Mercy Mission K'tsa-Kar Pre-quell vignette
Flash back vignette (predates this adventure and the Mercy mission to Madderley's star)
Players start with pre-gen Royal Marines on Clarion station. and a boarding shuttle is available to them in the central hub but their vacuum suits are not on board.
They have drawn a execution by vacuum detail where they must escort a pirate from his cell to an airlock for execution.
The pirate runs his mouth the whole time taunting and threatening and promising that he will get even with the royal marines
Sentence is read by high ranking RM officer Pirate is placed in airlock and the restraints removed. Offered chance to say last words, resorts to a insult and I'll get even threat.
Button is pushed and he is blown out the air lock he has 1 minute to live in total vaccum. However through the view port to the side of the air lock a large launch looms into view with its bubble canople open and a space suited individual with a net grapple gun fires on the executed pirate. The PCs are stunned to see the pirate captured and reeled into the launched and being placed in a freeze field bodybag as teh launch heads for a nearby frighter.
PC's had the execution duty and see what happens and are forced to run for the elevators, to the station docking bay, cut short a pre-flight check (give the players the pre flight check list and ask them how much of it the want to skip in the interest of running down the criminals. For every item on the check list they skip there is an accumlative x% that an engine will hyper ignite which cuts the ships ADF in half. no real time to don vacuum suites which may still be tored in a locker on the space station.
They frighter has a lead and the PCs are in pursuit (potentially at half ADF) The frighter begins detaching cargo containter to try to hit the PCs ship requiring a pilot roll each time.
They are able to board it but the ship is empty and when they get to the bridge the view screen is active and the
"executed" pirate is on the screen smiling at them with a towel hanging loose around his neck. He taunts, "So long suckers" then presses a buttom and the bridge blows up. a cargo container pops open and a thruster class privateer emerges and targets the frieghter or the boarding shuttle the PCs used with assult rockets.
All the pre-gen PCs could/should be killed. TPK but perhaps not if someone gets lucky somehow but these are throw away character and the Royal Marines all have a burn to get this pirate.
(Obviously he is going to show up during the convoy mission.)
Players may possibly have a personal grudge for this NPC at this point? Play the NPC are arrogantly and dismissive as possible, make his taunts as personal as possible and use the "Gollywog" insult. Perhaps he favors a catch phrase: like Suckers or something.