Wrecked on Rec 97 is the third episode of season 12, A Starstruck Odyssey.
Intro[]
"Last we left off, our intrepid heroes were limping out of Madrugada Station, a sort of mining town encampment for United Free Trade Planets. Getting the hell out of Dodge once more with a ship with no shields, blasted to bits, not refueled, after a run-in with a double-crossing proldier who alerted that old shark of the system Jan de la Vega, captain of the Lady Pike, that you had made your way here, but let's zoom out for a second. You're on a ship that's been blasted to bits. You have a huge problem. It would seem in that some kind of cerebro-slug has blasted its way into the brain stem of your captain, Norman 'The Skipper' Takamori."
Synopsis[]
The crew docks at Rec 97, a recreation station full of debauchery and seedy business, where the dock workers begin to repair the Red Hot. Everyone agrees that they need the escape pod back, so Margaret moves into the captain’s quarters where she begins doing a full overhaul of the Red Hot’s finances and business practices.
While looking through paperwork and old chat logs, Margaret finds evidence of the Amercadian Space Brigade helping Norman get this ship, despite them also forcing him out in the first place, but she can’t find further information. With help from Sundry Sidney’s executive assistant protocol, Margaret gets contracts drawn up to add herself as co-owner of the ship. As co-owner, she would be able to join the U4F (United Federation of Female Freedom Fighters), getting the crew healthcare and pension plans. She secures a 50% payment increase from all the Jib-Jobbers by offering chef-prepared meals (the “chefs” for now are just the crew). This also raises their Jib-Job status to the silver tier, which provides the crew with 3 free meals a day. Margaret downloads Smash ‘n Grab, an app where the crew can look for jobs. The ship is renamed internally as the Wurst.
They step off the ship into the Vale of Tiers, the most popular set of levels in Rec 97. There’s a big public screen with Rootersnoos, the rec station’s news channel, playing. They briefly cover political unrest on Rubian V and mentions Reddit user Hotbox420, Margaret’s burner account, which likely means that other news stations are working on this story and it’s only a matter of days before Princeps Zortch’s disappearance goes public. Margaret logs in to see that her nude photo has broken Reddit’s record of most upvotes and most downvotes.
Sidney, in an effort to help Riva find a bachelorette party to sell their Pleasure Putty, takes the crew to the Brigader’s Bier, an Amercadian-style bar. Three jobs come in on Smash ‘n Grab. The first is for 300 credits a day working security for two rigons (two months). The second is for 2,000 credits to knock down a pawn shop on the Vale of Tiers, steal a specific item to return to the contractor, and the crew can help themselves to whatever they can take from the pawn shop. The last one is a job for zero credits. In the description, it says, “Don’t want to discuss over app. Find me at the Blue Heaven level. 25k.” The crew accepts the last one. They decide to first back up Riva in their sales pitch, and then head to Blue Heaven.
In the Brigader’s Bier, there’s a raucous bachelorette party for an orb filled with lightning and purple fog named Zvoon. Riva quickly spots the maid-of-honor Mae and starts pitching Pleasure Putty to her and eventually the whole party. The other members of the crew chime in as “happy customers” to help with the pitch. Riva is also able to get the whole party to sign up as Pleasure Putty salespeople and attend the course at the nearby training facility.
Gunnie notices Gust Weatherall, top brass in the space brigade and from a major military family, staring at Skip. Gust comes over to greet Skip as Norman Takamori and orders double-death commandos for them. Riva reads Gust’s surface thoughts and finds “derisive pity” towards Norman; Norman was an abrasive person to not only his subordinates but to higher-ups as well, and therefore, had no allies and was easy to take advantage of. Skip ends up downing two of the drinks, the effects of which begin to absorb into his slug body and makes him lose control of his speech. Gust, freaked out by “Norman’s” strange sounds and actions, makes his way out of the bar. As he leaves, Riva catches the thoughts, “It’s wearing off.”
They make their way to Blue Heaven after Sidney scopes out the contractor through Handy Annie. Salazar, a personal assistant droid, escorts them to his mistress’s palazzo to discuss the deal further. The palazzo is extremely well-appointed and the crew takes advantage of the free expensive amenities before the contractor Hyacinth Khrome comes out. Hyacinth mistakenly thinks Sidney is Warfare Whitney, a new battle droid from Living Doll Cybernetics with Sidney’s exact visual design down to the face, which makes Sidney extremely existential.
Hyacinth tells them what she’s hiring them for; Myalor Nabthacks is her archrival whose dog Aurora Nebbins has been stealing the spotlight and the win at the Carbine Kennel Dog show. Hyacinth wants the crew to take Aurora out of the competition. After some negotiation, Hyacinth agrees that while she will only pay them 25,000 credits, she will send them Myalor’s contact details to ransom Aurora back for even more money.
Margaret gets the crew a room at the Obfusion Arms, the hotel with a room under Madeline Maud that the Princeps Zortch might be staying in. While everyone is headed to the spa, she sweet-talks the concierge into giving her the key to “Madeline Maud’s” room. She is also able to confirm that Lucienne paid for the room and asked for a doorman at the back entrance for transportation. She goes to get massages with the rest of the crew.
Locations[]
- The Red Hot
- Rec Station 97
- The Vale of Tiers
- The Obfusion Arms
- The Brigader's Bier
- Blue Heaven
Characters[]
Players[]
New[]
Returning[]
Mentioned[]
- Captain Jan De La Vega
- Barry Nyne
- Princeps Zortch
- Jimmy the Snout
- Lucienne Rex
- Barry Battalion
- Myalor Nabthacks
- Aurora Nebbins