Alexei's Run

On Friday I ran the second Ground Crew session. This, again, was a low-key affair. It started minutes after the previous session (in game-time, of course), in which TerraSec came into the HPG station Simon was working in and intercepted Alex on his way into work. He was placed under arrest, and Simon could not extract any significant information from the police, but Alex was able to tell him he was being arrested for breaking and entering just before he was hauled out the door.

Simon finished out his workday and headed back to the ranch that Clark owns. The two discussed Alex's situation, and Simon called the precinct where Alex was being held to ask if he could have visitors and inquire as to his bail. He was told visitors were allowed, and bail was set at 10,000 C-Bills. The following day Simon and Clark went down to the station to visit Alex, who they learn a few things. First off, Alex's full name is Alexei Romanov. Alexei apparently uses the shortened form professionally. Second, he seems to be under arrest for stealing the contents of the locked room in the HPG station. The incarcerated fellow seems genuinely convinced of his innocence, but he is very thankful that Simon came for him -- his family is from the Free Rasalhague Republic, and with the HPG closed to civilian traffic, he can't contact them. In the waiting area of the precinct, Simon and Clark are approached by Harry Simpson, a local bondsman, who offers to cover Alexei's bond for 5%.

They bail him out, and take him to a self-storage facility near by where he's supposed to be helping a friend move. When they get him there, they sit in uncomfortable observance as Alexei helps his friend load about 25 file boxes into a rented van, and then drives away. They then take Alexei back to his home, but on the way he mentions he left a letter in the outbound mail at the HPG Station with some stolen documents in them addressed to Simon, in order to implicate him in the theft. Since Simon was kind enough to bail Alexei out, he thought he should at least tell Simon about it so Simon can do something. Simon and Clark put Alexei out of the car, and speed off toward the HPG station. They arrive to find the station closed down, and no vehicles parked out from. Simon goes in, but with a well-rolled perception check, realizes there is an officer going through the mail right now. As this happens, the officer's partner rolls up outside with some doughnuts for the them, and Clark texts Simon. Simon sneaks out the back of the HPG station, climbs the fence, and returns to Clark's car.

They wait for four hours before going across the street to a fast food restaurant and getting a window seat to monitor the police action. After an hour or so, the two officers come out, one with a filing box, and Simon fears he has been caught. The two decide the best thing to do is for Simon to go to the station and explain the entire situation, and tell the police the complete and utter truth, realizing this might end up with Simon in jail anyways. Before they do that, though, they re-enter the HPG facility to see if they can find the envelope. To their considerable relief, they do -- the police either didn't get to it or it didn't draw their attention.

Simon and Clark take the envelope back to the ranch before opening it. Inside are a number of communications within the Word of Blake, some of which seem quite worrisome. Simon deposes of the envelope with his name on it, but the two retain the papers themselves. The rest of the session is spent discussing their next move, if any.

At the end of this session is the first major time leap in the game -- this session concluded on 21 December 3067, and the next starts on 12 March 3068, so we did our first downtime XP rolls. Each of the got 2 full months of XP (January and February), and 50% of March. The practical result was 30 XP for Simon and 37 for Clark, a considerable amount, but not wildly so.

Tomorrow I'll talk about how the actual Case White landings went with the ComStar Party.