7TV Campaign: Desert Dust-UP

(With thanks to Overlord for this excellent write-up)

The Darke versus Riot Squad- In Color!

Parts of a ARC (Albion Rocket Consortium) satellite have fallen to Earth and been scattered across a small, remote desert town.  Riot Squad, training local police in public order, have been dispatched as the nearest available representatives of HM Government to retrieve the vital pieces. 

The unplanned satellite re-entry has not gone un-noticed by Lazarus Darke, who decides to personally lead a team to recover the components, convinced they will yield important data to aid his ultimate goal.

Prologue:

The Director decided that the set was a bit too cluttered for the sweeping camera shots he wanted, so a couple of minor scenery items were cleared (Darke Event: Sparse Location).

Feature:

RAS-AL-BOWRAJ, EXTERIOR

The Darke won the roll and selected a table edge, chiefly deploying in two main groups, each led by Lazarus and Black.  NERO kept a solitary watch.  The Riot Squad formed up in a close formation, clearly expecting trouble in the narrow middle-eastern streets.

The Riot Squad took the initiative and moved forward as a group.  Their Marksman peeled off into a compound towards the first component, and a suitable hide.

Konrad Black moved forward then used his Grapple Gun gadget to sweep up onto a rooftop and recover the first item.  Lazarus commanded a Knight to secure a second component before BLINC*-ing, teleporting himself to a third part of the satellite in the distance.

The cops retained the initiative, with the marksman retrieving their first component before going to ground in a building.  The Squad proceeded in an orderly manner, picking up a second component and sealing off the street.

The Darke held their position apart from a solitary Knight who dashed across the street, in full view of the Police line, to the final satellite remnant.

Epilogue:

A rather low key episode, with each side only vaguely aware of the other. The Darke recovered 4 components, greatly assisted by Lazarus’ teleport SFX.  Points totals were 14 and 7 for each side, giving The Darke 2VP and the Riot Squad 1VP.  Canny use of their Think Tank meant The Riot Squad gained a second VP for deploying a Miniature Camera; 2 all!  However, Lazarus stole a minor victory with an extra 1VP for his Most Wanted SFX.

Ratings War:

With no casualties in the episode the behind the scenes campaign aspect was quickly resolved.  The audience were obviously impressed with the cool control of the Squad in the searing heat (of arc-lights on the gravel pit OB location), winning them a ‘Benny’.  The Riot Squad gained a 10PP bonus for fielding a slightly smaller cast than the Darke and spent only some of their gains on extra event cards for the next episode. 

The Darke studios suffered a mysterious fire, halving the proposed production budget, which halted work on the ground-breaking SFX planned for the next episode.  Its producers decided to improve Lazarus' Alien Pistol marksmanship to a 4+ (10PP), increase Black’s INT to a vaguely cognisant 3 (3PP) and add a female Administrator to the all male cast (8PP). 

* Bi-Locational Inter-spacial Nexus Connector