This adventure is designed for third level Rig pilots looking to improve the Bainsbury Shelter and make some excellent money in the process.

The weather system described in the core setting article works as normal for this adventure. Traveling through downtown takes about half an hour, and reaching the Jimbuck Farm Equipment factory takes another 20 minutes.

The Big Picture: The Red Legion has found an old farm vehicle factory and, instead of ripping its parts out for themselves, they have had one of their agents pass the tip on to Moray Automotive. Once Moray’s lackeys find and take all the valuables, the Red Legion intends to swoop in and steal the parts, by either guile or force. When this inevitably goes south, they send out their tank to make another attempt.

Briefing

On an otherwise unremarkable day, the party receives a message asking them to come by Moray Automotive about a job.

Moray Automotive’s building is an old warehouse, repurposed into the Rig equivalent to a car repair garage. The building is split into four sections: One for manufacturing new Rigs, one for repairing damaged Rigs, one for storage, and one for office space. The company has 12 employees, split between humans and Auxiliaries.

Matt Lewis’ office is full of books on engineering, robotics and related fields. In the center of the room is a desk with a computer monitor on it. There are two chairs in front of the desk, for guests. There is a whiteboard behind the desk, with schematics for a new foot design for Rigs on it, which would let them deploy tires from the feet to use as electrically powered rollerblades.

Matt is sitting in his wheelchair at his desk, looking over a map of the Greater Gaelgar area. He looks up when the party enters.

“Hey, guys. Thanks for coming by. Do you want some coffee or anything?” he says, pausing for a moment before continuing, “Alright, let’s get down to business. I got a tip a few days ago, claiming that an old Jimbuck Farm Equipment factory a few kilometers is just a few kilometers outside of the city is nearly intact. I dug around and checked some old maps, and at the very least, the factory definitely was there. I need the manufacturing equipment in there.”

He gestures at the assembly shop. “That hardware could help speed up production a lot, and maybe allow us to begin producing spares for the BDF and our local Pilots. Plus, there’s some good money in it for you. 1000 if you get me that equipment, 200 if you can tell me the state of the factory. Even if it’s toast, that’s important to know. So, you in?”

The factory is located north of the city, and cutting through downtown is the quickest route.

If the party wants to avoid downtown, they can either go west or east around it. West takes them through the industrial area between the Shipyard and downtown, along an arterial road littered with wrecked vehicles and collapsed overpasses. The eastern route follows a north-south rail line, where a Large V-Crystal has smashed into an empty box car. A Devil lurks in the area, and its footprints are clearly visible near the crystal.

If the players take the western route, roll on the Shipyard Encounters table. If they take the eastern route, a Devil attacks them if they try to harvest the V-Crystal.

Downtown Combat Encounter

This encounter is a warmup, an easy fight meant to get more combat-oriented players drawn into the session. I would recommend ignoring the usual downtown encounter chart, but if you decide to roll on it to add some extra challenge, reroll any bandit results. The Red Legion is intentionally ignoring the party, so they can steal the fruits of their labor later.

You wind your way through downtown, weaving between burnt-out cars. The ground-level stores were looted decades ago, and the walls are covered in graffiti. Most of it is nearly illegible tags or profane messages, but a few truly impressive murals exist.

You leave the main street and enter a plaza between a library and an office tower. The plaza is filled with statues, dedicated to old-world politicians, philanthropists, and patriots. Unfortunately, the scourge of the new world is here, as well: A pack of crystal creatures (You can find these in Pt.1 of this series by following this link!). [Party-1] Boars and a butterfly are prowling around the monuments, but they haven’t noticed you yet. You can try to find another route, but it will take longer, and who knows what you’ll run in to. What would you like to do?

The Factory

“The old Jimbuck Farm Equipment factory is a sprawling mass of metal and concrete, painted in the signature green of the Jimbuck brand. A fence surrounds the property, and a sliding gate blocks the main road access.”

“The parking lot is empty, leaving plenty of space to park your Hauler. A staff entrance is in the center of the center of the front of the building, and there are loading docks on the left side. The loading dock doors are large enough for a Rig to enter, but are closed, and the staff entrance doors are open, but merely man-sized.”

The Jimbuck Farm Equipment factory is a maze of machining tools and conveyors. An overhead network of cranes on rails was once used to transport equipment from area to area. Obviously, it is unpowered now, but with a successful Systems check, a clever Pilot can use their Rig’s engine to power it.

Most of the facility is in good condition, but there are several holes in the factory floor leading down to a basement half-filled with ash rainwater. There’s no particular test for avoiding this while stripping the factory, but if combat spills into here, both parties must make Mobility rolls every time they move in the factory, or else fall down a floor into dangerous water.

An industrial-sized laser cutter sits on the edge of one of these holes, perilously close to falling in to the basement. This machine would be very useful for Moray Automotive’s operations, but bringing a Rig too close to it risks putting too much weight on the damaged floor and dropping both the machine and the Rig into the partially flooded basement.

The locker rooms and other staff areas contain little of value, but the front reception area has a trophy shelf full of die-cast models of famous Jimbuck equipment. This collection is worth 100 luka to Carol’s Curiosities, and very little to anyone else, though a piece of it would make a nice memento for the party.

This section is meant to be a cozy roleplaying bit where the party can problem-solve and talk while they work. Make the party describe how they’re removing the machines. Carefully disconnecting cables, unbolting bolts, and putting them on a makeshift cart to carefully roll them to the hauler? Ripping them off the floor and moving them as fast as possible? Disassembling them as much as they can and carrying them in smaller pieces? No rolls are required for this since they’re not under any specific time pressure.

After a bit of this, ask them who brought what for lunch. Ask them where they’re taking their lunch break. The factory’s lunch room? On the factory floor, sitting on still conveyor belts?

When they get back to work, ask who is responsible for hauling equipment back to the Hauler, and ask that player to make a Systems check. If they succeed, they (or their Auxilliary) notice the heat signatures of a pair of Rigs in standby mode, concealed in the trees. If they fail, they misjudge how large a piece of machinery is and scratch the side of the Hauler.

If they don’t deal with the Red Legion in some way, a member of the Legion steals their Hauler while the entire party is inside the building.

“[One of the players’ Auxiliaries] suddenly looks around. “The Hauler’s engine has just started.”

As you get outside, you see two red Rigs standing between you and your Carrier. The Rigs fire a couple of shots at you as the Hauler starts moving. The Hauler does a quick J-turn and peels out of the yard, with the Rigs following it.

The enemies are a pair of Bandit Hunters. Destroying/disabling both of them, or dealing 8 damage to the Hauler, will end the chase.

The Pilots and Auxiliaries of each Rig (and the driver of the Hauler) will flee when their vehicle is disabled or destroyed. There is, unfortunately, no space in the Hauler for these scrapped Rigs, and when the party inevitably comes back to retrieve them, only a few pieces of scrap are left.

Tank Ambush

While heading back through, regardless of route, the party encounters four Boars. They are aggressive and will try to attack the Rigs. After two rounds of combat, a Bandit tank dispatched after the failed theft arrives. Read out the following:

“[Name an Auxiliary] calls out, ‘Incoming engine noise. Sound profile does not match any encountered vehicle.’”

This vehicle is a Bandit tank, dispatched after the failed theft and intent on hunting down the Pilots. The tank is a Challenger 3 Main Battle Tank whose powerplant has been removed and replaced with one that runs on the same principles as the Rigs’ engines, using V-Crystals to vastly increase power output. Those specifics are not important to most groups, but what is that it has a very big gun and thick armor.

The party can outrun the tank if they break off of the fight as soon as they hear it coming, but attempting to flee at any later point requires the entire Fireteam to make a Mobility roll. Whichever Pilot is driving the Hauler makes this at disadvantage if 8 or more damage was dealt to the Hauler.

After another round of combat, the tank arrives. Read out the following:

A bulky, angular machine pulls into the junction in front of you. It has a heavily armored body with treads and a turret on top. It is an old-world tank, with a new engine crudely installed into the rear section. The turret turns slowly towards you, bringing its very large barrel to bear.

A female voice with a southern accent comes over the radio. “Drop your weapons, leave the area, and leave your Hauler behind, or I’ll shred you all.” it says. “Bossman wants those factory machines, and he’s gonna get ‘em.”

The tank is meant to be a tough opponent. It is crewed by two humans and two Auxiliaries, and its weapons outclass most Rigs by far. The tank’s commander is Alex Mackinaw, a bandit woman with a southern twang and a fondness for both adrenaline and money. She won’t surrender unless her tank is completely disabled, and will only break off pursuit when the party is in sight of the gates.

Payment

After the party escapes from or defeats the tank, briefly describe the journey back to Bainsbury Shelter. The damage they’ve suffered, the feeling of the Pilots’ hearts pounding in their chests, the feeling of relief as the gate comes into view.

Matt Lewis meets the party outside of Moray Automotive. He’s sitting in the hand of a Rig piloted by one of his employees, and once the Rig lifts him high enough to see inside the Hauler, he says

“Hot damn. I admit, I expected the lead to be bogus, but you’ve got some proper iron in there. Looks like you worked for it, too.” He gestures, and the Rig lowers him down. Carefully, he gets out of the Rig’s hand and walks unsteadily to his wheelchair, keeping one hand on the Rig’s hand or his chair until he’s seated. “Come inside. I’ll take possession as agreed, and Mikey here can unload it while I get you your pay.”

Payment goes smoothly. If the party is interested in recounting what’s happened to them, Matt is willing to chat, but otherwise, the party’s business is finished.

Ask them how they celebrate. If they have no ideas, a round of beer at Zeke’s is always an option.

Once the new equipment is installed, the price of procuring the new Rig drops by 10%, and Matt begins working on new upgrade modules.

Afterword

I hope you’ve enjoyed this adventure! This series of articles has been a lot of fun to work on, and I’m hoping to revisit the setting again further down the line, either with another adventure or a new Shelter altogether!

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