Scene One: Interdicted Space, between Quadrants III and IV of the Yami Belt

Darkspace is cold, dark, and there is barely any atmosphere to speak of. There are notable amounts of scanner interference, and physical debris.

The Objective is for the Parindra 2 to disable an Abhva ship (the smaller the better), board her, and ply the navigator with the persuasive spiritualist magics of Captain Chabra. In truth, there are a number of incorrect assumptions at the foundation of this plan.

24 hours travel from of the orbit of the Independent Beltworld of Mahendrak (the leading edge of Quadrant IV), the Parindra 2 is…waiting, having taken up close position to a jagged asteroid to disguise its scanner profile. Passive Scanners examine the proximity for hostile presence.

Less than a day later, they have a promising contact. Using a stealth approach, they engage in an extended game of cat and mouse with the vessel (a Pretya Marauder), eventually closing to point blank range undetected.

Scene Two: Interdicted Space, between Quadrants III and IV of the Yami Belt

A Pretya Marauder at Point-Blank Range

Combat is…brief. Gunnery Chief Mala disables the Marauder with one shot, blasting through the hull to crater the atomic powerplant that enables the vessel to travel under its own power.

Scene Three: On-board the Marauder; which is cold, dark, and there is barely any air to speak of. It is also “hot” in at least one respect.

The Captain, Gunnery Chief Mala, Gunner’s Mate Goff, and Engineering Chief Vãhakah are the boarding party, taking the docked corvette inside the Parindra 2 as a boarding craft. Gunner’s Mate Goff, having overindulged while in port, stays with the boarding craft.

Based on the size of the Marauder, standard crew is likely somewhere between ten and fifty. Chief Mala is still bruised and bloody from wounds dating to the last adventure that he has still not sought treatment for. Nonetheless, easily provoked, he’s the first one through every door and passageway. This will turn out to be an unwise decision.

The boarding craft nestled snuggly over the hull breach inflicted by Chief Mala earlier, the three crew jump down onto the engineering deck of the Pretya vessel. Captain Mala and Chief Mala are in EVA rated armor, but Chief Vãhakah is made of sterner stuff (literally, Vãhakah is of the Savant Caste). Having never been on board an Abhva ship before, Vãhakah doesn’t notice that while the air is thin, it is neither as dark nor as cold as expected.

A brief firefight breaks out between the privateers and the engineering crew of Pretya (Hungry Ghosts) that are attempting repairs. Chief Mala dispatches them with his glitter cannons, taking minimal psychic damage in the process (the Pretya possessing terror based mental attacks).

Advancing through the ship, Mala encounters a captive Janya in what seem to be officers’ quarters. When the Janya begins acting erratically, Mala stuns her, too. She is left behind in the quarters, and the privateers advance to the bridge.

There, the command staff of four or five Makara officers (there isn’t enough time to be entirely clear). Once again, Chief Mala is first into the breach. Unlike the easily dispatched Pretya, however, the vicious talons of the crocodilian Makara, plus Mala’s previous injuries lead to him being severely injured and unconscious within moments of entering the bridge. Chabra and Vãhakah pull him to safety, and retreat back to the relative safety of the officer’s quarters, and the unconscious Janya hostage.

Captain Chabra still hasn’t noticed that while her magics may be persuasive, they’ve never been tested on someone who doesn’t speak Jangla before. Plus, which of the five Makara on the bridge was the navigator?