MILLICENT: Millie comes over the comms. “You’re about to have company. But if you’ve disabled Tigralt’s friend, he should be able to disable the security bot.”
MILLICENT: To the silence, “Tigralt, I mean. Tell him I said hi.”
ALEJO: “He’s gonna have a hell of a hangover headache after the takedown Tueller just gave him,” Alejo says into the com, in response.
TUELLER: “More of a migraine. Comes from the top of the head.”
MILLICENT: A long pause. “Were you guys listening when I said this was an inside job in the briefing?”
TUELLER: “We’re inside now.”
MILLICENT: “I seem to remember there was some kind of squabble over the last cruller.”
TUELLER: “Let’s do the job.”
STORY: Figgan shrugs.
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs.
STORY: Somewhere, Kahn sighs unhappily.
TUELLER: “No, I don’t know what you mean.”
ALEJO: He stands and walks over to Tueller. “I think you do.”
MILLICENT: “I think he means the nigh ceaseless killing.”
ALEJO: “But I agree we need a better chain of command. That’s absolutely true.”
TUELLER: “You’ve killed more than I have, Millie.”
MILLICENT: “Which is, admittedly, why I shouldn’t wear the big hat either.”
TUELLER: “Well, we might be about even.”
MILLICENT: “It’s not a race.”
TUELLER: “It’s a marathon.”
ALEJO: “Yup. Yup. And you both are very smart. Very capable. Amazingly vicious.”
MILLICENT: “We had a meeting last week and decided we’d like to be called indomitably pragmatic.”
STORY: First some business! Does anyone want to make changes to their triggers?
MILLICENT: Nope
ALEJO: I’ll change a new culture is experienced. How about . . . a statement starts or ends a fight.
TUELLER: I’m swapping out a Cargo unit is exchanged for “A worthy enemy is exterminated.”
STORY: All right! While we’re here, anyone have leveling to do?
MILLICENT: Not for me
TUELLER: Yes!
TUELLER: Tueller’s getting “Outfit”, a Commercial advancement.
TUELLER: A Class 3 attire: Carapace, Sealed, Impressive.
TUELLER: Maitri Marauder Armor, with one set of arms removed by Millie.
TUELLER: It’s bulky, so I’m Clumsy with it.
STORY: 
TUELLER: Tueller is more than a little terrifying when wearing it.
ALEJO: What’d we decide with respect to the shuttle? I was uncertain where that ended up.
TUELLER: We were expecting you to pay for it to add onto our ship.
ALEJO: Okay. So, I guess I do that.
STORY: which of the workspace options did you want to take?
TUELLER: So, the workspace I think we should get is Launchpad.
ALEJO: Yeah, I think that’s the only one that would be relevant, right?
STORY: Okay! You retrofit the escape pods into an airlock so you can board and launch the shuttle without putting on a spacesuit.
STORY: so you can still do an emergency escape (the shuttle holds 6 people), but you can steer it
STORY: cargo business
TUELLER: I shall not sell the vehicles.
ALEJO: So, I don’t know what else folks are thinking, but I wouldn’t mind getting a concealed, silenced, assault pistol — basically, upgrading my current class 1 weapon.
TUELLER: So, roll to barter first, and then roll to trade?
STORY: yep
TUELLER: I’ll just go down the linie.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 12 + 1 = 13
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 3 + 1 = 4
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 5 + 2 = 7
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 5 + 2 = 7
STORY: ok so first off, your’e stuck with the hazardous alcheran peat
TUELLER: It’s so smoky!
STORY: you can trade the tethras novels for equally kitschy holovid adaptations of them, they’re awful but someone not part of the an ark council world might not already have a billion copies and be interested.
STORY: they’re worth a lot, but everyone already owns a copy, so they’re hard to sell to most advanced civilizations
TUELLER: Sure!
STORY: and you can trade your illegal weapon components for more, rarer illegal weapon components
TUELLER: Sure!
STORY: okay! for the morkfish shells, you’re in a market in some backwater moon you can’t even remember the name of carrying a sample when you’re approached by a very short alien creature wearing a breathing mask and a leather space suit.
STORY: He doesn’t speak much, but gestures his interest, waving you into a tent. You have to stoop quite a bit to enter.
TUELLER: Tueller crams himself in.
TUELLER: Tries to look as unthreatening as he can to someone a quarter his height.
STORY: In the back of the tent lounges a large feline creature with blue fur and a gold collar. It rests its chin on its paws. It’s probably three feet tall and five feet long, closer to the size of a large dog than any domesticated cat from Earth.
STORY: A golden saddle hangs on a line in the back of the tent.
STORY: The alien gestures to the saddle, then to your hands with the shells.
STORY: The cat looks at you with curiosity.
STORY: Then ignores you, closing its eyes again.
STORY: As she scratches one ear lazily, you realize she is hairless – the blue is her skin.
TUELLER: Tueller reaches out his hand towards the cat, his fingers curled back. He does not look apprehensive at all.
STORY: The alien smacks your hand away. “Not for sale!” He points to the saddle again. “Very expensive! Good deal.”
STORY: The cat, without looking up, opens her mouth. “Lying,” she says.
TUELLER: Tueller looks scathingly at the alien.
STORY: The alien smacks the cat across the top of her head. She hisses as he swears at her in his alien language.
STORY: “Useless creature. Waste of money.”
TUELLER: Tueller holds up the shell, and points to the cat.
STORY: He shakes his head. “Saddle. Very rare. Good craftsmanship.”
STORY: “Lying.”
STORY: “God DAMN it, animal!” He throws a glove at the cat, who arches up on her feet.
TUELLER: “I don’t need a saddle. I ride a fucking spaceship, not a steed.”
STORY: She is taller than he is.
TUELLER: Tueller walks over to the cat and scritches her chin.
STORY: She loves it.
STORY: The alien hesitates. “Fine, you take her. Give me shells.”
STORY: “She eats too much anyway.”
TUELLER: “So do I.”
STORY: What’s her name, Tueller?
TUELLER: “Fiona.”
STORY: Excellent! Fiona the Lying Cat joins your crew.
TUELLER: Tueller has the shells dropped off at the appropriate place.
STORY: okay, acquisition?
TUELLER: So, we want an upgraded space shuttle, and a silenced pistol.
STORY: okay! what class shuttle, what features?
STORY: since you’re bringing non-ark cargo to the ark to trade for this, you are and can go for anything up to class 2
TUELLER: Cool. I’ll roll.
STORY: shuttle first?
TUELLER: Yes.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+3
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 4 + 3 = 7
STORY: oof
STORY: ok, for the shuttle you can have it, but you owe a job to a local sleazebag criminal on the Ark. she’ll pay you for it, but she expects you to work it when she calls you.
STORY: Akilah encourages you to take the deal.
TUELLER: That’s like a step down from a favor?
TUELLER: Tueller happily accepts.
STORY: Yeah, it’s not like you must do this or you’re fucked, it’s like here’s a job from someone you probably don’t like.
STORY: Cool.
TUELLER: “Always looking for a relationship here!” he says happily.
STORY: Was that a class 2 shuttle? what’s the other feature?
TUELLER: Sealed and Stealthy.
STORY: Cool! Shuttles are short range by design, but they’re enough to get you, for instance, from the surface of a planet to your ship in atmo.
STORY: It’s a nice way to avoid having to make landfall with Peregrine, or to run in an emergency.
STORY: Got a name for this shuttle?
TUELLER: Let’s go with Ariel.
TUELLER: After the Tempest, not the mermaid.
STORY: All right!
STORY: The Ariel, or just Ariel?
TUELLER: Ariel.
TUELLER: Ships don’t get “The.”
STORY: Peregrine has a The!
TUELLER: Tueller has given up correcting people.
MILLICENT: haha
STORY: Gun time. this is a class 2 as well: concealed, silenced?
TUELLER: Alejo?
ALEJO: Yes, please.
TUELLER: Ready to roll whenever you are.
STORY: I hope you find someone who likes Tethras holovids.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+3
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 6 + 3 = 9
MILLICENT: so close
STORY: You find a merchant who has just reached The Ark from a faraway civilization, who is interested in these holovids. They are, however, skeptical that you will use the gun responsibly. They make you promise never to use it against someone weaker than you.
TUELLER: To Tueller, or to Alejo?
STORY: Alejo!
ALEJO: –Whew. Tueller would never get to use the thing.,
TUELLER: “Don’t use it on me, either, Ejo.”
ALEJO: “Sure thing, T.”
STORY: Before he hands it off, he whispers something into the side, watching you closely as he does, then kisses the side of it and gives it to you smiling. “It will know if you lie.”
STORY: Enjoy your cursed pistol!
STORY: All right, your cargo holds are significantly emptier than they were last year.
STORY: Everyone ready to start the actual game?
TUELLER: So, I’ll also fill the cargo holds back up with Class 0 cargo.
TUELLER: Whenever I can.
TUELLER: Salus spice, from Viddes. Loved by the Viddeans, they put it on everything. It activates the sixth type of taste, which they are unable to put into words. It tastes like eating the color mauve.
TUELLER: Khrie beans, also known as Salt beans; a plant indigenous to the Gris system that grows in salt water like rice and produces both gourds with drinkable water and separate beans that can be processed into yellow gourmet salt. Salt version of sugar beets
TUELLER: Raw unwoven Schulak thread. Prized for luxury and trendy clothing, valued for its ambient ASMR qualities. Tueller hates it.
STORY: You’re on the Ark, doing the job brought to you from that shady crime lord who refitted your shuttle.
STORY: He promises to pay you with some Class 1 cargo if you bring him what he wants.
STORY: So.
STORY: The job is on The Ark.
STORY: Tueller, what are you stealing?
TUELLER: A fabber prototype; midway between a 3D printer and a replicator, it can make extremely complicated and precise products if it has the right instructions programmed into it.
STORY: Sounds big!
TUELLER: Feed it hydrogen, and it’ll build whatever you have instructions for. It’s a small prototype, though.
TUELLER: Only big enough to make man portable items.
STORY: All right, so a hundred kilos or so. Two people or Tueller can lift it.
STORY: Millie, who are you stealing it from?
MILLICENT: We’re stealing it from the mechanic on the Ark who’s sweet on Millie, Tigralt. It’s an inside job.
ALEJO: –Oh no!
TUELLER: —Everyone’s love life is in shambles.
TUELLER: —Except for two people
STORY: Alejo, what’s between you and this thing?
ALEJO: Tigralt, three of his employees, a very stupid but annoyingly observant bot, two sealed doors, and who knows how many security cams.
STORY: All right. Who’s doing what?
STORY: Figgan’s good for the doors.
STORY: Akilah and Sweet do not go on jobs.
MILLICENT: Millie’s on the security cams
ALEJO: Alejo will get in and out with Figgan, who will hack the doors.
TUELLER: Tueller’s on crowd control and carrying duty.
TUELLER: By “Crowd control” I mean punching guys when we get found out.
STORY: Kahn’s outside the front door, ready to alert you to complications.
STORY: Jenny’s with you, Tueller.
STORY: Loll is in charge of finding and wrecking the bot.
ALEJO: “Let’s do this thing.”
STORY: Millie! Let’s have an Access please for the cams.
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: josh rolled 7 + 2 = 9
MILLICENT: 9
STORY: You’re in, but Tigralt knows. He’s gonna be on his way shortly.
STORY: Alejo, cameras are off. Face Adversity + Mettle please on the doors
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 3 + 2 = 5
ALEJO: –Yuck.
STORY: Ooof, you don’t make it far. You and Figgan get caught at the first one, unable to pick it. She shrugs unhappily. “Boost me up?” She points at a ceiling panel.
TUELLER: “Oh fer fuck’s sake, Ejo. Kiki’s making you soft.”
ALEJO: Alejo picks her up gently but quickly and lifts her to the ceiling.
STORY: Let’s do a flashback. How did you meet and recruit Figgan?
ALEJO: Alejo knew Figgan from way back on Titan. She worked as a mechanic in a low-rent flyer repair shop near where Alejo grew up.
ALEJO: She was always in some sort of heist or scam or scheme, but never anything too heavy. Just good fun. Alejo first caught her trying to steal a few bits from the RDG guard outset of where he lived. She’d done it for weeks, and the guard had no idea what was happening.
ALEJO: Alejo figured it out, chased her, but she slipped him. He wound up tracking her down, but she knocked his skinny 14-year old ass flat out. That was the start of a very colorful friendship.
ALEJO: “Kiki?” Alejo gripes as he is holding Figgan, who is working her way into the ceiling panel.
STORY: She disappears into the ceiling as Tigralt arrives, seven feet of angry alien, accompanied by a friend.
STORY: Tueller?
TUELLER: Tueller edges Jenny off to the side and rises up to his full height, which is just a little shorter than Tigralt.
TUELLER: Alejo is still visible?
STORY: Not very, no.
ALEJO: Alejo is trying to keep concealed, if possible.
STORY: Tigralt is shouting, angrily. What are you doing here, this is my home, get out of here, etc.
TUELLER: Well, shit, Tueller just punches him.
STORY: Let’s have a Launch Assault!
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 10 + 2 = 12
STORY: Well, geez. What happens to Tigralt and his buddy?
ALEJO: Alejo closes his eyes and shakes his head. “That went south in a hurry,” he whispers, peeking around at the pummeling Tueller dishes out.
TUELLER: Tueller looks at him sheepishly as he’s yelling at him, and waits for him to close, and then, when he’s within arms distance, just windmills, coming at him from above. Tueller’s spent enough time on the Ark to know that Tetrallinian’s a vulnerable on the top of the head.
TUELLER: He clocks him without any real warning, catches him as he goes limp, and, while easing Tigralt onto the ground, lashes out with a leg, catching Tigralt’s Odh buddy completely by surprise, taking him down.
STORY: Jenny busies herself hiding Tigralt somewhere and posing him to look like a passed out drunkard.
STORY: She does an acceptable job dragging the 300-pound man away.
TUELLER: Tueller, grabs the buddy, and smashes his head against the ground once, not extra violently.
TUELLER: Tueller is not cripling anyone here, but just putting the out as fast as possible.
STORY: Buddy goes to sleep.
STORY: Alejo, once Tueller is done with his beatdown, the door behind you clicks and slides open, with Figgan smiling on the other side. She salutes you with one foot. “No problem, boss.”
ALEJO: He nods. “Thanks, Fig.” He runs through the door towards the next.
STORY: Millie, from your access to Tigralt’s system you see the security bot come online.
MILLICENT: Millie comes over the comms. “You’re about to have company. But if you’ve disabled Tigralt’s friend, he should be able to disable the security bot.”
MILLICENT: To the silence, “Tigralt, I mean. Tell him I said hi.”
ALEJO: “He’s gonna have a hell of a hangover headache after the takedown Tueller just gave him,” Alejo says into the com, in response.
TUELLER: “More of a migraine. Comes from the top of the head.”
MILLICENT: A long pause. “Were you guys listening when I said this was an inside job in the briefing?”
TUELLER: “We’re inside now.”
MILLICENT: “I seem to remember there was some kind of squabble over the last cruller.”
TUELLER: “Let’s do the job.”
STORY: Figgan shrugs.
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs.
STORY: Somewhere, Kahn sighs unhappily.
ALEJO: “We’re half inside,” Alejo corrects him, arriving at the next door.
MILLICENT: “Aaaalright, let me see what I can do.”
TUELLER: “No plan survives an encounter with the enemy.”
MILLICENT: Millie overrides the security bot.
MILLICENT: The controls, rather
STORY: Let’s have a Face Adversity + Interface for that one!
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: josh rolled 12 + 2 = 14
MILLICENT: hahaha
TUELLER: Whoa.
ALEJO: –Shiiit.
STORY: Welp
MILLICENT: It’s _dancing_ when they enter the room.
MILLICENT: It’s doing a goddamn soft shoe
STORY: It waves at you in a friendly way.
MILLICENT: It finishes with a hat out, one foot out straight sort of bow
ALEJO: “Well done, Doc!” Alejo hacks the door.
STORY: Millie, give me some flashback please: how is your relationship with Alejo?
MILLICENT: It’s strained! The professional terms that she formerly used to keep people at bay are gone, she’s mostly on a first name basis with the crew. But with the formality gone, there’s less to hide behind. Millie clearly blames herself for her unhappiness about the Alejo/Akilah situation, but she tries super hard to be cool and composed and supportive.
MILLICENT: The strain of what she told the crew also wears on her relationships. Even if the crew don’t fully understand the scope of it or forgive her quickly, she feels the guilt of what she almost caused all the more.
STORY: And what _did_ she tell the crew, since you mentioned it?
STORY: It’s a few days after your escape. Everyone’s still a little beat up. You haven’t delivered Sergio home yet, but you’ve got him pretty well imprisoned in Alejo’s quarters, where you have rigged up a lock.
STORY: There’s still no lead on Noma.
MILLICENT: Millie has made a presentation! She calls the crew together, asking Akilah to keep an eye on Sergio. There’s a lab board covered in notes and what looks like a timeline.
MILLICENT: She starts to launch into a history of humanity’s relationship with the Ark civilizations and just seems to run out of steam.
STORY: Akilah doesn’t think Sergio needs minding, but she catches the hint and stays downstairs.
TUELLER: “So what did you do, Doc?”
MILLICENT: She looks up, really looks at the crew and explains.
ALEJO: Alejo sits, quietly and patiently.
MILLICENT: She was working on her second or third doctorate when she finally found a person who challenged her.
MILLICENT: Dr Nikau Manaaki.
MILLICENT: She fell in love, with him and with his ideas. He believed the human race could be additive to the Ark civilizations, if only they were allowed to catch up. He’d started working on applying alien technology to human problems after his life’s work had been peer reviewed by Ark scientists as child’s play. He sent a request to the Ark to select and train scientists from Earth to get caught up on galactic tech so they could be a full member of society.
MILLICENT: The council sent back three words, “Enjoy your youth.”
MILLICENT: Dr Nikau Manaaki hanged himself.
MILLICENT: Millie found him the next morning.
STORY: Tariq nods. This part he has heard.
STORY: The whole crew knows, more or less.
MILLICENT: And so she rented lab space on Triton and hid the funding in Erde Maris backlogs.
MILLICENT: Using the specific magnetic interference of Triton she boosted her signal. And sent an encrypted message to the AI collective asking for help.
STORY: At this, Tariq sits up straighter. Jenny covers her mouth.
MILLICENT: She knew the deal, every Erde Maris scientist did. Contacting the collective once they withdrew with a species’ AI was a death sentence.
MILLICENT: To the race of the being that did the contacting.
TUELLER: Tueller leans back in his chair.
TUELLER: “Hmmph.”
ALEJO: Alejo does not move an inch. He simply looks at her.
MILLICENT: But the human race wasn’t obliterated. The AI collective opened a channel of communication. Mostly it was a series of questions, long sleepless nights spent being interrogated by beings who were clearly processing at such a fast rate that even Millie’s crackling intellect was slow and dull.
MILLICENT: And after they cut the transmission, Millie sank to the floor and slept. It had been days.
TUELLER: —The Collective has FTL communications, which is impressive enough on its own.
MILLICENT: She woke up to a new message. An AI named Noma was interested in helping, was Millie still seeking aid? And so Millie built a device that allowed Noma to download herself into the extremely limited tech at hand.
MILLICENT: As she tells this, Millie’s been crying off and on. She smiles when she remembers Noma’s first message. Finally, she looks to all of her crew. “I was so angry. So foolish and angry. But I couldn’t just be. Helpless.” She looks up, hoping to find understanding in the eyes of anyone there.
STORY: You do not find it in Tariq.
STORY: Jenny looks frightened.
TUELLER: Tueller shrugs, not unkindly.
STORY: Kahn’s mouth is a thin line, but he is looking at you.
ALEJO: Alejo smiles weakly and nods once at her.
STORY: Tariq shakes his head. “You risked us all.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
STORY: “For your ego.”
MILLICENT: She starts to shake her head, then stops herself. “Partly, perhaps.”
STORY: He stands up and walks out.
ALEJO: “What did the Collective ask? In return?” Alejo says this softly and kindly.
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs. “Nothing, at the time. I think I always knew it was something of a sword of Damocles. I didn’t care then.”
MILLICENT: “I do now.”
ALEJO: “Meaning the ask has come?”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles weakly, “Meaning I have something to lose now.”
TUELLER: “More than all of human civilization?”
MILLICENT: “Sorry, you’re right. That’s cruel. I’m able to feel the weight of that now. I’ve been, ah. Placing it elsewhere. Drowning it out.”
MILLICENT: “Convincing myself that I was right. Righteous.”
ALEJO: “Hell of a gamble. For righteousness.”
TUELLER: “Well, that’s the thing about righteousness. You think it’s right.”
ALEJO: He says this quietly and not angry.
MILLICENT: Millie lets out a shaky breath that comes out half laugh and half sob, “But I may have reimperiled the world by losing a pair of sunglasses, so…” weak shrug.
STORY: Jenny wipes the corners of her mouth and stands. “I, uh. Can’t hear any more of this.”
STORY: She leaves quietly.
STORY: You remember in that moment that Jenny is, openly, a spy for Erde-Maris.
TUELLER: “Worlds.”
TUELLER: “More than just Earth. Or Mars.”
TUELLER: Tueller’s mildly irritated with Millie’s constant terracentric language.
ALEJO: “Well, we were going to get her back. Now we just have extra incentive.”
ALEJO: “How long do we have until the Collective figures out she’s gone?”
TUELLER: To be clear, Tueller’s not angry, but not particularly supportive right now either.
MILLICENT: “She never shared with me how often she communicated with them, if she did at all. But when she left, she was cut off. She lost access to the collective. To come with me.” Millie’s shoulders shake, but her voice stays steady.
ALEJO: He nods. He is being sympathetic, in the way of a helpful, but slightly over-exhausted nurse.
ALEJO: “So. We get her back. Then we figure out the rest.”
TUELLER: “Well obviously we’re going to get her the fuck back.”
STORY: A few days later, you overhear an angry fight between Kahn and Tariq in the barracks. No one else is there, and you can’t make out much, but when you arrive back at the Ark Kahn stays onboard and Tariq leaves the crew. He ends up working for Three, helping Three to work through their huge backlog of medical and xenobiological data. Kahn is withdrawn for weeks afterwards. He doesn’t discuss it with any of the three of you.
STORY: Millie, you expect Jenny to leave as well and report back to Admiral Randd. Instead, she sends in her resignation, and gives you an awkward and brief but supportive speech afterwards, indicating that she understands the position you were in, if not the specifics, and believes that you wouldn’t do something like that again. She’s honorably discharged and joins your crew as a now non-spy.
MILLICENT: I think since then Millie’s been a lot more of a person than a one woman wrecking crew. She is open to the crew expressing their anger at her decision. She’s obviously changed her mind. But with this reveal there’s a little less mania. A little more attention paid to the people around her. A few cataclysmically bad ideas.
MILLICENT: Millie is utterly grateful to Jenny and anyone else who doesn’t want to throw her out the airlock.
STORY: Kahn is, bafflingly, friendlier to you.
STORY: He doesn’t make it all the way to warm, but you share a few friendly conversations now and then, and he isn’t brittle with you anymore. After a while, that is.
STORY: He’s extra sympathetic any time anything awkward happens regarding Alejo or Akilah, who he openly dislikes the presence of.
ALEJO: Alejo will be kind and open with Millie, but he also isn’t pushy. Things are obviously awkward. They haven’t talked much about whatever moment they had — or didn’t have. But he makes it clear that he does not judge her. He supports who she is now.
TUELLER: Tueller’s basically unchanged with Millie.
STORY: Back to the heist?
MILLICENT: Back to the heist!
TUELLER: HEIST THIS SHIT.
STORY: Alejo, you enter the second chamber to find a locked door and a dancing security bot.
STORY: And Figgan, smiling and picking her teeth with the lockpick.
ALEJO: Alejo hacks the damn door, giving a salut to the bot.
STORY: Face Adversity + Mettle!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 2 + 2 = 4
STORY: Your lockpick breaks off in the lock.
STORY: Figgan yells at you. “Those are fuckin expensive, boss!”
TUELLER: “Yeah. I blame Kiki for this.”
ALEJO: “Jesus.” He mutters and says a spanish curse or five under his breath.
MILLICENT: The security bot just pushes the door off its hinges
STORY: Smoosh.
MILLICENT: It does an exaggerated bow
STORY: Inside are two guards, sitting at a table playing cards. They rise suddenly, drawing their sidearms. “Hold it!”
TUELLER: Tueller charges forward.
TUELLER: —Tueller drill!
ALEJO: Alejo opens a stun baton and joins the charge, at blistering speed.
STORY: Tueller, let’s Launch Assault
STORY: Alejo can assist if he likes
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 12 + 2 = 14
TUELLER: Naw, I’m good.
STORY: What happens to those poor guards?
TUELLER: Tueller vaults over Alejo who’s still crouched down from trying to pick the lock, grabbing an…well, it looks like a food processor from the counter by the door, and flings it into the rightmost guard, catching him in the sternum. The other guard, a little slower to get ready, gets drop kicked before his gun can clear the holster.
TUELLER: Both of them are gasping for air, but conscious, when the rest of the crew gets in and binds them up. They don’t struggle much.
ALEJO: “Good thing I’m pretty.” Alejo shrugs and heads to the loot.
STORY: Millie, Akilah comes in over the comms. “A-Sec on the way. ETA two minutes. Tell them to get the tech and clear out, please.”
MILLICENT: Millie to Tueller, “A-Sec in two minutes, time to grab what we came for and beat a hasty retreat.”
TUELLER: Tueller goes over to the fabber in the center of the room.
STORY: It’s heavy, Tueller, even for you.
TUELLER: “Please unplug that from the hydrogen. Don’t want to blow it all.”
STORY: You can drag it alone, or get help
TUELLER:
TUELLER: Awwwwww, no hefting it.
TUELLER: “Loll, give me a hand here.”
STORY: She lifts her end without much effort.
ALEJO: Alejo finishes unhooking it from the hydrogen.
TUELLER: Tueller takes the front.
TUELLER: “If I say ‘drop’, drop it and prepare to fight, dear.”
STORY: She nods.
ALEJO: “Shall we?” He stands and leads the way out.
TUELLER: “Lead on, bossman.”
STORY: Tueller just called you bossman, I want a flashback
STORY: It’s a week after Tariq’s departure, and you’ve just figured out your business arrangement with Sergio (more on that later).
STORY: Akilah is sitting in front of a mountain of paperwork, looking exasperated.
STORY: Still no Noma.
TUELLER: People are getting ready for the crew meal, and most people are milling around.
TUELLER: Loll is finishing off with her latest culinary experiment, a blistering hot rendition of mapo tofu over rice.
STORY: T’chololl has a habit of making her food too spicy, one you’ve been trying to break her of. She now calls food appropriate to eat “human bland.”
STORY: Akilah shakes her head while twirling a pen and reading. “I absolutely do regret the law degree, since no one asked.”
TUELLER: Tueller takes a look at the assembled crew and said, “So, we’ve had some setbacks, and I’ve come to the conclusion that at least a few of our unforced errors would be resolved if we had a better chain of command.”
TUELLER: “So from now on, I should obviously captain this ship on my own, men.”
STORY: Loll puts down her spoon. After a moment, she shrugs and nods.
STORY: Akilah narrows her eyes at you.
TUELLER: “Don’t look at me like that Kiki. You’re too new to captain here.”
ALEJO: Alejo takes a sip of coffee.
STORY: Kahn absolutely ignores what’s going on and continues setting the table.
TUELLER: Tueller smiles and looks at everyone, and gives a nod.
TUELLER: “Okay, then. That’s settled.”
STORY: Jenny raises her hand.
ALEJO: “Don’t get me wrong, big man, you cut a commanding figure. But . . .”
ALEJO: He looks to Jenny, and gestures for her to proceed, being very polite.
TUELLER: “Yes soldier?”
STORY: “Oh, no, you go.” She swallows and looks relieved not to have to be the one to speak up.
TUELLER: “What is it, crew?”
ALEJO: He smiles and nods. “T, I think it might be best for someone a little less, uhm . . . impulsive, to take the lead. You know?”
TUELLER: “No, I don’t know what you mean.”
STORY: Akilah points at Alejo and then her nose.
STORY: Jenny visibly relaxes.
ALEJO: He stands and walks over to Tueller. “I think you do.”
MILLICENT: “I think he means the nigh ceaseless killing.”
ALEJO: “But I agree we need a better chain of command. That’s absolutely true.”
TUELLER: “You’ve killed more than I have, Millie.”
MILLICENT: “Which is, admittedly, why I shouldn’t wear the big hat either.”
TUELLER: “Well, we might be about even.”
MILLICENT: “It’s not a race.”
TUELLER: “It’s a marathon.”
ALEJO: “Yup. Yup. And you both are very smart. Very capable. Amazingly vicious.”
MILLICENT: “We had a meeting last week and decided we’d like to be called indomitably pragmatic.”
TUELLER: “I, at least, have never been a double agent.”
ALEJO: He cocks his head. “No, I don’t suppose you have.”
STORY: Tueller, Kahn puts down the last plate. “Tueller, we’ve worked together a long time, so I hope you understand when I say this.” He addresses the rest of the crew. “Hands up if you already thought Alejo was the captain.” He raises his.
STORY: Akilah raises hers, Jenny joining in with some meekness but no real hesitation.
STORY: Loll raises her spoon.
ALEJO: Alejo doesn’t really look around the room. He sort of looks at Tueller’s chest.
MILLICENT: Millie raises her hand. To the room, “Does it count if I thought of him as your captain?”
TUELLER: Tueller looks people in the eye as they raise their hands.
TUELLER: “Et tu, Loll. Et tu.”
STORY: “Strength is not the only merit, Tueller.”
STORY: “His weakness is an asset to people who do not wish to be killed.”
ALEJO: Alejo pats Tueller on the shoulder and goes back to his coffee.
TUELLER: “Oh.”
TUELLER: Tueller takes a step back.
TUELLER: “Oh. Shit.”
TUELLER: “Well I certainly misread the room.”
ALEJO: “I prefer to think of it as my good looks and charm, but, yeah, sure. My weakness.” He raises the cup to Lol.
TUELLER: “Okay.”
STORY: Akilah narrates quietly as she fills out forms. “Captain… Alejo… Soto.”
TUELLER: “Well. Carry on, sir.”
TUELLER: “And…”
TUELLER: “Umm…”
TUELLER: “In the interest of full disclosure, it’s not _100%_ true that I was never a double agent.”
STORY: Akilah, not missing a beat, points a pencil at you, Tueller. “XO?”
ALEJO: Alejo raises his eyes at this.
TUELLER: “I…kinda…worked for my family. Still. Well. Not anymore.”
STORY: “Oh, come on. Who among us hasn’t spied for their big sister?”
ALEJO: Alejo raises his hand.
STORY: Akilah, to Alejo: “That is absolutely a lie and you know it.”
ALEJO: He smiles and puts his hand down.
TUELLER: “I’ve definitely resigned as House Pleni.”
TUELLER: “Shit. I’ve been demoted.” To himself.
TUELLER: “XO. XO is good, thank you Kiki.”
STORY: She nods.
STORY: “CMO?” Pointing to Millie.
ALEJO: “And resident genius.”
MILLICENT: “I think that’s appropriate, yes.”
STORY: “Don’t abuse the override.” She writes more on her charter.
TUELLER: Tueller sits down and pours himself a drink.
TUELLER: Takes a forkful of mapo tofu.
ALEJO: Alejo grabs a glass, takes the bottle from Tueller and pours them both one. Then offers a traditional Io toast.
ALEJO: “No hard feelings, friend?”
MILLICENT: “I’m puzzled, though.”
MILLICENT: “Why were you spying for your sister? What could she want with one ship?”
TUELLER: “I wasn’t spying.”
TUELLER: “I was working. As House Plenipotentiary, I had–I THOUGHT–full authorization to work as an official representative of the Family in foreign volumes.”
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs. “I’m sorry, I don’t speak merchant.”
TUELLER: “If I failed, I was on my own, but I…well, I was looking to set up a franchise. Start my own Branch.”
TUELLER: “Our founder did that. Left Earth during the Resource Riots and moved to Io.”
TUELLER: “Old branch didn’t survive the Jackpot, but the Io branch did.”
STORY: Akilah, still writing. “Let me guess, Esinam got impatient and wanted you to sell these folks out.”
TUELLER: “Esi couldn’t wait a full fucking year!”
STORY: She shrugs. “Woman wants results.”
TUELLER: “Wanted me to steal Noma and drop the rest of them off at the nearest rock with a port.”
MILLICENT: “Oh.”
ALEJO: “Except me. Pretty sure she wanted to kill me.”
TUELLER: “She has no sense of vision.”
MILLICENT: Millie’s eyes narrow.
TUELLER: “I would NEVER betray you or Noma like that.”
TUELLER: “I miss that goddamn Ghost.”
ALEJO: “You’re a genuine family man, T. With your real family. And I love that about you.” He pours another drink for himself and Tueller.
MILLICENT: Millie sits back in her chair
MILLICENT: “Hmmm”
TUELLER: “Shut up and eat your fire tofu.”
TUELLER: Tueller’s embarrassed.
TUELLER: By the sentimentality of it all.
STORY: Back to the heist!
STORY: Tueller and Loll basically jog through the open hallways and corridors of the Ark back to Akilah’s rented office space, waiting impatiently in the mantrap to be buzzed in.
STORY: Once you’re all inside, Akilah greets you with champagne. “Put that down,” she says to Tueller. Loll drops her end.
TUELLER: Tueller eases down his end.
ALEJO: Alejo doesn’t follow them in right away. He makes sure everyone is safe inside and then does a quick SDR (surveillance detection run)
STORY: She waits for Alejo to get back, gives him a quick kiss as she passes out a glass to each of you. “Happy anniversary. You’re now officially incorporated as a registered mercenary organization to do business on The Ark.” She tosses you a folder, emblazoned with the logo you absolutely hate: NDRANGHETA ENTERPRISES.
STORY: And we flash back to two days after Millie’s confession, Sergio sitting before you, his hands tied behind his back, lip split, Akilah sitting opposite him.
STORY: Her arms are crossed and she looks skeptical.
STORY: Then rises, pacing as she talks.
STORY: “The way I see it, we only have a few options. We get rid of him, that brings his family after us. And ours, most likely.”
STORY: “We use him to go after Noma, as he’s said, that gets him killed.”
STORY: Sergio nods. “Chandra is not in the market for a rat.”
TUELLER: “I’m okay with that.”
TUELLER: “Chandra kills him that’s not on us anymore.”
STORY: “But we don’t get Noma.”
TUELLER: “But we get a dead Serj, at least!”
ALEJO: “Option three?”
STORY: She nods at you, Tueller, acknowledging the benefit of that. “If we’re to believe him on his precautions, Ezio is ready to spill the details on Millie if he doesn’t hear back from Sergio. But, thanks to Millie, we’ve got him on Chandra.”
STORY: “So it’s mutually assured destruction.”
STORY: “The best option is to work together. Put him in a position where he can’t act against us without fucking himself too.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods.
TUELLER: “He’s not smart enough to stick to a deal like that.’
TUELLER: “He’s just smart enough to think he can fuck us.”
TUELLER: “Not smart enough to do it, though.”
TUELLER: “Like his drive of child pornography or whatever it was he tried to plant on me.”
STORY: Akilah holds up a hand. “He ever thinks about talking, we make sure Esinam finds out who freed Chandra from that RDG pit.”
STORY: “And who arranged for Chandra’s reintroduction to the Evanuris, and who acted as negotiator for the merger. That about everything, Serj?”
STORY: “That’s what was on that drive, T. Evidence pinning all that on you, not him.”
TUELLER: “Oh. Good thing I ground it to dust, then.”
TUELLER: “Right?”
STORY: “The Evanuris and Roti are about to combine forces to become a faction strong enough to challenge CJH, and Sergio has a piece of both sides of that pie.”
ALEJO: “Sounds moderately smart, though, right?” Alejo looks to Tueller. “He’s an asshole, but maybe not quite as dumb as he looks.”
STORY: Sergio smiles at you, Alejo. “Smart enough to have a backup plan.”
ALEJO: “Asshole. Remember that part.”
TUELLER: “Can you breathe vacuum?”
TUELLER: “You smart enough for _that_?”
STORY: “You want your friend in a CJH work prison for life, and all of you alongside her for aiding, go ahead.”
STORY: “Ezio has his instructions.”
ALEJO: “Enough!” Alejo steps between Tueller and the Asshole. “What’s your plan Aki?”
STORY: She smiles. “Incorporate.”
TUELLER: “A very CJH plan, sis.”
STORY: “Tie him legally to us, make us his business. We get in trouble, it’s on him. He thinks of ratting, he hurts himself too.”
ALEJO: Alejo has been focused on trying to keep Tueller from ripping Sergio to bits. But this startles him.
STORY: “We cut him in on it, maybe…” she squints at Sergio. “Five percent.”
STORY: Sergio responds coolly. “Ten.”
ALEJO: Alejo steps away allowing Tueller access to Sergio again. “Now it’s four or Tueller rips off your other arm.”
STORY: He looks up at you. “You wouldn’t.” There’s maybe a little fear there underneath the bravado.
ALEJO: “Take your five and be glad of it.”
TUELLER: “None of us _need_ to return to Sol.”
STORY: “Fine. But I stay headquartered at The Ark.”
STORY: “And this is a side business. No CJH connection.”
TUELLER: “No CJH connection is exactly what I”m going for.”
ALEJO: “Aren’t we all.” Alejo says this mostly to himself.
MILLICENT: “Also, we expect you to be extremely helpful in finding that visor your associate stole.”
STORY: He cracks his neck.
STORY: “That’s going to be harder.”
MILLICENT: “Good, you look like a man who is in need of a difficult task.”
STORY: “Ezio didn’t know what he was grabbing. I had my suspicions. And I owed Chandra.”
ALEJO: “Well now you owe us.”
STORY: “He’s off my back because he’s got that AI. And my back needs to be… without weight, in order for this to work.”
STORY: “I can help you, as long as I don’t have to spend my life dodging assassins from the Evanuris.”
STORY: “So I’ll pass on what I can dig up about what he’s doing with it, but it won’t be much. I can’t get caught snooping around with that shit or we’re both dead.”
MILLICENT: “Oh that’s fine, please don’t think any of us are concerned with your health.”
STORY: “My health is your health, Dr. Breedlove.”
STORY: “I disappear, you go to jail, and so do your friends, and trust me, if they ever find that AI, it’s in a locked drive never to be let out to stretch its legs again.”
TUELLER: “Again, we’ve got a ship, and the universe is much larger than human affairs would have you believe.”
STORY: “Tueller, you want to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, I can’t stop you.”
ALEJO: “When can we get this incorporation thing done?” Alejo says to Aki.
TUELLER: “You’re fighting for your life. We’re fighting for the ability to maybe go back and visit restaurants we liked growing up.”
STORY: Akilah puts up a hand, stopping Sergio from responding any further to Tueller. “Couple months, might take longer to do paperwork with the Ark.”
STORY: “He’ll have to be CEO.”
STORY: “We want him fully accountable for this.”
MILLICENT: Millie calmly stands up and flips her chair
MILLICENT: “I don’t really like that idea,” she says through gritted teeth
ALEJO: “Fine. Let’s do it.” He turns to Sergio. “You fuck us. You think about fucking us. I swear to gods, I’ll assassinate you myself.”
STORY: Sergio tilts his head and smiles. “I like the energy. I think I’ll consider giving you a raise next year.”
TUELLER: “And I’ll have to resort to killing Ezio.”
STORY: You all toast the hated name of your newly recognized and certified company.
TUELLER: “Does this retroactively make this job legal?”