Hunting the Hunters (Phase World Adventure):
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Author: Kitsune
Homepage: http://www.vabch.com/kitsune/palladium.htm
System: Rifts
Type: Hook
Category: Post Apocalypse
Requirements: none

Hook: An independent merchant captain, Darkil Arkell, was traveling though Trans-Galactic Empire space. He has a serious leak of hydrogen fuel for the fusion reactors on the ship and is forced to find a system to get more fuel. He entered into a system with no life bearing planets but did have some gas giants he could skim hydrogen from. This system was near some systems that were originally Wolfen colonies before being taken over by the Trans-Galactic Empire. In the system he saw what appeared to be a large graveyard of starships. This group was mostly Hunters with a mixture of a few cargo vessels. All of this information is gathered in a bar through his drunk rambling. These ramblings can either be heard by the player group or by intelligence person that will report it to the player characters leaders. A good group to have the players is to have them as part of the Free Worlds Council. In either case, the players will either want to scout out the system or will be ordered to check on the system. There will be some enemy patrols either to be fought or dodged. When the players get to the system, they will discover that there are 250 Hunters and 42 Cargo ships that are all in excellent shape. The next stage should be to go back and either report to their seniors or to recruit people to help them. The situation is such that it is likely that only one large penetration should be possible and that this must be of a short duration. Likely the range will be from 8 to 12 hours before they are forced to leave the system. If not, they will likely be blocked by T.G.E. ships on their way out.

Line: For a long time, there has been a rumor floating around. This rumor is that when the local Wolven planets were taken over by the Trans-Galactic Empire, the Wolven was able to mothball 250 of the ships in a secret location. Then all records were destroyed and the crews of the cargo ships that brought them to the planet committed suicide. Many beings have looked for the planet but no one has found them and the information was thought to be false. The ship are in excellent in shape and even contain fighters. Based on the rumors though, up to 20% of the Hunters will actually be able to be made immediately partially operational (actually eight to ten hours). This means propulsion and . The rest of the Hunters will need to be loaded into cargo ships but can be made operation within about a month. The ships that are used on the recover should contain enough cargo ships with enough space to carry a large number of Hunters internally. There should also be troop transports carrying crews for the ships that can be brought online quickly and repair ships to aid in the repairs. There are no large Trans-Galactic Empire bases nearby and patrols have reduced by about fifty percent in the last few months.

Sinker: If the Player Characters are members of the Free Worlds Council, there has been a major Kreeghor assault on the Free Worlds and the Free Worlds are greatly reduced because many of the ships assigned to the mission have been reassigned to deal with the assault. Carriers and Battleships were originally assigned to the mission. The time frame of the mission is considered critical and so instead of waiting, a much reduced force will be sent in. Because most of the Kreeghor ships in the area are assigned to the assault, it is believed that their will be far reduced operations and a window of opportunity. If the player characters are hiring a team, that same assault will mean that many of the available mercenary ships will be hired by the Free Worlds Council and be involved in defending against the assault and the rest of the information is similar.

Unfortunately, Things are not as easy as wished for. While the Characters did not encounter any ships in the system but when they get back this time, there is a small fleet of ships in the system. These ships belong to a pirate group, the "Blood Talons", that also got the information for overhearing the freighter captain in the bar. Their scout ship arrived at a different time than the player characters so there was no encounter between them. The pirate band is well known and is known to be very brutish. These pirates have been known to murder, rape, and pillage anywhere that they can. The pirates have a very high bounty on their heads and have been tried for the complete destruction of a few colonies. Even the T.G.E. wants them killed off because their have raided them as well. If they are able to capture the ships, this will give them the ability to attack planets with moderate defenses. The Pirate forces outnumber the fleet that the character are with. This fleet should contain at least one escort carrier and several cargo ships converted into cruisers. For the cargo ships converted into cruisers, assume that the are 900 feet long, have one squadron of fighters (12 fighters), has similar weapon systems to a Smasher class cruiser but with three times the missiles. The ship is about 1/3 slower than a smasher. These pirates cannot be trusted to be negotiated with and they kill all prisoners. On a good side, if the pirates are severely damaged, they will retreat because they are cowards like most pirates.

This can add to additional adventures. Their could be an attempt to capture some of the pirates ships and the commander might wish to follow the pirate fleet. As a final item, theses ships might be needed for a planned assault.

Possible Forces:
Suggestions for pirate forces size may need to be altered depending on the size of group the players are with and that group will replace the number listed if the characters are not working for the Free Worlds Council.

Pirate Fleet:

Combat:
1 Escort Carrier "Blood Nest"
4 Cargo Vessels converted into Cruisers
4 Hunter Destroyers
6 Ferret Corvettes
12 Runners
Cargo & Transport:
4 Captured liners transporting technicians
16 Very large Cargo ships

Combat:
6 Pocket Carriers
1 Natasha Kurganov Missile Cruiser
1 Smasher Cruiser
2 Berserker Patrol Ships
2 Hunter Destroyers
4 Ferret Corvettes
6 Mosquito Fighters
Cargo & Transport:
4 Troop Transports transporting technicians
2 Button Repair Ships
12 very large Cargo ships

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By Kitsune (Kitsune@vabch.com ).

Copyright © 1999, Kitsune. All rights reserved.