TEXT: Untimely 
  Discovery
  While exploring the space around the gas giant Echidna, 
  the spacers receive an anomalous reading from one of their 
  sensors. It appears to have detected a concentration of refined 
  metals in a decaying orbit around the planet. Alternately, 
  the team is assigned a scoutship or small freighter and 
  dispatched from Burroughs to investigate faint but strange 
  signals apparently of artificial origin, but conforming to no 
  known navigational or communication systems. 
  Regardless, upon reaching orbit around Echidna, they 
  discover an ancient spacecraft, apparently of Earth or Serran 
  origin. Speed is of essence, as the point of origin is slowly 
  being drawn into the gas giant’s gravity well.
  Lost in Space
  The heroes find the source of the readings to be a large 
  spacecraft, but one of a design not seen in nearly five 
  hundred years. Apparently, it drifted into the system and 
  got caught in Echidna’s gravity well. It is on a decaying 
  orbit, and will eventually spiral into the planet.
  The vessel has suffered numerous meteor strikes, and 
  one has obliterated the section of the hull that would carry 
  any official identification numbers, although a name that 
  translates from Serran into Discovery is visible on the bow. 
  However, any Serran who makes a Common Knowledge 
  roll recognizes it is a very archaic form of the word.
  The craft’s design does not appear in any current graphical 
  database. A Knowledge (History) roll identifies it as likely an 
  early attempt at a long-distance STL starship, one in which 
  the crew is kept in suspended animation. If the group has a 
  way to detect energy signatures on the vessel, there is only 
  a weak one present, possibly not even enough to maintain 
  life-support.
  Another meteor strike has holed the area of the vessel that 
  likely housed the bridge.
  Time Capsule
  Navigating close enough to the vessel for visual inspection 
  or boarding amidst the debris field requires a Piloting roll. 
  If the spacer rolls a critical failure, she collides with the 
  Discovery, with the damage based on the heroes’ speed alone. 
  There are old, but obvious entry ports on the sides of the 
  Discovery. However, without power, the adventurers must 
  cut through the hull somehow. An alternate entry method is 
  through the hole in the bridge section. This doesn’t require 
  any cutting or debris removal.
  The bridge itself suffered some damage from the impact. 
  A Repair roll (-2) can restore emergency power to the ship. 
  A simple diagnostic reveals that the vessel’s engines have 
  suffered severe damage at some point in the past and are 
  effectively unrepairable. To move the Discovery, the heroes 
  must find a way to tow it.
  There appears to be little of value on the Discovery. It is 
  literally centuries out of date, and in too poor of shape to 
  interest a collector. However, once power is restored, a 
  graphic on one monitor indicates a sizeable number of 
  cryogenically-frozen passengers in the ship’s hold, nearly 
  400 of who are still viable. 
  A successful Healing roll (–2) is sufficient to resuscitate 
  one, but leaves the colonist barely conscious and too 
  disoriented to respond to queries. A raise on the roll 
  enables the passenger  to interact with the team, but due to 
  the psychology of the colonist, he may or may not answer 
  honestly.
  Intruder Alert
  Rebooting the ship’s power has a dangerous side effect 
  which the characters discover if they try to explore the vessel 
  Savage Worlds, artwork, logos, and the Pinnacle logo are © 2014 Great White Games, LLC; DBA Pinnacle Entertainment Group.                  
  Savage Worlds, all associated characters, logos, and artwork are Copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved. 
  Untimely Discovery
  A Savage Worlds One Sheet  By John Goff
    with art by Igor Vitkovskiy
  www.peginc.com
  
  Moral Dilemma
  Vestal is not keen on taking a shipload of social misfits onto 
  its premier destination planet. On the other hand, leaving 
  the passengers to their fate signs their death warrant. Not 
  only does the ship not have adequate supplies to sustain 
  them for any length of time, within less than two weeks, 
  the ancient spacecraft falls into Echidna’s atmosphere and 
  is ripped apart.
  If the heroes bring the Discovery or its passengers back 
  to Leviathan, the “colonists” pose a significant problem. 
  The corporation does not see profit in transporting a large 
  number of non-paying customers to another destination—
  and no other planet wants them anyway!
  Vestal’s corporate and legal teams spend weeks hashing 
  through the situation. Eventually, they strike a deal to 
  allow the “colonists” to remain as settlers on Leviathan, 
  but relegate them to a remote area of the planet. Those who 
  wish to have their cases reconsidered are held in temporary 
  housing until they can be transported off planet. Nearly all 
  choose to forge a new life on the planet—where they can 
  become either a resource or a headache for the heroes!
  beyond the bridge. To prevent the passengers from gaining 
  control of the Discovery in the event of a catastrophic failure 
  of the cryogenic chambers, the ship was outfitted with 
  automated turrets guarding the passageways. These can be 
  disabled from the bridge with either a Repair or Knowledge 
  (Computers) roll, but unless the spacers specifically look 
  for such internal defenses, their first exposure to them is 
  when a pair opens fire!
  The guns are always stationed in pairs, usually at each 
  end of a corridor.
  Sentry Gun
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d4, Strength d4, 
  Vigor d4
  Skills: Notice d8, Shooting d8
  Pace: —; Parry: 2; Toughness: 7 (4)
  Gear: The sentry gun has two flechette guns with 
  extended magazines (Range 12/24/48, Damage 2d4+1, RoF 
  3, Shots 240) in 360° turret.
  Special Abilities:
  • 
  Armor +4: Hardened plating.
  • 
  Immobile: Sentry guns cannot move and are affixed 
  to the ship’s interior structure.
  • 
  Sensor Suite: +4 Notice vs. sound, motion, chemicals, 
  radiation, and electrical fields up to 500 yards distant.
  • 
  Size -1: Sentry guns are about 4’ tall.
  Legal Quandary
  A 
  Knowledge 
  (Computers) 
  at 
  –2—or 
  Common 
  Knowledge roll from a character with the appropriate 
  background—can call up the basic ship’s logs.
  The Discovery was an old Serran colony ship, but also 
  technically a penal vessel. The ship was completely 
  operated by computer, and the entire complement of 500 
  colonists was comprised of individuals who were deemed 
  undesirable by the early Serran psychics. While there are 
  no murderers, rapists, or similar violent convicts, all of 
  those aboard were determined to be untrustworthy and 
  incapable of rehabilitation suitable for Serran society. They 
  were offered indefinite imprisonment or the choice of 
  freedom on an alien world.
  The concept of “thought crime” might be appalling to 
  the rescue party, but the Serran psychics were accurate in 
  their assessments. The Discovery survivors are likely to be 
  a problem to any society that attempts to integrate them. 
  To add to the problem of what to do with the “colonists”, 
  a further search of the ship’s records indicates Sigma 
  Hydae was the target system for the vessel. This may cast 
  a cloud over Vestal’s claim on Leviathan (see The Last 
  Parsec: Leviathan), which is something their employer may 
  well frown upon. Additionally, they renounced Serran 
  citizenship upon accepting the charter, so they have no 
  other home to which to return.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Savage Worlds System (SWADE) [multi]/Science Fiction/The Last Parsec/Savage Worlds - The Last Parsec - Adv - Untimely Discovery.pdf