On the surface of Polaris VI

Attentive readers of this blog know that we are currently running a science fiction campaign, nicknamed Antares 2401.

The last mission, on Polaris VI, ended a bit dramatically. There were not enough pilots left to fly the shuttles out of the area of operations, so a number of StarMarines are trapped on the surface of Polaris VI. Without doubt, our next game will feature a rescue mission.

This gave me the idea to generate a little story about those left behind. I took inspiration from the excellent blog Campaigns of General William Augustus Pettygree, and decided I was going to try something similar. Using thr Mythic Games Master Emulator, I came up with a small storyline and took some photographs of the miniatures acting out the scenes. Here is the result.

Lt. O'Brien reporting:

After the departure of shuttle Werenfried, carrying Gamma squad and wounded StarMarines from the other squads, the following StarMarines were still present on the surface of Polaris VI: Lt O’Brien, StarMarines McGraw and Nichols from Beta squad; Sgt Moss, StarMarines Cohen and Illnitch from Delta squad; and StarMarines Hayase, Kazima and Hokaido from Epsilon squad. Since I was the highest ranked officer, I took command of this small contingent.

My first task was to check the state of shuttle Wolf, since she had been hit by heavy fire from an Icycle tank during the ambush. I examined the state of the shuttle, while the others were guarding the perimeter. She seemed to be in exceptional condition, all systems were in working order. Alas, we had no pilot available to commandeer her and fly us out of here. Because night was approaching, temperatures were also dropping rapidly.

Next, Sgt Moss from Delta squad, StarMarine Hayase from Epsilon squad and myself had a small exchange of thoughts about what to do next. There was a danger that soon numerous forces of the Icycle Kingdom would arrive at the scene, so we had to get out quickly. A decision was reached to blow up shuttle Wolf to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. I will accept the consequences if the court-martials at Curia II will regard this as a non-permissable act according to the StarMarine code of conduct.

The task for blowing up shuttle Wolf was given to StarMarine Hokaido, who had still two missile shots in his MicroMech suit. With one aimed shot shuttle Wolf was blown to smithereens. She was one fine ship, and served us well during various missions.

We then set out, away from the location of the ambush, in search for a safe area where we can await the rescue mission. StarMarine Kazima was taking the lead. All StarMarines were on close guard and sensitive to any sign of enemy activity StarMarine Hokaido was taking the rearguard in this column, ready to use his one remaining missile shot.

When arriving at a small stream, suddenly a cave bear appeared in our flank. StarMarine Cohen was in immediate danger.

Thanks to the lightning reflexes of Sgt Moss, the cave bear was taken care of rather quickly. However, the resulting noise, smoke and fire might attract some enemy troops. We doubled the pace, and once again started marching away.

We finally reached a place we determined safe enough to wait for the rescue operation. StarMarine Nichols set up a compact Centurion Tent from stashed away in his backpack, while StarMarine Cohen, as the communications specialist, managed to deploy his portable satellite dish. It is through this communications device that this report is sent to SpaceShip Wodan.

Lt. O’Brien signing off.