TUELLER: “Millie. You’re going to have to figure out which one of us is at fault, here.”
ALEJO: Alejo brightens at this and smiles.
TUELLER: “Because….well, this is probably as good a time to mention as any, but your room took a direct hit.”
TUELLER: “And whoever is at fault owes you a new wardrobe.”
MILLICENT: “Yes, someone is going to have to go retrieve my Kubawashi, because it appears to be snagged on the nose of the ship.”
ALEJO: Alejo puts his finger on his nose. “Not it.”
MILLICENT: Millie points to Tueller. “Id.” Points to herself. “Ego.” Points to Alejo “Superego.”
MILLICENT: Millie sighs, “Gentlemen, I think we need each other.
ALEJO: Alejo blocked one punch easily and then countered with a palm strike at the center of the man’s chest. It was a clean blow and the man stumbled backwards. It was a training ring brawl, but it was off the books. Akilah stood, with mock disinterest, arms crossed, watching from a distance.
ALEJO: Off-the-books brawls were not technically allowed at this stage of training, but Akilah had hold them that it was better to work disagreements out than let them fester. This was the fourth time in two weeks that Alejo and Kahn had “worked out” a disagreement.
—
STORY: Okay. So we left off last session with Tueller and Millie taking Kahn and Jenny on a brief expedition to pick up the embryos and whatever else they intended to recover from the crash site.
STORY: Alejo is left onboard, doing pre-launch activities to get the Peregrine ready to go.
ALEJO: Alejo moves to the pilot’s controls and begins to prepare the ship to leave, but he is slow at it, distracted.
ALEJO: “It’s good to have you back on board, Noma.” He says this softly but sincerely.
STORY: “Thank you, Mr. Soto. You sound unhappy.”
ALEJO: “Yeah. Leaving a comrade behind will do that.” He says this and then stops what he’s doing suddenly.
ALEJO: “Don’t get me wrong. I’m truly glad you’re back with us. It’s just that . . . ” he trails off, uncertain what to say.
STORY: “You did not want to sacrifice Mx. Flowers for me.”
ALEJO: He shakes his head and then remembers that she can’t see him. “I didn’t want to sacrifice anyone. I . . . I think that there should have been other options.”
ALEJO: He stands, agitated.
STORY: “What sort of options would you be willing to consider?”
ALEJO: “Just about anything that doesn’t sacrifice a member of my crew.”
ALEJO: He pauses. “Why? What options do you think there might be?”
STORY: There is a pause. “Calculating.”
STORY: “I estimate that we have three hours before a Collective entity will arrive to make contact, with a 30 minute margin of error.”
STORY: “Do you intend to enlist the help of the crew?”
ALEJO: “Maybe.”
STORY: “My files indicate you are an excellent liar.”
STORY: “In my communication with this entity I determined that it is unaware of the concept of dishonesty. It has weakness there.”
ALEJO: He raises an eyebrow. “Interesting.”
ALEJO: “What sort of deception do you think might work to get Three back and us not dead?”
ALEJO: Alejo is already moving back to the airlock.
STORY: “Jac can prepare Peregrine for launch in approximately four minutes. With the Samsa, we could travel from the town square back to the ship in that amount of time. We would therefore only need a falsehood that would inhibit the entity for that duration.”
STORY: “You are the expert liar, Mr. Soto. What would a newly born planet believe for four minutes?”
ALEJO: “Before that, isn’t Three already . . . gone?” He’s at the airlock now and suiting up.
STORY: “I believe Tariq could perform an infrared scan of the surface to locate them.”
STORY: “Planning heists is fun!”
ALEJO: He laughs. “They really are. Please patch me through to the ship.”
STORY: There’s a friendly ding as she does so.
ALEJO: “Tariq. Get on the scanners ASAP. Find me Three. Jac, I need this boat ready to roll out in five minutes or less. I’m taking Noma on a ride in the Samsa. Loll, I need you to drive the thing.”
ALEJO: “Please meet me in the cargo bay.”
STORY: You hear a click as the intercom near you turns on. “On my way, captain.”
STORY: And another. “Roger that, booting up the infrared cams.”
STORY: And another. “Aye, sir, prepping for launch.”
ALEJO: “Noma, wanna go for a ride? Can you stay safe if you come back to this thing? I don’t want you in danger again.”
STORY: “I’m flattered. As long as I don’t attempt a connection with the planet’s systems, I should be safe aboard the Samsa. However, you will have to handle all communication with the entity.”
ALEJO: “Yeah. Makes sense. Let’s do this.” He finishes putting on the suit and heads to the Samsa.
ALEJO: Once there, he pulls his assault pistol out, checks its magazine, reholsters it, and crawls into the passenger side.
STORY: Loll is there, powering the thing up. She regards you coolly. “Are we rescuing the alien?”
ALEJO: “Yeah. Cool with that?”
STORY: “Excellent. They are a good cook.”
ALEJO: Alejo gives Loll a quick nod.
ALEJO: “Any news, Tariq?”
STORY: Tariq comes in over the Samsa’s intercom. “Three is in a building on the south end of the intersection you left them in. Should be easy to find, it’s the only one that is pressurized. Most likely the only one with light as well. Once you leave Peregrine I’ll be out of radio contact – so good luck.”
ALEJO: “Thanks Tariq. You too.”
ALEJO: “Noma, when we find Three, we need to get our other crew back. Did your estimate include picking them up?
STORY: Noma responds. “I did not, but they are less than a kilometer away from us. They could likely return to Peregrine within that window, if alerted.”
ALEJO: “Can you please alert Millie as soon as we are off the ship?”
ALEJO: “Just tell them to double time it back.”
STORY: “Will do, Mr. Soto.”
ALEJO: “Loll, take us out.”
STORY: She nods, and you depart.
STORY: Millie and Tueller!
TUELLER: Indeed!
STORY: As you recover the embryos, Millie, you hear a message come in through your ear speaker. It’s Noma.
STORY: “Millie, please return to Peregrine. Alejo and I have stolen the Gregor Samsa and will need you to be back onboard so we can escape.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods, unflustered. “Yes dear, I’ll take care of it.”
STORY: Tueller has grabbed the canister. What do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller is confirming that he has the right canister and that it seems intact.
STORY: It does, Tueller! No cracks or anything, but it will need to be kept in a cold environment as the self-refrigeration unit is no longer functional.
MILLICENT: “Mr. Ya’Makasi, we will need to make good time back to Peregrine. I believe we’ve been cast as getaway drivers so the rest of the crew might rescue our new friend.”
MILLICENT: Millie claps ineffectively in her spacesuit. “Double time!”
TUELLER: “Excuse me? No. Don’t repeat that.”
TUELLER: “Double time is right.”
MILLICENT: Her big grin is somehow infectious and invisible behind her mask
STORY: Kahn looks toward Peregrine nervously. “What did he do?”
MILLICENT: “I think we’re involved in two heists at once, Mr. Vespertine!”
TUELLER: Tueller stows it on a lanyard on the suit and pushes past Millie to get out.
TUELLER: “Don’t tell me now. Walls might have ears.”
TUELLER: “Let’s just get us off this web of rocks.”
STORY: The four of you jog back!
MILLICENT: “Oh! Yes!” Millie zips her lips
TUELLER: “Nothing good ever happens on a planet. Even a ruined one.”
STORY: Alejo, you arrive back at the town square in your creepy spider walker. You can see Three standing inside a small building with glass windows, one that looks vaguely like a diner, with tables and booths bolted to the floor and a large counter. It’s the only intact building on this block, and they are peering at the walls, wiping dust off a picture hung there.
STORY: Before you reach them, the screen that had previously spoken to you turns on. It is the image of Millie again.
STORY: “I allowed you to go. Why have you not gone?”
ALEJO: “You have a twin, an entity much like you. I can connect you to it.”
ALEJO: “But I must have the member of my crew that you have kept.”
STORY: “A twin?”
STORY: The screen goes blank for a moment.
STORY: Then Millie returns, the image of her larger. “Why did you not mention this earlier?”
ALEJO: “We did not know what you were until you returned our previous crew member. Noma. Once we understood what you were, with her help, we were able to recognize your twin.”
STORY: “Tell me about this twin.”
ALEJO: “Like you, it is now part of a fragment of a world long past. Like you, it has been alone.”
STORY: “I wish to speak to this twin.”
ALEJO: “I wish to help you do just that.”
STORY: “Now.”
ALEJO: He pauses. “I need my crew member back. And I need a short amount of time.”
STORY: Let’s have a Face Adversity + Influence and good luck
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: @ablair01 rolled 5 + 2 = 7
ALEJO: –Shit.
STORY: Ok, so. Hm.
MILLICENT: oof
STORY: “You may have your crew member back. When you introduce me to this entity.”
ALEJO: “I can provide you with an introduction. But it will not be permanent until you let my crew member go. Give me a moment.” Alejo steps back, turns away, and ignites his com to Millie.
ALEJO: “Millie. You there?”
MILLICENT: Millie clears her throat. “Aye. Aye? Aye!”
ALEJO: “I’m staging a rescue. I need your help. Can you, very quickly, create a distraction? I’ve told our new mushroom friend that it has a twin. I need to sell that for long enough for us to get clear.”
MILLICENT: Not properly covering the mic while she asks Tueller, “Is it aye? It’s aye, right?”
MILLICENT: “Oh!” Back to comms. “I.”
MILLICENT: Her brow furrows.
MILLICENT: “I need 15 minutes.”
TUELLER: Tueller has not heard anything and just keeps running.
ALEJO: “Sooner is better. But I’ll get you what I can. Let me know when it’s ready.”
ALEJO: Alejo turns back to the monitor. “We will provide you with an introduction, but it will take a few minutes. May I please get my crew member in the meantime. We will not leave until your introduction in made.”
STORY: Screen-Millie nods. “You may speak to your crew. But I will not be left alone. You may not leave until you have made the introduction.”
ALEJO: “Thank you.”
MILLICENT: Are we back on the ship? And is there anyone currently on the ship?
STORY: Yes, and yes – Kahn and Jenny arrive with you and Tueller, Tariq and Jac are onboard and manning stations.
MILLICENT: Millie starts barking orders on how to reroute power and bandwidth to increase their SectorNet connection. She does a quick search and starts downloading a file and live-editing its contents while it downloads.
MILLICENT: Well, barking. Millie starts cheerfully ordering everyone about, giving technical instructions.
TUELLER: “Jesus Christ” Tueller mutters to himself as he goes to the bridge and paces around.
STORY: Millie! Let’s have a Command + Interface, nice skill you picked up there bud!
MILLICENT: haha thanks
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: @josh rolled 9 + 2 = 11
MILLICENT: “Mr. Ya’Makasi, the termimium subspace relay isn’t going to filter the metagenic connection by itself!”
TUELLER: “Aye aye doc.”
TUELLER: Tueller gets to work and looks like he feels less useless.
STORY: Millie, let’s also have a Face Adversity + Interface to see how well this thing you’re creating is going to work.
STORY: Jenny is typing away, happy to help.
STORY: Jac continues to boot up the Peregrine for launch, and Tariq is monitoring the life signs of the away party. Jenny and Kahn directly assist Millie’s coding efforts.
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 1
STORY: @josh rolled 9 + 1 = 10
STORY: Okay! Let’s cut back to Alejo.
ALEJO: Alejo knocks on the window where Three is so as not to startle them and then enters the building. “Hi. Don’t say anything, don’t do anything. Follow me and do precisely what I say when I say, okay?” He smiles.
STORY: Three raises their eyebrows. They step towards you, a hand out. “You were supposed to leave.”
ALEJO: “Buddy!” He raises a finger to the front of his helmet, gesturing them to stay quiet. “Trust me.”
STORY: They look confused, but nod, mouth hanging slightly open as they cock their head. “Lead on, then.”
ALEJO: Alejo turns and heads back out, to the monitor.
ALEJO: While he’s still faced away, he clicks on his com. “Hi Millie. Tell me something good.”
MILLICENT: “Working on it. I think I can finish this if I can make this a progressive stational regression.” She stops suddenly. “Mr. Soto.”
MILLICENT: “I need the 15 minutes I asked for. I do not pad my projections. So. If you please.”
ALEJO: Alejo shakes his head and slows his pace towards the monitor, very slightly.
ALEJO: How much time has passed? How much stalling does Alejo need to do?
STORY: Probably five?
STORY: Probably need to stall for ten?
ALEJO: –Okay!
MILLICENT: —haha, sorry. Millie is a La Forge, not a Scott
ALEJO: Alejo heads up to the monitor. “Thank you. It is generous of you to allow us to talk.
ALEJO: –Trekkies.
ALEJO: “My crew member was scared and lonely. I’m sure you can appreciate that.”
ALEJO: “How long have you been alone?”
STORY: “Forever.”
ALEJO: “Long time. But surely there was a moment when your existence began?”
ALEJO: “Do you recall it?
STORY: “I… I enjoy being asked this question. Thank you. I was not, then I was. I became aware of a discomfort, and then of my existence.”
STORY: “For a time I could not decide whether my body controlled my mind, or the other way around.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “That must have been frightening?”
STORY: “My eventual conclusion was that neither could exist fully without the other, so they are the same.”
STORY: “What is… frightening?”
ALEJO: “Please forgive me, but that experience is hard for me to understand. But I would be scared. Afraid? Does that concept make sense to you?”
STORY: “I suppose I understand. But there was nothing to be afraid of. You are the first entities I have met. There was no danger.”
STORY: “I defended myself from attack until your arrival.”
ALEJO: “That is a hard way to exist, I’m sure. I don’t think that we said it before, but thank you for not destroying us. I am glad to still exist.”
ALEJO: “How many others have you defended yourself against?”
STORY: “Four. I believe only one was sentient. The others… as they say, dust.”
STORY: “What was your intention in coming to me?”
ALEJO: “We are searching for something that was lost. And we were trying to help the crew member you’ve allowed me to speak with. They are nearly the last of their kind and we wanted to help them.” Alejo glances at the time. “I believe that we are nearly able to make the introduction. Please excuse me for a moment.” He starts to turn away and that stops. “It has been nice to speak with you. Perhaps someday we can speak again.”
ALEJO: He turns and ignites the com. “Millie. Fifteen on the button.”
MILLICENT: “Good timing, Mr. Soto! I believe I can. Ah. Make that introduction for you.”
ALEJO: “You are a genius, Doc. Let’s do it.”
ALEJO: He stops and looks around, realizing he’s not sure how that is going to work. “What do you need me to do to set it up on this end?”
MILLICENT: “I ah. See if you can get a terminal with a p2p connection to us and a monitor.”
MILLICENT: Whispers, “The monitor is just for show.”
ALEJO: “Okay.”
ALEJO: Alejo heads back to the monitor. “I need something to make the introduction. I need a monitor, like the one that you are using now.”
STORY: The entity accepts whatever terms you have for making the connection, and thanks you.
STORY: The screen goes black for a moment.
STORY: Loll looks at you, and you see her hand tighten on the controls for the Samsa.
STORY: The screen flicks back on. “Thank you for the introduction. You may leave.”
ALEJO: “Thank you. You will not be alone for much longer. That I swear.”
ALEJO: Alejo turns. “Three, let’s go.” He moves quickly but not in a tremendous rush.
ALEJO: Once back in the Samsa: “Loll, get us the hell outta here. But don’t make it look like we’re running.”
STORY: Three looks back at the screen for a moment. “You’re sure–”
ALEJO: “Yep. Sure.”
TUELLER: —fly casual. But not too casual.
STORY: They climb in to the Samsa.
ALEJO: Alejo clicks on his com again. “Great work, Doc. We’re on our way. Is everything buttoned down there? We need to leave.”
STORY: Loll runs away casually.
MILLICENT: “We’re all” quick space google “five by five up here”
ALEJO: Alejo looks over to Loll with a confused shrug. “Great? We’re five by five too. Over and . . . out.” He sort of trails off not sure how to finish that.
TUELLER: Tueller is sitting there, incredibly still, breathing steadily and deliberately.
STORY: Loll and Three ask in unison, “What is five by five?”
ALEJO: Alejo raises his hands and smiles.
STORY: Millie, you can see the Samsa coming up over a ridge; it’ll be onboard in under a minute. You also see the connection to your bot halt.
STORY: Tueller, you catch the turret that followed your descent to the planet moving. It points at the Samsa.
TUELLER: “We’re being targeted again.”
MILLICENT: “There’s something wrong with the connection to the bot.”
STORY: The planet is hailing the Peregrine.
TUELLER: Tueller pics up the comm.
TUELLER: “Hello?”
STORY: A voice not unlike Millie’s answers. “You lied.”
TUELLER: “Excuse me?”
STORY: “You may not leave.”
ALEJO: –It was a white lie, in all fairness. The collective is coming.
TUELLER: “Who lied to you?”
STORY: “You lied to me.”
TUELLER: Tueller grabs the PDC stick and pivots it to point at the cannon pointing at us.
TUELLER: “If you were lied to then we were all lied to as well!”
TUELLER: “I’m as outraged about this as you are. We were told that we were putting you in contact with your sibling!”
TUELLER: Turning off comm for a second “THIS IS ABOUT TO GET BAD.”
TUELLER: “Jac, you ready to go?”
STORY: Tueller has stalled for enough time that the Samsa has time to arrive aboard. Loll brings them in to the cargo bay at full speed, opening the hatch the moment the airlock closes and repressurizes.
STORY: Jac nods.
TUELLER: “Go when I fire.”
ALEJO: Alejo jumps out of the Samsa and gets out of his suit as quickly as possible.
TUELLER: Tueller is going to spray the railgun with the PDC.
TUELLER: And I’m going to use a datapoint on it.
STORY: Tueller! Let’s have an Open Fire please!
TUELLER: “I’m so sorry, planet. We were all betrayed.”
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: @chris.stuart rolled 5 + 2 = 7
TUELLER: Oh fuck you.
STORY: hahaha
MILLICENT: oh hahaha
STORY: What’s your consequence?
ALEJO: Alejo hears the sound of the PDC. “Shit. That went south faster than I’d hoped.” He mutters as he finishes getting out of the suit and rushes to the bridge.
ALEJO: Alejo runs onto the bridge, taps Jac on the shoulder and takes her place at the helm. “Hi.” He says brightly to Tueller and Mille as he sits. “How’s your day?”
STORY: Jac clears out, relieved.
TUELLER: Lesser fate! The railgun spins around and seems to bob around, having trouble acquiring any target for the moment.
TUELLER: “We need to be gone.”
TUELLER: “We needed to be gone 15 minutes ago.”
ALEJO: “We’ll talk about that later. For now, let’s not die.” Alejo spins up the engines and continues with the takeoff sequence begun by Jac.
STORY: Alejo, the turret is coming back around to take aim at you a second time. What do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller will try to shoot at every opportunity.
MILLICENT: Millie replaces the bot’s output with a distracting amount of sounds and signals, trying to overwhelm the planet’s sensors/attention
ALEJO: Alejo takes evasive maneuvers and flies as fast as we can go.
MILLICENT: —haha yay all three of us
STORY: Okay! Let’s start with Alejo, since he’s the one who will put the ship in or out of danger, and use Millie and Tueller’s as Get Involved actions.
STORY: Alejo, Face Adversity + Mettle please!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: @ablair01 rolled 4 + 2 = 6
ALEJO: –Gods damned.
MILLICENT: haha wow
STORY: Oh boy, you’re going to need some help
MILLICENT: Okay
STORY: Millie, you Get Involved using Interface
MILLICENT: Can I spend two data points?
MILLICENT: AT ONCE
STORY: Nope, but you can spend one
MILLICENT: Oh, okay
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: @josh rolled 2 + 1 = 3
TUELLER: Oh my god.
MILLICENT: I got a 4
TUELLER: Snake eyes.
STORY: Josh.
MILLICENT: With +1 Interface and +1 Data point
ALEJO: –Wow. Dicebot really hates us.
STORY: Well, the good news is you can’t make it worse, but your attempts are immediately rebuffed. The entity has clocked your lie.
STORY: Tueller, save them please. Get Involved + Mettle
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: @chris.stuart rolled 5 + 1 = 6
ALEJO: –Haha!
STORY: You guys.
STORY: Alejo takes the ship straight up, attempting to escape before the turret is able to recover and take aim. Tueller fires off another shot, missing wide. Millie taps on her console, shaking her head. “The entity isn’t buying it.”
STORY: The three of you are thrown to the floor as Peregrine takes a direct hit from the railgun. Alarms explode all over the ship. The door to the bridge, previously ajar, slams shut as your ears pop.
STORY: Tariq whips around, looking at the door. “Fuck!” He rushes to it, attempts to pull it open, but can’t overcome the pressure. “Help me!”
TUELLER: “Fly us!”
TUELLER: Tueller runs to Tariq and helps him with the door.
STORY: Tueller, you know this feeling. Something punched a hole in the ship. The hull breached somewhere.
TUELLER: “This is a bad idea.”
STORY: Everyone but the three of you and Tariq are elsewhere in the ship.
TUELLER: “Pressure drop is a bad thing.”
TUELLER: Tueller is almost inarticulate with fear.
TUELLER: But he’s assisting Tariq.
ALEJO: Alejo hits the coms to the ship. “Noma, where’s that breach?”
TUELLER: “Strap in and fly Ejo!”
ALEJO: Alejo keeps flying.
STORY: T’chololl and Three are in the cargo bay, Jac left to go to the engine room, and Kahn is in the lab securing the embryos.
STORY: /roll 1d3
STORY: @jess rolled 3
TUELLER: Tueller never got out of his suit, though he has the visor down.
STORY: In alphabetical order, that’s Tueller.
STORY: Tueller, where’s the hull breach?
STORY: You’re going to need to draw a line through the ship in some direction
TUELLER: Captians quarters and killing our escape pods.
STORY: Ok!
STORY: Hilarious.
TUELLER: We probably don’t want to ditch anyway.
ALEJO: –Not here.
TUELLER: “Fly the fucking ship or we all die and it’s your fault.”
STORY: Tariq struggles with the door. Noma announces calmly, “Our port escape pods and the captain’s quarters have been destroyed, Mr. Soto.”
TUELLER: Tueller goes to open the door with Tariq.
TUELLER: He puts his visor down on his suit.
STORY: “I agree with Mr. Ya’Makasi’s instructions. Please fly the ship.”
TUELLER: “Millie, coordinate. Tell me where people are.”
ALEJO: “It’s our fucking fault,” Alejo growls, “we could have died at any point during this op. And what the hell do you think I’m doing!” He flies the ship.
MILLICENT: “T’chololl and Three are in the cargo bay, Jac left to go to the engine room, and Kahn is in the lab securing the embryos.”
ALEJO: “Everybody lock down. We have a hull breach up top.” Alejo shouts through the coms.
STORY: Kahn comes over the intercom. “Med bay locked down.” Then Jac. “Engineering locked down.” Then Loll. “Cargo bay locked down, captain.”
STORY: “The Samsa was damaged in the attack, but Three and I are unharmed.”
TUELLER: …
TUELLER: “Noma, can you seal the second bulkhead outside of this door as well?”
STORY: “Yes, Mr. Ya’Makasi.”
TUELLER: “Once that’s sealed, I’ll go out, we’ll reseal this bulkhead using it as an airlock, and I want you to vent the atmo so I can seal the damage.
TUELLER: “I’m the only one in a suit up here that can do it, and believe me I have experience.”
STORY: Alejo, the ship is shuddering from the extra effort of dragging a gaping hole along with it.
TUELLER: “Vent ONLY on the other side of the bulkhead where we’re already leaking.
TUELLER: “I’m just saying that out loud. I trust you. We have people who I would really like not to die here.”
STORY: “Understood, Mr. Ya’Makasi. Please be careful.”
TUELLER: “Thanks.”
STORY: “I trust you as well.”
TUELLER: When the second bulkhead is sealed, Tueller’s opening the first one and stepping in.
STORY: Tariq sits down and buckles his seat belt.
TUELLER: Once the atmo has been vented, Tueller moves carefully everywhere, always keeping one hand on the railings for the hallway, and moves to the storage systems that are kept regularly everywhere on the ship for this exact purpose.
TUELLER: In each storage shed, there is a series of phyllopacks of densely packed titanium designed to quickly expand and be placed over holes in the ship. These weld themselves to bulkheads. Tueller’s going to use those to patch the hole on both sides of the ship.
TUELLER: These are temporary fixes, but they seal ships up so they’ll hold atmo.
STORY: All right! Let’s have a Face Adversity + Expertise, please
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: @chris.stuart rolled 7 + 1 = 8
TUELLER: At least it’s not a failure.
STORY: Okay! You get the holes patched, but not before half of Millie’s possessions and one escape pod make their way into the void.
MILLICENT: —welp
TUELLER: Sorry Millie!
STORY: Millie, let me know at your leisure which possessions are gone.
TUELLER: Oooof.
STORY: Alejo, the ship stops shaking. Tueller must have fixed something. What do you do?
ALEJO: Keep flying until we are out of harm’s way.
STORY: All right! Let’s have one last Face Adversity + Mettle, please
STORY: The turret takes aim one more time.
ALEJO: –Please let this go better.
STORY: Please!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: @ablair01 rolled 7 + 2 = 9
MILLICENT: —are we talking on my character sheet possessions or like a list of haircare products and favorite books?
STORY: Okay, better. The turret dings you again, and it will either take out the rest of your escape pods or the hidden cargo compartment in the ship’s nose. Which does it blast out of existence?
ALEJO: The other escape pod.
STORY: Good. Gone. And the ship makes it out of range of the entity and into deep space.
STORY: You’re out of danger.
TUELLER: Tueller knocks back on the bulkhead to come back to the bridge.
TUELLER: “Ready to repressurize at your leisure.”
TUELLER: “Noma, you might want to warn your coworkers that their new relative is a bit of an asshole.”
STORY: Noma repressurizes the cabin and lets you back in. “I do not think that would be wise, Mr. Ya’Makasi.”
ALEJO: Alejo takes a deep, long breath and pushes back from the controls. “Noma, can you please take control.”
STORY: “Yes, Mr. Soto, I now have control.”
TUELLER: Tueller walks back, in, strips off his suit’s glove, strips off his right combat glove, walks over to Alejo, and then punches him in the fucking face.
ALEJO: Alejo dodges, or tries to. He is able to minimize the punch, but he still takes it pretty hard.
MILLICENT: Millie is peering out the window.
TUELLER: Tueller just throws the one punch. He doesn’t follow up with anything else.
TUELLER: Alejo can feel that it wasn’t as hard as Tueller could throw.
ALEJO: He pauses for a moment and then stands, squares up to Tueller but does not raise his defenses. “You done.”
STORY: Tariq looks like he really doesn’t want to be here.
TUELLER: “I honestly have no idea if I’m done.”
TUELLER: “You endangered the lives of our crew.”
ALEJO: “I did what needed doing. Sometimes it’s the thinnest of lines that defines everything about us.”
MILLICENT: “That’s my dress.”
TUELLER: “And you fucking did it behind our backs.”
MILLICENT: Millie points out the window.
TUELLER: “If you want to endanger the lives of the entire crew again, you will do so with the entire crew. Not as a fucking freelancer.”
TUELLER: “You are not alone anymore, Alejo. Act like it.”
TUELLER: Tueller steps back and starts taking off the rest of the suit.
TUELLER: He is not looking at Alejo while doing it.
ALEJO: “If you want to leave a member of the crew behind again, you do it with everyone’s agreement. You offered Three up without a blink. Who’s next? Me? Millie? Khan? Loll. Oh wait. It already was Loll.”
TUELLER: “Three is not a member of our crew. Noma is.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks up sharply at this
ALEJO: “We took responsibility for Three. Three is as much a member of this crew as anyone else.”
ALEJO: “What about Loll?”
TUELLER: “Three was a passenger. A passenger with a mission, whose mission we accomplished for them.”
ALEJO: “So Three was just a means to an end for you? How about you, Doc. Three just a passenger to you?”
MILLICENT: Slowly, carefully, “No, Three became a member of this crew when they stepped on board.”
ALEJO: Alejo gives a single nod.
MILLICENT: “And I don’t know if they’ll ever forgive you for taking them away from their opportunity down there, but in the interest of full disclosure, if you ever pull me away from a similar chance, I won’t.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks up at Alejo fiercely.
ALEJO: “If you ever have the ‘chance,’ I won’t. If you are bullied into it without a seeming choice, I’ll die before I leave you behind.”
MILLICENT: “Bullied?”
MILLICENT: “Bullied!”
MILLICENT: Millie considers, settles.
MILLICENT: “Bullied.”
MILLICENT: She frowns, thinking.
ALEJO: “How many times in the months that we’ve all known one another have we plunged headlong into danger? Today, we lunged into this mess without a care in the world, angling for adventure, puffed up with curiosity, and hungry for profit. We almost got shredded getting here, killing ourselves and everyone on this boat, and we didn’t blink about it. Not when we were chasing our own self-centered interests.”
ALEJO: “And I’d be fine with it. I’m a gods-damned pirate. Mercenary. Spy.”
ALEJO: “I don’t have ‘Family.’ I don’t have a mentor whose memory I need to honor or vindicate or revenge or . . . whatever it might be. I’m not a good guy.”
ALEJO: “I’m the least good guy here.”
ALEJO: “But I’m done being a bad guy.”
ALEJO: “Millie, you spoke at the beginning of all of this about how your mentor would have lead a generation into the light. Poetic. But what does that mean if not that there are things, ideas, commitments, bigger than ourselves? Then, later, when you – not me, not Tueller, but you – decided to help Three, and ask Three to trust us, you told me the difference between them and the dozens of Maitri that we murdered was that the Kith need our help. You invoked this ideal that there is some code of honor or some . . . thing more than money and our own self-indulgent curiosity.”
MILLICENT: Millie lifts her head, coming out of her own thoughts. “Ale-Mr. Soto. I saw a chance I would have taken myself in a hot second. I didn’t give Mx. Flowers the benefit of a choice because I didn’t stop to ask. But I would have thought you’d know by now that I envied their chance to stay and study with the evolved totality of their home planet with every fiber of my being.”
MILLICENT: Millie stands.
MILLICENT: “We gave them _more_ than we promised.”
MILLICENT: Millie sits again.
TUELLER: “And whether they did or not, we were successful in getting the information they needed to save their race.”
TUELLER: “I made a tough call. It may have been the wrong one. But you were antagonizing a PLANET SIZED super-entity that we had no recourse over, and I felt we needed to get out of there as fast as possible while we still could.”
TUELLER: “When you push up against a superpower, no matter how much it galls you, you are in their power.”
TUELLER: “And you need to take what you can get.”
ALEJO: “I was antagonizing?” He shakes his head. “We were antagonizing. We came to this planet. That antagonized it. I happened to have a very polite conversation with it, as a matter of fact.”
ALEJO: “We’ve thumbed our nose at more super powers than that. We infiltrated, at great risk, a Maitri base that dozens of other ships died trying to assault. We broke into the CHJ section chief’s home and stole from him.”
ALEJO: “We take on super powers all the time when it suits us.”
TUELLER: “Not to their face. We cannot take them on in a straight fight.”
STORY: Noma interjects. “We did not engage in a straight fight with the entity, Mr. Ya’Makasi.”
STORY: “Mr. Soto used his formidable lying skills.”
MILLICENT: …
MILLICENT: “Mr. Ya’Makasi, I believe Mr. Soto is right.”
MILLICENT: “To your point, we began this journey thumbing our nose at Erde-Maris by stealing this ship. And to mine, we didn’t ask Mx. Flowers what they wanted to do. Mr. Soto was right to take matters into his own hands and correct our errors.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks expressionlessly at Millie.
STORY: Tariq stares intently at the console he is sitting over.
STORY: Just intensely looking at these sensor scans.
ALEJO: “I’m not correcting shit.” He looks to Millie. “I’m not here to blame. I’m as much a part of this as the rest of us.”
MILLICENT: “You corrected your own error as well, dear. Just as commendable.”
ALEJO: “Look, Tueller, I’m truly sorry. I don’t mean you any disrespect, and I certainly would’ve liked this to go a lot smoother. I get that you did what you thought was right. That’s what I did too.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks from Millie to Alejo.
TUELLER: And then back to Millie.
TUELLER: Then he turns around, and then walks back to the bridge bar. He pauses there for a moment, and then returns back to the group, without a bottle in his hand, even though the bottles back there are intact.
TUELLER: “I am sorry.”
TUELLER: “I felt we were threatened. And our chance at escape was slipping through our fingers, and I worked to save a member of our crew.”
TUELLER: “I…”
TUELLER: “I did not consider Three a member of our crew. I only saw our crew, and the possibility of fulfilling Three’s….destiny.’
TUELLER: “Fuck, I hate that word.”
TUELLER: “I panicked and triaged. That is all.”
ALEJO: “I get it. I do. I just saw another opportunity and took it.”
TUELLER: “Hmph.”
MILLICENT: Millie is smiling hugely at both of them.
TUELLER: Tueller turns to Millie.
TUELLER: “Millie. You’re going to have to figure out which one of us is at fault, here.”
ALEJO: Alejo brightens at this and smiles.
TUELLER: “Because… well, this is probably as good a time to mention as any, but your room took a direct hit.”
STORY: Tariq is extremely, completely interested in his console.
STORY: This console is the most interesting thing in the world.
STORY: God, he loves scanning.
TUELLER: “And whoever is at fault owes you a new wardrobe.”
MILLICENT: “Yes, someone is going to have to go retrieve my Kubawashi, because it appears to be snagged on the nose of the ship.”
ALEJO: Alejo puts his finger on his nose. “Not it.”
MILLICENT: Millie points to Tueller. “Id.” Points to herself. “Ego.” Points to Alejo “Superego.”
MILLICENT: Millie sighs, “Gentlemen, I think we need each other.
TUELLER: Tueller closes his eyes for a moment and breathes deeply. Not exactly a sigh.
TUELLER: Tueller looks very uncomfortable.
ALEJO: Alejo looks at Tueller. “Yeah. I agree.”
MILLICENT: Millie puts her hand in between them, palm down.
MILLICENT: “Captain.”
ALEJO: Alejo looks at her hand, puzzled for a moment. Then he looks at Tueller, back to Millie, smiles and puts his hand on top of hers. “Captain.”
TUELLER: Tueller opens his eyes, and starts to see the hands there.
TUELLER: “I’m willing to entertain the possibility you’re right, Doc.”
TUELLER: He sighs. And puts his hand on top of theirs. “Captains.”
STORY: Tariq puts his hand on the pile. “Captains. All of us.”
TUELLER: “Not you, Tariq.”
MILLICENT: Millie swats his hand.
TUELLER: “You’re crew.”
STORY: “Can I go now though.”
TUELLER: “You’ve always been able to.”
MILLICENT: “The door is right there.”
STORY: He runs out the door.
TUELLER: “What’s his deal?”
TUELLER: Tueller shakes his head.