The Ace of Spades Campaign - Raid on Sterling part 10

The Sterling Agricultural Colony
Once the party had finished their preparations at Breuse Downport they set out on The Jack of Spades, the shuttle craft of The Ace of Spades. Storm, Judith and Sharuna stayed behind onboard The Ace of Spades. The short journey to the colony passed without incident.

The Sterling Agricultural Colony was a large village, situated in the centre of extensive cultivated fields. The village was separated from the fields by low stone walls and wire fences. The field borders were defined by stone walls and rail fences. The colony's primary cash crop was variform wheat, genetically adopted to Breuse's soil and climate. The colony also raised soy, millet and farraah, a starchy tuberous root, similar to Terran potatoes. Some of the colonists raised cattle, engineered for high-G tolerance. Given the scarcity of fresh foods on the edge of settled space, the colonists had been turning a high profit on the sale of their crops.
The Jack of Spades landed on the south edge of the village, where the colonists had parked their own air and sub-orbital craft. The landing strip was barely big enough to accommodate the party's shuttle but Kimberley was able to make a perfect landing.

Once on the ground, the crew of The Jack of Spades were escorted by Alfred, Mearc, Royce and Sheas to the town hall, where they were introduced by Alfred to the seven members of the colony council who had not been taken hostage by the raiders. The council was a combination of ruling body and board of directors of the colony.

The council had been divided from the start over how to handle the bandit raids. The majority, led by Alfred Sterling, were strongly in favour of fighting the raiders. Three members, led by councilman James Akira, felt that the best course of action was to give the bandits what they wanted in the hope that the raiders would stop destroying their crops and killing the colonists. Alfred's supporters sat to the right of him. Akira was flanked on either side by his two dissenters to the left of Alfred.
It was Akira and his faction who dominated the party's first meeting with the colony council. The pacifists condemned Sterling for seeking outside help. They claimed that had he not hired mercenaries, the raiders wouldn't have taken hostages.
James Akira was aged 49, with oriental skin tone, short black hair and a moustache, dark brown eyes and a muscular build. He nearly always spoke in a loud voice. When the bandits first appeared, it was Akira who asked the council to give in to the raiders' demands. When he was overruled by the council, Akira began lobbying for Sterling's removal from its head.
As continued resistance caused the raids to grow in violence and frequency, Akira called again for Sterling to be ousted, claiming that his policy of fighting back was slowly killing rather than preserving the colony. When the search for mercenaries began, Akira held his peace, knowing that no soldiers on Breuse would take the job for what the colonists could afford. His protests began anew when Sterling sent his son and two others to Achamandra seeking to contract a team of independents to defend the colony. He claimed that the kind of scum that would be attracted to such an offer would be worse than the bandits themselves.
"What do you know about these outsiders you've brought here?" he fumed. "Can they be trusted? I remember seeing a band of freelancers not only failing to live up to their part of the bargain, but robbing their patrons and departing, leaving their former employers at the mercy of their enemies. I say again, can they be trusted?"
This drew howls of contempt and derision from Alfred's supporters, which were immediately met with loud protests from the three pacifists. Kimberley deliberately kept quiet, even though inwardly she was seething at the accusation laid against her and her crew. After a minute of shouting and bickering, Alfred banged his fist on the table and shouted, "BE QUIET!"
"My God," he exclaimed, "can't we show some respect and decorum in front of our visitors? Miss Wells, perhaps you'd like to address the council. As our "defence advisors" I'm sure you have plans for dealing with the raiders, yes?"

"We certainly do," Kimberley spoke confidently, "but first let me address the issue of our trustworthiness. I signed a contract with Mearc Sterling and I have every intention of honouring it. I'm not here to rip you off or abandon you. I'm here to help you. When I give my word, I keep it."
Alfred and his supporters nodded in approval. James Akira sat stony-faced, betraying no emotion.
"I have brought arms and armour for you to defend yourself against the raiders. Laser rifles, laser pistols and Kevlar armour," Kimberley continued. "I know you are farmers not fighters but my crew can teach you the basics in marksmanship and self-defence. If you want to preserve your colony you must be prepared to fight for it. We'll show you how. Just trust us and believe in yourselves. And if the raiders do return soon, we'll teach them a lesson they won't forget. Most of my crew have extensive military training and combat experience. Some served with the UFP. We can fight off these bandits for you but if we all work together then our success will be even more assured."
"Do not underestimate us!" This she directed straight at James Akira, daring him to challenge her.

"That's all well and good," Akira sneered, "but what about the hostages? For every bandit you kill, Erik will kill one of them."
"Yes, I am aware of that," Kimberley said sombrely. "Rescuing the hostages is our number one priority. I plan on conducting an aerial search for them as soon as possible. We'll take my shuttle and you can judge us on our success or failure."
"That seems reasonable to me," Alfred said approvingly. "Do you agree, James?"
"For now," Akira answered begrudgingly, "but this isn't over."
Shortly after, the meeting broke up and Mearc showed Kimberley and her colleagues where they'd be quartered during their stay at the colony. They had a large house to themselves at the northern edge of the village. They settled in and discussed their plans for rescuing the hostages.

Air Search

Straight after lunch, Kimberley took off in The Jack of Spades. Lynda sat alongside her to operate the sensors. Celeste and Julia occupied the other two seats in the cockpit. Accompanying them were Gwendoline, Kyran, Katja and Danica. Jeanette and Rebecca stayed behind at the colony, despite both of them wanting to accompany them. Mearc Sterling also asked to be included in the search. Kimberley reminded them that the shuttle only had seating capacity for fourteen and with eight crew that only left six seats for the hostages.
Searching by air was a long and dangerous process. Every time a promising lead turned up, the shuttle had to land to investigate closer. During a high altitude search, which is what the party did, likely spots could easily be overlooked. Plus, if the bandits were using active sensors, there was the risk that they could be detected.

After seven hours of fruitless searching, Gwendoline offered a suggestion.
"Hey, Kimberley," she chimed in. "Do you remember that old miner we met in Pablo's Place?"
"Yeah," Kimberley replied. "Colby was his name, wasn't it?"
"That's right. Well, he mentioned an abandoned mining camp fifteen miles west of the colony. Why don't we try there?"
"That's kind of close to the colony," Lynda remarked, "but I'll check it out. Kimberley can you plot a course for it?"
"I'm on it."
It didn't take long for the shuttle to arrive at its plotted destination.
"Oh, this looks interesting," Lynda said excitedly. "I'm picking up multiple life-form readings. They're definitely human or humanoid."
"How many?" Kimberley asked.
"Sixteen."
"For an abandoned camp," Julia noted, "that's a lot of bodies. That could be our target."
"Agreed," Kimberley nodded. "Let's take her down and land nearby. It's getting dark now and we'll move in on foot using the cover of darkness."
"Not you, Kimberley," Celeste said authoritatively. "You stay in the shuttle with Lynda, Gwendoline and Kyran. I'll go scout it out with Julia, Danica and Katja."
"But..." Kimberley began to protest.
"No buts," Celeste told her. "We four are the best equipped for this kind of mission. You'll be safer on the shuttle and if we need a quick getaway we'll need you piloting the shuttle."
"Okay," Kimberley said with a resigned sigh. She knew that Celeste was right and she would serve them best by staying to pilot The Jack of Spades. "Let's get this done."