Patron: Entertainer Manager
Required Skills: martial skills consistent with bodyguards/security
Required Equipment: non-lethal weapons

Players’ Information:
The group is contacted by Maran FitzSimmons, the manager of the up-and-coming group The Fringe. This group of five musicians has been signed to a year-long tour of this and a neighboring subsector. This tour includes public venues, private concerts for nobility and even open-air concerts on military installations to entertain the troops.

The manager has already hired the crew to the newly purchased Desiree Keah-type yacht (see FASA, Adventure Class Ships, Vol. 1) that will be used to take the group from concert to concert. Named the Cosmic Chorus, this yacht has had a few minor modifications. This includes converting the entertainment/recreational space up forward to a makeshift stage where the group practices their song sets and creates holovid productions used for public release. The cargo bay has been reduced from 24 to 20 tons to allow eight more low berths to be in use (for a total of ten berths). These berths contain the “roadies” that set up and break down the concerts. The computer space also has been modified to include sound mixing and recording of the holovids.

The offer from the manager is to guard the musicians while they are out an about planetside. The group is known for their chaotic public appearances and due to their popularity, the manager wants to make sure they don’t get kidnapped or lose their way to and from the concerts. What makes this so interesting is the group wears fancy psi helmets when they perform. These psi helmets also have a display screen on the front of their visor that either shows the lyrics as they are being sung or it displays messages from the group to their fans. At all performances the group’s faces are concealed. This has allowed the group to have free movement when in public.

The group of five consists of three male and two female entertainers. The manager is looking for one bodyguard per performer and one to act as a liaison between the concert security and the band’s security. If possible, the bodyguards need to try to keep the performers out of trouble and away from any negative headlines. The PC’s will be asked to sign a contract for six months (with the option of a full year) which includes a confidentiality clause. The rates will be double normal rate (4,000 credits per month) and if the contract is filled a bonus of 4,000 credits will be awarded. Food and accommodations on board the ship are covered, and they each will be allowed one ton of cargo space in the hold for personal gear. The PC’s will be advanced 1,000 credits to purchase non-lethal weapons (such as OC spray, stun batons, etc.).

While on duty the PC’s will be required to follow the law levels of the worlds they visit. If the law allows for heavier weapons they can be utilized, but the concerts are strictly non-lethal weapons only. All security measures and reports of trouble are to be sent back to the manager only. The PC’s will also be asked to wear a tee-shirt with the band’s logo with “Security” on the front and back.

Referee’s Information:
The manager runs the show and owns the ship. The band itself are basically his employees and they are not thrilled about it. It is their hope to buy out the manager someday and they can run their own affairs. Most of the musicians have some substance abuse problems to cope with the pressure and with their situation. Because of this, the manager has robots made up to look like the performers on stage. Because they are always concealed nobody would be the wiser. These robots are maintained by the mechanical cyber-engineer who is a trusted friend of the manager. The sound engineer is also a talented software engineer who is also a trusted friend of the manager. Rounding this out is the ship’s doctor who makes sure the musicians have the substance of their choice on hand to keep them happy and stoned.

Between the tension on the boat between the band and the manager’s staff, between the chaotic nature of the band itself and the close nature of all these people on a yacht, this can keep the PC’s busy for a while.

Outcomes:
1. The offer is legitimate. The musicians party a lot and really have to be kept on a leash, especially when they are planetside. The manager stays focused on the bottom line as tensions between his and the band escalate. If the PC’s last a year the band will break up, but the money promised will be paid.

2. The offer is legitimate. The musicians are unaware that the manager is skimming the profits off the top until the end of the tour. At the end of the six months the manager will let the PC’s go to avoid paying any bonus. He will use any “incident” as an excuse to legitimize his actions. Meanwhile the “Sound engineer” will be hacking into the planetary networks on the worlds they visit, attacking financial assets whenever vulnerable systems can be found.

3. The band is a fraud. The “voices” of the band come from the sound engineer who generates sounds and loads them on to the robots. The manager will be willing to pay more to keep the secret from the public. The actual musicians are just a front.

4. The band is paranoid. The “Voices” are truly theirs, but they are loaded on to the robots when a live performance is required.

5. The band is a front. The manager is actually an intelligence officer who is using access to military installations and public places to gather information for a foreign group.

6. The band is a front. The roadies are trained commandos who have specific targets along the way in mind to compromise. The robots are also have martial skills.

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