TUELLER: Tueller, fairly low: “Come on out. Safe now.”
STORY: There’s a hesitant voice from inside the cabinets.
STORY: “…No.”
MILLICENT: “How can we convince you we’re not the psionic nightmare beings?”
TUELLER: “No. Not really safe. Not yet.”
TUELLER: “But getting there.”
MILLICENT: “Do you know where we might find Vorlou?”
STORY: “…No?”
ALEJO: “Seriously, come out of the cabinets. You’re safer with us than in there.”
STORY: There’s an even longer pause.
STORY: “Is that fuckin Soto?”
TUELLER: Tueller barks laughter.
TUELLER: There is silence. There should be noise for all the violence and rushing air and flames but it is silent and there is no up, only down, and Nandini stares vacantly. She does not move nor will she ever move again. Her eyes are bloodstreaked and unblinking and Tueller cannot reach her. He cannot move. There is only silence and violence and stillness. And then Nandini blinks and Tueller wakes up screaming every time.
ALEJO: Shards of glass were embedded in his cheek. When he raised his head, tinkling pieces dropped away. Something was wrong with everything outside of the flyer’s broken window – Nath’s water district outside turned on its head.
ALEJO: He managed to lever his upper body away from the mangled door next to him, a torrent of pain radiating from his right leg. He glanced at it and wished, immediately, that he hadn’t. Legs should not look like that. He didn’t have long before shock would fully set in. He had to get Calixta to cover.
ALEJO: He twisted towards the pilot’s seat, trying to see if she was alright, but she just dangled from her seat harness, her head moving slightly, a drop of blood running upward from the tip of her nose towards her forehead, catching the light of the city outside. Sirens were closing in fast. Too fast.
MILLICENT: Millie is in front of a large crowd, very like her previous flashback when applying for the internship that led her to her mentor. Dr Nikau Manaaki is there, with a panel of other distinguished doctors from the Erde Maris University and some other famous Earth scientists. You can fill in here, but think Robert Hooke, Albert Einstein, etc. Big names.
MILLICENT: She starts to present her project, but this time the machine falls apart. Maybe it’s the robot from before, maybe it’s some new thing. Whatever it is doesn’t work in a disastrous fashion. The panel of scientists leaves slowly as she tries to explain. They’re all very disappointed. She tries to chase them out of the hall, but the doorway leads into a white hallway. The scientists disappear one after the other into different doors. Millie chases them, but as she gets there the scientists each slam the door on her. The last scientist is Dr Nikau Manaaki. Behind him in the doorway is the Earth, which silently explodes into a firey ball as he shakes his head. He turns into the blast and is consumed as the door closes on Millie.
MILLICENT: The one overriding feeling here is, of course, that it’s Millie’s fault.
—
STORY: Veni looks confused. “Wh–”
STORY: He tilts his head as if listening, then slowly sits on the ground, his robe pooling around him.
STORY: He puts his head in his hands. “Oh, god.”
ALEJO: Alejo tries to assess whether this Commander is telling the truth.
STORY: How do you do so?
ALEJO: Just observing his behaviors closely for now.
STORY: Okay. Give me an Assessment + Influence please
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 11 + 2 = 13
STORY: He’s absolutely genuine, and he’s heartbroken over it. You can tell from his body language as he crosses the floor to put a gentle hand on Veni’s shoulder that he sees himself as caretaker to the grell, and cares for them deeply. Gain a data point about the Nahar knights.
TUELLER: “Who has done this?”
MILLICENT: Millie slides over to the console to get a look at it while she listens
ALEJO: Alejo steps to Veni’s side. He does not say anything, but he stands in respectful solidarity with him.
STORY: Madro shakes his head. “I don’t know. There were reports from the highest decks, then from below – after I lost contact with the last of the knights, I had to put us in lockdown.”
STORY: “I don’t know if anyone up there is alive,” he gestures to the vines above, and the oculus in front of Veni, “but we cannot risk allowing any lusus to escape. They would cause havoc on New Vesta.”
STORY: Millie, the console is in the script you didn’t recognize from Rax’s console.
TUELLER: “Something happened; you lost contact, and you locked them in. Not too specific here, are we?”
STORY: “When the people in one’s care can turn to monsters at a moment’s notice, we don’t get much in the way of details.”
STORY: “My knights fell out of contact. Likely everyone inside is dead or turned.” He shakes his head sadly. “I’m so sorry, Veni.”
MILLICENT: “Monsters?”
MILLICENT: “Sorry, we’re missing some of the necessary vocabulary here. Could someone explain what a “lusus” is, please?”
ALEJO: “Turned?” Alejo adds to Millie’s question.
STORY: Veni lifts his head. “A lusus is a grell who submitted to the temptations of the weave. There is no way back.”
STORY: “They live to cause pain.”
MILLICENT: “Oh, yes, you said as much in the car. So, the Rookery is under quarantine?”
STORY: Madro looks at you, confused. “The Rookery is lost.”
STORY: “You must return to New Vesta. I am sending word to the Governor that I am going to execute the self-destruct function.”
MILLICENT: “Are these lusus that hard to stop?”
MILLICENT: “Surely the remaining grell are worth fighting for?”
TUELLER: “Well. This turned to genocide awfully quickly.”
ALEJO: “Whoa. Hang on. No self-destructing yet.”
STORY: Madro tightens his grip on his staff. “You don’t understand. There are no remaining grell.”
ALEJO: “How do you know that, if you lost contact with everyone?”
STORY: “A lusus is not a dangerous creature, they are an agent of destruction.”
STORY: “They will leave none alive.”
ALEJO: Alejo stands firm.
STORY: “If even one escapes, New Vesta is lost. It is my burden, but we cannot risk it.”
STORY: Veni tilts his head, listening again.
ALEJO: “Veni, what is it?” Alejo turns to him.
STORY: He stands, shaky. “I can hear some of them. They’re not all lost.”
STORY: “But Madro is right. We cannot risk allowing any lusus to return to the planet. The Naharans will have no defense.”
ALEJO: Alejo gives a see-we-told-you-so look to the Commander.
ALEJO: He stops the look at this and turns back to Veni. “So, you’re advocating for the self-destruct option?”
MILLICENT: “We haven’t taken an official captains vote on this yet, but it looks like our initial stance on genocide, as a crew, is one of extreme intolerance.”
TUELLER: “Indeed.”
ALEJO: “Intolerance seems a slight understatement. Even with the adjective.”
ALEJO: “Veni, how many non-monster grell can you hear?”
MILLICENT: “Right, so. What would it take to stop this lusus invasion?”
STORY: Veni shakes his head. “It isn’t that clear. There’s a lot of interference. More than one is all I can say. There are people alive down there.”
STORY: “It would take… I mean, it would be suicide.”
TUELLER: “So is this causing the wilding on New Vesta? Or caused by it? Or just a wild coincidence?”
STORY: He shrugs. “I don’t know.”
ALEJO: “What would it take? Suicide aside.”
STORY: “Kill every lusus in this place.”
STORY: “We don’t know how many there are, and you don’t understand – they will win.”
STORY: “They’re creatures out of our nightmares.”
STORY: “We don’t even know how they would interact with your species.”
TUELLER: “Well, isn’t that the point? We’re something they’ve never seen before.”
MILLICENT: “So we’ve got an advantage! Terrific!”
TUELLER: “On my bad days, I’m a creature out of nightmares myself.”
TUELLER: “And this doesn’t feel like a particularly good day.”
ALEJO: “Do they die like any other creatures?”
ALEJO: “If you hit them hard enough?”
ALEJO: As he asks this, Alejo pulls his assault pistol reflexively and checks it quickly.
STORY: Veni exhales. “I guess.”
STORY: “God, I don’t know.”
STORY: “You understand that what I’m talking about is – these aren’t angry grell. Their bodies change.”
MILLICENT: “Is there any way to disconnect them from their grell hosts so that we don’t have to take extreme, homicide-based measures?”
STORY: “The only lusus I ever saw was nine feet tall, body made of spiked tentacles, and it ripped three of my students in half before we could get out of the room.”
STORY: “No. The lusus is the grell.”
MILLICENT: “Well, I suppose it’s some limited murder, then. Gentlemen?”
TUELLER: How spacious is this space station?
STORY: It’s large! Probably 20 floors in either direction.
TUELLER: How big are the halls?
TUELLER: Is this like a giant apartment building, or like a small city?
STORY: The former. Each floor is circular, probably 100 feet in diameter.
ALEJO: “Commander, could some of your watch still be alive as well? Might we find some help, if we go looking?”
STORY: Madro scoffs. “I consider that extremely unlikely.”
TUELLER: “Your trainees that bad?”
STORY: “Do not insult the men and women who have died in the line of duty.”
STORY: “Appalling.”
STORY: “Your arrogance will get you killed as well. You have done nothing but underestimate this danger since entering the ship.”
STORY: “And I see no reason to let you kill yourselves in there.”
MILLICENT: “You don’t like us?” Millie volunteers.
MILLICENT: “I mean, what would you be losing?”
STORY: Madro furrows his brow. “Four lives.”
STORY: “How can you value life so little?”
ALEJO: “Feels a bit like you are quick to sacrifice it, if you value it so much.”
TUELLER: “I’m not in any huge hurry to go murder a bunch of super-monsters, to be honest.”
ALEJO: Alejo gives Tueller a surprised look. “Really? Seems like exactly your bag?”
TUELLER: “Oh, I like a challenge, and I confess to be curious about the experience, but we don’t have what I’d call a solid set of goals or ideas as to what we’re even doing here.”
ALEJO: Alejo gives a grudging acknowledgment. “Hasn’t really stopped us before. But I take your point.”
MILLICENT: Slowly, as if to an idiot, “We’re going to breach a prison and kill giant psionic alien nightmare monsters. _Where else are we going to get an opportunity like this?_”
MILLICENT: “Have your sisters ever breached an alien prison and killed giant psionic alien nightmare monsters?”
ALEJO: “I might have led with ‘we’re going to save an enslaved race from a 600-year-old prison.’ But yeah, I’m with the Doc.”
MILLICENT: Millie softens, “Also the good deed angle, yes, thank you, Alejo.”
STORY: Madro looks offended. “Enslaved? We _protect_ the grell.”
ALEJO: “So we’ve heard. From the prison keepers. Veni here has a slightly different take.”
ALEJO: Alejo says this flatly.
TUELLER: “You are 30 seconds from murdering everyone on this space station, so don’t get self-righteous, Maddy.”
STORY: Madro shakes his head. “Fine. On your heads be it.”
STORY: “I’m locking the door behind you, and I won’t open it until Vorlou is standing before me telling me the danger has passed.”
STORY: “So I hope for your sake he is still alive.”
TUELLER: “So. Our plan is to murder ever giant psionic alien nightmare monster we find and save everyone else. And also go into the void to rescue that little girl? That’s it?
STORY: Veni is holding his head. “Let me think.”
STORY: He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I guess so. I don’t know how else we could… approach this.”
MILLICENT: “Do the lusus have any weaknesses that you know about? Or any strengths?”
TUELLER: “Wish I had the Gregor.”
TUELLER: “And Loll.”
STORY: “No one knows. When a grell turns lusus, we run.”
ALEJO: “So no one, in 600 years or more, has actually ever fought one of these things? Really?”
STORY: “Defeated.”
STORY: “Plenty have fought them.”
MILLICENT: “Well, we ought to be prepared then. Gentlemen, may I see your weapons for a moment?”
MILLICENT: Millie holds her hand out
ALEJO: Alejo flips his pistol in his hand, grip out and levels it for Mille. “Please don’t shoot me with it.” He smiles wryly.
MILLICENT: Millie mutters “Fair.” and examines Alejo’s pistol.
TUELLER: Tueller holds out his hands. “You’re asking for these?”
MILLICENT: I’d like to Upgrade Alejo’s pistol, please.
MILLICENT: –is that how you’d like me to ask that?
STORY: Okay! What upgrade are you adding to it?
TUELLER: Can the Peregrine dock with the space station?
STORY: Who are you asking?
TUELLER: “Madro. Sir. Is there anything preventing our ship from docking up here?”
MILLICENT: I’m going to some quick rifling adjustments that will turn Alejo’s bullets Penetrating, so they ignore armor.
STORY: “Me.”
STORY: Millie: :thumbsup:
STORY: “I will not allow more loss of life. Keep your ship clear of here.”
STORY: “And I will NOT provide a lusus a means to escape. Absolutely not.”
MILLICENT: “Mr. Soto, you should fine less resistance to your projectiles. Mr. Ya’Makasi?” Millie holds out her hand
TUELLER: Tueller pulls his gloves off and hands them to Millie without looking at her. He keeps eyeing Madro.
ALEJO: Alejo takes the pistol and examines it. “Wow. Amazing work, Doc. Somehow I think that human science is less advanced because you are out here with us. Thanks for this.”
ALEJO: Alejo turns to Madro. “Commander, if we don’t succeed, you are going to blow up this whole place. If our ship is docked, certainly the explosion would destroy it as well. So why not give us the best fighting chance we have? We have people and equipment that could really help on our ship.”
MILLICENT: Millie pulls out her bag and starts tinkering. Millie sews some nearly invisible micro fiber wires around the knuckles. They now have the Severing Property. Chops, cuts, causes bleeding and can sever limbs.
STORY: Alejo, let’s have a face adversity + influence please
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 9 + 2 = 11
STORY: Madro shakes his head, sadly. “You want to kill your crew as well.”
STORY: “Fine. I’ve sent out docking instructions.”
STORY: He taps his console a few times.
ALEJO: “Can you patch me through to Jenny or Jac, Doc?”
ALEJO: As soon as Millie does, Alejo will instruct them to dock with the station ASAP.
MILLICENT: Millie puts on her visor and clicks the side. “Go ahead, Captain Soto.”
STORY: Veni is listening again. “My friends, please. People are dying as we speak.”
ALEJO: “Thank you, Commander.” Alejo nods respectfully to Madro. “We’re really going to try not to kill anyone. Well, other than the monsters.”
STORY: Peregrine acknowledges the request. They’re coming about the moon – will arrive in half an hour.
MILLICENT: “Gentlemen, we should consider going now. Who on our ship are we really prepared to put in this position?”
MILLICENT: “Even for us this is. A bit extreme.”
MILLICENT: Millie holds up a hand
MILLICENT: “I acknowledge, this is a call of conscience. Do we have the right to call anyone else to risk themselves in this way?”
MILLICENT: “It’s just a bit outside of our normal deathly peril.”
ALEJO: “Seems more clearly within what I’d ask of our crew than most of our capers, but I may just feel a bit more personally about this one. Tueller?”
TUELLER: “This is what crew is for, is it not? To watch our backs and keep each other alive?”
TUELLER: “This is not a Ya’Makasi crew, but the crews I have flown with don’t sit out the job.”
ALEJO: “Well, it was partly a Ya’Makasi crew, but that’s not really your point. Yeah, I agree.”
STORY: Okay. You have half an hour to plan, what are each of you doing?
ALEJO: Alejo is triple checking his gear and then asking Veni and Madro for any and all details about the monsters they can share.
MILLICENT: Millie procures a weapon from someone, whoever has an extra, and upgrades it.
TUELLER: Tueller can give Millie a rifle when our ship arrives.
STORY: Alejo, let’s have an Assessment + Influence for Madro and Veni
MILLICENT: She will also see if she can create a crude lusus detector. Something that detects the presence of the kind of psionic signal that disrupted her earlier without connecting to the signal
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 7 + 2 = 9
STORY: Madro tells you some of the lore around lusus, though there isn’t much. It is thought that they are creatures tied to the weave, so in theory severing their connection to it will kill them. No one has ever succeeded in this.
STORY: Millie, give me a Face Adversity + Expertise please
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: josh rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: Millie, your lusus detector works, but it runs on psychic energy, so you need Veni to help you charge it after each positive identification
STORY: And charging it is tiring for him.
TUELLER: Tueller’s just trying to find out the layout of the space station and to see if there are tips on how to move through it safely and quietly to sneak up on lusus.
STORY: Tueller, Assessment + Expertise please for your research
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 9 + 1 = 10
MILLICENT: Nice
STORY: You get a detailed map of the area, including housing areas, the school, various labs and areas dedicated to food production and housekeeping. It’s essentially a large floating hotel.
STORY: And Tueller a Data Point for The Rookery!
ALEJO: –Nice!
MILLICENT: Okay, Millie adds a laser to the rifle so it can cut through or melt materials
STORY: The Peregrine arrives, docks with you, and the crew assembles at your request. Alejo, I’d like to hear how you brief them.
STORY: Loll is still infirm, but she finds an office chair with wheels on it and joins the rest of the crew in the cargo bay.
MILLICENT: Millie blatantly adds a laser to a perfectly good rifle while Alejo speaks
TUELLER: I’m back.
ALEJO: “This is definitely as weird an op as the billing would have suggested. Psychic monsters, a prison station that might not be a prison station, and an incredible amount of danger. Here are he key points: the Grell can turn into lusus. Lusus are monsters that, apparently, cannot be turned back. They are scary, nightmare creatures. This station still has some non-monster Grell as well as, perhaps, some Nahar Knights. We’re going to kill all the monsters and save the rest. Questions?”
ALEJO: “Oh, and we are trying to rescue a little girl stuck in the astral plane.”
TUELLER: Tueller also gets the explosives and the grenades they picked up back on the Ark.
STORY: I’d like a Command check, please!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 5 + 2 = 7
MILLICENT: dang
MILLICENT: oh wait, that’s mixed success, right?
STORY: Yeah, they’ll follow, but it’ll affect their effectiveness going forward
STORY: which in this context is pretty foreboding.
MILLICENT: Millie rolls out a bunch of technical talk about how psionics seem imposing, but they’re actually activating sections A, B, and C of the cerebral cortex and so it’s a lot like science this and science that. She wants to rally the troops. At the end of her spiel she asks for volunteers.
STORY: Okay, Millie please Get Involved + Expertise
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 9 + 2 = 11
STORY: Millie, after your speech the somewhat nervous crew starts to nod and look more confident.
STORY: Loll stands, then sits again heavily. “I volunteer.”
STORY: Jenny and Kahn are already stepping forward.
STORY: Tariq reaches out reflexively, without thinking, and grabs Kahn’s arm. “N–”
STORY: Then drops it.
STORY: Exhaling and shaking his head, he takes a step. “Fine. Yeah, fine.”
STORY: Jac nods silently at Alejo.
MILLICENT: To Loll, “Absolutely not. No crew members on the DL need apply, thank you.”
ALEJO: We’re on the ship, yes?
STORY: You are
TUELLER: “Loll, can you even stand, dear?”
STORY: Jenny hands Tariq a rifle. “You’ll be fine. Like we practiced.”
STORY: T’chololl raises her chin defiantly. “I do not need to stand to battle my enemies.”
TUELLER: Tueller is too concerned with Loll to note that Tariq is a fucking xenobiologist.
ALEJO: “Loll, we need you out here anyway. That Nahar Knight might not be as hospitable to our exit as we need. We might need some exfiltration help.”
TUELLER: “Please, keep this guy from blowing up the station.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods, “Yes, exfiltration. You may need to kill that being there to keep him from killing us.”
STORY: T’chololl pauses. “To be left from the battle will be an insult.”
MILLICENT: “You have plenty of potential murder in front of you, as do we all.”
STORY: She leans forward. “But I understand. I will kill this Nahar if he will not free you.”
ALEJO: Alejo gives her a nod and a rifle.
STORY: She rolls forward on her office chair to accept it.
STORY: Nodding formally.
TUELLER: Tueller rests an arm on her. “I need you to…”
TUELLER: Tueller stops. “Just make sure we can get back.”
TUELLER: “There will be plenty more battles.”
STORY: “Yes. And I would like to have intercourse again.”
TUELLER: “Me too, Loll. Me too.”
MILLICENT: Millie’s eyebrows skyrocket
ALEJO: –So damned romantic!
ALEJO: Alejo steps away, giving them some privacy. He turns to Jac. “Ship ready for a quick exit, if we need it?”
STORY: “More or less. Loll isn’t much of a pilot.”
TUELLER: Tueller gives her a collegial pat on the shoulders, and then comes back.
TUELLER: “Let’s do this. I got a date after.”
ALEJO: “Let’s roll out.”
ALEJO: Alejo leads the way back onto the station and to the main entrance to the adventure.
TUELLER: Tueller shares the maps with Noma, if she’ll take it, and keeps up with Alejo.
STORY: Noma uploads the maps and shares them to Millie’s HUD.
TUELLER: “Veni, who would you have gone with to fix the kid? That’s our first stop.”
MILLICENT: Millie pulls the maps up on her visor’s overlay
TUELLER: “We’re going in quiet. When we’re ready to fight, we do so on our terms, and we hit our targets with everything we’ve got until they’re down and dead. Watch each other’s backs.”
STORY: Veni thinks, as the last of your crew slips through the oculus to the deck below and it closes behind you. He looks up at the exit, now locked to you, and exhales slowly.
STORY: Alejo, please describe the main lobby to me – what state is it in, and is there anyone here?
MILLICENT: Millie reaches out to touch his arm, then stops, grabs his eye contact. “It’s okay. We’re a new data point. This isn’t going to go the way you think.”
ALEJO: It is circular, about 20 meters in diameter, and absolutely quiet. Too quiet. Oppressively so. The light is dim and flickering, like a cliche. A group of simple red and brown chairs and a couch occupy a spot in front of what look like the main doors to the room, other than the one that we just came through.
STORY: Veni points. “Downstairs, to the labs. Zura may be there, and maybe we can find a better power source for that detector of yours.”
TUELLER: Tueller nods.
TUELLER: Tueller takes the lead to lead down to the labs, checking for monsters.
MILLICENT: Millie holds out the connectors to Veni and nods. “Sounds good, but can we check our path first?”
ALEJO: Alejo is close behind, pistol at the ready. He gestures for the various other armed crew to fan out in formation behind us.
STORY: Millie, tell me what path you need to take to get to the labs!
TUELLER: Tueller defers to Millie.
MILLICENT: Millie uses the psionic detector to trace as clear a path to the labs as she can.
MILLICENT: She likely we have to go up a couple of floors, then across one, then down a few more.
MILLICENT: We have to meander a bit.
TUELLER: —just to be clear, they want us to kill every monster, right?
TUELLER: —We’re just trying to get to the boss psychic if we possibly can, first.
ALEJO: –That’s my understanding.
TUELLER: —and for the record, Tueller grabbed our explosives off the ship and is carrying them.
STORY: — Yes, you need to find whoever Vorlou is and he needs to tell Madro the threat is gone before Madro will let you back out.
STORY: Explosives! How exciting. Maybe you can space another friend.
TUELLER: —And Zara was the other person Veni mentioned, correct?
ALEJO: –That’s the boss, yes?
STORY: Zura
TUELLER: —Yes. Though mostly I think of Tueller as being like the guy with the flamethrower in all war movies, who winds up blowing up himself.
TUELLER: https://format-com-cld-res.cloudinary.com/image/private/s–g3-P70Mk–/c_limit,g_center,h_1200,w_65535/a_auto,fl_keep_iptc.progressive,q_95/privateryan00140_z9q8xv.jpg
STORY: Jenny walks forward, gun ready but not raised. “Alejo?”
ALEJO: “Jenny.” He falls back a bit to get closer to her.
STORY: “Where to?”
ALEJO: He smiles, “This way.” He then heads down the path that the Doc has charted and instructs the crew to follow in formation.
STORY: The eight of you board an elevator, and as the doors close you have a few moments.
ALEJO: Alejo looks around at the others, a bit awkwardly. “Needs music.”
STORY: Kahn checks his rifle sight. “Orders?”
STORY: “Two squads? Three?”
STORY: “How do you wanna run this, Cap?”
MILLICENT: Millie looks to Alejo and Tueller
ALEJO: “Two, but we’ll stick together for now. Keep quiet and close. Our main goal is to find this Zura, if we can. Before we engage the monsters.”
STORY: Kahn nods. “Jac, Jenny, Tariq, you’re with me.”
TUELLER: “Technically, one squad, two sections. Reinforcing each other.”
MILLICENT: “You’ve been briefed on the appearance of a typical grell. If you see something with fangs or spikes or dramatic muscles and teeth, open fire.”
TUELLER: “Veni, can you show them a typical grell for a moment? So we don’t kill a good guy?”
MILLICENT: “My current hypothesis is that these lusus must gain some benefit from the fear of the grell, thus their terrible forms. So, if you see something scary, open fire. Oh yes, good idea, Mr. Ya’Makasi.”
STORY: The elevator stops. The doors open to the laboratory level, and it is chaos. You witness three humanoid creatures running across the open lab floor, pursued by what you can only describe as a sixteen-foot… tapeworm? Snake? It slithers at alarming speed across the lab toward the fleeing grell.
STORY: Alejo! What do you do?
ALEJO: “That’s what we fire at!” Alejo yells, dives out of the elevator and shoots the thing.
STORY: All right! Let’s have an Open Fire, please
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 5 + 2 = 7
MILLICENT: Millie examines it while it’s being assaulted
STORY: All right, Tueller?
TUELLER: Hand to motherfucking tentacle combat!
MILLICENT: I want to pull every vital measurement from it I can so I can compare it to the grell
STORY: Tueller, I want Launch Assault from you please
TUELLER: 
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 6 + 2 = 8
MILLICENT: haha yes
STORY: All right. Tueller launches himself at the lusus, screaming a banshee wail, as his punches shred at the creature’s flesh, raining down little pieces onto the two grell below. The third has been wrapped up in the creature’s tail and crushed before you can register what is happening to it. Alejo fires carefully to avoid hitting Tueller, burying a few bullets in its head as it drops to the ground, motionless. Tueller, you see an identical creature rise up from behind a console as it turns its attention to Alejo and begins to move, knocking Tueller over as it charges.
STORY: Millie, let’s have an Assessment + Expertise please
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: josh rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: A lusus, by all evidence before you, is an enormous, monstrous creature, but a living one – which means it can be killed. The one Alejo dropped is motionless and as far as you can tell dead. The one quickly approaching you is – oh shit, one is quickly approaching you.
STORY: What do you do?
MILLICENT: Millie waits until the lusus is slithering into a space where it is all alone and then raises her rifle to the ceiling and lasers a chunk out of the ceiling to fall on its head
MILLICENT: That seems easier than actually shooting a thing. It’s more like surgery.
STORY: Let’s have a face adversity + mettle please
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 +1
STORY: josh rolled 5 + 1 = 6
MILLICENT: damn
STORY: Alejo, the lusus who was charging you has changed direction and is heading straight for Millie, who just raised her rifle at the ceiling and fired a shower of sparks.
STORY: What do you do?
ALEJO: Alejo yells distractingly and fires at the thing, aiming for its head.
ALEJO: He also shouts to the rest of the crew to take some good shots.
STORY: Let’s make that a Get Involved + Mettle, and a Command for the crew
TUELLER: “I’m alright” Tueller yells from where he landed.
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 6 + 2 = 8
TUELLER: Scrambling to get back in the game.
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 6 + 2 = 8
ALEJO: –Well, I guess that’s easy.
STORY: Alejo, you can distract the creature from Millie with your shots, but it’ll land a hit on you. Continue?
ALEJO: Yeah.
STORY: It lowers its head as it slithers forward in a charge, lifting it as Alejo hits it in the neck with a bullet and throwing him into the back of the elevator, taking out Jenny and Jac behind you and knocking all three to the floor. Alejo, this is a Major injury, roll Brace for Impact please
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 5 + 2 = 7
ALEJO: –2 for armor, yes?
TUELLER: —Man, I’m supposed to be the Tank here.
STORY: Yep, your spacesuits have 2 armor, thank god for those
MILLICENT: ah hell yes
ALEJO: –Ugh.
STORY: So you’re knocked hard into the wall, and you feel a few ribs crack. You’re Clumsy for running or moving quickly until treated
TUELLER: Tueller wants to get back in the fight.
TUELLER: —I like how “Major” is actually only the second level of damage.
STORY: Jenny is knocked unconscious. Kahn finds himself standing next to the creature, everyone a bit dazed at the speed of what’s happening, and rips a knife from his boot, bringing it down on the creature’s back. It bounces off the creature’s carapace as the lusus turns its attention to Kahn.
STORY: Tueller, Kahn’s toast in a few seconds. What do you do?
TUELLER: Crush the monster’s head with my hands.
STORY: Let’s have a Launch Assault, Mr. Impact Fists!
STORY: Please roll really well, Kahn is my favorite NPC.
ALEJO: –Go Iron Fist this jelly fish.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: Like Alejo before you, you can reach the lusus in time to save Kahn, but it’ll get a freebie on you. Proceed?
MILLICENT: —Severing + Impact is a really good addition
MILLICENT: Can I get involved or is it too late?
MILLICENT: I was fixing a drink
STORY: What does Millie do to help?
ALEJO: If possible, Alejo will also get back in the game to help.
TUELLER: I’m proceeding no matter what Millie does.
MILLICENT: I think she’s going to whistle loudly and shout “I _just_ fixed his arm, you can’t kill him now!”
TUELLER: But yeah, if she can keep me from getting hurt.
STORY: Millie, let’s have a Get Involved + Influence
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 0
STORY: josh rolled 7 + 0 = 7
STORY: Same as before – you can distract the lusus from Tueller, but it’ll attack you instead.
MILLICENT: Withdrawn
STORY: Proceed?
STORY: hahah
TUELLER: I’M THE TANK, GUYS.
TUELLER: Stop pulling aggro, jeeez.
STORY: All right. Tueller, describe please what you do – you get to pick your drawback, I forgot about this, so go ahead
MILLICENT: —yeah and the healer’s no good if she’s knocked out
TUELLER: Well, Tueller’s going to take the hit.
STORY: It’ll be a Major injury, so you can Brace for Impact on that as well – and include whatever the lusus does to you in your description of what you do to it
TUELLER: Tueller runs up from behind and punches the lusus right through the neck, not remembering that his hands are razor sharp, and severs its head clear off. The snake-like body spasms, and it whips up into Tueller with the full weight of the creature.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 9 + 2 = 11
STORY: Nice, so you basically just get a good knock on the chin.
STORY: You’ll be dizzy for ten seconds and mostly look cool.
TUELLER: And Tueller sees it coming, twists and takes a glancing blow to the head.
TUELLER: He sits down hard and gets right back up, shaking the stars out.
MILLICENT: Millie kneels to examine Jenny.
STORY: Let’s see how she is! Assessment + Expertise please
TUELLER: Tueller is keyed up, making sure they’re not about to get jumped again.
TUELLER: He waves over the grell if they’re still alive and around.
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 +2
STORY: josh rolled 6 + 2 = 8
MILLICENT: —jesus that’s my 5th 8 tonight. Roughly. I’ve not been keeping count.
STORY: Tueller, you look around wildly and see only bodies – the two grell who were fleeing continued to flee and have run into another room entirely. Otherwise, the room is littered with bodies, mostly tentacled, a few Nahar in uniforms.
TUELLER: Tueller’s bopping back and forth on the balls of his feet, occasionally still shaking out his head.
STORY: Millie, Jenny just took a good knock to the chin and was knocked out. Likely concussion, but she’ll survive. You could rouse her, but she won’t be of a ton of use until she’s had a chance to rest.
ALEJO: “Damned if you don’t always look cool doing violence to shit.” Alejo painfully stands, reloading his pistol and checking for any follow up badness as well.
TUELLER: Keeping his eyes on the doors, Tueller moves towards the uniformed bodies.
STORY: Tueller, you hear a noise from what looks like a line of wall cabinets.
ALEJO: “I’m a couple ribs down. You’ve got point.” Alejo says to Tueller.
MILLICENT: Millie props Jenny in a corner so she won’t wake with a crick in her neck
TUELLER: Checking out the cabinets! Why not! Pop head around the corner, take a quick look, and retreat back.
STORY: No one behind the cabinets. Weird.
ALEJO: Alejo notices Tueller’s quick look. He levels his pistol in the direction of the cabinets.
MILLICENT: Millie examines Alejo and makes him as comfortable as she can
MILLICENT: Under the pistol swiveling
TUELLER: Tueller, fairly low: “Come on out. Safe now.”
STORY: If you can find an ace bandage or the like, you can do a field dressing to try to stabilize his torso, otherwise there’s not much you can do on the move.
STORY: There’s a hesitant voice from inside the cabinets.
STORY: “…No.”
MILLICENT: “How can we convince you we’re not the psionic nightmare beings?”
TUELLER: “No. Not really safe. Not yet.”
TUELLER: “But getting there.”
MILLICENT: “Do you know where we might find Vorlou?”
STORY: “…No?”
ALEJO: “Seriously, come out of the cabinets. You’re safer with us than in there.”
STORY: There’s an even longer pause.
STORY: “Is that fuckin Soto?”
TUELLER: Tueller barks laughter.
MILLICENT: Millie aims the psionic detector at the cabinets
ALEJO: Alejo looks around, as if he’s looking for someone else. Then he shakes it off. “Who’s asking?”
STORY: Nothing, Millie.
STORY: “Holy shit, that IS Soto. Is it safe out there? Nevermind, I don’t want to know. Just come get me when it’s safe.”
ALEJO: “Who the hell are you?” Alejo gingerly moves towards the cabinets.
STORY: “It’s Tux, man. We met on Virmire? I hacked into some accountant’s system for you?”
ALEJO: “Well shit. Small galaxy.” Alejo smiles widely. “Get your skinny ass out here.”
STORY: You remember this guy – he was an excitable human hacker from, you think, Triton.
STORY: “Uh uh.”
STORY: “I saw that shit. I’m not coming out until it’s safe.”
ALEJO: “They’re dead.” He shrugs. “Those two are dead.”
STORY: “Those two.“
TUELLER: Tueller opens up the cabinet.
STORY: It’s locked, Tueller.
STORY: “Don’t touch my cabinet!”
TUELLER: I’m Tueller.
MILLICENT: Millie sighs
STORY: You rip it open and a skinny tattooed human is standing there, looking very upset.
STORY: He holds his hands up defensively. “Jesus! What did you do that for?”
STORY: “Now I’m going to need to find a new cabinet.”
TUELLER: “We meddle.”
STORY: https://the-peregrine.obsidianportal.com/characters/tux
MILLICENT: Millie waves
ALEJO: Alejo stands in front of the door as it is ripped open. “Hi.”
STORY: He raises his eyebrows at Millie. “Oh, hello.”
ALEJO: “Why are you here, Tux?”
ALEJO: Alejo asks this brightly.
MILLICENT: “Hi!”
MILLICENT: “That cabinet doesn’t look at all comfortable!”
STORY: Tux looks around the lab at all the bodies, peering past them nervously to look for movement. He stands a step up from your group, lab coats awkwardly hanging in his way.
STORY: “Research.”
STORY: “What are you doing here?”
TUELLER: “Hey. We’re saving this space station, or it’s getting blown up. Either way you don’t want to stay here.”
STORY: “I was perfectly happy to stay here and — wait, you said blown up?”
MILLICENT: “Oh yes, you’d better come with us. Or else all that time at the tattoo shop will have been wasted.”
TUELLER: “Oh yeah. Atomized.”
STORY: “Jesus, they really make a guy feel welcome.”
MILLICENT: “All that pretty ink blown to component particles.”
ALEJO: “Yup. Both real people people.”
MILLICENT: Millie’s eyes snap back up to his.
MILLICENT: “You should come with us!”
STORY: “Are you sure there isn’t, you know, a safe way out?”
TUELLER: “This is the safe way out.”
TUELLER: “Safer.”
MILLICENT: “Today we’re the big heroes and also if we fail you’ll be blown to pieces, as we said before.”
STORY: “Whatever you just did to the two that were in here didn’t sound very safe.”
TUELLER: “Not for them, no.”
STORY: “And Soto, you look pretty fucked up.”
STORY: “I’m just saying I’d really like not to die.”
TUELLER: “Component. Molecules.”
STORY: Tariq calls from the back of the group, “You and me, buddy.”
MILLICENT: “Particles.”
TUELLER: “Component. Particles.”
ALEJO: “Tux, you’re with us. Stop moaning about it. We need to keep moving.”
MILLICENT: “A molecule is the smallest particle. We have no reason to believe they could blow us into anything smaller than particles.”
STORY: “A molecule is a part– oh,” he smiles broadly at Millie.
MILLICENT: Millie grins back
ALEJO: “Doc.” Alejo gives her a quick glance. “We got it.”
STORY: “Okay, I’m with this one. Lead the way, Soto.”
STORY: He steps out, taking Millie’s arm.
MILLICENT: “Oh good, Captain, it seems you do. Please do lead the way.” She smiles hugely.
—
STORY: Kahn reread the letter and folded it closed again, cursing his inelegance with prose. He shoved it hurriedly into his pocket and decided to dispose of it in the kitchen scraps. The worms would like it for compost, at least.
STORY: Days later, on laundry duty, Jenny fished the forgotten note out of his pants. She read it silently, smiled, and tucked it into her pocket.