Vega 4
Nicknamed ‘Veggie’ by the U.S. folk
Because of its agricultural community
Vega 4 is along the outer reaches of United Systems territory, it is predominately a refueling stop for ships heading for the outer rim. Though the farmers that settled there have given it something else to become famous for.
The largest facility on the planet is the Haradian-Vangelus Fuel Refinery and mining facility. It is massive and located beside the planets largest mountain range and terrasite deposit. 60 miles from the refinery is a small spaceport owned by HV but is operated by a contracted management company. 20 miles from the spaceport is a hub which is connected to the planets space elevator, which is the main means by which the refined ore is sent to the orbiting distribution facility. A small town has sprouted up in between the Spaceport and the Space Elevator made up of cast-offs, second guessers and business entrepreneurs. The town is lovingly referred to as Betwixt.
The orbiting station is populated by Angels, these are humans who after generations of life in zero or micro gravity environments have fostered a new type of human. Angels have long elegant bodies which have adapted nicely to a micro gravity environment, but are quite fragile and too delicate to survive planet-side.
The massive agricultural community jokingly refered to as ‘Hooterville’, covers nearly one quarter of the continent upon which the spaceport resides. While the farmers are not quite Luddites they are damned close. Little is known about them or where they came from, most believe they are of Amish ancestry. How these people can produce such quantities of food without modern equipment is a mystery, but the quality and flavor of their product makes it sought after by many a Chef. Who do not mind the expense of having it shipped via stasis to their restaurants.
There is also a large and eccentric collection of mostly nomadic trappers and mountain men who live out in the wilderness far from town. The townsfolk refer to them as ‘Boones’ and ‘Crocketts’. They show up rarely and infrequently to set furs, hides, smoked meats and trophies.
Players can place themselves among the townsfolk of BETWIXT, it is a very ecclectic mixture of societies cast-offs. Amongst any of the refineries staff, or at the orbiting station. Or among the contracted staff at the spaceport or elevator. The Hooters’ and Boones’ are off limits…
Also in orbit is the ‘Ralph Thorson’ an old decommissioned light cruiser which has been refurbished to work as a mobile base and transport for a group of mercenaries and bounty hunters. The old ship is known amongst the stars as ‘Papa’ (Google the name and you’ll knw why…). The ship is refueling and is awaiting a colony ship, it is contracted to escort the ship to its new home along the outer rim. The papa only has a skeleton crew aboard, the majority of its troops have signed on to odd jobs elsewhere until the Papa returns from its ‘Milkrun’. It is mostly populated by mechanics and engineers who are using the ships downtime to effect repairs and upgrades, while the Papa has little actual weapondry it is so bloody big that its size alone is sure to scare off any would be Pirates.
There are still a few old-timers aboard though. Two dropships and a few APC’s, a Heavy Tank and a TankKiller are aboard. But little else, like I said it is supposed to be a milk run.
Players can be anyone aboard the Papa except the Pilot, Navagator, or Gunnery Cheif. That leaves alot!
The colony ship is a old salvaged Series 3 Genesis Class Terraformer, the ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, or CCBB for short. It is overkill for a colony run but its vast size is allowing the colonist’s lots of breathing room. The majority of colonists are Southern Baptists who sold their land and commune on Earth to resettle offworld and create a new life away from the sinful Earth culture back home. Carpenters, mechanics, machinists and so forth are along for the ride too, sold on the idea of a new life away from the cramped and crowded Earth, and a parcel of land and prefab home for their familes to settle on.
Players can be a colonist, or non religous contract worker or familiy member. CCBB crewmember or passenger that is supposed to be dropped of once they arrive at Vega 4. The only crew position not available is that of pilot.
Plot points:
The contracted staff at the spaceport and space elevator are getting antsy, a transport was due to arrive two weeks ago to rotate the staff. Staff work on six month shifts. No word has been heard from the transport.
The Hooters and the Boones have been at odds for some time. The Hooters claim that the Boones have been overhunting and it is driving the local predators to hunt the farmers livestock. The Boones claim that the Hooters livestock are just too tempting a target and that is why it is happening. And that the Hooters are sabotaging their traps and scaring off the game in retaliation.
The Sheriff had been sent to mediate the matter but died from an unfortunate accident. The replacement is arriving on the colony ship, though it is rumored that he is not a Sheriff at all but a Colonial Marshall instead. One that is sent to deal with ‘unusual situations’, the Deputies are nervous and the townsfolk are curious as to why he would be coming here.
The crew of the Papa have had a bad year, funds are low and contracts are scarce. When the United Systems rep told them that their licenses could be renewed for TWO years instead of the usual one, and all they had to do was escort a colony ship on a slow run to the outer rim they jumped at the chance. The long slow trip would give them a chance to lick their wounds and effect repairs…
Some of the scuttlebutt aboard the ship has been about the redeployment of U.S. capitol ships. That many of them have been sent to the borders of U.S. territory and that is why they had been offered this milk run. There are also rumors that the Earth Alliance has been sending a lot of hardware out of the core systems to help shore up the United Systems defenses.
Alright there you go!
Build your characters… You can have more than one if you feel up to it. If everyone has their characters in place before the deadline we may start early.
The usual stuff would be-
Name
Age
Race
Rank if appropriate
Appearance
Mannerisms/Quirks if applicable
Strengths and Weaknesses of Character
Moral codes if any
Skills
Talents
Species or race abilities
Equipment
Brief history/Background
