So, yeah... I played out my first Five Parsecs From Home campaign turn for the crew of the Century Flamingo. Our Heroes, two Droyne and four Vilani humans had recently arrived on Windsor (Glisten 0305 for the Traveller fans) and were seeking some work. There were no licensing requirements to set down and work. The pink vegetation covering the planet did tend to get into everything!
They had an opportunity to deliver a (most likely illegal) package to a remote survey installation in the wilds. Unfortunately, their delivery trip was noticed and acted upon by a criminally-minded group of Raiders who went to intercept the crew as they approached the station.
The package itself was being carried by O Oymsse, the Droyne Sport and second in command. Asvyaxke Dre and the four humans would provide covering fire while O rushed to the station door and knocked. That was the plan, anyway. As it turned out, it worked pretty well.
In the first Turn, Asvyaxke and Aim Iashna both moved into a clump of pink, pink foliage for both safety and for Aim to get off some good shots. Everyone else moved forward, Khirki Nishekke moving slower so he could take a couple of shots (both useless, by the way.) For their own part, the Raiders moved forward but did not shoot.
Turn Two had O scooting ahead, trying to use the station itself as cover while the Raiders advanced, squeezing off a few ineffective shots of their own. Aim aimed, and failed to hit his target despite his multiple bonuses to hit. Khirki shot again without effect, and Iruurlaa Kheug took a shot at the Raider with a clingfire pistol, dropping the criminal in his tracks. Aaur Iigunim fired as well, albeit ineffectively. Asvyaxke moved out of the foliage to try and get closer to take a shot at the bad guys, a decision he would later regret.
The third Turn had everyone except Asvyaxke advance as one, squeezing off shots or, in the case of O, knocking "shave and a haircut" on the station door and getting ready to flee. Of those shots fired, Aaur found his mark and killed another Raider. Aim really was not living up to his name! The Raiders returned fire while cautiously moving closer, but found no targets.
In Turn Four, O scooted off to investigate a shiny pink carapace ("Curious Item") growing out of the ground, and Asvyaxke killed another Raider with his hand cannon. In return fire from them, he went down as well, becoming the first casualty for the crew. Aim finally found his mark as well, making two Raiders down this turn.
Turn Five started with O fiddling with the pink growth and extracting some valuable samples from it. The Raiders then fired on the crew, but without effect. Our Heroes returned fire, and Khirki killed another Raider.
In Turn Six, there was a great Initiative roll: four "1"s and a "2" The entire would be able to activate before the last Raider. With both the package delivered and the anomaly investigated, the crew of the Century Flamingo began to withdraw. They had not held the field, but they fulfilled their mission and found something of interest to sell later on.
As it turned out, the Raiders would not become Rivals... with only one survivor of the gang, perhaps he learned the error of his ways and went off to Law school.... Asvyaxke looked like he might need some immediate surgery, but as it turned out the human doctors were ignorant of Droyne physiology, it was just a minor wound and he only needed a Turn of recovery to get back on his feet (a Story Point was spent to re-roll the injury.) And that anomaly O investigated? The samples were worth 1 credit. And the crew was paid 4 Credits for the delivery.
What will our next adventure be?
