Conquering the verse, one parsec at a time.

The Black Box

Helix contacts The Redacted with a discreet but urgent contract.

The crash site from the earlier medical flight has not been fully cleared. The wreckage is still scattered across the ruined edge-zone near Low Spire Ward, and Helix claims sensitive medical records remain aboard the aircraft.

A salvage team from another mega corporation has entered the area. Officially, they are “recovering hazardous debris.” In reality, they are searching for the aircraft’s black box recorder.

Helix says the recorder contains confidential patient data, flight records, and proprietary medical transport protocols. If stolen, it could be doctored and sold to the highest bidder, causing public panic and damaging relief operations across Veyr’s Fall.

The crew are hired to return to the crash site and stop the salvage team.

Helix’s instruction is direct:

“Fight off the Salvage Team so that Helix Scientists can safely extract the sensitive information.”

Battlefield – Crash Site: Helix Relief Flight HDC-19

The battlefield is centred around a crashed cargo aircraft.

The aircraft has come down hard in the ruined edge-zone between Low Spire Ward and an abandoned industrial block. Its nose is buried in rubble, one wing has sheared off, and the rear cargo section has split open. Smoke rises from the wreckage. Medical crates, burned luggage, twisted cargo pallets, and broken drone containers are scattered around the site.

Objectives

Hold the field and Fight Off the enemy.

Background

Helix is lying.

The black box proves that the aircraft was deliberately sent into danger. Helix orchestrated the crash as a calculated public relations weapon.

Their plan was simple:

1. Load the aircraft with medicine intended for multiple sick districts.
2. Redirect it over rebel-influenced territory.
3. Trigger a controlled system’s failure or remote sabotage.
4. Blame the crash on Low Spire tax rebels.
5. Use the disaster to portray Helix as the victim of terrorism.
6. Justify harsher security action against the rebels.
7. Win public sympathy while eliminating a troublesome district movement.

The crash killed innocent crew and nearly condemned multiple districts to medical shortages.

Helix wants the truth buried.

The salvage team belongs to Tarsk Meridian Transworks, though they operate through a shell contractor called Rillmark Recovery Services.

Tarsk Meridian wants the black box because it is valuable. They may sell it, doctor it, trade it to Verity, blackmail Helix, or use it to win concessions over transport and fuel rights.

They are not heroes.

They are scavengers in corporate armour.

Battle Report – The Black Box

Location: Crash Site Theta-9, Veyr’s Fall Outlands
Crew: The Redacted
Patron: Helix Dominion Consolidated
Outcome: Victory

The salvage team had barely reached the crashed aircraft when Caesar opened fire with his newly fitted Rattlegun. The sudden barrage tore one salvager from their feet and sent another fleeing back toward their employer. With the enemy shaken, the rest of The Redacted moved into position.

The salvagers recovered quickly and returned fire with brutal accuracy. Caesar was struck repeatedly, sparks bursting from his chassis before the robot collapsed and went still.

Angered by the apparent loss of one of their own, the crew unleashed a storm of gunfire. Scrapper ignited his jump belt, clearing the half-buried nose cone of the wreck and crashing into the enemy line. A vicious melee followed, but the salvagers proved far tougher than expected. They overwhelmed the Feral and brought him down.

With Caesar and Scrapper lying motionless, Adam led a renewed assault. The Redacted pressed forward, inflicting several casualties and refusing to give ground. Under the mounting pressure, the salvage team’s nerve finally broke. The survivors abandoned the crash site, leaving the wreckage—and its secrets—safely in the hands of Adam and his crew.

Post Battle – Round Two

We were pretty lucky with both Caesar and Scrapper suffering no long-term effects from being taken out of action.

With the money we earned, we continued to pay off the debt owed on our spacecraft and sent the crew out on different tasks.

Two of the crew went to act as decoys so our existing rivals wouldn’t locate us.  If they catch up with us, it would force us into a battle, which would then prevent us from doing a Patron mission and earning some much-needed money.

We also tried unsuccessfully to recruit another crew member.  We did, however, find some meds and a few other useful supplies that could come in handy down the track.

We didn’t have the chance to go looking for any new jobs, but we were offered another job from Helix, as it appears that they were very busy.

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Bitter Medicine

Helix Dominion Consolidated contacts The Redacted with an offer.

A small mercenary unit has seized an old medical distribution depot on the edge of Greyhook District, a polluted industrial zone suffering from outbreaks of lung disease and chemical fever. Helix claims the depot is needed to restart local treatment deliveries, but the mercenaries have refused to leave.

According to Helix, the mercenaries were hired by criminal interests to loot medicine, extort sick citizens, and disrupt disaster relief.

The job is simple:

Clear them out. Secure the depot. Do not damage the medical equipment.

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So, there we have it.  That means we still have two missions to choose from next time.  This new one from Helix, or the one that we were offered last time from Verity.