Build The Skill
Many times, the story of the Union Aerospace Corporation’s lust for power has been told and retold. The hero changes every time, but generally has the same thing in common: an unusual aptitude for weapons both common and exotic, unparalleled running skills, and unflinching endurance. This…is not that kind of story. For once, it is time that we herald the lesser-known people, the everyday heroes who went to Mars not because it was a matter of life and death, but because it was steady employment. To these people, the UAC represented a paycheck, a regular work day, and on-site dormitories. Their work day consisted of showering, breakfast, riding a tram, writing things on clipboards, then riding back home and sleeping until the next shift.
Gameplay elements
These are your heroes.
Metalworker: Roger Berneche
Roger, a 35-year-old skilled-trade worker from Detroit, quit his job at a certain famous motor company five years ago when he heard that Union Aerospace was looking for people. He spent three years at the UAC foundry in Austin, Texas, and had signed up for the Mars City project as a joke with his peers. Three years after joining the UAC, he was unexpectedly selected as a metalworker and shipped to Phobos. Since Roger’s only major experience is with welding and other metalworking disciplines, he was not prepared in the least when the Gateway experiment went wrong. Roger is the “default” player and starts with all skill levels set to zero.
Trauma Nurse: Walt Greendale
Walt’s first exposure to the UAC as a company came when an explosion at their Austin foundry left 15 metalworkers injured. All fifteen were sent to an Austin area hospital where Walt worked as a trauma nurse. Fortunately, enough doctors were on staff that each of the 15 received immediate treatment for burns and embedded shrapnel. Walt’s patient was Roger Berneche, who received only one major wound from flying shrapnel. Some months later, when the UAC announced they were looking for volunteers for the Mars City project’s medical staff, Walt was encouraged by the hospital’s director to sign up, and wound up in the same sector as Roger. Walt’s skill specialty is Medical, and he starts with a significant increase in medical skills compared to the others.
Private Security: Talya Kapersky
Kapersky is a security guard for a private commodity trading company located just outside of Moscow. The job does not present much challenge, since few people are willing to rob a company that barely has any market presence, but Talya’s supervisor still requires her to maintain a firearms certification, though Talya has never been in a combat situation. The UAC’s branch company in Russia was assigned to hire a large security staff to form a Mars City Police Department. The UAC would soon regret outsourcing their law enforcement hiring to a country whose primary spoken language is not English. Talya’s command of the English language is better than most, but her co-workers could not say the same. By pure coincidence, Talya was assigned to the same sector as Walt and Roger, and does occasionally have lunch with them. Talya’s skill specialty is Firearms and she starts with an increase in weapon skills compared to others.
Marathon Runner: Lena Falstein
While nowhere near Olympic level – regulations still forbid amputees from joining Olympic teams – Lena Falstein still gets plenty of practice running for fundraising causes such as Juvenile Diabetes. She was involved in a car accident as a young girl, and had to have her legs amputated below the knees. Since then, she has become a prevalent “blade runner” and can run faster than the average track team member. In the meantime, Lena’s search for any work at all on Craigslist led her to sign on to the Union Aerospace Corporation’s Mars City project as a service worker, assigned to the Alpha sector’s food service division. When the other three get lunch, she is often the person that serves it. Lena’s skill specialty is Athletics, and she starts with an increase in running skills compared to others.
Equipment
There are three weapons available.
- Berducci XP4 Squall - The XP4 is the standard-issue sidearm of UAC security on the Mars City project; so commonplace that there are more of these pistols on base than there are people assigned to carry them. All four characters obtain the XP4 as part of their starting equipment. It is very lightweight, but the trigger is exceptionally heavy, so unskilled shooters will have considerable difficulty firing it. It is a “lift gun” chambered for 12x12mm Airsafe, a special caseless, low-powder, electrically-fired round with a high force of impact but a low muzzle velocity, designed not to over-penetrate or pierce the airtight walls of the Mars City complex, as well as generating far lower gas emissions than typical firearms, which is highly desirable in the reduced-oxygen environment of Mars.
- Dakota TT93 - Full-length shotguns are an unusual choice for the tight corridors and short ranges of the Mars City installation, but when UAC security requested a “heavy entry” weapon to deal with potential riots outside of the Austin complex, the Dakota was the tool chosen for the job, and several of these shotguns were also shipped to Mars City before the UAC board determined a need for weapons that produced fewer carbon emissions. It is a typical 12-gauge, single-barreled, pump-action shotgun with no unusual characteristics. It is a very heavy weapon, especially fully loaded with the full complement of 8 shells, so weapon jitter is quite low. It is a very powerful weapon, however, so recoil force is extremely high for an unprepared shooter. Loading the weapon is also quite difficult, since the mechanisms involved have a very high resistance.
- SMA Isis - The Egyptian-made “Isis” sub-machine gun is assigned only to the UAC’s executive bodyguards. Its unusual side-mounted magazine is kept to a minimal size, thanks to it being chambered for a unique, dart-like 3.4x50mm cartridge which, like the 12x12mm Airsafe, is a low-powder, electrically-fired round. The Isis’ fire rate is reasonably controllable…but only to a skilled shooter. The heavy trigger is problematic for novice shooters going both ways. It is difficult to pull the trigger, and it is just as difficult to let go of it. Novice shooters in a panic situation may find that they cannot stop firing the (full-auto only) weapon until it has run out of ammo.
