Getting Out of Harrowspan

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Scene Five: Getting Out of Harrowspan

Scene type: Action, ship operations, potential ship combat Location: Harrowspan docking ring, outer approach corridor, slipstream entry point Ships involved: Ember Drift, potentially IRNS Sentinel or Pale Table courier

Part One: Undocking

The situation determines the difficulty.

Read this when the crew starts the undock sequence:

The Ember Drift's systems cycle up with the reliable hum of a ship that has been here before. The ramp retracts, the docking seal releases, and the bay doors slide open on the black. Harrowspan sits behind you, lights running amber from the access alert. The outer approach corridor is clear. The slipstream seam is ahead, sixteen hours out past the wreckfield, marked on your navigation display as a green bracket.

The question is whether anything is moving to stop you before you reach it.

Part Two: The Departure Corridor

Even without active pursuit, departing Harrowspan means transiting the outer approach corridor, a sixteen-hour run at Cruise 2 from the station's docking ring out through Medium band to the seam at Long band. The wreckfield flanks the first stretch of the corridor on one side, close enough that individual hulks are visible on the sensor screen.

If nothing is pursuing: This is sixteen hours of open transit. Give the crew a quiet moment. Let them breathe. Ask what they do during the transit: check on the container, tend to any injuries, talk to each other. Then move to the jump.

If the IRNS Sentinel is undocking: It clears the station two minutes after the Ember Drift and is the faster ship on the outbound run. The first encounter round begins when the Sentinel closes to combat range on the way out to the seam, a few hours into the run.

If the Pale Table courier is moving to intercept: It is already outside the station. It was parked in the wreckfield, running cold, waiting. It moves to intercept when the Ember Drift clears the bay doors. Round One begins immediately.

Both ships possible: If Oll is an opponent and Sev escaped, both ships may be in play simultaneously. This is a hard scenario. Reserve it for a crew that handled Scenes Three and Four confidently and can manage the complexity. If the crew is struggling, the courier is delayed and only the Sentinel pursues, or vice versa.

The Ships

The full stat blocks are in Chapter Three (the Ember Drift) and Chapter Thirteen (the IRNS Sentinel and the Pale Table courier). The comparison and the table below are for quick reference during play.

Each ship's crew rolls its pools from those numbers: Agility 3 and Pilot 2 is 2 Mastery and 1 Ability Die; Agility 3 and Gunnery 1 is 1 Mastery and 2 Ability Dice.

The Sentinel fires to capture. Ion damage is reduced only by half the target's Armor, rounded down, and the Ember Drift's Armor 1 halves to 0: every ion hit lands its full System Damage. Oll wants the Ember Drift out of control (13 System Damage) and boardable, not destroyed. When the Sentinel has suffered 10 or more Hull Damage, Captain Vel halts offensive action and Oll offers terms: stand down, allow boarding, and he will not pursue charges against the crew personally. This is a genuine offer.

The courier fires to hold. Its Tractor Beam holds the Ember Drift on a hit, so Sev's people can collar it and board. When the courier has suffered 9 or more Hull Damage, or has not stopped the Ember Drift by the end of Round Three, it breaks off rather than risk the ship.

Ship Combat in Brief

Initiative. The crew member at the Helm rolls for the ship: Savvy + Perception if the crew saw it coming (Senna: 2 Mastery Dice), Willpower + Readiness if surprised. A tie between a player slot and a GM slot goes to the players.

Turns. On the ship's turn, each crew member at a station takes one Action and one Maneuver there. A second Maneuver costs the Action or 2 Strain. Moves resolve first, then attacks, then everything else. A crew member may also act at a second, empty station, at 1 Bane Die on that station's checks.

Attacks. Agility + Gunnery. Easy at Engaged, Average at Short or Medium, Hard at Long. Add Bane Dice for the target's Deflection (0 on all three ships), its Evasive Maneuver, and the firing ship's own Evasive Maneuver. Boon Dice from Target Lock, Direct Focus, Coordinate, Accurate, and an assisting crew member count toward a limit of 2 per attack; talent dice, such as Fire Control's, do not.

Damage. The weapon's damage, plus 1 for each Success beyond the first, minus the target's Armor less the weapon's Pierce. Boons never add damage. Spend 2 Boons to ignore 1 more point of Armor. Boons equal to the weapon's Crit, or a Breakthrough, inflict a Critical Hit (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Fifteen).

Damage tracks. Hull Damage and System Damage count up. At Hull Points the ship is destroyed; at System Points it is out of control and every further hit is a Critical Hit.

Heat. At the end of each round each ship removes Heat equal to its Heat Dissipation (2 on all three ships). Heat at or above Heat Threshold (10 on the Ember Drift) brings Heat Threshold effects (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Six).

The Crew's Options

These are the station actions that matter in this scene. Every one is from the Vehicles Manual, Chapters Fourteen and Fifteen.

Senna's Slipstream Reader adds 1 Boon Die to Plot Course. If she plots from the Helm, Astrogation is her second station and the check adds 1 Bane Die.

Ship Combat: Three Rounds to the Jump

The seam is sixteen hours out, well beyond the span of a ship encounter; the three rounds here cover the decisive stretch of the pursuit. Both ships roll Initiative, then take their turns in order each round.

The Jump Window. The first successful Plot Course readies the jump: the Ember Drift jumps at the end of the next round. Without one, the Ember Drift jumps at the end of Round Three anyway: Senna finishes the plot on the rest of the run, Oll will not chase a freighter two legs out through the wreckfield on a hold order, and the courier breaks off rather than risk the ship. The jump ends the encounter. Only two things stop it: a tractor hold the crew has not broken, and System Damage at or above the Ember Drift's 13 System Points. Either one means the pursuer can collar the ship and board.

Round One: Identification and Positioning

Starting range. The Sentinel starts at Long, a few hours into the run. The courier starts at Long as the Ember Drift clears the bay doors.

What the enemy ship does:

Sentinel: Captain Vel hails the Ember Drift and orders it to heave to; the voice on the channel may be Oll's. He is professional, not aggressive. The pilot Advances one band to Medium. The sensor operator takes a Target Lock with the AI's Sensors channel. The ion gunner fires the Ion Pulse Emitter at Medium: Average, less 1 Trial Die from the AI's Fire Control channel. A hit deals 1 Hull Damage plus 1 for each Success beyond the first, less the Ember Drift's Armor 1, and 4 System Damage. With 3 or more net Successes, Disable names one system (usually the drive) and shuts it down until the end of the Ember Drift's next turn. The Ion Blasters cannot reach beyond Short.

Courier: At Speed 5 its pilot's Advance covers two bands: Long to Short. Its Pursuit Frame adds 1 Boon Die to any Pilot check to close. The gunner fires the Tractor Beam at Short: Average, less 1 Trial Die from the AI. On a hit the Ember Drift is held: it cannot Advance, Break, or jump until Senna succeeds on an Average Pilot check as her Action. The pilot may also fire one autocannon as the Helm Action (Agility 3, Gunnery 0: 3 Ability Dice).

What the crew can do:

Helm (Senna): Keep the Sentinel at Long with Break, or keep the courier from reaching Short. An Evasive Maneuver puts a Bane Die on every attack against the ship this round, and the first time the ship is targeted, Evasive Instinct adds a Boon Die to her Pilot check.

Gunnery (Yessica): Aimed Fire with the autocannon, if the enemy is in the Fore arc and at Short or Medium. Fire Control adds a Boon Die to her first Gunnery check. Against the Sentinel's Armor 3 a single Success deals 2 Hull Damage; against the courier's Armor 2 it deals 3. The gun is not meant to kill these ships; it is meant to make them respect the space.

Engineering (Davan): Boost Drives to Break twice, or Boost Weapons for Yessica's shot. Watch the Heat: the boost adds 2.

Sensors and Comms (Rhi): Target Lock for Yessica, or an Active Scan to learn what the enemy carries. Against the courier, its Signal Scrambler adds 1 Bane Die to her Target Lock.

Astrogation: Plot Course. This is the most valuable action on the ship: a success now means the Ember Drift jumps at the end of Round Two.

Captain (Corin): Direct Focus on Senna or Yessica.

Stakes in Round One: If the Tractor Beam hits and Senna does not break the hold, the Ember Drift is stationary and the courier can close to Engaged next round. If the ion emitter hits, the Ember Drift is at 4 or more of its 13 System Damage, and Davan's repairs start to matter.

Round Two: Escalation

What the enemy ship does:

Sentinel: Advances to Short if it can, where the Ion Blasters bear, and fires everything: the Ion Pulse Emitter and the blaster battery, each with a Boon Die from the sensor operator's lock. The AI has only two channels, so only one gunner's check loses a Trial Die. Vel repeats the order to heave to.

Courier: If the hold took, the pilot Advances to Engaged and attempts a forced docking collar: an Average Pilot check, because the Ember Drift is held. On a success the collar locks, and Sev or a second operative must still open the hatch (an Average Craft or Electronics check as an Action). If the hold failed, the courier closes to Short and the gunner fires the Tractor Beam again, while the pilot fires one autocannon as the Helm Action: 4 Hull Damage, and the Ember Drift's Armor 1 less Pierce 1 stops nothing. With Sev aboard to take a gunner's seat, the two autocannons fire as a battery instead, and 2 Boons buy its second hit.

What the crew can do:

Helm (Senna): Break the hold if the ship is held. Otherwise Evasive Maneuver, or Break toward Long range and Disengage from the Sentinel.

Gunnery (Yessica): If the courier is lining up a boarding approach, it is the priority target. If the Sentinel is the only threat, keep firing to make it hesitate.

Engineering (Davan): Emergency Repair against the ion damage, or Manage Heat. At the Heat Threshold he must act: shut down a non-essential system (no Action), or Vent Heat.

Astrogation: If no course is plotted yet, try again. A success now means the jump at the end of Round Three, which is when it comes anyway; the roll only matters if the ship is held or nearly out of control.

Stakes in Round Two: At 9 or more System Damage, one more ion hit puts the Ember Drift out of control and the Sentinel boards next round. A locked collar with the courier puts the boarding fight inside the ship: run it as personal combat in the same Initiative order (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Fifteen, Boarding), with Sev and the Pale Table operatives from Chapter Thirteen.

Round Three: The Jump Window

What the enemy ship does:

Sentinel: If the Ember Drift is out of control or has stopped, Vel boards with three crew and inspection equipment. If not, the Sentinel makes one more firing pass. Oll is professional and persistent, but he will not risk his ship in the wreckfield.

Courier: Last chance. The courier knows the crew is about to jump. If it has not stopped the Ember Drift, it fires everything it has and accepts the Heat.

What the crew can do:

Jump readied in Round One: The Ember Drift already jumped at the end of Round Two.

Jump not readied: One more round of fire. The Ember Drift jumps at the end of this round, unless it is held or out of control.

If the Ember Drift is held or out of control at the end of Round Three: the pursuer boards. A crew facing Oll can still take his terms. A crew facing the courier fights Sev's people in the corridors, and the Ember Drift jumps the round its crew breaks the hold or brings the System Damage below 13.

The Jump

When the crew initiates the jump to Saint Orra's Rest, read this aloud.

The Slipstream drive winds up with a sound the crew has heard enough times to find comforting: a rising harmonic that moves from the deck plates through the hull and into the air itself. On the forward screen, the space ahead distorts, folds, and then opens. The wreckfield, the station, the pursuing ships, the amber station lights: all of it compresses into a single band of light at the edges of the view and then the band closes behind you.

The Ember Drift is in transit.

For a long moment, no one moves.

The Transit: In Between

The jump to Saint Orra's Rest takes approximately one day. Nothing will intercept them in transit. There is no pursuing ship in Slipstream.

This is a quiet scene. Use it.

Give the crew three or four prompts to settle the story before the resolution chapter. Choose the ones that fit what actually happened at the table.

Prompt One: The container. Someone goes down to the cargo bay to check on the container. It is still sealed. It is heavier than a medical sample container should be. The registration markings feel ordinary in a way that now seems deliberate. What does the crew member do?

Prompt Two: Vorn. The crew can comm Vorn from Slipstream transit. The relay is slow but it works. What do they tell him? What does he say?

Prompt Three: What they know. At some point, the crew should talk through what they actually know. They are carrying navigational charts for a newly discovered slipstream corridor that bypasses Irnan checkpoints. The Nerezza Compact hired a transit agent to move them without declaration. The Pale Table tried to take them. An Irnan inspector was watching the transfer. Maren is dead. What does the crew think about delivering them to Dr. Caern at this point?

Prompt Four: The ship. If the Ember Drift took damage in the pursuit, this is when the engineer goes through the ship and assesses. Have them describe what they find. Let it feel real. The ship is their home. Damage to it matters.

If There Was No Pursuit

If the crew departed Harrowspan cleanly (Oll cleared them, no pursuit, no fight), Scene Five is the departure and the transit, without the ship encounter.

Read the first read-aloud block (undocking) and skip to the jump. The quiet moment in transit still applies. Let the crew breathe.

The absence of pursuit is its own kind of satisfaction. They handled it well. Acknowledge that.