Session 1

## Lazarus Station

The captain, Ibett, SID and Hots are called into the bar on Lazarus Station at the behest of Ambris, their contact within the Dead Suns. In return for transport for two other contacts, Hezsia and Tinka, Ambris offers the crew a high paid but apparently very simple job to retrieve a hard drive containing an experimental virus and deliver it to Ambris' boss. They are directed to the station's customs office, where contraband is stored in a warehouse. As they leave the bar they notice the intimidating presence of three members of the Haliathe 5th Fleet. The crew go down a floor and scout the area, eventually spotting a vent that they theorise could be used to gain access to the warehouse if they could get into the station's maintenance room. Hezsia and SID find a janitor in the station lounge and Hezsia distracts him whilst SID pickpockets a set of keys, meanwhile Hots polymorphs to gain access through the front desk of the customs office. Returning to the upper floor, the crew discreetly enter the maintenance room and get Tinka into the vents. Following a distressing trip, involving falling down a shaft and witnessing a masturbating shopkeeper, Tinka is able to find his way into the warehouse. He and Hots then unsuccessfully search the shelves, finding only a confiscated set of armour and a copy of Punchout, eventually prompting concern from Hezsia and the captain, who bluff their way in to the warehouse, claiming to have lost some belongings. Eventually they are able to find the virus and leave despite Tinka almost getting caught, and the crew leave the same way each of them entered. Tinka exits the vents via the station's chapel, prompting the crew to make a swift exit. As they reach the lift they are stopped by the Ursa company members they'd seen earlier, who were evidently looking for a fight, however Hezsia is able to hide her tattoo which denotes her as a member of the 3rd fleet and avoids a confrontation. The crew then pass through the drydock where Ambris gives them the coordinates for Magnus' base, along with a reminder of the 1000 gold each of them would get upon return and a warning to not piss off his boss.

## The Handover

The crew set off in their ship, the new members taking a shine to their respective quarters. Due to the length of the journey the most of the crew sleep, with SID taking the time to do more research into Haliathe following their encounter with the Bears. When the ship arrives in orbit they are hesitantly given permission to land at Magnus' villa atop a plateau surrounded by dense rainforest. Magnus greets the crew in person but does not let them approach, instead using Mage Hand to handle the virus and give it to a bodyguard to take for examination. During the intense wait that follows the captain ignores the advice he was given and attempts to provoke Magnus, but fortunately only makes him laugh at the crew. When the validity of the virus is confirmed Magnus gives the crew a bounty chip to be handed in for their payment.

Upon leaving the planet the crew is pursued by a stealth oriented ship from the planet and while attempting to avoid them lose all power, followed by a sudden overloading of their FTL drive. Most of the crew are thrown around during the sudden jump and are rendered unconscious, prompting and unusual dream for Hezsia and more bizarrely one for SID. Coming to, the crew find the ship in atmosphere hurtling towards the surface of a rocky planet but SID and Tinka are able to reboot the engine and Ibett is able to pull off a surprisingly smooth crash landing, noticing that the glass of the cockpit had been strangely impacted before landing.

## The Bodies

Outside the crew see a pair of bodies in front of what seems to be a collapsed archway. Upon investigation nobody is able to identify the first, observing that it has some kind of exoskeleton and limbs that form an organic sword and shield, the sword arm having been removed and used to impale the creature. The second appears to be an unusually dressed human in possession of a particularly ornate sword. Whilst examining the various jewellery on the body it seemingly comes to life, his eyes unnaturally glowing, which prompts an attack from the captain with the pilfered sword. As he attempts to slash at the body the captain experiences time dilation in which only the resurrected human appears to move at a normal speed, and after examining the captain, disarms him and breaks the captain's arm with a single punch. The other crew members witness this unfold within a fraction of a second. After some uncomfortable observation from afar they realise this individual is not attacking them, despite being visibly wary of SID. Through strained conversation the being in front of them identifies itself as a fragment of a god that has possessed a body that has "cursed blood" and claims that said blood has "been here before". The body is identified as "Captain Haliathe" and its presence on this planet is attributed to the actions of the "brethren" of the entity in control of it. The crew note that the sky is unusually clear of stars and as dawn begins to break and the planet is bathed in the light of a red giant star the captain recalls an apocalyptic prophecy he learned of during his time with the Order of the Sacred Fire that now appears to be playing out. Deciding to hear out this strange entity, the crew are informed that it believes that with its full body restored it could undo the event that appears to be swallowing the universe and extinguishing the stars. The crew are cryptically told of the existence of keys to the prison that its body is trapped within and that it would be able to identify their presence if nearby. It is also revealed that the possessed body is apparently still alive, the entity in control claiming that he could recognise how badly the ship was damaged despite not witnessing the crash.