What The Word Knows

One of the issues I'm wrestling with as this campaign progresses is how aggressive to make TerraSec and the Word of Blake Militia in hunting down the ComStar survivors. The ComStar party broke contact with the Word in a very obvious way, and because they were the only units in the area, the Word of Blake knows that there was at least a Firestarter at large. The party is currently taking steps to conceal that 'Mech, but Terra is a very advanced planet, and the Word and TerraSec have access to considerable resources in their hunt.

I think TerraSec's search for the missing elements of the 394th is going to be my passive plot hook; the scenario I run when the party is at a loss as to what to do. Rather than have an entire session of waiting around, either TerraSec or the 9th Division show up looking for Alex, Shin, and David. To that end, I need to plot out the ranch for tactical engagements. I expect any such encounter would be more a game of hide-and-seek than an actual fight, since the party obviously would have a hard time explaining the disappearance of one or more officers sent to investigate Clark's ranch. Creating the layout of the ranch will also allow me to instill a greater sense of propriety on the players, and make then feel more enfranchised in the world.

At least, that's my theory. We'll see how it holds up.