Shopping on Eli Hutt
Hub is Elizabeth Bartley's campaign set in the universe of James Schmidt's Hub stories. Players for the session included:
1. Joshua Kronengold -- Jealousy Jones, psi resistant detective
2. Lisa Padol -- Marius Lecks, empathic doctor
Jealousy and Marius were roaming the galaxy, playing bait for the Federation in an attempt to lure hostile aliens into trying to capture them. As they weren't trying to be obvious, they found things to do. One of those things was shopping. Indeed, Monarch, Jealousy's sentient spaceship, urged Jealousy to upgrade her equipment.
Josh said that he'd like an adventure set on a planet like Jackson's Hole in the Barrayar books. We decided to call the planet Eli Hutt and placed it outside of Federation space. Instead of rival counts, Eli Hutt had thanes.
A mercenary group called Randall's Rangers had offices there, so Jealousy planned to release a Ranger she was holding hostage and collect some money Randall's Rangers had agreed to pay after a tangle with her, Marius, and Monarch.
Marius asked Jealousy if he should stay on the ship, given his tendency to moral outrage. Jealousy said that she'd leave the choice to him. She went to the Rangers' office, released her hostage, and collected her money. The Rangers told her they'd be happy to be hired by her if she happened to have any jobs.
Marius decided to go shopping. Keeping a firm leash on his indignation, he chatted with people who could sell him useful additions to his bag of dirty medical tricks. He quickly found the conversation fascinating, and he ordered several useful items. Then, he was ambushed and stunned.
You see, Marius had, ironically, fit in too well. He was clearly a highly competent doctor who knew exactly what to look for. He displayed neither moral indignation nor any obvious patron. Clearly, he could be claimed by any enterprising thane.
Thane Egon Hawlings had decided to be that enterprising thane. His men were well trained, but they did not spot the nanites transmitting to Monarch, who updated Jealousy. Jealousy decided that she might well have a job for Randall's Rangers, but first, she decided to try pretending to be Marius' patron, offering the requisite bribe to Thane Hawlings while infiltrating his defenses with her nanites.
Unfortunately, Hawlings, like most successful thanes, took extreme precautions. However, he had figured out who Marius was, and, therefore, who Jealousy was. Realizing that he had a tiger by the tail, Hawlings had a business proposal for Jealousy: He would release Marius and pay two million credits for them to raid a rival of his, Thane Nevan Daniels. Daniels was developing a nasty new virus, and Hawlings wanted samples so that he could release a vaccine or a cure, as soon as the virus were on the market. Releasing it earlier would be pointless; Daniels' scientists would change the specs of the virus. Hawlings also wanted his spy in Daniels' compound to be retrieved.
Jealousy talked Hawlings up to two million credits apiece for her and Marius. Hawlings agreed. However, he specified that there would be no extra pay on top of that if Marius decided to give him a vaccine or cure instead of or in addition to the information that would allow Hawling's scientists to develop one on their own. Jealousy then talked with Marius. He was unharmed, although he'd refused all food, expecting it might be drugged. Jealousy told him that a) it wasn't likely since b) there were plenty of ways to get drugs into a prisoner's system and c) fasting meant one was decidedly not at one's best. Marius acknowledged her point, and said that the fasting was basically an argument with his sister.
Hawlings: Which one?
Marius (figuring Hawlings can make a good guess): Which do you think?
The sister in question was Theodora, who was religious and claimed to have visions when she fasted. Marius thought this was a load of hooey, but had to admit that his recent bout of fasting hadn't actually proved anything.
In any case, he decided to consider himself effectively in Jealousy's employ, and as she advised taking Hawling's offer, he did so. Hawling found this far more satisfactory than tangling with Jealousy's detective agency, which believed in avenging an agent's death, regardless of cost, or Marius' family, which never paid ransom, and which believed in making it clear that asking for it was very, very foolish.
Jealousy and Marius had an expensive dinner at Hawling's expense, hired Randall's Rangers to help in the raid on Thane Daniels' compound. The Rangers asked for details on the ethical standards by which they would be expected to abide so that they could adjust their rates accordingly. Jealousy provided the details.
She and Marius got into the compound, disguised as worker 'bots. Marius had a wild thought about a show featuring the (mis)adventures of two such 'bots, which he later passed on to his entrepreneurial minded friend Patch when I passed it on to Erik Hansen, who had played Patch for a time.
Patch (world weary): It's been done.
Jealousy instructed Marius to make a distraction while she and the Rangers moved towards their quarry. All parties were accompanied by nanites. Marius scanned his surroundings empathically, and learned that children were being raped nearby. He found the room and entered, blaster already firing. However, I rolled a fumble, and Marius was stunned for a second time.
He woke up strapped down, aware of a couple of somewhat baffled armed men, a group of children feeling guiltily relieved at the distraction, and Monarch's nanites weakening his restraints. One of the armed men made the mistake of touching Marius with a device that was the equivalent of a Klingon agonizer. This was a mistake because it put the man in physical contact with Marius, allowing the doctor to use his empathy to make sure the pain hurt his tormentor worse than it hurt him. In fairly short order, Marius was free and the men were dead. At least one of them had been killed by a child who snatched up a fallen weapon.
Marius led the kids to the armory, suggesting that they take only what they could use -- and carry. They fought their way out, albeit with a couple of casualties. Jealousy found Marius' distraction wonderfully distracting. Randall's Rangers had a somewhat different view.
RR: Marius? Good shot with a blaster, but man, he's unprofessional.
Marius: I asked Jealousy if I should stay on the ship. I did warn her --
RR: We understand. You did the right thing. You warned your employer that you were unprofessional.
Marius decided that, if the Rangers were professionals, he was proud to be unprofessional.
Thane Daniels was not sure what had hit his complex. Monarch lifted off from Eli Hutt, with Jealousy, Marius, the spy, the children, their families, and a few other people who really wanted to leave. A bit uncomfortable about taking Hawling's money, Marius suggested giving Monarch an equal share. After all, she'd been a vital part of the operation. Monarch was surprised at first, but quickly decided that she liked having her own bank account with which to buy upgrades.
Jealousy apologized to Marius for skimping on his education.
Jealousy: A bodyguard should always make her client watch at least 8 hours of training tape. (puts in tape of Marius getting captured) See these guys? The ones who shot you? If you know what to look for, you can tell not just that they're working as a team, but that they were all trained by the same person.
Marius decided he should show the tape to his family, which would find it both amusing and educational. He worried a bit about his older brother, Curtis, who had been told to meet Marius and Jealousy at Eli Hutt. Sure, Curtis would get a message telling him where they were headed next, but Curtis' crusading streak was at least as wide as Marius'.
Beth decided that Curtis, openly a journalist and secretly a receptive telepath, would get an interview with Thane Hawling, and then use what he'd learned from the thane's mind to do Hawling about as much collateral damage as Marius and Jealousy had done to Daniels. Curtis left Eli Hutt quickly, well satisfied. Hawling knew Curtis had to be behind his sudden spate of trouble, but did not seem to have realized how Curtis had pulled it off.
I asked if Marius' blaster skill could go up to 5d, in view of how often he'd been shot at lately. Beth agreed, subject to Marius being in frequent fire fights and / or practicing in the downtime between sessions.
