DEAD BELT: The Very Bad, No Good, Untimely Death of Cody Boone

    Recently I picked up the solo "strategy RPG" zine DEAD BELT from A Couple of Drakes.  In this game, you play a Belter, who salvages dead ships (known colloquially as "Birds") in a ship graveyard orbiting a supermassive black hole.  Ship layouts are generated with standard playing cards, and an oracle tells you what each compartment contains as you enter it.  It may be juicy salvage, it may be supplies to replenish your air or tools, or it may be a barrier or Bad News.

    It's a dangerous profession, but the risks don't end there.  The ship itself may break while you are aboard, forcing you to make a precarious spacewalk to proceed.  You might generate a Threat, which could be anything from murderous ghosts to a nanite swarm.  Basically, flipping a red card is something good, while flipping a black card is something bad - unless it's the Joker.  That's your Payday, the most valuable component on the ship.

     It's a game that combines card-based map generation, procedural play, and resource management into a game that's quick to play.  The game is currently in a Kickstarter campaign for a new version, with even more roles, more ships and more danger, as well as a Co-Op and "head to head" Rivalry mode.

    The goal is to pay off the debts you have incurred, and maximize your investments to retire.  It doesn't always happen - and by "always", I mean "usually".  In my first playthrough as "Maurice" the Space Cowboy, I salvaged 17 Birds of various classes, and retired as a legend who will never be forgotten.

    This is not the story of Maurice.  This is the story of Dakota "Cody" Boone, a veteran of the Consolidation War.  Private Boone never once fired his weapon in combat, but when he mustered out, he had no other marketable skills.  So he became a Belter.  Cody's lifelong dream was to pay off his JK-43W "Jackdaw" ship, buy a farm on a serene, pastoral world, and retire in peace.  As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for...

MISSION ONE:  Light Cargo Freighter

    The first Bird that Boone located was a CM-23L "Camel" merchant ship.  This was a promising start, as merchant ships naturally pay out more creds.

    Boone headed forward toward the bridge, hoping to find some lucrative salvage.  The first compartment he entered was Stacked to the Rafters with crates, cases and boxes.  Sadly, none of them contained anything of value, and it was difficult to pass through.  On the bridge, the ship's log was playing - but it was mostly screams and other horrible sounds.  Boone turned it off quickly.  Unsettled, he headed to starboard, where he found another room filled with hazardous cargo.  He didn't know what the labels meant, but he knew they were dangerous.

(This was all Boone got to see of the ship - nothing but hard luck and trouble)

     Hopefully, there was something good to the aft of the ship - but Boone would never know, because by then he was dangerously close to running out of air.  He returned to the airlock and boarded his ship, with only enough Cred to pay the upkeep on the Jackdaw.

    After Boone left the ship, I revealed the rest of the compartments. It could have been quite a lucrative run if he had headed the other way from the start!  Better luck next time, right?

MISSION TWO:  Civilian Station Hopper

    The second Bird that Boone encountered was a TRC-17R "Tracer", an ubiquitous civilian vessel.  He smashed his airlock into the ship, just behind the bridge, and went to work.  Making his way through the ship, he found some reserve air cylinders, and then passed through a bulkhead to a compartment that just wasn't there any more.  To continue forward, he would have to make a risky spacewalk.  Draw 2 cards, and if they're both red you're good.  If one or both are black, spend a resource (usually checking your air aka "Gas") and try again.  If you draw 3 black cards before you make it, you drift off into space and it's game over.

    Boone didn't succeed on the first try, but a lucky draw on the second attempt got him past the obstacle.  However, it cost him some of that precious air.  He continued, finding a bug-out bag with more oxygen cylinders and replenished his Gas.

      Forcing open a jammed hatch, he located the Payday - an Atmospheric Gravity Boot.  As he pried the covering off of the part, the ship cracked along the keel, and the port section drifted away from the starboard half, where his airlock was located.  He undertook another dangerous spacewalk, once more making it by sheer luck alone.  Dropping off what he could carry to his ship, he returned into the shipwreck in the hopes of finding more.  

    Sadly, all of the exertion and extravehicular activity had burned through his oxygen too quickly.  Out of Gas, Boone perished from asphyxiation - his last view was the Jackdaw's airlock, attached to the other half of the ship, a vast gulf of open space between him and survival.

Boone - the red token - perishes from suffocation, the airlock - the red Joker - just across the gap.

To the right are the cards drawn in his spacewalks.

    His lifelong dream had been to buy that farm - but Cody Boone bought a different kind of farm in the end, and his mortal remains might one day be found by another daring Belter.

THE ROBBER BARON, Part Two: A Stitch In Time

  SCENE TWO

There would be no returning to their suite, which by now was surely under surveillance.  Thankfully, they had travelled light.  There was nothing to leave behind.  There would be no running, with the condition Serina was in.  They would have to find a safe haven before her injuries worsened.

Eldon located an abandoned apartment building and clambered up the fire escape.  Kicking out the window, he entered the building.  Two minutes later, he had opened outer door from the inside.  Kellan and Justan carried Serina into the building and they locked the door behind them.

"She's going to be out of it for a couple of days," Kellan warned.  "She can't travel without surgery, but we can't go to a med center.  Someone might have seen us, and this Rowri might be looking for us too."

"I'll see if I can find a ship that will take us to Avastan," Eldon said.  "Justan, are you coming with me?"

"No, Skipper," Justan replied.  "I think I know a way to help her."  Justan took out his tablet and began typing.  Eldon nodded and left the apartment.

Hours later, he returned.  "The best I could manage was a Scout ship," he told the others.  "The captain is not too particular, but we'll have to double bunk.  It's not going to be a comfortable week, and we'll be down 20k for passage."

"I've got good news too, Skipper," Justan said to Eldon. "Rowri's men might be watching the hospitals, but there's a round-the-clock clinic nearby.  I've managed to get into their system and give Kellan credentials to practice there."

* * *

They brought Serina to the ambulance entrance of the clinic, and Kellan walked directly to the main desk as Eldon and Justan helped Serina into one of the treatment rooms.  Moments later, a nurse entered the room.  She asked for ID, which they declined to provide.  Eldon stated that he and Justan were her brothers.

The nurse insisted that she was required by law to report gunshot injuries to the police.  Eldon had served on a merchant ship for over 20 years, and he knew a loophole.  "Unless she intends to press charges," Eldon explained, "you require her consent to report confidential medical information."

The nurse was clearly not happy with Eldon's explanation, but there was little she could do.  Turning to Serina, she asked, "Do I have your consent to report these injuries to the authorities, as required by law?"

Serina was clearly hurting, but the heavy painkillers Kellan had administered were taking effect.  She shook her head and said no.

"And you don't even want to press charges?," the nurse asked.

"No," she slurred, "The police have never helped me in the past, anyway."

"Fine," the nurse harumphed, "The doctor should be with you shortly."  She stomped back toward the nurse's station.

Kellan entered the room a few minutes later, and set down a clipboard.  "These places love their paperwork," he said.  "Ironically, all this red tape makes it easier to take care of things discreetly, if you know what to do."

He lay Serina back on the med table and administered a powerful sedative.  He then activated the auto-med systems and set up a tray of surgical tools.  Eldon and Justan watched from across the room as he deftly removed the two bullets, stopped her bleeding and applied pressure dressings to the wounds.  "She'll be in no condition for strenuous activity for a while, but by the time we reach Avastan, she should be fine.  I'll bunk in her cabin, so I can keep an eye on her condition.  I've advised the front desk that she will need a few hours to recover, so we'll be safe her until the morning."

"I'll go arrange for discreet transportation to take us to the starport at first light," Eldon said, as he stood to go.  Justan rose as well.

"I'll need to return Arlor's sidearm," he said.  "We won't be able to maintain a low profile if we go around shooting people with it, and I'm sure we can't smuggle it aboard.  Do you still have your pistol, Skipper?"

"Yes," Eldon said gravely.  "But the bad news is, it's out of ammo.  It won't do us much good, except maybe to bluff."  Justan nodded and both men left the building by the back entrance.

* * *

Justan proceeded carefully down back streets toward his destination.  Barnett had kept a mailbox at the local Express Office station, which would not be staffed at this hour.  But he had the access code to the box.  He tapped the code into the door panel, and slipped inside.  Finding the right box, he punched in the code once more and opened the mailbox.  There was a small package within, about the half the dimensions of a shoebox.  It was addressed to Justan, in care of Arlor.  Justan took the package, and slipped Arlor's empty handgun into the empty mailbox.

He returned to the clinic, and Eldon let him in through the back door.  Justan joined the others in the treatment room, and opened the box.  Within, they found a pair of body pistols, and four extra magazines of ammunition.

"This should solve your problem, Skipper," Justan said, handing two magazines to Eldon.  "That will give each of us one spare magazine."  Kellan shook his head as Justan offered him the third pistol.  As a doctor, he avoided lethal weaponry as much as possible.  

"Serina's in no condition to use it right now," Justan insisted.  "You don't have to use it, just hold onto it for her for now."  Kellan frowned, but tucked the pistol into his medical bag.

"Try and get some rest, everyone," Eldon said, leaning back in his chair.  "We leave for Avastan at dawn."

* * *

THE ROBBER BARON - Part One: The Incident

Prologue - The Ad Astra Incident

(Image by steampoweredmikej.deviantart.com)

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT:

Patrol Cutter Ad Astra - Ship's Log: 189.1102

FIRST OFFICER BARNETT:  Skipper, telemetry shows the vessel designation Yukon.  A Seeker-class vessel, 100 tons.  No clearance on file for commercial activity in this system.

ARUNDEL:  Comms, open a channel. (pause)  Attention Yukon, this is Lieutenant Justan Arundel, commanding the Imperial patrol cutter Ad Astra.  You are not authorized to operate in this area.  Stand down and come to.  Prepare for boarding and inspection.

YUKON: (garbled transmission)

WEAPONS OFFICER:  Skipper, Gunnery reports that Yukon has powered up turret weapons, identified as a pulse laser and missile rack.

ARUNDEL:  Weapons, prepare to fire- (explosion)

(alarm klaxons)

SHIP'S COMPUTER:  Warning:  Hull breach on main deck, bridge compartment.  

ARUNDEL:  All crew, clear the bridge.  Damage control team to- (explosion)

WEAPONS OFFICER:  Gunnery reports Yukon has been disabled, Sir.

ARUNDEL:  Weapons, clear the bridge!  XO, report! (silence except for alarms)  Mister Barnett, status!

(secondary explosion)

:: LOG ENDS ::

SCENE ONE - INCHIN/District 268

"I need you to deliver this package to a journalist on Avastan.  I'll pay you 25,000 credits each, on completion.  She'll provide you with the evidence she has collected.  But be careful - if the Navy finds out you have this evidence, they'll stop at nothing to suppress it.  You'll spend the rest of your days in a deep, dark hole - if they don't space you first."

That really should have been the first sign that this wasn't going to be a simple job.  But they owed it to Arlor Barnett to see it through - the rest of Eldon's ragtag crew had already suffered too much to let the Navy just whitewash the whole affair.  Justan had sacrificed his command and his career - and lost friends and crew mates in the battle.  Serina lost the man she loved in the unjustified attack.  Justan had dragged Barnett from the burning ruins of his ship's bridge into a lifeboat.  Arlor was badly burned, but the doctor on the rescue ship stabilized him.  But Kellan had lost his other patient - Serina's mate - and his faith in himself, due to a mistake under pressure.

They weren't about to let the Navy cover it all up and pretend it didn't happen.  They needed to find out what really happened, and they needed to be able to do so freely, without fear of retribution.  And this package was their insurance policy.

* * *

Justan ducked as the bullet whizzed overhead, shattering a mirror behind him.  Three assassins had interrupted their meeting, and clearly Barnett was their target.  "Go!" he shouted to his comrade.  

"Here!" Barnett called, tossing his sidearm to Justan before running toward the back door.  Justan caught the weapon and checked to make sure it was locked and loaded.  Serina grabbed the package by Justan's feet and dove behind the bar.

Justan kicked over a table and ducked behind it.  Kellan rushed forward, medikit in hand, ready to render aid in case his crew mate became wounded.  Justan tried to shout orders to the rest of us, but he could not be heard over the sound of the gunfire.

"They're Rowri's men!" Eldon shouted to the others.  Iarl Rowri, the self-styled Baron of Inchin, was a paranoid egomaniac who was convinced that Avastan Portways Inc., a shipping company from a neighboring system, had sent agents to Inchin to foment labor unrest.  Surely he suspected that Barnett was engaging in industrial espionage.

Justan fired off two quick shots at one of the assassins.  His target jerked as the bullets struck him, and fell to the floor, out of the fight.  One down, two to go.

Another assassin snapped off a couple of quick shots in Justan's direction, but they thunked into the synth-oak tabletop that Justan and Kellan had crouched behind.  Then, Kellan did something unexpected.  "Parlay!" he shouted, "Parlay!"

Surprisingly, the two assassins ceased fire.  Kellan rose carefully, never one for violence.  "What do you want?" he asked them.  "Give us the package and we'll let you go," the taller of the two demanded.

While they were distracted, Serina crept toward the fallen assassin, hoping to steal his weapon.  As she crouched to pick it up, the shorter assassin noticed her movement out of the corner of his eye.  Exposed in the open, Serina had nowhere to take cover.  His shot struck her in the shoulder.  Surprisingly, she did not drop the package, tossing it to Eldon instead.  He scooped it up and ducked behind the bar.

Realizing he had been duped, the taller assassin spun around and fired another shot at Serina.  Struck in the leg, and already bleeding from her shoulder, Serina collapsed on the floor, unconscious.  

Kellan rushed out to tend to his wounded friend, as Justan aimed carefully and took down another of the assassins.  Eldon rushed out to pick up the wounded man's weapon, but tripped over some debris and stumbled, dropping the package.  It fell at the feet of the remaining assassin, who picked it up and ran for the door.

Eldon regained his footing and picked up the body pistol.  Only two rounds remained in its small magazine.  He would have to make them count.  Justan let out a breath and drew a bead on the retreating man, but his shot pinged off the wall, scattering plaster and wood chips against the assassin's back.  Eldon's first shot fell short, ricocheting off the floor a meter behind the target.

Their foe was almost out of range.  It would be a hard shot with Justan's autopistol, and nearly impossible with the short-range body pistol that Eldon held.  The round in the chamber was its last.

Justan sprang over the table, running toward our opponent.  He fired off a quick shot, and barely missed the fleeing man.  Soon, the assassin would make it to the door and escape with the package.  Eldon rushed forward, as fast as he could, trying to keep his bobbing weapon on the enemy's center mass.  One last shot, he thought.  Got to make it count.

His pistol barked and the last remaining enemy fell to the ground, a smoking hole in his back.  It wasn't clear if any of the men had been killed, but there was no time to check.

Sirens could be heard in the distance.  Time to go.  Kellan helped Selina to her feet.  She leaned heavily on him as they staggered toward the back exit.  Eldon scooped up the package and joined them in the alley behind the hotel bar.