguards. 
   
  Hopefully, the PCs will manage to gain her trust and 
  support and she will offer to help them. 
  Bai Lian will inform them that she has already made 
  enquiries of her own, since they first started asking 
  around, and can confirm that Yu Shu did indeed 
  abduct Sun Mei and believes he is holding her at his 
  headquarters. She is also annoyed, as her rival has 
  tried to use family to break her resolve. 
  She will inform the PCs that it is unlikely that they will 
  be able to negotiate Mei’s release, but they could 
  help her out and effectively kill two birds with one 
  stone. 
   
  As it turns out, Bai Lian has been preparing to end 
  the conflict over leadership of the Golden Mantis once 
  and for all. To that end, she has planned to raid her 
  rival’s HQ and ‘remove’ him, but could really do with a 
  distraction to draw the attention of his supporters. 
  If the PCs agree to be that distraction, her supporters 
  will carry out the actual raid and take control; she 
  gives her word that she will then release Sun Mei and 
  let them take her home to her family. 
  Assuming that the PCs entertain the idea of being a 
  distraction, they will most likely want to know what 
  Bai Lian has in mind before agreeing to endanger 
  themselves. 
   
  The distraction is a fairly simple one, and should 
  involve minimal danger to the PCs. All she wants 
  them to do is take a large hover mule and a regular 
  truck and have a collision right in front of the 
  warehouse that has become Yu Shu’s base of 
  operations. This should draw enough attention from 
  the guards to enable her supporters to sneak in and 
  subdue their rivals. Bai Lian insists that the fight itself 
  is a matter of honor and strictly Tong business and 
  that the PCs should not get involved except in self 
  defense. Once the raid is over, they will be called in 
  and Sun Mei will be handed over to them. 
   
  If the PCs refuse to help, Bai Lian will be 
  disappointed, but seemingly understanding. She 
  informs them that the raid is still going to take place 
  and that should they find Sun Mei, they will release 
  her. However, she does inform the PCs that she 
  expects them to remain as her guests until the raid is 
  over, just as a precaution and hopes that they 
  understand her situation. It will be obvious to the PCs 
  that this is not a request and that going against her 
  wishes is ill advised. They will have to stay at the 
  warehouse until the morning, but they will be treated 
  respectfully and provided with fresh food and drinks. 
   
  Hopefully the PCs will agree to help and they will by 
  thanked by Bai Lian for accepting their part in destiny. 
  They will be given the address of the warehouse, 
  instructions on how to get there, a time to be there and 
  presented with the two rather battered and barely 
  functional vehicles required for the distraction. 
  The raid is set to take place late that night, at a time 
  when the warehouse district is not as busy and most 
  importantly, it is dark. All the PCs have to do is drive 
  down the road towards each other and accidentally get 
  in each others way, therefore causing a crash outside 
  the Tong warehouse. 
   
  To successfully collide with one another, without 
  causing injury to the occupants, the driver of each 
  vehicle must make a HARD (11) Agility + Planetary 
  Vehicles / Appropriate Specialty roll. If both drivers are 
  successful, the vehicles collide and skid to a halt 
  outside the warehouse without any injuries to either 
  the drivers or passengers. If only one driver is 
  successful, the occupants of both vehicles must make 
  an AVERAGE (7) Get Out of Harms Way roll, which 
  represent them realizing the danger and bracing 
  themselves. If they fail this, they take d6 points of stun 
  damage. 
  If both drivers fail their roll, then the collision is far 
  more real than the PCs had intended and the 
  occupants of both vehicles must make a HARD (11) 
  Get Out of Harms Way roll, which represents bracing 
  themselves or leaping to safety. If they fail this roll, 
  they take 2d4 points of basic damage. 
  If either driver rolls a Botch, then there is nothing 
  staged about the collision, as one of the PCs 
  completely miscalculates the maneuver. Everyone 
  involved must make a HARD (11) Endurance roll to 
  determine basic damage. Additional they take a further 
  d6 points of wound damage. 
   
  No matter how successful the PCs where at avoiding 
  injury, the two vehicles crash to a halt outside the 
  warehouse and this does indeed get the attention of 
  the Tong guards who will come to investigate. They 
  will not, however, make any attempt to help the PCs; 
  neither will they attack them, unless they were 
  involved in a fight with any of Yu Shu’s men in the 
  previous scene. If this is the case, they will be 
  recognized and the Tong will level weapons at them, 
  call out choice swear words and instruct them to leave 
  the vicinity and be quick about it. 
   
  Moments later, Bai Lian and her supporters launch 
  their raid and begin to take down their rivals, including 
  the guards out front, all with apparent style and 
  finesse. 
  
   
  18 
  After around twenty minutes, the raid is over and all 
  of Yu Shu’s supporters are either subdued, dead or 
  have surrendered, and the PCs are called into the 
  warehouse to speak with the new big boss of the 
  Golden Mantis Tong. Read: 
   
  The scene inside the warehouse is one of 
  violence and very much what may be expected 
  given that only minutes before, a battle for 
  leadership just came to its swift and bloody end. 
  Despite the obvious signs of violence, there are 
  far less fatalities than you may have expected; 
  obviously Bai Lian did not want to needlessly 
  waste the lives of Tong members that would now 
  swearing loyalty to her. 
  You find Bai Lian at the far end of the warehouse, 
  now sensibly dressed for the fight, standing over 
  the body of what was once a bulky, muscular man 
  dressed in fine clothes and a jade green silk 
  jacket. It is obvious to see he was killed by a 
  single gunshot wound to the head, most likely 
  from the engraved, pearly white pistol in Bai 
  Lian’s hand. At her side are the same two women 
  you saw previously, but with disturbing streams 
  of crimson on their blades. 
  “Sheh Sheh1, my wonderful little distractions.” 
  Bai Lian states, a gleaming smile actually gracing 
  her features. 
  “I have already instructed my people to find Sun 
  Mei, so you will not have long to wait. This all 
  went rather well, don’t you think?” 
   
  Unfortunately, her words are optimistic and things 
  have not gone as well as the PCs may have hoped. 
  After some time of looking and talking to the subdued 
  Tong members, it becomes clear that Sun Mei is no 
  longer at the warehouse, and even worse, she has 
  been sold to a procurer of indentured servants, an 
  agent that works for Persephone’s Elite classes. All 
  that Bai Lian can provide is a name, that of Ms 
  Victoria Deveroux. 
   
  She gives her sincere apology that they were too late 
  and her disappointment is obvious, as it seems she 
  may actually care for her cousin. Unfortunately she 
  cannot help the PCs any further, as the influence of 
  the Golden Mantis does not extend to the streets of 
  Persephone’s capital city. On a positive note, it would 
  appear that the trade only took place that some hours 
  ago, so the trail is still warm. 
   
  For their part in meeting with Bai Lian and possibly 
  helping her to gain control of the Golden Mantis Tong, 
  each of the PCs should be rewarded with two to five 
  plot points, especially if they were always respectful 
  and agreed to act as the distraction. 
   
  With that, the scene comes to an end and it’s time for 
  the final Act, as the PCs search continues. 
                                                     
  1 “Thank you” 
  Meeting with the Jade Rat, Yu Shu 
   
  The PCs have decided, for one reason or another, that 
  meeting with Yu Shu is the best way to go, possibly as 
  they may have concluded that he is responsible for 
  abducting Sun Mei. Read: 
   
  Tracking down the Golden Mantis has taken longer 
  than you’d hoped and it is already getting dark by 
  the time a dozen members loyal to Yu Shu come to 
  escort you to the meeting. 
  They are curt and not particularly friendly. They 
  instruct you to follow them and to keep any 
  weapons holstered, slung or put away, and until 
  this request is honored, they refuse to take you 
  any further. 
  Once you have your weapons out of hand, you are 
  lead through a maze of alleys and down long open 
  streets until you eventually come to a stop at a 
  relatively small warehouse, somewhere to the east 
  of the district. One of the doors slides open and 
  you are escorted inside, to be greeted by a dozen 
  more armed men, though they do not have their 
  weapons raised. 
  The warehouse is cluttered with cargo crates of all 
  descriptions and there are two trucks at the front, 
  as well as a large hover mule that looks somewhat 
  familiar. 
  Your Tong escorts lead you to the far end of the 
  warehouse and to a metal stairwell that leads up to 
  an upper walkway and raised office area. 
  You continue up the stairs and eventually come to 
  a stop at the door to the offices, a secure and 
  armored door by all accounts, and probably not 
  the original office entryway. 
   
  At this point, their escort informs the PCs that if they 
  wish to meet with Yu Shu, they must all place their 
  weapons in a lockbox outside of the door. If they 
  refuse to give up their arms, the meeting will be over 
  and they will be escorted from the building. Starting a 
  fight is inadvisable given how outnumbered they are. 
  Assuming the PCs agree to the request, their weapons 
  are placed in a metal locker outside the offices and the 
  armored door is opened from the inside, enabling them 
  to enter. Only half their escorts stay with them now, as 
  the rest wait outside. 
   
  The first room they enter was once a large office, but it 
  has been converted to become something akin to a 
  barracks, with a number of bunks, a shower room, 
  weapon racks on the walls and a security station in 
  one corner with a bank of security monitors displaying 
  varied views form inside and outside the warehouse. 
  There is only one other door from this room, which is 
  guarded by two Tong men armed with SMG’s. The 
  Tong that have been escorting them to the meeting 
  inform the PCs that they are to enter through the door 
  and to show proper respect at all times, as Yu Shu will 
  see them now. Read: 
   
  
   
  19 
  You enter into a room that would have once been 
  a supervisor’s office, but it has been converted to 
  look every bit like a shiny corporate office, full of 
  chrome and glamour, with the focus on a large, 
  real polished wood desk in the center of the 
  room. 
  Standing behind the desk is a bulky, muscular 
  man dressed in fine clothes and a jade green silk 
  jacket; his expression is cold and calculating. 
  Beside him, off to one side of the desk, are three 
  more men, two of which are certainly bodyguards, 
  but the last is noticeably recognizable as one of 
  the men who threw Sun Mei into the hover mule 
  back at Emerald River. They are paying you close 
  attention and are no doubt ready to act at the 
  slightest provocation. 
  “I would greet you, but let it be known your 
  presence is not entirely welcome here.” The man 
  in the jade green jacket states in a stern voice. 
  “I am Yu Shu and you would do well to note that 
  your conduct here may decide your fate this 
  night, as I am not a tolerant man.” He eyes you all 
  carefully, looking for any sign of weakness.  
  “So, take a seat and tell me why you have been 
  making such a nuisance of yourself…and this had 
  better be worth my while.”  
   
  Now it’s time for the PCs to role-play the meeting Yu 
  Shu. He does not seem to care whether the PCs 
  introduce themselves or not, but he does want to hear 
  why they have been looking for him. 
  He will listen to what they have to say and will remain 
  cold to their presence, making it clearly obvious he 
  does not like them and unless they can spark his 
  interest, will likely not help them. 
  When they mention Sun Mei, and the fact they want 
  her back, he will laugh and possibly even mock them, 
  unless they back this up with the offer of money, a lot 
  of money. 
   
  It will be obvious to the PCs that Yu Shu thinks of 
  himself as some sort of business hot shot and that 
  only a reasonable offer of credits will get his 
  assistance. How much it actually takes depends on 
  how much of a nuisance the PCs have made of 
  themselves, as far as Yu Shu is concerned. 
   
  If the PCs have not fought with any of his Tong 
  supporters since they left Emerald River and they did 
  not try to contact Bai Lian and have remained 
  respectful despite Yu Shu’s attitude, it will take 200 
  credits. 
  If the PCs have fought any of his men, tried to contact 
  Bai Lian or resorted to insults or poor behavior of 
  their own, the price rises to 400 credits. 
  A successful HARD (11) Willpower + Influence / 
  Barter or Influence / Persuasion roll can reduce the 
  required offer by 100 credits, but a Botch will increase 
  the required offer by a staggering 200 credits. 
   
  If the PCs are not willing to part with credits or do not 
  have them, then the meeting will come to an end and 
  they will be escorted from the warehouse, unless one 
  of their crew members is an attractive female who is 
  skilled at using her womanly wiles.  
  This character, and only this character, can try and 
  seduce Yu Shu into helping them, through teasing and 
  offering up all manner of carnal promises. As he is a 
  man not easily swayed when no money is changing 
  hands, this requires a FORMIDABLE (15) Willpower + 
  Influence / Seduction roll. If successful, then the 
  conversation continues, but if the roll is a botch, they 
  will all be escorted from the warehouse without any 
  further negotiation, having committed some form of 
  terrible insult. 
   
  Should the PCs attempt any violent action, they will be 
  attacked by a warehouse full of armed Tong, and most 
  likely be killed, this is the main reason that intimidation 
  will not succeed. As this should be obvious, the GM 
  should at least give any PCs a warning to remind them 
  that they are heavily outnumbered and attacking or 
  threatening the Tong is ill advised. Should you wish to 
  act out the fight, there are currently twenty one Tong 
  members in the building, plus Yu Shu and his guards. 
   
  Once the PCs offer the required sum of money, or at 
  least a figure very close to it, Yu Shu will instruct the 
  man who abducted Sun Mei to take the money and 
  count it. Once the man nods that it is the correct figure, 
  the conversation can continue. Read: 
   
  “Jahn!1 So, you do know how to do business after 
  all, my congratulations.” Yu Shu expresses in a 
  mocking tone. 
  “Well, I did promise to assist you if you could 
  show suitable compensation, and that you have. 
  So I shall meet my side of this bargain.” He leans 
  forward, his hands pressed together, a smile 
  playing on his lips. 
  “You are too late; I no longer have that Bei Bi 
  Shiou Ren2 of a girl. She got what girls from that 
  family deserve…slavery. I sold her some hours 
  ago to a procurer with far more money to offer 
  than you can dream of, especially as they put in an 
  order for her type.” Yu Shu appears to state this 
  unfortunate 
  news 
  with 
  some 
  pleasure, 
  emphasizing the words for greater impact. 
  “But you did compensate me, so I shall give you 
  the one piece of information you will need to 
  follow the girl. A name, the name of the procurer, a 
  lady who deals with indentured servants for the 
  wealthy and nobles, a woman by the name of 
  Victoria Deveroux, so best of luck finding 
  her…now please do run along.” He finishes 
  sharply, a smug expression gracing his face. 
   
                                                     
  1 “Shiny, awesome, fantastic” 
  2 “Pathetic wretch” 
  
   
  20 
  With that, the meeting is over. No matter how much 
  the PCs protest, they will get nothing more and as 
  stated previously and violence is not advised. They 
  will be escorted out of the room and their weapons 
  will be returned to them on the way out of the 
  warehouse. 
   
  This is an unfortunate moment for the PCs, to 
  discover that Sun Mei has been sold and that Victoria 
  Deveroux will, almost certainly, only be found in 
  Persephone City itself. On a positive note, it would 
  appear that the trade only took place that some hours 
  ago, so the trail is still warm. 
   
  Should the PCs hang around outside Yu Shu’s 
  warehouse for an hour or so, while they think about 
  what to do or are thinking up a plan for revenge, they 
  will witness the scene of violence as Bai Lian and her 
  loyal supporters launch their raid and take control of 
  the Golden Mantis Tong. It may make them feel a 
  little better to know that Yu Shu was unable to remain 
  smug about his dealings with them for very long. 
   
  For their part in meeting with Yu Shu and possibly 
  buying his assistance, each of the PCs should be 
  rewarded with one to three plot points. 
   
  With that, the scene comes to an end and it’s time for 
  the final Act, as the PCs search continues. 
    
    
  ACT 3 
   
  Scene 1: Uptown Girl 
   
  “Well, Persephone City is a world removed from 
  Eavesdown Docks, despite them being less ‘an a 
  dozen kilometers apart. Up in them shiny towers, folk 
  is different you see, they look down on us common 
  folk who know the meaning of a hard days work. Up 
  there, folk speaks all proper like, with fancy words, 
  an’ clothes that are smart as you like an’ cost more 
  than likes of us will make in a years wage. They don’t 
  know the meaning of hard living up there, its all 
  snobbery, position an’ fancy dinners or one o’ them 
  big shindigs they call balls. You gotta be careful if you 
  is thinking to be going into the city proper, as there is 
  all sorts of regulations an’ them streets is clean, so 
  you wanna make sure you scrub up to not stand out. 
  Not only that, but they is policed, with like real 
  policing that comes quick to a call and even just 
  patrols about to make sure no trouble looks immanent 
  like. Not the kind o’ place for folk with a record or 
  lookin’ to be causing trouble or without purpose. 
  Better if you got reason to be there, like an invite or 
  some such. You go up there with no credentials, or 
  look like you aint belonging, then you can expect to 
  be sent right back down here with the rest of us.” 
  - Cutter Westby, dockworker, Eavesdown Docks, 
  Persephone. 
   
  The characters now have a completely new challenge 
  ahead of them. Sun Mei has been sold to a woman 
  who ‘recruits’ new staff for the Nobles and elite classes 
  of Persephone. They have to somehow get access to 
  the glittering uptown districts of Persephone City and 
  find this woman if they are to have any hope of 
  rescuing the abducted daughter. 
   
  The first challenge the PCs have is tracking down 
  Victoria Deveroux, by trying to find any record of her 
  on the Cortex, by asking around on the streets or by 
  calling up any upper class contacts. 
  Finding a listing for Ms Victoria Deveroux on the 
  Cortex is surprisingly easy and only requires an 
  AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / 
  Appropriate Specialty or Influence / Administration roll. 
  She is a legitimate business woman and the address 
  for her office is openly listed on the Cortex, as are her 
  business contact details and picture. If the PCs decide 
  that they want to look further and try to find any 
  personal listings, this is much harder and requires a 
  successful FORMIDABLE (15) roll, using either of the 
  skills previously given. In this case, they can also track 
  down her private residential address and contact 
  details, but it appears that she lives in a fancy 
  apartment at a secure private compound. It will be 
  obvious to the PCs that trying to meet her at work or 
  breaking into her office will be far easier. 
   
  Gathering information about Victoria Deveroux on the 
  streets of Eavesdown Docks is incredibly difficult, as 
  most of her business is done in the safety of 
  Persephone City. Finding anyone who can provide her 
  business address is a HARD (55) Complex Action, 
  requiring Willpower + Covert / Streetwise or Influence / 
  Streetwise roll, where the PCs can provide Direct 
  Assistance. Each roll takes ten minutes of asking 
  around by the crew. They will not be able to find 
  anyone on the street that can provide any information 
  as to her private residence or details. 
   
  Any PCs with Friends in High Places may spend two 
  plot points and use this asset to find out Victoria 
  Deveroux’s business details. Additionally, they will be 
  provided with the page from the Cortex, so to have a 
  picture of the woman. If asked, their friend will politely 
  refuse to provide any private residential details, clearly 
  stating that the business details are more than enough 
  to contact her. 
  One way or another, the PCs should now be able to 
  find out where Victoria Deveroux’s office is located and 
  can even choose to contact her. 
   
  One other fact that any search will turn up is the rather 
  strict gun laws in and around the Persephone City 
  business district to protect all those wealthy business 
  types. In summary, it is illegal for civilians to carry 
  weapons of any type, with the exception of derringers, 
  
   
  21 
  which are considered a valid self-defense weapon. If 
  you are caught with any weapon, other than a 
  derringer, on your person, you will be immediately 
  fined 100 credits and you will be escorted out of the 
  district, and that is only assuming the weapon is 
  officially licensed. If you are caught with a weapon 
  drawn, including a derringer without good reason, you 
  will be taken into custody and either fined 200 to 1000 
  credits or given a custodial sentence, usually 
  depending on the nature of the weapon. It is 
  however, not illegal to carry a licensed weapon in 
  your vehicle, so long as they are stored in a locked 
  container or weapons locker. All told, it is highly 
  recommended that the PCs do not carry weapons on 
  their persons, though having some nearby in their 
  shuttle or vehicle is relatively safe. 
   
  Two of the most likely options regarding Ms Victoria 
  Deveroux are offered below with Making Contact and 
  Shadowy Business; though others are possible, these 
  will hopefully provide enough information to resolve 
  them. 
   
  Making Contact 
   
  If the PCs choose to contact Victoria Deveroux, they 
  will find she is polite, well spoken and quite charming, 
  if a little businesslike. Unless they are rude, insulting 
  or threatening, she will happily agree to meet them at 
  her office to discuss their situation, no matter whether 
  they are bluffing about their intentions or are telling 
  the truth and mention Sun Mei. Ms Deveroux agrees 
  to meet them in two hours time at her office. If the 
  PCs think to request it, she will arrange for their 
  shuttle or planetary vehicle, should they own one, to 
  be given access to the business district for the 
  duration of the meeting.  
  If they only think to use their shuttle later, it will 
  require permission from local traffic control, and take 
  about ten minutes to organize. 
   
  Gaining entry to the business district in a planetary 
  vehicle does not require any time to organize, but all 
  entry roads have toll points. The PCs will be 
  requested to stop and asked the nature of their 
  business, as well as their destination. Once they give 
  satisfactory answers, there is a 1 credit toll for the 
  vehicle, and they are then free to continue. All of the 
  vehicles occupants will be reminded to leave their 
  weapons, if any, in the vehicle. The trip to Victoria 
  Deveroux’s office will take about forty minutes. 
  If the PCs do not think of it or do not have a shuttle or 
  other means of transport beyond their ship, they can 
  either call for a taxi or take the local maglev train. 
   
  The maglev tickets costs 0.5 credits each and are 
  valid for the whole day. It will take the PCs about 
  twenty minutes to get to the business district, but they 
  initially have to wait half an hour for the next train. 
  When they arrive at the station, they will spot the ‘no 
  weapons’ notices at all exits, but find that there is a 
  weapons locker service available where they can store 
  their weapons for 1 credit a day. It would seem that the 
  Alliance expects people who traveled from Eavesdown 
  Docks not to have done so unarmed. 
   
  The taxi will cost 2 credits in total, but can travel 
  directly to Victoria Deveroux’s office in forty minutes 
  and yes, it is expensive, but so is a taxi license that 
  gets you free transport around the business district. As 
  a law abiding citizen, the taxi driver will remind them 
  about the district’s weapons laws. 
  Once the PCs arrive in the business district of 
  Persephone City, they should have its stark contrast 
  against the docks impressed upon them. Read: 
   
  Where Eavesdown Docks is crowded, dirty and 
  buzzing 
  with 
  life, 
  the 
  business 
  district 
  of 
  Persephone City is spacious, clean and orderly, 
  with gleaming white and silver towers, open parks 
  and well placed rows of trees. The air is fresh, the 
  smell of flowers hangs in the air and though there 
  is noise, it seems almost silent compared to the 
  cacophony of the docks. The city is rich, opulent 
  and well maintained; trying to live up to the 
  magnificence of the Core World cities and for the 
  most part, it achieves this lofty ideal. 
  Unlike the docks, where Feds seem few and far 
  between, here in the city you can see special 
  police emergency terminals conveniently placed 
  on every street corner and even patrol cruisers 
  routinely passing by overhead in fancy hovercraft. 
  For those of you that have never seen the city 
  beyond the docks, it is a breathtaking sight, one 
  that could easily give a longing to live in one of the 
  expensive apartment complexes, if only you could 
  afford it. 
  This is a place where moneyed individuals can live 
  away from the common folk, keeping them in their 
  place behind gates, fences and a wall of poverty. 
  You know this is not really your world and 
  probably never will be, but you are here for a 
  reason, to get the job done and save an innocent 
  young woman from a probable life of slavery. 
   
  If the PCs arrived on the maglev or by shuttle, it will 
  only take ten minutes to walk to the office block, and if 
  they took a taxi or used their own planetary vehicle, 
  they can park outside. 
  The office block is a simple ten story, square design 
  with smooth white walls and plenty of illumination both 
  outside and in. Each floor has a number of window 
  panels, but they are of an opaque design that prevents 
  you from seeing inside. There are two entrances to the 
  building, both of which are locked with good electronic 
  locks. Beside each doorway is a panel of intercom 
  buttons with the names of the businesses beside 
  them, so that clients can get buzzed in. Positioned 
  above each doorway is a wide angle camera in a 
  secure housing, so that whomever is outside can be 
  clearly seen by whoever answers the intercom, there 
  is also a sign clearing stating ‘No Weapons’. Looking 
  
   
  22 
  at the labels on the intercom panel, it appears that 
  Victoria Deveroux’s office is on the ground floor. 
   
  Ms Deveroux will be at her office by the time the PCs 
  arrive, though she will not see them until the agreed 
  time. If they buzz her office intercom, they receive a 
  recorded message informing them that Ms Victoria 
  Deveroux is currently unavailable and kindly ask them 
  to try again later, until at least ten minutes before the 
  meeting is due, when the door will be opened for 
  them and a message will ask them to go to office 1C. 
   
  Both entrances have advanced weapon scanners 
  built into them and if a weapon is detected, they will 
  trigger a silent alarm which will alert building security 
  that an armed individual has entered the building. 
  Building security can then monitor the cameras and 
  decide on the best response, from challenging the 
  intruders to calling the Feds. For the purpose of 
  detecting weapons, the scanner has a d10 Alertness 
  + d6 Perception and successfully detects weapons 
  and explosives on an Average (7) roll. Every weapon 
  carried should be rolled for separately, as any one of 
  them could set off the alarm. Noticing the scanner 
  before entering the building requires a HARD (11) 
  Alertness + Perception Search or Perception / Sight 
  roll. Disabling or spoofing the scanner requires a 
  FORMIDABLE (15) Intelligence + Covert / Disable 
  Device or Technical Engineering / Technical Security 
  Systems roll. 
   
  Heading inside, the PCs find an open reception area, 
  with plants and chairs, along with an elevator bank 
  and a door for the stairwell. There is also a large 
  plaque on the wall that displays the names of the 
  businesses to be found in the office building, along 
  with their floor and office number. Ms Deveroux’s 
  business is indeed listed as office 1c, on the ground 
  floor. There is also a handy map of the ground floor 
  displayed near the plaque, so finding 1c isn’t all that 
  hard. Read: 
   
  You arrive at the door to office 1C, on the ground 
  floor of the building. The door looks as if it is 
  made from real wood, with a bronze plaque at 
  head height that reads Deveroux Connections, 
  while a camera over the door watches your 
  approach. Beside the door there is a card reader 
  entry system and a buzzer. It would seem that you 
  either have to ring the buzzer or knock. 
  Just at that moment the door opens and a young 
  man in a smart, expensive looking suit gestures 
  for you to enter, a perfect smile gracing his face. 
  You step into a small waiting room that is 
  professionally decorated in soothing pastel 
  colors with an aquarium of brightly colored fish 
  set into one wall and paintings of beautiful people 
  gracing the others. The room is furnished by two 
  perfectly color coordinated sofas, a small glass 
  coffee table and a reception desk by the door to 
  Victoria Deveroux’s actual office. 
  “Please be seated, Ms Deveroux will be with you 
  shortly, my name is Steven and I am her personal 
  assistant…can I get you any refreshments?” 
   
  Steven is actually not only her personal assistant, but 
  also a trained bodyguard, and under the reception 
  desk he has a panic button to alert building security, if 
  the need should arise. There is a monitor on his desk 
  which displays the feed form the camera outside the 
  door. 
  If the PCs accept refreshments, they will be offered 
  real coffee, tea, fruit juice, or mineral water. It is all top 
  quality and no doubt expensive, probably far better 
  quality than they are used to. 
  If the PCs have any questions, Steven will be 
  extremely polite, but will not disclose anything about 
  his employer or her business, beyond the fact that she 
  arranges legal employment for indentured workers, all 
  of the highest quality and best work ethic. 
  There are only two other doors in the room, the door to 
  the actual office and the door to a restroom. 
   
  After a few minutes, an intercom on Steven’s desk 
  pipes up and a female voice instructs him to send in 
  the guests, as she is ready to see them. 
  Steven stands and opens the door to Ms Deveroux’s 
  office, letting them know that they can go in now. 
  Read: 
   
  Stepping into Victoria Deveroux’s office, the first 
  thing to catch your attention is the size of it. It 
  could easily be the size of your ship’s mess hall, if 
  not larger. Much like the reception area, it is 
  decorated in soothing pastel colors, but the 
  paintings are replaced by photos of pretty people 
  and framed certificates from fancy academies. The 
  focus of the room is the large glass and chrome 
  desk and the woman who stands from her leather 
  chair behind it. She is dressed in an expensive 
  looking, navy blue, pin-strip two piece dress suit, 
  with her long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail 
  and her bright blue eyes seem to sparkle. Her 
  smile is perfectly sculptured, perfectly white and 
  you can only imagine that this woman has been 
  under the knife more than once to make sure her 
  that no blemish could disrupt her aim for 
  perfection, to ensure her clients will see only 
  beautiful things. 
  “Good day to you, I’m Victoria Deveroux, but you 
  may call me Vicky, please be seated.” Her voice 
  hints at a fancy education and is no doubt as well 
  practiced as her professional smile and business-
  like manner. 
  “So, tell me how it is I can be of assistance to you 
  today?” She enquires, taking her seat once more, 
  with eloquence and grace. 
   
  As to how the meeting prevails, will depend a lot on 
  what tactic the PCs decide upon to find out about Sun 
  Mei and where she is. The most likely options are by 
  
   
  23 
  pretending to be potential buyers or by just telling her 
  the truth. 
   
  If the PCs go with the approach of prospective clients, 
  only requiring an AVERAGE (7) Willpower + Influence 
  / Persuasion or Perform / Acting roll to pull off, she 
  will ask all manner of questions as to what sort of 
  servant they require and why. A failure means that 
  any further rolls to persuade Vicky suffer a -1 step 
  Skill penalty, as she is suspicious of them, while a 
  Botch means that she quickly sees through their act 
  and unless they decide to tell her the truth, she will 
  ask them to leave. 
   
  She will also clearly inform them that indentured 
  servants are not slaves and that they do have legal 
  rights, as well as pointing out that once their 
  indentured term has finished, the servant is free to 
  leave their employment. Of course, this tactic doesn’t 
  easily lead into answering their questions unless they 
  specify that they are looking for an indentured servant 
  whose description matches that of Sun Mei. If they 
  do, Vicky will mention, in an off-hand way, that she 
  has just sold on a girl that would have met their 
  requirements, but does not have anyone else 
  available at this time. This gives the PCs the chance 
  to pursue the matter and if they use something along 
  the lines of “that’s a shame, I don’t suppose you could 
  tell us who, so we can try and buy the indenture from 
  them”, they may be able to persuade her, though she 
  will obviously protest that her client details are 
  confidential. 
   
  Convincing Vicky to provide the PCs with a name will 
  require a successful HARD (11) Willpower + 
  Influence / Persuasion roll. If successful, they get the 
  name of the buyer, a man by the name of Atherton 
  Wing. On an extraordinary success, they are not only 
  given the name, but also the address to which Sun 
  Mei was delivered. On a failure, she will not give the 
  name unless they pay her ‘consultation fee’ of 100 
  credits. On a Botch, she simply will not tell them. With 
  the apparent business deal over, she will politely 
  thank them for their interest and offer her business 
  card, just in case they need any indentured servants 
  in the future and Steven will escort them from her 
  office. 
   
  If the PCs decide to tell Vicky the truth about Sun 
  Mei, and that she was abducted from her home and 
  illegally sold by the Tong, she will initially protest that 
  the transaction was conducted legally and she was 
  provided with all the correct paperwork by the Jade 
  Dragon Interplanetary. She will, of course, check the 
  information they have provide her and it will soon 
  become apparent that the PCs are indeed telling the 
  truth, when she locates an official federal missing 
  persons record for Sun Mei on the Cortex. 
  Vicky is horrified that the young girl has been 
  effectively sold into slavery and is well aware that this 
  incident could seriously harm her reputation. Even 
  though this mess could easily be cleared up through 
  official channels, it may take a few weeks, and she 
  could lose clients. The PCs on the other hand offer a 
  quick and quiet resolution to her problem. 
   
  Firstly, she will make it clear to the PCs she had no 
  idea the papers were forgeries and that the girl was 
  not an actual indentured servant and she apologizes 
  for the situation. She will also state that she was 
  unaware that she was buying Sun Mei from the Tong 
  (assuming the PCs mentioned the Tong involvement), 
  as her dealings were with an agent from the Jade 
  Dragon 
  Interplanetary; 
  it 
  all 
  seemed 
  perfectly 
  legitimate to her. 
   
  Secondly, she calmly states that for her to personally 
  try and recover the girl, through official channels, could 
  take weeks, but that if the PCs tried, they may be able 
  to get her back today. 
  Vicky tells them that Sun Mei was purchased by a 
  Persephone socialite by the name of Atherton Wing, 
  whom is now the poor girl’s official employer. She 
  gives them the address where Sun Mei was delivered 
  to, which is one of his many properties and his current 
  ‘entertaining’ residence, located in the hills overlooking 
  the business district. She implies that she didn’t 
  particularly feel comfortable passing the girl’s service 
  onto him, but as the transaction was apparently legal; 
  there was no reason to refuse the deal. The nature of 
  her discomfort is due to Atherton’s rather abusive 
  reputation with women, especially his servants, and 
  his apparent need to always be seen in the company 
  of beautiful women, but that was also why she could 
  get a high price for the deal. 
   
  As Sun Mei was only sold recently and brokered 
  through Atherton’s agent, Mr. Fielding, it is possible 
  that he has not even seen the girl yet, though it is 
  unlikely he will readily part with her, solely out of 
  principle and as she matches an order request; it 
  appears that beautiful oriental servants are all the rage 
  among Persephone’s rich and elite at the moment. 
  Vicky recommends going to Atherton’s estate and 
  explaining the situation to the man and then either 
  offering him money or challenge him to a duel for her 
  release, but warns them that he is a skilled duelist, 
  though if they have other ideas as to how to get her 
  back, that is all well and good.  
   
  She states, in no uncertain terms, that it would be best 
  not to mention her or this conversation and she will 
  provide them with 300 credits with which to negotiate 
  with Atherton. It should be obvious to the PCs that this 
  is ‘hush money’ and they can try and negotiate a better 
  deal. Vicky is a shrewd negotiator, given the nature of 
  her business, so it requires a FORMIDABLE (15) 
  Willpower + Influence / Barter roll to raise the money 
  offered to 400 credits. An extraordinary success nets 
  an incredible 500 credits, while a Botch has her 
  deciding she has offered too much and the sum drops 
  to only 200 credits. She will not offer more than 500 
  
   
  24 
  credits, as she is holding back some profit from the 
  sale for herself, but the PCs will be unaware of this. 
   
  Upon taking the money, she makes it clear to the PCs 
  that they understand that she will deny that they ever 
  had this meeting and can prove she never acted 
  outside of the law. She would just rather that the 
  matter all got sorted without her involvement; that is 
  the only reason she is assisting them. How they go 
  about it and what they do with the money is their 
  concern. With this, their meeting is over and they are 
  asked to leave and not return. Steven will escort them 
  from the premises. 
   
  Seriously threatening Vicky at any time, or any sign of 
  violence, will result in Steven coming to her defense, 
  but not before calling the building security for 
  assistance. What happens next would largely depend 
  on the actions of the PCs, but they would, at the very 
  least, be asked to leave the building, but it could go 
  so far as calling in the Feds. 
   
  Shadowy Business 
   
  If the PCs decide not to contact Victoria Deveroux, 
  but instead choose to break into her office and find 
  out what has happened to Sun Mei, it will not be 
  easy. Firstly, they need to decide how they are going 
  to get to the business district. Taking their shuttle will 
  require permission from local traffic control, and take 
  about ten minutes to organize, but it does mean they 
  have to state the nature of their visit and the Feds will 
  also be aware that they are in the neighborhood. 
   
  Gaining entry to the business district in a planetary 
  vehicle does not require any time to organize, but all 
  entry roads have toll points. The PCs will be 
  requested to stop and asked the nature of their 
  business, as well as their destination. They will need 
  to give satisfactory answers, requiring a successful 
  HARD (11) Willpower + Influence / Persuasion or 
  Performance / Acting roll. If successful, there is a 1 
  credit toll to pay for the vehicle and they are then free 
  to continue. If they fail, they are simply refused entry, 
  but should they Botch the roll, the check point 
  security suspect criminal activity and call in the Feds. 
  All of the vehicles occupants will be reminded to 
  leave their weapons, if any, in the vehicle. The trip to 
  Victoria Deveroux’s office will take about forty 
  minutes. 
  If the PCs do not have a shuttle or other means of 
  transport beyond their ship, they can either call for a 
  taxi or take the local maglev train.  
   
  The maglev tickets costs 0.5 credits each and are 
  valid for the whole day. It will take the PCs about 
  twenty minutes to get to the business district, but they 
  initially have to wait half an hour for the next train. 
  When they arrive at the station, they will spot the ‘no 
  weapons’ notices at all exits, but find that there is a 
  weapons locker service available where they can 
  store their weapons for 1 credit a day. It would seem 
  that the Alliance expects people who traveled from 
  Eavesdown Docks not to have done so unarmed. 
   
  The taxi will cost 2 credits in total, but can travel 
  directly to Victoria Deveroux’s office in forty minutes 
  and yes, it is expensive, but so is a taxi license that 
  gets you free transport around the business district. As 
  a law abiding citizen, the taxi driver will remind them 
  about the district’s weapons laws. 
   
  Failing that, the PCs could get themselves somewhere 
  close to the business district and enter illegally over 
  one of the walls. There are two main complications 
  with this, and that is getting over when no patrols are 
  passing by and actually climbing over the wall. 
  Evaluating the patrol patterns and avoiding them 
  requires a successful AVERAGE (7) Alertness + 
  Knowledge / Tactics or Perception / Sight roll, with a 
  failure requiring a HARD (11) Alertness + Covert / 
  Stealth roll to avoid being noticed by a passing patrol 
  cruiser. Failing both rolls or rolling a Botch on either 
  means the PC has been spotted by the Feds and they 
  will be arrested for trespassing, which luckily only 
  entails a 100 credit fine. If they are caught carrying 
  illegal items, that may affect the nature of the fine and 
  possibly lead to a custodial sentence.  
   
  Actually climbing over the wall is a AVERAGE (35) 
  Complex Action using Strength + Athletics / Climbing, 
  with each roll taking five minutes, but having proper 
  climbing gear available provides a +2 step Skill bonus, 
  while just having a rope only provides a +1 step Skill 
  bonus. The PCs can provide Indirect Assistance to 
  their companions, so long as they are not in the 
  process of climbing over the wall themselves.  
  Reaching the offices on foot will take around an hour 
  and the PCs will have to make rolls to avoid patrols, as 
  above, every fifteen minutes. 
  Once the PCs arrive in the business district of 
  Persephone City, they should have its stark contrast 
  against the docks impressed upon them. Read: 
   
  Where Eavesdown Docks is crowded, dirty and 
  buzzing 
  with 
  life, 
  the 
  business 
  district 
  of 
  Persephone City is spacious, clean and orderly, 
  with gleaming white and silver towers, open parks 
  and well placed rows of trees. The air is fresh, the 
  smell of flowers hangs in the air and though there 
  is noise, it seems almost silent compared to the 
  cacophony of the docks. The city is rich, opulent 
  and well maintained; trying to live up to the 
  magnificence of the Core World cities and for the 
  most part, it achieves this lofty ideal. 
  Unlike the docks, where Feds seem few and far 
  between, here in the city you can see special 
  police emergency terminals conveniently placed 
  on every street corner and even patrol cruisers 
  routinely passing by overhead in fancy hovercraft. 
  For those of you that have never seen the city 
  beyond the docks, it is a breathtaking sight, one 
  
   
  25 
  that could easily give a longing to live in one of 
  the expensive apartment complexes, if only you 
  could afford it. 
  This is a place where moneyed individuals can 
  live away from the common folk, keeping them in 
  their place behind gates, fences and a wall of 
  poverty. 
  You know this is not really your world and 
  probably never will be, but you are here for a 
  reason, to get the job done and save an innocent 
  young woman from a probable life of slavery. 
   
  If the PCs arrived on the maglev or by shuttle, it will 
  only take ten minutes to walk to the office block, and 
  if they took a taxi or used their own planetary vehicle, 
  they can park outside. 
  The office block is a simple ten story, square design 
  with smooth white walls and plenty of illumination 
  both outside and in. Each floor has a number of 
  window panels, but they are of an opaque design that 
  prevents you from seeing inside. There are two 
  entrances to the building, both of which are locked 
  with good electronic locks. Beside each doorway is a 
  panel of intercom buttons with the names of the 
  businesses beside them, so that clients can get 
  buzzed in. Positioned above each doorway is a wide 
  angle camera in a secure housing, so that whomever 
  is outside can be clearly seen by whoever answers 
  the intercom, there is also a sign clearing stating ‘No 
  Weapons’. Looking at the labels on the intercom 
  panel, it appears that Victoria Deveroux’s office is on 
  the ground floor. 
  If they buzz her office intercom to see if anyone is 
  there, they receive a recorded message informing 
  them that Ms Victoria Deveroux is currently 
  unavailable and kindly ask them to come back later. 
   
  Avoiding the camera is the hardest part about 
  breaking 
  in, 
  as 
  it 
  clearly 
  covers 
  the 
  entire 
  entranceway and is positioned deliberately out of 
  reach in its secure housing. The only way to get 
  around this is to try and disguise themselves and be 
  quick about bypassing the lock, hoping they will not 
  be noticed, or by breaking the camera, or obscuring 
  its vision. As it happens, only breaking the camera 
  will readily alert the building security of their attempt 
  to break in. 
  The locks on the doors are electronic in nature and 
  are particularly good, so bypassing the lock requires 
  a successful HARD (11) Intelligence + Covert / Open 
  Locks roll or a FORMIDABLE (15) Intelligence + 
  Technical Engineering / Electronics roll. Having a set 
  of electronic lock picks provides a +2 step Skill 
  bonus, while using improvised tools increases the 
  difficulty by one step. An electronic tool kit allows the 
  PC to make the roll without any modifiers. A failure 
  increases any further attempts by one difficulty step, 
  while rolling a Botch triggers a silent alarm that alerts 
  building security. 
   
  Both entrances have advanced weapon scanners built 
  into them and if a weapon is detected, they will trigger 
  a silent alarm which will alert building security that an 
  armed individual has entered the building. Building 
  security can then monitor the cameras and decide on 
  the best response, from challenging the intruders to 
  calling the Feds. For the purpose of detecting 
  weapons, the scanner has a d10 Alertness + d6 
  Perception and successfully detects weapons and 
  explosives on an Average (7) roll. Every weapon 
  carried should be rolled for separately, as any one of 
  them could set off the alarm. Noticing the scanner 
  before entering the building requires a HARD (11) 
  Alertness + Perception Search or Perception / Sight 
  roll. Disabling or spoofing the scanner requires a 
  FORMIDABLE (15) Intelligence + Covert / Disable 
  Device or Technical Engineering / Technical Security 
  Systems roll. 
   
  Once inside, the PCs find an open reception area, with 
  plants and chairs, along with an elevator bank and a 
  door for the stairwell. There is also a large plaque on 
  the wall that displays the names of the businesses to 
  be found in the office building, along with their floor 
  and office number. Victoria Deveroux’s business is 
  listed as office 1C, on the ground floor. There is also a 
  handy map of the ground floor displayed near the 
  plaque, so finding 1C isn’t all that hard. 
   
  The door to office 1C looks as to be made from real 
  wood, with a bronze plaque at head height that reads 
  Deveroux Connections, while a camera over the door 
  watches your approach. Beside the door there is a 
  card reader entry system and a buzzer. It would seem 
  that clients usually have to either ring the buzzer or 
  knock. 
   
  There is very little the PCs can do about the internal 
  camera over the door, but as there is no one in the 
  office, there is no one to watch their approach. Of 
  course, they will not know this until they are inside. 
  Breaking into the office requires them to bypass the 
  card reader, which is thankfully easier than the 
  entrance to the office block. Bypassing the reader 
  requires a successful AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + 
  Covert / Disable Device or Covert / Open Locks roll or 
  a HARD (11) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / 
  Electronics roll. Having a set of electronic lock picks 
  provides a +2 step Skill bonus, while using improvised 
  tools increases the difficulty by one step. An electronic 
  tool kit allows the PC to make the roll without any 
  modifiers. A failure increases any further attempts by 
  one difficulty step, while rolling a Botch triggers a silent 
  alarm that alerts building security. Should the PCs get 
  inside, read: 
   
  You step into a small waiting room that is 
  professionally decorated in soothing pastel colors 
  with an aquarium of brightly colored fish set into 
  one wall and paintings of beautiful people gracing 
  the others. The room is furnished by two perfectly 
  
   
  26 
  color coordinated sofas, a small glass coffee 
  table and a reception desk by the door to Victoria 
  Deveroux’s actual office. 
  On the reception desk is a monitor that displays a 
  camera feed to the building entrances and the 
  camera outside the door. It wouldn’t be very 
  difficult to remove any recording of your entry, 
  whilst the information you are after will most 
  likely be found in Ms Deveroux’s office. 
  As you open the door into her office, the first 
  thing to catch your attention is the size of it. It 
  could easily be the size of your ship’s mess hall, 
  if not larger. Much like the reception area, it is 
  decorated in soothing pastel colors, but the 
  paintings are replaced by photos of pretty people 
  and framed certificates from fancy academies. 
  The focus of the room is the large glass and 
  chrome desk, the fancy terminal on top of it and 
  the real leather chair behind it. 
   
  All that is left now is for the PCs to hack into Victoria 
  Deveroux’s personal terminal and find anything 
  relating to Sun Mei. This requires a successful HARD 
  (11) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking 
  roll to break her passwords and get into her business 
  file. A quick search for Sun Mei will bring up details of 
  a recent purchase and a subsequent sale only a 
  couple of hours ago.  
   
  The transaction appears to have been completely 
  legal and records Sun Mei as an indentured servant 
  with a debt of 20,000 credits. Her indenture papers 
  were purchased by Ms Victoria Deveroux for 1000 
  credits 
  from 
  Jade 
  Dragon 
  Interplanetary 
  and 
  subsequently sold under contract for 2000 credits to 
  Mr. Atherton Wing. Looking up the delivery details 
  gives an address that Sun Mei was transported to 
  upon sale. It also appears that the deal was not 
  brokered by Atherton himself, but through an agent 
  under his employment, by the name of Mr. C Fielding. 
  It also appears that Mr. Fielding had sent Ms 
  Deveroux a request to find a female more or less 
  matching Sun Mei’s description, as her type was 
  currently in fashion among Persephone’s nobility. 
   
  There is nothing else of real interest on her terminal, 
  as it only contains legitimate business transactions, 
  but the PCs can search the office if they so desire. A 
  successful AVERAGE (7) Alertness + Perception / 
  Search roll will turn up a half dozen bottles of fine 
  wine, a bottle of vintage brandy and a bottle of malt 
  whisky in a drinks cabinet, plus four data books, a 
  dozen clear data discs, and 150 credits in the draw of 
  the reception desk. If they fail or Botch the roll, they 
  accidentally trigger a silent alarm that alerts the 
  building security. 
   
  If the PCs alert building security at any time, two 
  guards will come to investigate, while two more will 
  monitor them from the security station on the fourth 
  floor. It will take d4+2 minutes for the guards to reach 
  them. If the guards encounter the PCs, they will order 
  them to stop whatever they are doing and drop any 
  weapons they may be holding, while the guards in the 
  security station will call the Feds, who will arrive in 
  d6+2 minutes. If the PCs attack or overpower the two 
  guards that discovered them, the other two guards will 
  not leave the security station until the Feds arrive. The 
  initial Fed response team will consist of two patrol 
  cruisers and four officers, though if they meet 
  resistance, they will call for backup. 
   
  One way or another, the PCs should at the very least 
  know that Sun Mei is in the possession of Atherton 
  Wing, a wealthy Persephone socialite who has a 
  reputation for two things, womanizing ways and his 
  skill with a sword. If the PCs did not obtain an address, 
  it only requires an AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + 
  Influence / Administration or Knowledge / Culture 
  (representing Current Affairs) or Technical Engineering 
  / Computer Operations roll to find out form the Cortex 
  which of his many properties is listed as his current 
  residence. 
   
  Now their search is almost at an end, after a very long 
  day, we move onto the next scene. The PCs should be 
  awarded two to five plot points for their actions in 
  Uptown Girl. 
    
    
  Scene 2: Wing and a Prayer 
   
  "Them rich folk like to think their hands are so clean 
  and look down as them as what ain't got no money, or 
  even them as ain't had money long enough. An' with 
  the way they dress an' talk, they can sure make you 
  feel like they are special an' all. But you look deeper, 
  down under those fancy threads an' you'll see the 
  truth. While they look down their noses an' call us 
  common for bein' all crude, but for what Rim folk would 
  settle with fists, them Cheong Bao Ho Tze1 moneyed 
  individuals, for some fool reason, want go use these 
  long pig stickers they calls swords to set things square 
  an’ all legal like too. They think it makes ‘em all 
  manner of manly, an' shows how much `better' they 
  are, but how come they call the lesser man the one 
  that don't want to be spilling no blood, while they jus’ 
  can't wait?"  
  – Pops McMurty itinerant spacer, long time Rim 
  resident 
   
  After a long, hard day of chasing around Eavesdown 
  Docks and Persephone City, the PCs are finally close 
  to rescuing Sun Mei; only one last obstruction stands 
  in their way…Atherton Wing. 
   
  There are a number of options available to the PCs 
  here, but the three most likely to succeed are by 
  calling the Feds and alerting them to the fact that an 
                                                     
  1 “Monkey Raping” 
  
   
  27 
  illegally abducted woman can be found at Atherton’s 
  estate; or by speaking directly with Atherton Wing and 
  trying to appeal or duel for her release; or by just 
  plain sneaking into Atherton’s Estate and freeing the 
  girl. Each situation will be dealt with separately below 
  with Long Arm of the Law, Duel Purposes and Over 
  the Wall.  
   
  The trip to the Atherton’s Estate from Victoria 
  Deveroux’s office takes about an hour in most 
  planetary vehicles, while walking will take a good few 
  hours and the maglev trains just don’t go there. If the 
  PCs are using their shuttle, they can certainly get 
  close, but they will not obtain permission from traffic 
  control to enter the area or land there, so they will 
  therefore draw a lot of attention upon themselves if 
  they do. 
   
  If the PCs had to sneak into the business district, they 
  will have to sneak back out again to get to Atherton’s 
  estate, because while it is in the hills overlooking the 
  district, it isn’t actually in the district. 
   
  Long Arm of the Law 
   
  As the PCs know the girl has been illegally abducted, 
  and that her indentured servitude papers were forged, 
  they have the option to just call in the Feds and let 
  them do all the hard work. If they take a quick look on 
  the Cortex missing person’s board, it does not take 
  too long to find Sun Mei’s official federal notice, which 
  means they can back up any claims. 
   
  The PCs can call the Feds directly, or just leave an 
  anonymous tip off, letting them know where Sun Mei 
  can be found and who has her, then wait to see what 
  happens. As Sun Mei comes from a Border World 
  and not the Rim, the case is looked at a little more 
  seriously and a few hours later, the Feds raid 
  Atherton’s estate and rescue Sun Mei. After a day or 
  two of questioning, they will then transport her home 
  to her family, unharmed, but still a little shaken by the 
  whole affair. 
   
  Of course, the fallout on Persephone is a far different 
  matter. The raid on his estate will bring social shame 
  on Atherton and he will go out of his way to find out 
  who was responsible and ensure suitable retribution. 
  He will not face criminal charges as he will most 
  certainly claim he was unaware that Sun Mei was not 
  the indentured servant he believed her to be and he 
  has paperwork to back this up. Not only that, but 
  Atherton can afford to hire the very best lawyers and 
  he will get off with little more than a warning. 
   
  Also, this will bring heat upon Victoria Deveroux and 
  the Golden Mantis Tong as the Feds conduct their 
  investigation into possible people smuggling and this 
  will hamper their business. Victoria Deveroux will 
  certainly give Atherton the names of the PCs if she 
  knows them and the Golden Mantis Tong will also not 
  be thanking the PCs for the Feds nosing around in 
  their business affairs for a few weeks. If anyone were 
  to be sent to prison over this, it would be some Tong 
  scapegoats and possibly Victoria Deveroux. 
   
  All told, there is every chance that the PCs will gain 
  one or more influential enemies by taking the easy 
  route of involving the Feds, no matter how justified it 
  may have been, some folk just aren’t that forgiving. 
  Once the PCs are aware that Sun Mei has been 
  released and has been sent home to Emerald River, 
  they can follow after and claim any rewards. This 
  option ends the scene quickly and rewards only a 
  single plot point for coming up with the idea. 
   
  Duel Purposes 
   
  Given that the PCs know who has Sun Mei, and where 
  she is being held, they could decide to pay Atherton 
  Wing a visit and see if they can persuade or force him 
  to release her. 
  Though the PCs may know where to find Atherton, it is 
  not just a simple matter of turning up at the gates and 
  asking to have a few words with him. The whole matter 
  has to be conducted according to certain social graces 
  and manner. The most obvious point of note is that it 
  will now be either very late at night or in the early 
  hours of the morning, so they will not be able to 
  arrange an appointment with Atherton until later in the 
  day, most likely the afternoon. 
   
  To go about arranging an appointment for the PCs to 
  see Atherton at his estate, and getting themselves on 
  his guest list, to allow them entry when they turn up at 
  the gates, will require some adept social skills. Any PC 
  with Friends in High Places can call on their contacts 
  to arrange the meeting for them and will cost 4 plot 
  points, as Atherton is not keen on entertaining 
  common spacers. 
   
  If the PCs want to go about it for themselves, they will 
  firstly need to make a successful AVERAGE (7) 
  Intelligence + Influence / Appropriate Specialty or 
  Knowledge / Appropriate Specialty roll to even know 
  how to go about it. An extraordinary success allows 
  them to know enough to gain a +2 step Skill bonus to 
  their roll to arrange the appointment (see below). A 
  failure means that they waste an hour figuring out who 
  to contact and getting the run around, but they will 
  eventually get it right. On a Botch, the PCs will 
  consider that just turning up at the estate is the way to 
  go after all. Of course, when they do this, they will be 
  turned away for not being on the guest list (which is an 
  actual written list, so it cannot be hacked). 
   
  Assuming that the PCs have managed to figure out the 
  etiquette of dealing with Persephone’s rich and elite, 
  they can now try to persuade Atherton Wing’s personal 
  assistant to arrange an appointment for them later that 
  day. The assistant is almost as obnoxious as the man 
  himself, so arranging the appointment is hard work, 
  
   
  28 
  requiring a HARD (11) Willpower + Influence / 
  Appropriate Specialty roll, remembering to add the 
  bonus for an extraordinary success previously. On an 
  extraordinary success, the PCs manage to arrange a 
  meeting later that very morning, but on a basic 
  success, they will have to wait until the afternoon. On 
  a failure, they are told that an appointment is 
  available, but in three days time, while on a Botch, 
  their request is simply denied. 
   
  Should 
  the 
  PCs 
  successfully 
  arrange 
  the 
  appointment, they will still have some hours to spare 
  to return to their ship and get some rest, not to 
  mention the chance to dig out their best clothes. It 
  should be very apparent to the crew, that even 
  though they have an appointment, turning up 
  anything less than presentable will still get them 
  turned away. If they have not figured this out, you, as 
  GM, should try dropping a few hints along these lines, 
  as it’d be common knowledge for most folk. 
   
  Upon arriving at the estate, the PCs have to check in 
  at the gate and anyone who is not presentable will be 
  turned away. This means dirty or torn clothes, blood 
  stains, or basically not at the very least trying to look 
  clean and smart. Read:   
   
  Arriving at the front gates of Atherton’s estate, 
  albeit one of his smaller properties, it is easy to 
  see how the truly moneyed live. The wall that 
  surrounds the estate is made from a hard white 
  stone with a marbleized finish; the gates are 
  highly decorative with giant golden letters A and 
  W set into them; a well maintained row of trees 
  line the drive to the impressive looking house 
  itself and the entire estate is set on a hill that 
  looks out across the business district. This estate 
  is just his business residence, for those times 
  when he has to meet with advisors and clients, 
  but it is a lavish affair none the less. 
  There is a gatehouse set into the wall beside the 
  gate, where a smartly dressed guard watches you 
  intently from beyond the armored glass of the 
  booth, waiting for you to either ask his 
  permission to enter or to walk away after your 
  sightseeing. 
   
  Entry to the estate requires the PCs to check in with 
  the guard in the gatehouse booth, where he will ask if 
  they have an appointment. If they have come without 
  an appointment, they will be turned away, otherwise 
  their names will be checked against the guest list, 
  which is out of their sight, and assuming they are not 
  more than an hour early, they will be allowed to enter. 
  If they are early, they will be asked, very politely, to 
  come back closer to their appointed time. 
   
  As the gates open, there will be four more guards 
  waiting to greet them and the PCs will be asked to 
  submit to a weapon scan before they go any further. 
  Failure to comply will have them turned away. 
  The weapon scanner is a handheld device that may 
  not detect everything, even though the guards are 
  quite thorough. For the purpose of detecting weapons, 
  the scanner has a d6 Alertness + d6 Perception and 
  successfully detects weapons and explosives on an 
  Average (7) roll. Every weapon carried should be 
  rolled for separately, as any one of them could show 
  up. Not only this, but the guards will be looking for 
  weapons while they are scanning the PCs, so any 
  obvious weapons will be noticed, but the PCs can try 
  and hide any handguns and small melee weapons. To 
  hide a weapon from sight requires an opposed roll of 
  the PC’s Agility + Covert / Appropriate Specialty Vs the 
  Guard’s Alertness (d8) + Perception / Sight (d8). To 
  avoid having the scanner passing over a weapon 
  demands a quick bit of manual trickery and can only 
  be achieved with small weapons, requiring a 
  successful HARD (11) Agility + Covert / Sleight of 
  Hand roll. Failure on either of the above rolls means 
  that the weapon has been spotted or scanned, though 
  when scanned, the scanner still has to detect it. A 
  Botch on either roll means that the weapon has 
  definitely been noticed. 
  The guards will insist that all of the PCs weapons are 
  left behind at the gatehouse, to be returned to them as 
  they leave. Of course, any weapons that were not 
  detected can be kept on them. 
   
  With the weapons check over, the PCs are told they 
  can continue up to the house, where they will be met 
  by Mr. Fielding. 
  Chester Fielding, Atherton’s personal assistant, is 
  waiting outside the front of the house and will greet 
  each of the PCs and engage in polite conversation 
  while he escorts them through the house and out onto 
  a large balcony area that overlooks the business 
  district. He asks them all to be seated, offers 
  refreshments and informs them that Mr. Wing will join 
  them shortly to discuss their business matter. It should 
  be noted that they are never quite alone with the 
  assistant, as there is always an apparent security 
  presence, including a couple of smartly dressed, 
  armed guards out on the balcony. Read: 
   
  After a few minutes you are joined by an 
  impeccably well dressed and handsome man, who 
  looks you over with apparent contempt, given that 
  you appear to be from a lower social class, but 
  none the less, he dons a perfect smile, even if his 
  eyes still mirror his loathing. 
  “When my assistant informed me I had an 
  appointment, I was not aware I had ordered 
  anything from the docks.” He scoffs in a 
  condescending manner. 
  “My name is Atherton Wing, and what is it that you 
  feel I can do for you?” Atherton does not offer his 
  hand and his words are as challenging as they are 
  questioning. 
   
  It should be obvious to the PCs that Atherton does not 
  much care for them and when the appointment was 
  
   
  29 
  first arranged, he was probably unaware of who they 
  actually were. With this in mind, it should be apparent 
  that winning him over is an unlikely option. This is the 
  PCs only chance to bring up the matter of Sun Mei, 
  but as to how they do this will have a great impact on 
  Atherton’s reaction. 
   
  If the PCs decide to go with the approach of 
  businessmen that were disappointed to have missed 
  out on acquiring Sun Mei, they can try to convince 
  Atherton to sell her on to them. He will listen intently 
  to them, as money does spice his interest and then 
  call over his assistant to find details of the purchase 
  and to bring out the girl. When Sun Mei is brought 
  out, she is dressed in a fine gown and someone has 
  applied makeup; her striking beauty cannot be 
  missed, though her manner is one of sorrow and fear. 
  Her natural beauty and grace should be impressed 
  upon the PCs, so that they can get the sense of why 
  anyone would pay so much to try and own her. Sun 
  Mei is charming, graceful, and respectful, possessing 
  an allure of which few can match. She is quiet and 
  makes no protest; as if she has accepted her fate, or 
  maybe someone has made it very clear to her what 
  will happen if she were to make a scene. Atherton 
  looks her over carefully, a hungry look in his eyes, 
  this seemingly having been the first time he has seen 
  her, and returns to the PCs. 
   
  Initially he will refuse to sell her, after all, why should 
  he? The PCs can now try to convince Atherton to 
  change his mind, but they are at a possible 
  disadvantage of not knowing how much he paid for 
  her. If they offer less than 2000 credits, he will not 
  even consider it and laugh at them, giving them a hint 
  of what they’ll actually need to offer.  
  Any offers over 2000 credits will need to be backed 
  up by a successful HARD (11) Willpower + Influence / 
  Barter roll. A success will let them buy her contract for 
  the offered sum, while and extraordinary success will 
  have Atherton agreeing let her go for the 2000 credits 
  he paid. A failure means that he will not accept less 
  than 3000 credits, while a Botch ends the 
  negotiations with Atherton’s refusal to sell, no matter 
  the offer, as he doesn’t like letting go of what is his. 
  Given that most crews will not have this sort of money 
  to throw around, even moneyed individuals, they may 
  want to try another approach. 
   
  If the PCs decide to go with the truth and inform 
  Atherton that Sun Mei was actually abducted only a 
  few days ago, and is not a legally contracted 
  indentured servant, he will laugh, not because he 
  thinks it is a joke, but at the brash way they have 
  come into his house and tell him he has committed a 
  crime. 
  He will call over his assistant, have him check over 
  the contract and see if there are any official reports 
  regarding the woman’s abduction, as well as having 
  Sun Mei brought out for him to see (if she is not 
  already out). Her natural beauty and grace should be 
  impressed upon the PCs, so that they can get the 
  sense of why anyone would pay so much to try and 
  own her. Sun Mei is charming, graceful, and 
  respectful, possessing an allure of which few can 
  match. She is quiet and makes no protest; as if she 
  has accepted her fate, or maybe someone has made it 
  very clear to her what will happen if she were to make 
  a scene. 
   
  After a private discussion with Chester, Atherton will 
  smugly state that while she may have been taken 
  against her will, his contract of indentured servitude is 
  in order and binding. At this point, the PCs have the 
  opportunity to try and persuade him otherwise with a 
  winning argument or by threatening a federal 
  investigation into the matter. 
  As Atherton Wing is not a reasonable man, being 
  obnoxious, spoilt and possessive, it is no easy task to 
  convince or intimidate him into letting go of his prize, 
  especially as she was purchased to order. 
   
  Trying to persuade Atherton of the benefits of 
  releasing Sun Mei requires a HEROIC (19) Willpower 
  + Influence / Persuasion roll, while trying to intimidate 
  him with threats of calling the authorities and such like 
  requires a FORMIDABLE (15) Willpower + Discipline / 
  Intimidation or Influence / Intimidation roll.  
  A success has Atherton agreeing to release Sun Mei, 
  but only once he has received compensation from 
  Victoria Deveroux, as this was ultimately her fault, a 
  process that will take a number of days. Alternatively 
  they can take Sun Mei sooner, but only if they replace 
  her with another pretty oriental woman first, which is 
  an option some less scrupulous crews may agree to. 
  On an extraordinary success, he will give in and let 
  them take Sun Mei straight away, as he just doesn’t 
  want all this aggravation over a common shop girl. On 
  a failure he will not be impressed by their attempts, but 
  will offer them a chance to win her, by besting him in a 
  sword duel, confident of the fact he will likely win. On a 
  Botch, he will be exasperated by their poor show of 
  social graces and disrespectful manner and will have 
  them hastily escorted from his estate. 
   
  The other option open to the PCs, especially given 
  Atherton’s reputation is to challenge him to a duel, with 
  Sun Mei as the prize, or they may have already been 
  challenged by Atherton. If the PCs make the 
  challenge, they may be surprised when he accepts, 
  almost without pause and asks who will be the duelist 
  and their second and when they would like it to take 
  place. As Atherton is extremely confident in his ability 
  to defeat any of the PCs in a sword fight, so he clearly 
  points out that he is quite happy to get it out of the way 
  right there and then, out in the gardens and asks 
  Chester to explain everything to them. 
   
  Chester will make sure that the PCs know exactly what 
  they are agreeing to when they accept the duel, as 
  they do still have the chance to loose face and back 
  out, as well as being escorted from the estate. He 
  
   
  30 
  explains that each duelist will be provided with equal 
  swords from the same case, meaning that the PC 
  cannot use a weapon of their own, that no armor may 
  be worn, and that each will be given a moment to 
  prepare themselves before the duel is called to begin. 
  They can choose to duel now, or later, in which case 
  they will all be given rooms until the hour of the duel, 
  when they will be released. The duel would normally 
  be to the death, but each duelist has the right to 
  spare a defeated opponent or one who surrenders to 
  the mercy of their better. 
  It is now down to the PCs to either accept or decline 
  the duel and decide how soon they’d like to 
  commence with the challenge.  
   
  If they want to have the duel right away, they will be 
  escorted to the rear gardens, overlooking the 
  sparkling white and silver towers of the business 
  district, and asked to prepare themselves for the duel, 
  all under the watchful eye of an increased number of 
  guards. This means that whoever has agreed to duel 
  Atherton must strip down to their shirt and trousers 
  and prove they are not wearing armor of any kind. 
  They will then be presented with a polished wood and 
  velvet sword case and asked to choose one of the 
  two blades. The other blade is then presented to 
  Atherton, who quickly makes a flashy display of 
  swordsmanship. Chester makes it clear that he will 
  preside over the duel and that the duelists may only 
  begin upon his declaration, that they must cease 
  fighting upon his instruction and that there must be no 
  outside interference with the duel. Once everyone 
  has agreed to these terms, he asks the duelists to 
  take their positions; a few moments later, he calls for 
  the duel to begin. 
   
  Atherton is a master swordsman and this is unlikely to 
  be an easy fight, in fact, it could result in the death of 
  a PC. The duel should be played out in much the 
  same way as any combat, but with initiative being 
  rolled each turn. If Atherton wins, he will only spare 
  the PC if they actually surrender and plead for mercy 
  or if they were too easily defeated, considering them 
  not worth the effort to finish off, but if they managed 
  to wound Atherton, he will take great pleasure in 
  killing them. If the PC is winning and it looks as if 
  Atherton may be about to be killed, Chester will 
  quickly call an end to the duel and hastily announce 
  the PC as the winner, ensuring that Mr. Wing lives to 
  have revenge another day, unless, as GM, you’d 
  rather see him die. Of course, should the PC do 
  enough damage to put down Atherton before this call, 
  they do have the option to spare his life and let his 
  medical staff save him. 
  Should any PCs try to save the life of their defeated 
  companion, or try to interfere with the duel, Atherton’s 
  security will immediately attempt to subdue them and 
  removed them from the estate. 
   
  If the PCs choose to partake in the duel later in the 
  day or the following day, they will be given fine, lavish 
  rooms in the estate, but will find that they are locked 
  in, to make sure they do not try anything, mostly the 
  idea of escaping. They are released an hour before 
  the duel to give them enough time to prepare. 
   
  One thing that may come into the PCs heads could be 
  to try and grab Sun Mei when she is brought out for 
  Atherton to see and do a runner with her. While there 
  is nothing wrong with this, Atherton’s security will do 
  everything in their power to stop them. Atherton and 
  his assistant will try and escape straight away by 
  getting as far from the PCs as they can. The result will 
  be a fight to the gate or over the wall until the PCs can 
  get clear, having to leave behind any weapons that 
  were taken when they entered and probably finding 
  themselves heavily outgunned. Should they manage to 
  take Atherton hostage, his security will hold off and he 
  will not try anything on unless he feels that they really 
  intend to kill him. While this may get them to the gate 
  unharmed, they will be reported to the Feds as armed 
  criminals whose robbery plans went south and soon 
  find themselves branded by the Alliance, not to 
  mention that Atherton will not stop hounding them until 
  he gets his revenge. Any PCs with Nose for Trouble or 
  Trustworthy Gut will get the feeling that trying this 
  would be a really bad idea and could easily get them 
  all killed. All told, there are ten guards spread around 
  the estate and five more at the gatehouse. 
   
  In summary, the PCs will either have rescued Sun Mei, 
  or at least sorted out her release, and can now head 
  back to Santo and Emerald River, or they will have 
  failed and were escorted form the estate, possibly with 
  one of their companions seriously wounded or dead. 
   
  Over the Wall 
   
  As the PCs know where Sun Mei is being held, they 
  could decide to just sneak in, rescue her and sneak 
  back out again, with a simple ‘over the wall’ job. 
  Unfortunately, these things are never that simple. 
  The first thing the PCs will probably want to do is get a 
  plan of the estate, so they can determine where Sun 
  Mei will be being held. This can be done through the 
  Cortex, by digging up building plans or security 
  proposals, but as these are not generally public 
  access files, it will take some work to dig them up. 
   
  Accesses the local building registry files requires a 
  HARD (11) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / 
  Hacking roll. Once the hacker has got the link, they 
  then have to find the correct data files, which requires 
  an AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Technical Engineering 
  / Hacking or Computer Operations roll. Now that they 
  have the files, they need to bypass the security and 
  encryption to finally get the data, this requires another 
  HARD (11) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / 
  Hacking roll. After this, the hacker will now have the 
  plans to Atherton’s estate, but they still need to log off 
  the system undetected. This requires an AVERAGE 
  (7) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking roll 
  
   
  31 
  to break the connection without alerting any security 
  programs. It takes d10 + 5 minutes to find the correct 
  data files. 
  A failure at any time increases the difficulty of any 
  further rolls by one step, as security gets suspicious, 
  while a botch means that security has been alerted 
  and their connection is terminated. Should the 
  attempt to log off result in a Botch, security will 
  unsuccessfully attempt to track the source of the 
  signal, but they will alert the Feds that a breach took 
  place and provide them with details of the information 
  that was accessed, which will possibly alert 
  Atherton’s security. 
   
  The PCs can also request help from Bai Lian and the 
  Golden Mantis Tong, so long as they previously 
  gained her support. Thought they have no direct 
  influence in the business district or the estates in the 
  hills, they do have some connections with household 
  servants working at the estates, especially as oriental 
  ladies among serving staff are the current fashion. If 
  requested, Bai Lian will have the golden Mantis ask 
  around and see if they can dig up anything of use. 
  Eventually, after an hour, she will get back to the PCs 
  and inform them that Sun Mei is definitely still at 
  Atherton’s estate and being held captive there and 
  she lets them know which room Mei can be found in 
  and provide rough plans of the estate.  
   
  Next up, with or without the plans, the PCs will mostly 
  likely want to go and check out the estate while it is 
  still dark, as it should still be late at night or in the 
  early hours of the morning. 
   
  Their first issue is leaving the business district, which, 
  if they came in officially, will not be all that difficult and 
  just requires them to exit through the toll point that 
  leads to the hills. If they snuck in, then they will need 
  to make their way across the district and climb over 
  the wall to get out, which works in exactly the same 
  way as it did in the last scene to get into the district. 
   
  The hills bear yet another stark contrast, as it is a 
  residential area for the rich and famous, consisting of 
  a large number of private estates, all with their own 
  security and hidden behind walls, leaving the streets 
  connecting them reasonably empty. In addition to 
  this, much of the woodland was left on the hills to 
  make for a more pleasing aesthetic and to give 
  further privacy to the estates. Of course, these very 
  same woods can be extremely helpful to the PCs to 
  move around the area unseen. Sneaking around in 
  the woods at night provides a +4 step Skill bonus to 
  any rolls to avoid detection by patrol cruisers or 
  private security, but by day this is reduced to a +2 
  step Skill bonus. It is down to you, as GM, to decide 
  how often they may encounter a Fed patrol cruiser 
  passing overhead. 
   
  It will take roughly an hour to reach Atherton’s estate 
  on foot through the woods, which are too dense for 
  most planetary vehicles, but the PCs will have had no 
  trouble hiding a vehicle in the early stretches of 
  woodland before setting off. While it may be possible 
  for small one or two man vehicles to navigate their way 
  through the woods, this would mean that the PCs 
  would most likely require quite a few of them, but 
  should they manage it, they can half the time it takes 
  to get through the woods. Eventually, one way or 
  another, they should reach the estate. Read: 
   
  Arriving at Atherton’s estate, albeit one of his 
  smaller properties, it is easy to see how the truly 
  moneyed live. The wall that surrounds the estate is 
  made from a hard white stone with a marbleized 
  finish, which is overlooked by an impressive 
  looking house with a raised balcony at the back, 
  looking out across the business district. This 
  estate is just his business residence, for those 
  times when he has to meet with advisors and 
  clients, but it is a lavish affair none the less. 
  It is difficult to see the gardens, due to the high 
  wall, but there does not appear to an abundance of 
  lighting, so there will be plenty of dark, shadowy 
  areas to be taken advantage of. The house itself 
  looks quiet, but does have lighting around its edge 
  and you can see that at least some of the rooms 
  and corridors appear to be illuminated. A quick 
  check around the perimeter of the estate makes it 
  clear that the rear gardens are your best shot at 
  getting in undetected. 
  All that is left for you to do now is climb over the 
  wall, sneak into the house, avoid any guards and 
  security, break out Sun Mei and sneak back out 
  again. What could possibly go wrong? 
   
  It’s time for the PCs to put their plan together and see 
  how wrong it could go. Their first obstacle is the rather 
  decorative, yet still solid wall, as the marbleized finish 
  actually makes it quite smooth and slippery. 
  Actually climbing over the wall is an AVERAGE (35) 
  Complex Action using Strength + Athletics / Climbing, 
  with each roll taking five minutes, but having proper 
  climbing gear available provides a +2 step Skill bonus, 
  while just having a rope only provides a +1 step Skill 
  bonus. The PCs can provide Indirect Assistance to 
  their companions, so long as they are not in the 
  process of climbing over the wall themselves. 
   
  Every twenty minutes, a pair of patrolling guards will 
  make their sweep of the rear gardens, but they are not 
  really expecting any trouble and therefore are not 
  paying all that much attention. As long as none of the 
  PCs are out in the open, standing in an illuminated 
  area or making a lot of noise, they are unlikely to be 
  noticed. Anyone in the shadowy parts of the gardens 
  only have to succeed on an EASY (3) Alertness + 
  Covert / Stealth roll not to be seen, while anyone on 
  the wall, or caught in the open must succeed on an 
  AVERAGE (7) Agility or Alertness + Covert / Stealth 
  roll. Failure or a Botch results in the guards coming to 
  investigate the area in more detail and requires 
  
   
  32 
  opposed rolls of the PC’s Agility + Covert / 
  Appropriate Specialty Vs the guards Alertness (d8) + 
  Perception / Sight (d8) to avoid being discovered. 
   
  Once the PCs reach the house, they will find that due 
  to the wall, guards and a certain degree of arrogance, 
  that the back entrance is not locked, probably much 
  to their surprise. Unfortunately, once inside the 
  house, they will notice cameras in all of the corridors, 
  so getting to any room requires the PCs to avoid their 
  sweep pattern or to try and stay within their limited 
  blind spots, or just disable them. To avoid the 
  cameras requires a successful HARD (11) Agility or 
  Alertness + Covert / Stealth roll. A failure means that 
  there is a 25% chance that a guard at the gatehouse, 
  where they monitor the camera feeds, will notice the 
  PCs, while a Botch increases this to a 50% chance. 
   
  Disabling the cameras requires a successful (HARD) 
  Intelligence + Covert / Disable Device or Technical 
  Engineering / Technical Security Systems roll. A 
  failure means that it has not worked and trying again 
  increases the difficulty by one step. A Botch means 
  that not only have they failed, but they have also 
  been spotted by guards monitoring the system. On a 
  success, the camera is disabled, but every ten 
  minutes, there is a chance that a guard monitoring 
  the system will notice that the camera is out, if they 
  succeed on an AVERAGE (7) Alertness (d8) + 
  Perception / Sight (d8) roll. On an extraordinary 
  success, they have not only managed to disable the 
  cameras direct feed, but also loop back its footage so 
  that it will not be detected until maintenance carry out 
  a full system inspection. 
   
  As it is late at night, most of the household staff are 
  either asleep or have gone home for the day, 
  including Atherton Wing, so there is little chance of 
  encountering anyone outside of their rooms. 
  One of the first rooms that the PCs can investigate 
  after coming in through the back of the house is the 
  kitchens, where they will find a meal list on the wall, 
  detailing what guests are expected, who is staying 
  and what meals are required and when. This has 
  details of which rooms are occupied and by whom, 
  including Sun Mei, who has been put down for 
  breakfast to be taken to her room in the morning. 
   
  With some luck and skill, the PCs will hopefully reach 
  the rooms where Sun Mei is mostly likely being held, 
  and if they asked Bai Lian for help or checked the 
  kitchens, they will know exactly which one she is to 
  be found in. 
  Guessing which room she is being held in can be 
  narrowed down to one of two rooms, as they are the 
  only two which are currently locked from the outside. 
  In one is Sun Mei, in the other is another young 
  oriental lady that was also purchased that day, but 
  she is an actual indentured servant and accepts her 
  place in things. She has no desire to go with the PCs 
  as it will bring shame on her family and they would 
  have no way to pay their debt, but neither will she alert 
  anyone to their presence, unless they try to force her 
  to come with them. 
   
  Bypassing the rather complicated electronic locks that 
  normally require a special ‘door handle’ key to open is 
  an AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Covert / Open Locks 
  roll or a HARD (11) Intelligence + Technical 
  Engineering / Electronics roll. Electronic lockpicks or 
  an electronics tool kit is necessary to bypass the lock 
  and they do not offer any bonuses because of this. On 
  a success they get the door open, while on a failure 
  they do not, though they can try again, but the difficulty 
  increases to FORMIDABLE (15). On a Botch, not only 
  do they fail to open the lock, but they also trip an alarm 
  that alerts the guards at the gatehouse.  
   
  If the PCs just do not have anyone who can bypass 
  the lock, or they just cannot seem to get it open, they 
  do have the option of breaking the door down, it’s just 
  that this will neither be subtle or quiet. Breaking open 
  the door requires a HARD (11) Burst of Strength 
  (Strength + Strength) roll and two PCs can try this 
  together with the use of Direct Assistance. If 
  successful, the door breaks open in an explosion of 
  splinters and with a loud crash that will alert the 
  guards. On an extraordinary success, the PCs not only 
  break open the lock on the door, but do so with 
  minimal noise and do not alert the guards. On a 
  failure, they have not opened the door, but have been 
  quiet enough not to alert the guards, while on a Botch, 
  the door holds firm and they make so much noise that 
  the guards are alerted. Should the PCs have made too 
  much noise and alerted the guards, they will have 
  three minutes (60 Turns) before the first guards arrive. 
  One way or another, the PCs will have hopefully got 
  the door to Sun Mei’s room open. Read: 
   
  You step into an expensively decorated, but 
  sparse room, with only a single bed, small 
  dressing table and a chair to furnish it. Cowering 
  in a fetal position upon the bed is a young oriental 
  woman dressed in a fine jade green gown. She 
  looks up at you with sad green eyes; her gaze 
  locking with yours, her manner sorrowful and 
  downcast, but only moments later a bright smile 
  illuminates her face, gracing it with an almost 
  unworldly beauty. 
  “You have come to free me, to take me home to my 
  family?” She enquirers in a delicate, charming 
  voice, her intuitive way of already knowing your 
  intentions is astounding. 
  “Yes, I am Sun Mei and as I have no possessions 
  to bring, I am ready to join you.” She follows, 
  almost answering your questions before you have 
  thought to ask them. 
  Sun Mei gracefully uncurls herself from the bed 
  and slips her small feet into a pair of flat shoes 
  before standing ready to leave, her bright smile 
  radiating warmth and gratitude. 
   
  
   
  33 
  The PCs may seem at little disconcerted that Sum 
  Mei seems to know their intentions before they have 
  even said a word, this is because she is a reader. 
  Still, she will listen attentively to anything they have to 
  say, or should they choose to explain their intentions 
  or actions to her. If they check the picture they were 
  provided with, it is definitely Sun Mei, just in case 
  there was any doubt. 
  Her natural beauty and grace should be impressed 
  upon the PCs, so that they can get the sense of why 
  anyone would pay so much to try and own her. Sun 
  Mei is charming, graceful, and respectful, possessing 
  an allure of which few can match. 
   
  Now the PCs finally have Sun Mei, they can make 
  good their escape, which providing they did not alert 
  the guards, is no harder than breaking in, possibly 
  even easier if they disabled the cameras. 
  Unfortunately, if the PCs alerted the guards by 
  tripping an alarm or making too much noise, the way 
  out will be a whole lot harder. For a start, guards will 
  now be searching inside the house for intruders and 
  they will have alerted and woken Atherton Wing. For 
  every turn it takes the characters to leave the house, 
  roll a d6, and on a result of a 1, the characters have 
  encountered two guards. If the PCs get to act first on 
  initiative, they can try and put down the guards before 
  they call in backup to their location, otherwise all 
  fifteen guards at the estate will know exactly where 
  the PCs are and they will try to subdue them. 
   
  Ultimately, the PCs will want to get out into the rear 
  garden and over the wall, at which point they can 
  easily loose any pursuers in the woods. If the PCs do 
  not make it and are caught by the guards, they will be 
  handed over to the Feds on the charges of breaking 
  and entry and kidnapping, not to mention possible 
  assault or murder, so their future will not be looking 
  all that rosy. 
  Once out of the woods, so to speak, the PCs can get 
  Sun Mei back to their ship and prepare leave for 
  Santo and Emerald River. 
   
  Before the PCs finally get onto their ship and away to 
  Santo, there is one more encounter for them to face, 
  as someone else has gotten to their ship before them, 
  but this should only be played out if they have Sun 
  Mei with them. Read: 
   
  It has been a long day, a very long day, but at last 
  you have rescued Sun Mei and can rest easy on 
  the return trip to Santo.  
  As your ship comes into view among the chaos 
  that is Eavesdown Docks, berthed between two 
  large freighters, you note two men standing 
  outside, seemingly waiting for you, though they 
  do not look like Feds or Tong. 
  The men are tall, bald, and very pale, dressed in 
  smart black suits and are oddly wearing what 
  appear to be thin blue gloves. They both smile 
  together as you stop outside your ship. 
  “Please excuse our interruption to your business 
  Captain, but we were wondering if we may speak 
  with the young girl for a moment?” One of the 
  blue-handed men enquires. 
  “Yes, we have an educational opportunity for her.” 
  The other adds immediately. 
  They both smile, and somehow it does not make 
  you feel at ease, there is something sinister in 
  those smiling faces. 
   
  In case you had not guessed, the ‘Hands of Blue’ have 
  somehow found out that Sun Mei has reader abilities 
  and wish to collect her for the academy, but this is not 
  their primary purpose for being at Eavesdown Docks, 
  so they will not be forcing the issue this time. 
  No doubt the crew will not want to deal with them, but 
  most likely they will not know who they are. If they 
  enquire as to whom they work for, they state that they 
  are employees of a Core World academy that grants 
  scholarships to particularly talented individuals and 
  that Sun Mei could qualify for this. 
   
  If the PCs ask as to how they came to this conclusion, 
  they will only say that they had some referrals that 
  they were following up on. 
  In all likelihood, the crew will say no, and should they 
  ask Sun Mei, she will be quite certain that she does 
  not want to talk to these men; in fact she looks very 
  nervous and frightened, as she gets a very bad feeling 
  regarding their intentions. 
  Should the crew refuse, they will smile politely and 
  take their leave, with an “As you wish.” 
   
  If they PCs actually let them talk to Sun Mei, she will 
  be very distressed by this, but the Hands of Blue will 
  only ask a few short questions as to her name, age 
  and education and then they will, once again, smile 
  and take their leave, with a “Thank you Captain, you 
  have been most helpful.” 
  Either way, the Hands of Blue will leave both Sun Mei 
  and the crew in peace after only a few short minutes 
  and nothing more will come of this encounter…at least 
  for this adventure. 
   
  So finally, with Sun Mei safely in their hands and back 
  at their ship, the PCs are now ready for the return 
  journey to Emerald River and this scene draws to a 
  close, after what has no doubt been a very long day 
  for the crew.  
   
  The PCs should be awarded one to six plot points for 
  their actions in Wing and a Prayer, as well as one 
  advancement point for their heroic deed in rescuing an 
  innocent young woman. 
    
    
  Scene 3: A Heroes Welcome 
   
  “Home…now there is a word that brings joy to my 
  heart. For many folk, it can mean many things, from 
  
   
  34 
  that patch of dirt to which they were born all hollerin’ 
  an’ kicking, to the thick hull of some boat or another. 
  To me, my boat is more like a big sister that looks out 
  for you and keeps you warm, protecting you from the 
  big black of the ‘Verse an’ tellin’ you when something 
  is wrong. In my eyes, home is a place where you can 
  unwind, a place to relax and not be havin’ to look over 
  your shoulder all the time, as there will be folk doing 
  that for you. Home is that place you head for when 
  the job is done, a welcoming place where folk are 
  pleased to see you and there is a warm bed waiting 
  for you, and a good woman to warm it too, if you is all 
  kinds of lucky. For me, having some place to call 
  home is what makes those long months out in the 
  black worth the blood and sweat…if not just for those 
  first sweet breaths of fresh air.” 
  - Jackson ‘Cowboy’ Brown, veteran pilot, Eavesdown 
  Docks, Persephone 
   
  Hopefully, after everything the PCs have been 
  through, they now have Sun Mei and they are 
  bringing her home. If they don’t have Sun Mei when 
  they return, you, as GM, will have to decide how this 
  all ends, as may be the case if they used the Long 
  Arm of the Law to get her freed from Atherton Wing.  
  Heading back to Santo is much the same as the trip 
  out, with the pilot making an AVERAGE (7) 
  Intelligence + Pilot / Astrogation roll to know it’s still 
  only a short 250 hour trip for a Speed Class of 1 
  vessel, so for most ships that’ll be a day or two. 
   
  Nothing really eventful will happen on the trip back, 
  but encouraging some role-play among the crew and 
  Sun Mei is highly recommended. She is extremely 
  thankful to the PCs and relieved to be going back 
  home, her distressing ordeal mostly over. She doesn’t 
  seem to think that much of her first ever trip off-world 
  or for the nature of things out in the ‘Verse. Due to 
  her gratitude at being rescued, she will make every 
  effort to not take offence to any crude folk among the 
  crew, so long as their thoughts regarding her are not 
  overly vulgar. This could lead to some fun though, if 
  any crew mention what they are thinking and she 
  turns to stare at them, a look of disgust on her face as 
  she picks up their intentions, states something along 
  the lines of “how dare you” and storms out of the 
  room, even though they have not said a word about it. 
  Eventually, they will arrive at Santo and make their 
  approach on Emerald River. Read: 
   
  Finally breaking out from the clouds, you bear 
  witness to the vast expanse of farmlands and 
  prairies that form the agricultural heartland of 
  Santo, the beauty of which is awe inspiring. Only 
  a short way ahead, you can once more see the 
  multitude of buildings that shape the large town 
  of Emerald River, a man-made mark against the 
  natural vista. 
  Off to the east of town, the Emerald River 
  sparkles a brilliant green in the early morning 
  sun, while to the north, the steady rise of hills and 
  mountains stand tall and proud, thick forests 
  lining their slopes. 
  You bank the ship around and down towards the 
  landing pads and large fuel storage tanks at the 
  northern edge of town, making for your final 
  approach around the Town’s communications and 
  control tower, before steadily setting her down. 
  For one young woman whose freedom you 
  pursued, with sweat and blood, this is home, a 
  place to be safe among family and friends…maybe 
  it could be yours too. 
   
  Pretty much as soon as the PCs ship has touched 
  down, word will be spreading around that they have 
  returned and folk will be eager to know if they have 
  Sun Mei. The crew that work at Jimmy’s Service 
  Station will be keeping an eye for the crew as they 
  leave the ship and the moment they see Sun Mei, 
  they’ll send a call back to town to let them know the 
  good news. 
   
  It is assumed that the PCs will take Sun Mei with them 
  when they head back into town and most likely to the 
  General Store to reunite her with her family. 
  As the PCs enter the town square, there will be quite a 
  welcoming committee waiting for them, as a large 
  crowd of well wishers has turned out to see them, 
  giving them some idea of just how popular Sun Mei is 
  with the townsfolk. The Sun Family will be outside the 
  General Store and standing on the veranda, waiting to 
  be reunited with their daughter and standing close by 
  are Owen Blake and sheriff Durham. Read: 
   
  It is early in the day, with the first rays of sun 
  stretching out over the Town Square, bathing it in 
  warm golden light, almost spotlighting the crowd 
  of people that have turned out to greet your arrival 
  with faces of joy and relief. Up on the simple 
  wooded veranda of the General Store stand the 
  anxious members of the Sun family, eagerly 
  waiting to get a glimpse of their daughter. 
  Standing with them is Owen Blake, a mighty dandy 
  looking gent, and Sheriff Durham, the Town’s 
  principle lawman. 
  As you finally reach the store, Sun Mei steps 
  forward, still wearing the fine green gown from 
  Persephone, it shines brilliantly in the sunlight, 
  creating an almost ghostly air around the young 
  woman. 
  She steps up to the veranda with a delicate grace, 
  her face struggling to hold back her emotions, to 
  remain dignified and composed, until she stands 
  proudly before her family. 
  Then the tears come, not just from Sun Mei, but all 
  of the family, as they embrace their daughter, their 
  emotions overflowing at the relief of having her 
  returned to them, unharmed and dignified. 
  The crowd watches on in silence as the family has 
  this moment, their moment, as they let out their joy 
  and relief at their reunion. 
   
  
   
  35 
  The special moment when Sun Mei is finally returned 
  to her family, stepping gracefully up onto the veranda 
  should be a heart warming and tearful scene, as all of 
  the Sun family shed tears of joy. 
  Soon after, they will be hugging and thanking the PCs 
  for their gallant deed, expressing their deep gratitude 
  for what they have done. This should be one of those 
  very special moments when the PCs know they have 
  done a good thing, for good people…today they truly 
  are Big Damn Heroes. 
   
  With the initial flood of emotions passing, Sun Cai will 
  personally thank each of the PCs for returning his 
  daughter to him and he will offer to restock their 
  ship’s galley with fresh food and spices, and even 
  some rice wine the family have been keeping for a 
  special occasion…and he can think of no better 
  occasion than this. 
   
  At about this time Owen Blake will approach the 
  Captain and ask for a moment of their time. Stepping 
  aside from the Sun family and out of earshot, he will 
  point out that what the Captain and their crew have 
  done this day goes beyond just the Sun family, but 
  makes the whole damn town proud of them, for they 
  are not just townsfolk and neighbors, but a real 
  community. Owen will also make good by paying the 
  crew their reward, even if they had decided upon the 
  rescue before one was even offered. In no uncertain 
  terms, he makes it clear that all their fuel and port 
  fees will be covered, as well as sorting out their 
  monthly maintenance bill, and he hands the Captain 
  750 credits (one and a half times more than what may 
  have been promised), such is his gratitude and that of 
  the town. He will also offer the crew a weeks bed and 
  board at the Blake’s Tavern, on the house, should 
  they wish to rest up and relax for a while. 
   
  Next up, Sheriff Durham will thank them for their 
  efforts and tell them how surprised he is that there 
  are still good folk out there that’d do what they did, as 
  many just wouldn’t care for simple farming folk. He’ll 
  also hand the Captain a bottle of quality whisky and 
  state that it is from the ‘old country’, though no one 
  can be quite sure what he means by that. If any of the 
  crew has wounds that need tending to, the Town’s 
  doctor, Doc Smith, will also provide his services free 
  of charge. 
   
  Finally, the PCs will be pretty much treated as heroes 
  around Emerald River and welcomed back at any 
  time, in a town where folk are happy to see them, 
  where they don’t have to be looking over their 
  shoulders, where a warm bed will be waiting for them 
  and if they are all kinds of lucky, maybe even a good 
  man or woman to warm it. 
   
  Optional Epilogue: This is for any GMs who would 
  like closure to the Hands of Blue encounter in 
  Eavesdown Docks, but is purely optional and will be 
  covered in a future adventure. 
  Some time later, the Sun family will receive an 
  unexpected visitor. He will identify himself as a 
  representative of a special academy for gifted children 
  and young adults, and they are sometimes able to 
  offer prestigious scholarships to persons outside of the 
  Core Worlds that come to their attention. 
   
  Sun Mei is one of these lucky young people that have 
  come to their attention and he will offer her such a 
  scholarship, which will enable her to gain a degree 
  from a Core World institution, which would open many 
  doors for both her and her family. They are warned 
  that they will not be able to see her very often; due to 
  the fact the academy likes to keep outside 
  disturbances to a minimum, to allow the students to 
  reach their maximum potential, but reassures them 
  that they will be able to write and communicate as 
  often as they like, outside of study time. 
   
  He will be very sincere and even Sun Mei will not be 
  able to detect any deceit or danger; the man truly does 
  believe in what he is offering. This is because, as far 
  as he is aware, everything he states is true. 
  As this seems to be the offer of a lifetime and because 
  the Sun family has always wanted what is best for their 
  children, they accept the scholarship and Sun Mei 
  travels to the Core and a bright future with the 
  academy…or so it seems, but that is a tale for another 
  adventure. 
   
  Each PC should be awarded six plot points and an 
  extra two advancement points if they brought Sun Mei 
  back home themselves and for being such Big Damn 
  Heroes. 
   
  So ends the first of the Emerald River Tales, hopefully 
  on a positive high, where the PCs have earned the 
  respect and friendship of the townsfolk and have a 
  welcome retreat they can call home. 
   
   
  THE END 
    
    
  
   
  36 
  FOLKS AND RASCALS 
   
  Name: Golden Mantis Tong member (Basic foot soldier) 
  Agi d8, Str d8, Vit d6, Ale d8, Int d6, Wil d6; 
  Life Points 12; Initiative d8 + d8 
  Traits: Friends in Low Places (minor), Loyal (Tong) (minor). 
  Skills: Athletics d6, Covert d6 (Stealth d8, Streetwise d8), Discipline d6 (Intimidation d8, Mental 
  Resistance d8), Guns d6, Knowledge d4, Melee Weapon Combat d6, Perception d6, Planetary Vehicles 
  d6, Unarmed Combat d6 (Tai Chi d8). 
  Description: These are the basic Golden Mantis foot soldiers. They are extremely loyal to the Tong clan, 
  or at the very least, a particular boss within the Tong. They will fight to the death if they have to, but will 
  most likely run or surrender to the mercy of their attackers before it goes that far. These are the Tong that 
  are encountered in Act 1, Scene 2, as well as the majority of the Tong encountered during the adventure. 
  Gear: Pistol, rifle or SMG, combat knife, mesh vest. 
   
  Name: Golden Mantis Tong member (Veteran) 
  Agi d10, Str d8, Vit d8, Ale d8, Int d6, Wil d8; 
  Life Points 16; Initiative d10 + d8 
  Traits: Friends in Low Places (minor), Leadership (minor), Loyal (Tong) (minor), Prejudice (Rivals) 
  (minor). 
  Skills: Athletics d6, Covert d6 (Stealth d8, Streetwise d10), Discipline d6 (Intimidation d8, Mental 
  Resistance d8), Guns d6, Knowledge d4, Melee Weapon Combat d6 (Knives d8, Swords d8), Perception 
  d6, Planetary Vehicles d4, Unarmed Combat d6 (Tai Chi d10). 
  Description: These are the ranking member in the Tong, the lieutenants, captains and personal 
  bodyguards to the bosses. They are extremely loyal to the Tong clan and most likely a particular boss 
  within the Tong. They will fight to the death if they have to, but will most likely run or surrender to the 
  mercy of their attackers before it goes that far, unless protecting the life of their boss. These Tong 
  members are the ones mostly likely to be known by rival Tong and are the least accepting and tolerant of 
  their rivals both within and without the clan. These represent the bodyguards of both Tong bosses as well 
  as a few officers that will be found at each warehouse. At least one of these veterans will be guarding the 
  Tang Lang, along with the basic foot soldiers. 
  Gear: Pistol or SMG, combat knife, sword, mesh or plate vest. 
   
  Name: Golden Mantis Tong boss (Bai Lian and Yu Shu) 
  Agi d10, Str d8, Vit d8, Ale d8, Int d8, Wil d12; 
  Life Points 20; Initiative d10 + d8 
  Traits: Friends in Low Places (minor), Leadership (major), Deadly Enemy (minor), Loyal (Tong) (minor), 
  Prejudice (Rivals) (minor). 
  Skills: Athletics d6 (Dodge d8), Artistry d6, Covert d6 (Stealth d10, Streetwise d12), Discipline d6 
  (Interrogation d8, Intimidation d10, Mental Resistance d10), Guns d6, Influence d6 (Negotiation d10), 
  Knowledge d4, Melee Weapon Combat d6 (Knives d8, Swords d10), Perception d6, Unarmed Combat d6 
  (Tai Chi d10). 
  Description: These are the two Tong bosses that are fighting for control of the Golden Mantis. Both are 
  very experienced, are respected leaders and not to be messed with. They control their clan members 
  through both intimidation and promise of rewards; they are skilled at manipulating those that serve them 
  and knowing what is going on around them. Despite this, they are loyal to their clan and will do everything 
  they can to promote and strengthen their influence in the local area and do not easily tolerate their rival’s 
  activities. By the time you reach this level in the Tong, you have certainly made a few enemies along the 
  way, which in this case, are one another. 
  Gear: Pistol, combat knife, sword, mesh vest. 
   
  Name: Alliance Fed (Basic grunt) 
  Agi d6, Str d8, Vit d8, Ale d6, Int d6, Wil d8; 
  Life Points 16; Initiative d6 + d6 
  Traits: Wears a Badge (minor), Loyal (Alliance) (minor). 
  Skills: Athletics d6, Covert d4, Discipline d6 (Intimidation d8), Guns d6 (Pistol d8, Assault Rifle d8), 
  Influence d4, Knowledge d6, Melee Weapon Combat d6, Perception d6, Planetary Vehicles d6, Unarmed 
  Combat d6. 
  
   
  37 
  Description: These are the standard Fed grunts that patrol the streets and respond to calls from 
  disturbed citizens, as well as arresting those folk that are engaging in criminal activity. They do their duty, 
  obey their orders and follow Alliance law to the letter. They’re well-trained, well-armed, and efficient and 
  rarely open to bribery, so best not to try.  
  These are the guys that will respond to any call for Feds, as well as the officers patrolling the business 
  district and those waiting for trouble around the Tang Lang, if they were alerted. 
  Gear: Pistol, assault rifle, stun baton, body armor and helmet. 
   
  Name: Victoria Deveroux (Recruiter) 
  Agi d8, Str d4, Vit d6, Ale d8, Int d10, Wil d12; 
  Life Points 18; Initiative d8 + d8 
  Traits: Friends in High Places (minor), Good Name (minor), Moneyed Individual (Major), All Preened Up 
  (minor), Loyal (Clients) (minor), Memorable (minor), Prejudice (Indentured folk) (minor).  
  Skills: Artistry d6, Athletics d6, Influence d6 (Marketing d10/ Persuasion d10/ Streetwise d8), Knowledge 
  d6 (Culture d8/ Law d8), Perception d6 (Empathy d8), Performance d6 (Dancing d8), Planetary Vehicles 
  d6, Technical Engineering d4, Unarmed Combat d4. 
  Description: Vicky is an attractive lady with long blond hair, usually pulled back in a ponytail, and bright 
  blue eyes which seem to sparkle. Her smile is perfectly sculptured, perfectly white and you can only 
  imagine that this woman has been under the knife more than once to make sure her that no blemish 
  could disrupt her aim for perfection, to ensure her clients will see only beautiful things. She takes this to 
  the extreme of having to make sure she always looks her best before any sort of meeting, as to Vicky, 
  appearance is everything. 
  She is a sharp business woman and will normally only be found wearing an expensive looking two piece 
  dress suit, or an equally expensive figure hugging dress. Her expert dress sense combined with her 
  impeccable appearance means that Vicky tends to leave a memorable impression on her clients and 
  guests. 
  She has been in the recruiting business for some time, but only moved onto the provision of indentured 
  servants only in the last few years, yet she has made a name for herself as well as building up a 
  successful and profitable business venture, especially as she values client discretion. 
  If there was to be a real chink in her character, it would be that she has spent so long trading contracts of 
  indentured servitude and the people bonded to those contracts, that she has stopped regarding these 
  unfortunate souls as people, but little more than a commodity to be bought and sold. 
   
  Name: Steven (Victoria’s bodyguard & personal assistant) 
  Agi d8, Str d8, Vit d10, Ale d8, Int d6, Wil d8; 
  Life Points 18; Initiative d8 + d8 + d4 
  Traits: Lightning Reflexes (minor), Steady Calm (minor), Credo (Protect the Client at any cost) (Major). 
  Skills: Athletics d6 (Dodge d8), Discipline d6, Guns d6 (Pistols d8), Influence d6 (Administration d8/ 
  Intimidation d8), Knowledge d6, Perception d6 (Hearing d8/ Sight d8), Planetary Vehicles d6, Technical 
  Engineering d6, Unarmed Combat d6 (Brawling d8). 
  Description: Steven is a muscular and handsome man that is both Ms Deveroux’s personal assistant 
  and her bodyguard. He is well spoken, perfectly mannered, alert for trouble and ready to protect his 
  employer without a second thought. He has worked for Vicky for slightly over two years and knows her 
  habits very well, as well as knowing if anything were amiss to suggest that she may be under any duress. 
  Steven is normally smartly dressed in an expensive business suit that has been personally tailored so as 
  to help hide his ‘under-the-shoulder’ holster and pistol, for which he has a valid permit to carry even in the 
  business district. 
  Gear: Pistol, Mesh Vest. 
   
  Name: Security Guards (Both at Ms Deveroux’s office building and at Atherton’s Estate) 
  Agi d8, Str d6, Vit d8, Ale d8, Int d6, Wil d6; 
  Life Points 14; Initiative d8 + d8 
  Traits: None. 
  Skills: Athletics d6, Discipline d6, Guns d6, Influence d6, Knowledge d4, Melee Weapon Combat d6 
  (Clubs d8), Planetary Vehicles d6, Perception d6 (Sight d8), Technical Engineering d6, Unarmed Combat 
  d6. 
  Description: These are the men and women who are paid to keep unwanted folk out of expensive 
  premises or homes. Unlike your warehouse night watchman, these guys are well trained, well paid and 
  dedicated to keeping their employer happy by doing a good job. If they detect and intruder they will 
  
   
  38 
  assess the situation and either deal with it themselves or call for backup from their parent agency or from 
  the Feds. 
  Generally they don’t take kindly to intruders or folk who may want to harm their employers. 
  Gear: Pistol, Stun Baton, Mesh Vest and Uniform. They will have access to Plate Vests, Helmets and 
  Rifles. 
   
  Name: Chester Fielding (Atherton’s personal assistant) 
  Agi d6, Str d6, Vit d6, Ale d8, Int d8, Wil d8; 
  Life Points 14; Initiative d6 + d8 
  Traits: Friends in High Places (minor), Highly Educated (minor), Greedy (minor), Prejudice (Common 
  folk) (minor). 
  Skills: Athletics d6, Influence d6 (Administration d8/ Bureaucracy d8/ Persuasion d8), Knowledge d6 
  (Culture d8/ Law d8), Melee Weapon Combat d6 (Sword d8), Performance d6 (Dancing d8), Perception 
  d6 (Empathy d8/ Intuition d8), Planetary Vehicles d4, Unarmed Combat d4. 
  Description: Chester is Atherton’s Wings personal assistant and responsible for organizing almost all of 
  his business-related appointments, as well as many of his social engagements. Due to this responsibility, 
  Chester is often quite stressed and under pressure, especially when Atherton doesn’t feel the need to 
  attend a meeting and leaves him to clear up the mess and make apologies. 
  He is smartly dressed, well presented, business-like and well spoken; only doing this job for his love of 
  money and a fat pay-check, not out of love for his employer. 
  It is Chester’s responsibility to know what is going on at all times and have an answer to anything 
  Atherton needs to know, regarding his business affairs, which leaves him little free time for a life of his 
  own. 
   
  Name: Atherton Wing (Rich socialite) 
  Agi d12, Str d8, Vit d10, Ale d8, Int d8, Wil d10; 
  Life Points 20; Initiative d12 + d8 
  Traits: Friends in High Places (minor), Moneyed Individual (Major), Talented (Swords) (minor), Chip on 
  the Shoulder (minor), Overconfident (minor), Prejudice (Common folk) (minor), Memorable (minor). 
  Skills: Athletics d6 (Dodge d10/ Riding d10), Discipline d4, Guns d6 (Pistols d10), Influence d6 
  (Conversation d10/ Persuasion d10), Knowledge d6, Melee Weapon Combat d6 (Sword d12 [+d4 with 
  talented]), Performance d6 (Dancing d10), Perception d4, Planetary Vehicles d2, Unarmed Combat d4. 
  Description: Atherton Wing is rich, handsome, impeccably presented and a very eligible bachelor, but 
  unfortunately he is also self centered, selfish and has never had to do a hard days work in his life, living 
  on a vast inheritance instead. 
  Atherton likes to surround himself with beautiful things, especially beautiful women, and goes to great 
  lengths to ensure everyone knows he has money and only accepts the very best. As women tend not to 
  appreciate his company for too long, he often hires Companions or other professionals to escort him to 
  social functions, though at times he may resort to using one of his beautiful indentured servants, once 
  they have been suitable coached on how to behave. 
  Whatever Atherton wants, he gets and if he can’t get it, or is refused it, he makes it his goal to make 
  whoever got in his way pay for their mistake.  
  To Atherton, social standing is everything, so merciful Buddha help anyone who makes a fool of him in 
  public or makes him look bad in front of his peers. In fact, many a man has paid for such a mistake with 
  their life, as he is a talented swordsman and will settle many a slight with a duel. 
  Despite his gentlemanly manner and glamorous flair, Atherton is little more than a spoilt, spiteful child that 
  has no appreciation for money or the feelings of others, especially those below him…they are just tools to 
  be used and discarded as necessary. Atherton Wing is not a good man. 
   
  Name: Sun Mei ‘beauty’ (Virtuous young lady) 
  Agi d10, Str d4, Vit d6, Ale d8, Int d6, Wil d8; 
  Life Points 14; Initiative d10 + d8 
  Traits: Allure (Major), Reader (minor), Loyal (Family) (minor), Memorable (minor), Prejudice (Bad 
  mannered & disrespecting folk) (minor). 
  Skills: Artistry d6, Athletics d6, Discipline d6 (Meditation d8), Influence d6 (Persuasion d8), Knowledge 
  d4, Melee Weapon Combat d6 (Swords d8), Perception d6 (Empathy d8), Performance d6, Unarmed 
  Combat d6 (Tai Chi d8). 
  Description: Mei is the family jewel and her father and elder brother are very protective of her. With a 
  mere look from her deep green eyes, Mei could melt the heart of any man. To say she is beautiful would 
  not do her justice; she is elegant, graceful, charming and has an inner beauty that radiates into her 
  
   
  39 
  physical presence, all combining to give such allure to which very few can compare. She is in her early 
  twenties and though she is charming and sweet when spoken to, she prefers quiet solitude. 
  Most of the time, Mei can be found dressed in traditional Chinese attire and working dutifully at the Post 
  Office counter. In fact, many of the male customers who often come to send post to old friends, which 
  may or may not exist, do so just to get a glimpse of her and carry that vision with them for the rest of the 
  day, hoping that they do not appear too obvious. 
  On the other hand, Mei is almost always fully aware of their true motives, though she is far too polite to 
  say, all because she has a rare gift that allows her to somehow sense the thoughts and feelings of the 
  people around her. 
  At first, the gift scared her, but over time she found that she could control it and it allowed her to truly 
  understand her younger brother Jian, due to his mental difficulties. For that reason alone, she considered 
  it a blessing and no longer feared her ability; though it is something she has never revealed to her family 
  or anyone else, keeping it a very closely guarded secret. Her family and most people she meets just 
  consider her very intuitive. 
  Something that Mei finds particularly vulgar is bad manners and foul language, feeling that they are 
  disrespectful and have no place in honorable society. She will never use rude words herself and is often 
  quick to chastise those that do, though politely of course, and can seem a little haughty around cussing 
  folk. To make matters worse, as she can often read surface thoughts, she struggles with men who have 
  less than clean thoughts regarding what they would like to do with her, considering even these thoughts 
  to be disrespectful, especially as she is a virtuous woman who has no intention of being with any man 
  until she is married. 
   
  Name: Sun Cai ‘fortune’ (Owner of the General Store) 
  Agi d8, Str d6, Vit d8, Ale d8, Int d6, Wil d6; 
  Life Points 14; Initiative d6 + d8 
  Traits: Teacher (Tai Chi) (minor), Trustworthy Gut (minor), Loyal (Golden Mantis Tong) (minor). 
  Skills: Athletics d6, Discipline d6, Influence d6 (Barter d8), Knowledge d6, Melee Weapon Combat d6 
  (Knives d8/ Swords d10), Perception d6 (Intuition d8), Unarmed Combat d6 (Tai Chi d10). 
  Description: Cai is a Chinese man in his early fifties, with grey hair, wise eyes and a long white beard. 
  Though he is short and frail looking, his strength and speed should never be underestimated, neither 
  should his skill of Tai Chi and blades. He is friendly and polite, whilst at the same time a shrewd and 
  clever businessman. He loves his family and is devoted to ensuring they are all brought up well versed in 
  family tradition and with honorable values, as well as instructing them in the art of Tai Chi and melee 
  weapons. 
  His family is also connected to, and therefore loyal to, the Golden Mantis Tong. The first Cai knew of the 
  family ties to the Golden Mantis was when a man walked into the store one morning and threatened his 
  father. He was equally shocked when his father, a normally peaceful man, threw the intruder to the 
  ground and put a knife to his throat. The man looked shocked too, but after a short conversation he was 
  allowed to stand, bowed to Cai’s father and left. 
  Cai learnt that his father’s cousin had once been head of the Golden Mantis Tong and during a time of 
  particular bloody gang fighting, he had asked his cousin permission to take his young family away to a 
  place they could be raised in safety. Permission had been given to his father, partly due to being family, 
  but mostly as he was not in a senior position. Before leaving, he’d been warned that the Tong may one 
  day still call on him for his services. It transpired that on that day, the Tong had come to inform Cai’s 
  father that his cousin had been killed and that they didn’t expect any family loyalty getting in the way of 
  the new leadership. Of course, his father had politely reminded the man to have some manners and 
  informed him that so long as they were not expected to move, there would be no problem. He then took 
  the time and felt it necessary to teach Cai the ways of the Tong and what part the family played. 
  So, for the most part, Cai runs the Emerald River General Store as a law abiding and successful 
  business, looking after his family as a good and loving father. In the shadows, they have to do their part 
  for the Golden Mantis, which mainly involves being ready to accommodate and assist any members that 
  may happen into town and report back any activity of rival Tongs, though very few ever pass through 
  Town since the end of the mining boom days. 
  Cai may not like having to do the Tongs bidding, but as it is a matter of family honor, he’d never desire to 
  bring shame upon the family. So long as the Golden Mantis does not ask for anything more than shelter 
  and news, he can see no reason to defy them, but, unlike his father, he has taken the time to inform his 
  wife and children of their expected loyalty. 
   
   
  
   
  40 
  Name: Owen Blake (Owner & manager of Blake’s Tavern) 
  Agi d8, Str d6, Vit d8, Ale d8, Int d8, Wil d10; 
  Life Points 18; Initiative d8 + d8 
  Traits: Allure (minor), Friends in High Places (minor), Moneyed Individual (Major), Trustworthy Gut 
  (minor), Hooked (Pain killers) (minor), Loyal (Family) (minor), Memorable (minor), Plodding Along (minor). 
  Skills: Athletics d6, Covert d4, Discipline d6, Guns d4, Influence d6 (Leadership d8/ Marketing d8/ 
  Persuasion d10/ Streetwise d8), Knowledge d6, Perception d6 (Gambling d8), Performance d6, Planetary 
  Vehicles d6, Unarmed Combat d4. 
  Description: The real head of the family, the one running the business; Owen Blake is a charming man 
  in his late forties, with chiseled looks, dark hair and green eyes. 
  He is a shrewd businessman with a knack for spotting talent and is willing to consider any business 
  venture that will further the renown of Blake’s Tavern, including shipping over off world talent for both the 
  cabaret and the brothel if it’d turn over a healthy profit. 
  Owen loves his work and even met his wife Estella in the bar, after she’d performed as one of the cabaret 
  acts. After hearing her sing, not to mention her looks, he fell in love and made it his mission to be with 
  her. After a few weeks of chasing and being continually booked as an act by the management, she finally 
  relented and agreed to a date. A few months later they were married and have been inseparable as a 
  couple for the last ten years. Owen is particularly proud of their young son Jess and hopes that one day; 
  he’ll be running the business. 
  He is one of the few townsfolk that has traveled the Verse a little and visited some of the Border and Core 
  Worlds to see how things are done elsewhere, as well as gaining some contacts off world. This helps to 
  bring in traveling acts for the cabaret and gives Blake’s a cosmopolitan feel with its mix of local and off 
  world flavor. 
  When not working the crowd or keeping an eye on things from a table by the bar, Owen likes to play a 
  hand of poker or go out for a cruise in his hovercraft speedster (a two-seater hovercraft version of a 
  Dodge Viper or any other sports muscle car), this is despite a serious accident a few years back that put 
  him in hospital. Luckily, most of his injuries healed and there were no permanent scars, but damage to his 
  left leg did leave him with a noticeable limp and an addiction to pain killers, so he often walks with an 
  expensive walking cane. 
   
  Name: Blaine Durham (Sheriff) 
  Agi d6, Str d8, Vit d8, Ale d8, Int d6, Wil d6; 
  Life Points 14; Initiative d6 + d8 
  Traits: Wears a Badge (minor), Straight Shooter (minor). 
  Skills: Athletics d6, Discipline d6, Guns d6 (Pistol d10/ Rifle d8), Influence d6, Knowledge d4, Melee 
  Weapon Combat d6, Perception d6, Unarmed Combat d6. 
  Description: Sheriff Durham in his early forties and a local man of Irish decent. He stands over 6ft tall 
  and is built like a bear, with fiery red hair and weatherworn skin. He is a keen and fair lawman who really 
  believes that Emerald River should be a happy and safe place to live and filled with good and law abiding 
  folk. At the same time, he is smart enough to know that as long as its good people are mostly law abiding, 
  then that is about as good as it gets. If Sheriff Durham was to have a fault, it’s that he don’t much mind 
  telling folk what he thinks of them and not sugar coating his opinions. 
  Gear: Pistol, Rifle, Combat Knife, Mesh Vest. 
   
  
   
  41 
   
  GM QUICK REFERENCE NOTES 
   
  The flowing is a list of key points that may need to be referenced during the adventure. This is a 
  summary of information that is already provided in the relevant text: 
   
  Act 1, Scene 1  
   
  - 
  The crew get paid by Christopher Hardy: 300 credits. 
  - 
  Fuel Costs at Emerald River: Standard rate of 5 credits per ton. 
  - 
  Getting a better deal with the whores: HARD (11) Willpower + Influence / Barter roll (3 credits 
  an hour as opposed to 4 credits). 
  - 
  Playing Poker: Opposed Intelligence + Perception / Gambling rolls. 
  - 
  Plot Points Award: One to three plot points. 
   
  Act 1, Scene 2 
   
  - 
  Plot Points Award: Two to four plot points, as well as one advancement point each if they 
  rushed to help straight away. 
   
  Act 1, Scene 3 
   
  - 
  To notice Sun Cai isn’t providing all the facts: HARD (11) Alertness + Perception / Empathy 
  or Perception / Intuition roll 
  - 
  Getting Sun Cai to admit more details: AVERAGE (7) Willpower + Influence / Persuasion or 
  threatening that they will not help unless he tells them. 
  - 
  Interrogating the Tong: HARD Complex Action (55) using Willpower + Discipline / Interrogation 
  or Influence / Interrogation roll, where every roll takes two minutes of time. The PCs may 
  indirectly assist one another with this task. The threat of physical harm will not have any effect, 
  but actually inflicting harm will grant a +1 step Skill bonus on the roll.  
  - 
  Plot Points Award: One to three plot points, depending on how they dealt with the situation. If 
  the PCs agreed to rescue the daughter without any prompting from the sheriff or Owen Blake, 
  they should also be awarded with one advancement point each. 
   
  Act 2, Scene 1 
   
  - 
  Travel Time from Santo to Persephone: AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Pilot / Astrogation roll to 
  know it is a short 250 hour trip for a Speed Class of 1 vessel. 
  - 
  Gathering Info on the Golden Mantis via contacts: Willpower + Influence / Persuasion roll. 
  The difficulty starts at EASY (3), with each additional piece of information increasing the difficulty 
  by one step. 
  - 
  Gathering Info on the Golden Mantis via actual street knowledge: AVERAGE (7) Intelligence 
  + Covert / Streetwise or Influence / Streetwise roll to recall the information. Again, for each 
  difficulty level step, they gain another piece of information. 
  - 
  Gathering Info on the Golden Mantis via actual Tong connection: EASY (3) Intelligence + 
  Knowledge / Culture or Knowledge / Family roll instead. Again, for each difficulty level step, they 
  gain another piece of information. 
  - 
  Hacking the Cortex for flight info: To access the traffic control computer via a remote link 
  requires a FORMIDABLE (15) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking roll. Once the 
  hacker has got the link, they then have to find the correct data files, which requires a HARD (11) 
  Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking or Computer Operations roll. Now that they have 
  the files, they need to bypass the security and encryption to finally get the data, this requires 
  another FORMIDABLE (15) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking roll. After this, the 
  hacker will now have the information that is quoted above, but they still need to log off the system 
  undetected. This requires a HARD (11) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking roll to 
  break the connection without alerting any security programs. It takes 3d10 + 5 minutes to find the 
  correct data files. 
  - 
  Plot Points Award: Two to five plot points each, plus if any PC spent two or more plot points on 
  Friends in High or Low Places, that person also receives one advancement point. 
  
   
  42 
   
  Act 2, Scene 2 
   
  - 
  Port Fees at Persephone/Eavesdown Docks: Port fees at Eavesdown Docks are set at a fixed 
  2 credit landing charge, plus 1 credit per 100 tons of ship per week, to a maximum of 50 credits 
  per week. This charge includes administration costs, power hook-up, septic flush and fresh water 
  fill. Fuel must be purchased separately, but it is cheaper here than at many other docks, due to 
  fierce competition among vendors, so fuel is charged at 4 credits per ton. 
  - 
  Getting info on the street about the Golden Mantis Tong: AVERAGE (7) Willpower + Covert / 
  Streetwise or Influence / Streetwise or a HARD (11) Willpower + Influence / Persuasion or 
  Discipline / Intimidation roll. 
  - 
  Finding the Tang Lang once in the docks: This requires a physical search of the docks and is 
  a HARD (55) Complex Action requiring either Alertness + Perception / Search or Perception / 
  Sight to find the ship for themselves or Willpower + Influence / Persuasion to convince people to 
  point them in the direction of anything that matches her description. Each roll takes 20 minutes of 
  time, but eventually they will discover the correct docking bay. 
  - 
  Getting word to the Tong for a meeting: AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Covert / Streetwise or 
  Influence / Streetwise roll and it generally takes d4 + 1 hours to arrange a meeting, after which 
  time a dozen Tong members will arrive to escort the PCs to the meeting place. 
  - 
  Plot Points Award: Two to four plot points. 
   
  Act 2, Scene 3 
   
  - 
  Plot Points Award: One to five plot points. 
   
  Act 3, Scene 1 
   
  - 
  Finding a listing for Ms Victoria Deveroux on the Cortex: AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + 
  Technical Engineering / Appropriate Speciality or Influence / Administration roll. 
  - 
  Finding a listing for Ms Victoria Deveroux on the street: HARD (55) Complex Action, 
  requiring Willpower + Covert / Streetwise or Influence / Streetwise roll, where the PCs can 
  provide Direct Assistance. Each roll takes ten minutes of asking around by the crew. 
  - 
  Fine for carrying weapons in business district: If you are caught with any weapon, other than 
  a derringer, on your person, you will be immediately fined 100 credits and you will be escorted out 
  of the district, and that is only assuming the weapon is officially licensed. If you are caught with a 
  weapon drawn, including a derringer without good reason, you will be taken into custody and 
  either fined 200 to 1000 credits or given a custodial sentence, usually depending on the nature of 
  the weapon. 
  - 
  Getting to the Business District via Shuttle: It will require permission from local traffic control, 
  and take about ten minutes to organise.  
  - 
  Getting to the Business District via Planetary Vehicle: No time to organise, but all entry roads 
  have toll points. The PCs will be requested to stop and asked the nature of their business, as well 
  as their destination. Once they give satisfactory answers, there is a 1 credit toll for the vehicle, 
  and they are then free to continue. All of the vehicles occupants will be reminded to leave their 
  weapons, if any, in the vehicle. The trip to Victoria Deveroux’s office will take about forty minutes. 
  - 
  Getting to the Business District via Maglev: Tickets costs 0.5 credits each and are valid for the 
  whole day. It will take the PCs about twenty minutes to get to the business district, but they 
  initially have to wait half an hour for the next train. When they arrive at the station, they will spot 
  the ‘no weapons’ notices at all exits, but find that there is a weapons locker service available 
  where they can store their weapons for 1 credit a day. It would seem that even the Alliance 
  expects people who travelled from Eavesdown Docks not to have done so unarmed. 
  - 
  Getting to the Business District via Taxi: Costs 2 credits in total, but can travel directly to 
  Victoria Deveroux’s office in forty minutes and yes, it is expensive, but so is a taxi licence that 
  gets you free transport around the business district. As a law abiding citizen, the taxi driver will 
  remind them about the district’s weapons laws. 
  - 
  Climbing over the wall: Actually climbing over the wall is a AVERAGE (35) Complex Action 
  using Strength + Athletics / Climbing, with each roll taking five minutes, but having proper 
  climbing gear available provides a +2 step Skill bonus, while just having a rope only provides a +1 
  step Skill bonus. The PCs can provide Indirect Assistance to their companions, so long as they 
  
   
  43 
  are not in the process of climbing over the wall themselves. Reaching the offices on foot will take 
  around an hour. 
  - 
  The Weapons Scanner: For the purpose of detecting weapons, the scanner has a d10 Alertness 
  + d6 Perception and successfully detects weapons and explosives on an Average (7) roll. Every 
  weapon carried should be rolled for separately, as any one of them could set off the alarm. 
  Noticing the scanner before entering the building requires a HARD (11) Alertness + Perception 
  Search or Perception / Sight roll. Disabling or spoofing the scanner requires a FORMIDABLE (15) 
  Intelligence + Covert / Disable Device or Technical Engineering / Technical Security Systems roll. 
  - 
  Plot Points Award: Two to five plot points. 
   
  Act 3, Scene 2 
   
  - 
  Knowing how to arrange a meeting with Atherton: AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Influence / 
  Appropriate Speciality or Knowledge / Appropriate Speciality roll. 
  - 
  Arranging a meeting with Atherton’s assistant: HARD (11) Willpower + Influence / 
  Appropriate Speciality roll. 
  - 
  Weapons Scanners (hand-held): For the purpose of detecting weapons, the scanner has a d6 
  Alertness + d6 Perception and successfully detects weapons and explosives on an Average (7) 
  roll. 
  - 
  Convincing Atherton to release Sun Mei with credits: HARD (11) Willpower + Influence / 
  Barter roll. 
  - 
  Convincing Atherton to release Sun Mei through talk: Trying to persuade Atherton of the 
  benefits of releasing Sun Mei requires a HEROIC (19) Willpower + Influence / Persuasion roll, 
  while trying to intimidate him with threats of calling the authorities and such like requires a 
  FORMIDABLE (15) Willpower + Discipline / Intimidation or Influence / Intimidation roll. 
  - 
  Hacking the Cortex for building plans: Accesses the local building registry files requires a 
  HARD (11) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking roll. Once the hacker has got the link, 
  they then have to find the correct data files, which requires an AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + 
  Technical Engineering / Hacking or Computer Operations roll. Now that they have the files, they 
  need to bypass the security and encryption to finally get the data, this requires another HARD 
  (11) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking roll. After this, the hacker will now have the 
  plans to Atherton’s estate, but they still need to log off the system undetected. This requires an 
  AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Technical Engineering / Hacking roll to break the connection without 
  alerting any security programs. It takes d10 + 5 minutes to find the correct data files. 
  - 
  Plot Points Award: One to six plot points for their actions in Wing and a Prayer, as well as one 
  advancement point for their heroic deed in rescuing an innocent young woman. 
   
  Act 3, Scene 3 
   
  - 
  Travel Time from Persephone to Santo: AVERAGE (7) Intelligence + Pilot / Astrogation roll to 
  know it’s still only a short 250 hour trip for a Speed Class of 1 vessel. 
  - 
  The Reward: All their fuel and port fees will be covered, as well as sorting out their monthly 
  maintenance bill, plus 750 credits (one and a half times more than what may have been 
  promised). Owen Blake will also offer the crew a weeks bed and board at the Blake’s Tavern, on 
  the house, should they wish to rest up and relax for a while. 
  - 
  Plot Points Award: Six plot points and an extra two advancement points if they brought Sun Mei 
  back home themselves and for being such Big Damn Heroes. 
   
   
  
   
  44 
   
  PLAYER HANDOUT: EMERALD RIVER TOWN SQUARE 
   
   
   
   
  
   
  45 
  PLAYER HANDOUT: A FAMILY PHOTO OF SUN MEI 
   
   
  
   
  46 
  TONG WAREHOUSE 
   
   
   
   
  Ground Floor 
  
   
  47 
   
  Upper Floor and gangways&  
  
   
  48 
  PERSEPHONE BUSINESS DISTRICT OFFICE BLOCK 
   
  
   
  49 
  ATHERTON WING’S ESTATE 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  50 
   
  
   
  51 
   
   
   
  Sun Mei’s 
  Room 
  Atherton’s 
  Room 
  Chester’s 
  Room 
  
   
  52 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Serenity/Serentiy - Praying Mantis.pdf