STORY: You watch dozens of employees converge on the cargo bay, taking up positions around the Augusta King, some armed, some just there to see what they can offer.
STORY: They don’t see you, since you’re on the other side of an air vent, but you’re about 20 meters from the ramp into the belly of Chandra’s ship. It’ll be a quick and dangerous run.
STORY: And as you wait for whatever distraction Calixta’s arranging, you realize you’re not likely to all make it out of this. Tueller, you assume, is onboard. But three people running through a firing squad?
STORY: Your luck is going to run out.
MILLICENT: Millie reaches her hand out, still staring out at the troops.
ALEJO: Alejo gets them both into place, ready to make the run when that distraction comes. “Doc, when the moment comes, you run. You run and don’t look back, alright. That’s a gods damned order. You have to make it. I can’t do this without you. You can without me.” He takes her hand.
MILLICENT: Millie stifles a laugh. “Yes, captain.”
MILLICENT: “Mr. Soto?”
ALEJO: He smiles and shakes his head. “Cap to you.”
ALEJO: He squeezes her hand. And then gets serious again.
MILLICENT: “Cap. I’m so very glad you chose my ship to steal.”
ALEJO: Alejo rode the wind on the glider, traveling over a heavily tropical forest and deep valleys. Suddenly, it dropped away into a plain, spotted with lakes and a lighter scatter of trees, a lot of bare rock now showing in low ridges and tumbled boulders. He dropped the glider low, swooping over a lake, water invertebrates scattering away, leaving trails in the water, which was now obviously not mere H2O but something thicker, oily. He checked the display on his wrist: 750 meters. He ran one hand over his gear, checking the pistol, his ammo clips, his infiltration pack. If this worked, it would be a miracle.
—
STORY: Tueller, you’re standing in a sparse office, two guards just outside the door, a dead man behind the desk, and your best friend convulsing on the floor.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: “Okay, now what?” Tueller hops across the desk and taps on his console. He dumps Tormod out of the chair unceremoniously. While glancing at the computer screen, he taps the back of his ear. “Doc, do you hear? Doc, we’re here, Tormod’s dead, do you hear?”
STORY: Millie! You’re sitting at your desk, doing some of your research on the deck, which is docked to the local machine Chandra has you working on, when you hear UNBEARABLY LOUD CIRCUS MUSIC in your head.
STORY: It last for about five seconds, gives you an insane headache, then stops.
MILLICENT: Millie shakes her head, reaches up behind her ear and ticks the earpiece to Hold
MILLICENT: Muttering, “Finally.”
MILLICENT: Millie switches from her work and attempts to break into Chandra’s system.
STORY: Tueller, you’re locked out. Chandra has good security.
TUELLER: Tueller looks to see if there’s a thumb print scanner or something there for access.
STORY: There’s a password prompt.
TUELLER: “Alejo, I’m trying to see if there’s anything in the computer to undo this. There’s a password prompt, so I don’t think I can undo this for you.”
TUELLER: “So we’re going to have to do this old school. Moan once for yes, twice for no. You follow?”
ALEJO: “Uhhnggg.” That’s once.
TUELLER: Tueller continues looking at the computer. He flips up paperweights to make sure passwords aren’t written on it.
STORY: You pick up a paperweight that reads SMARTEST MAN IN THE GALAXY and realize you should probably stop thinking you’re gonna find that password
TUELLER: “Okay. You talked to Ryo. Do you think he’s still trustworthy?”
ALEJO: “Yuhhh.” Once again.
TUELLER: Again on the earpiece. “Doc, you there?”
TUELLER: “Did he have a plan to help us out?”
TUELLER: To Alejo.
ALEJO: “Ughhhhhfff.” Once.
TUELLER: “Did he tell you?”
TUELLER: Tueller abandons the computer and looks over the rest of the office.
ALEJO: “Fffffgrrr.” Alejo slams a fist into the floor.
TUELLER: Tosses it as expertly as he can.
STORY: Tueller, Assessment + Expertise please
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 11 + 2 = 13
STORY: You check his drawers and find in one a small device that you recognize as a handheld EMP. Useful to disarm those carrying laser pistols, or, you look over at Alejo… possibly reset your friend. Could be dangerous.
STORY: You also gain a data point around Tormod’s belongings, if for some reason that comes up later.
TUELLER: “I’ve got something here. It’s…an EMP weapon. How much you know about your inserts? Would this help you? Once for help, two for hurt?”
TUELLER: “We’re kind of in a bit of a pickle here. Sorry I took your kill, by the way.”
TUELLER: “Sorry, once for help, two for hurt.”
ALEJO: “Hmmhgg.” Alejo tries to look at Tueller. He gives a very slight nod.
TUELLER: “I’m sorry about everything.” Tueller takes the EMP device, clicks off the safety covering the trigger, and pulls it.
STORY: That’s gonna be a Face Adversity + Expertise, please!
ALEJO: Alejo meets his eyes. “Gaaaaaaa!”
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 4 + 2 = 6
ALEJO: Alejo keeps his eyes focused on Tueller as whatever happens happens.
MILLICENT: That’s good. Let that be his last image of you.
STORY: You press it to his neck and depress the button. His body tenses up unnaturally and then relaxes, but returns to shaking. You smell something. Steak?
STORY: Alejo, please Brace for Impact on a Severe Injury
ALEJO: /roll 2d6
STORY: ablair01 rolled 8
STORY: Okay. The current gets hung up somewhere along your spine and blasts out a piece of flesh from your back. It immediately cauterizes, leaving just an awful, ragged hole that sends a shock through your nerves any time something touches it. Unfortunately, you’re also still convulsing and can’t tell anyone what happened.
STORY: Double unfortunately, you just screamed. The door opens.
STORY: Millie!
STORY: What are you trying to access?
MILLICENT: Trying to break into the system. I have a list of priorities.
STORY: You’ve also got passwords, so you don’t have to break in. I’ll tell you if you’re trying to get into a system you don’t have access to.
STORY: So what’s priority 1?
MILLICENT: First thing is to program a life-support systems alarm. Let’s say…let’s say that there’s a catastrophic fire in the life-support system server room. All available personnel must head immediately there or the air vents stop working.
STORY: Okay, you have a couple options there.
STORY: You can log into the life support system and hack it to make it think there’s a fire in the server room, at which point it will set off said alarms automatically. That requires an Access roll. You also have a password to the PA, so you can just pretend to be an automated alarm with what you already have.
STORY: That’ll require some performance.
MILLICENT: Yeah, I’ll go with the Access roll, I think
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 9 + 2 = 11
STORY: Excellent, you’re in, and moments later the fire alarm is going off, along with automated alerts instructing employees where to go for evacuation and fire suppression.
STORY: You do hear some moving around in the hallways outside, but you can’t be sure whether your guard is one of the people who have departed.
STORY: Next?
MILLICENT: One key kill the lights order
MILLICENT: Can I get that one with my ability?
STORY: Sure, you want to set up a trigger that will let you shut off the lights inside this base with a keystroke?
MILLICENT: Yeah
STORY: You can do that, but you’ll need access to a terminal when the time comes.
MILLICENT: Okay, cool
MILLICENT: I have a third thing I’d like to do
STORY: Let’s hear it!
MILLICENT: I’d like to start downloading as much stuff as I can into my visor.
STORY: You can do that as soon as you get your visor!
STORY: It’s back in your room/cell
MILLICENT: Oh word
MILLICENT: Do I have a way to save any of the files I’ve been accessing so I can remove them assuming I am rescued?
STORY: I mean, you’ve got the actual deck there
MILLICENT: Oh, it’s portable?
STORY: Yeah! It’s like a laptop
MILLICENT: Okay, cool
MILLICENT: Next thing is to scan the security system and look for the kind of disruption that would signal that my crew has come to heroically rescue me
STORY: Okay. You settle in and wait for something that says “Tueller.”
STORY: Tueller!
STORY: Two very large men with guns enter the room, size up the situation quickly, and try to kill you.
TUELLER: Charge the fuckers!
STORY: Launch Assault, please!
TUELLER: And try to kill them back!
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 5 + 2 = 7
ALEJO: Alejo will try to trip one of them, if he has any mobility.
STORY: Unfortunately, coordination is beyond you right now.
STORY: Tueller, how does it go not perfectly?
TUELLER: “Lesser fate” is the consequence. Tueller will charge them both, getting to them as they put their guns up, and manage to punch the right one straight to the face, sending him out like a light. But when Tueller lashes out at the left gunman, he does so with his shot-through hand, and doesn’t have any coordination behind it. He knocks him back into the hall with a forearm strike, but doesn’t kill him. Tueller, slides around the side of the door so he’s in cover with the gunman once again outside the office.
STORY: You hear a -tssss- as the guard activates his walkie. “CHANDRA’S DEAD, I REPEAT, CHANDRA IS DEAD. CARRY OUT AS INSTRUCTED, OVER.”
STORY: Just then, the lights dim and loud alarms start to blare. The PA announces clearly, “Attention team members. There is a fire on the base. Please proceed to evacuation areas immediately. Fire wardens, please commence to the server room. Message repeats.”
STORY: Which it does.
STORY: Tueller, the guard lines up a shot on your helpless friend. What do you do?
TUELLER: Kill him, I hope!
STORY: Launch assault!
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 7 + 2 = 9
STORY: What goes wrong?
TUELLER: Tueller manages to grab his gun in time, and wrench it off to the side as he crushes the guard’s trachea, but the gun goes off, hitting Tormod’s computer which explodes in a series of sparks and sets Tormod’s desk on fire.
STORY: Oh cool, there’s a real fire now!
STORY: It spreads pretty fast, there’s a lot of paper on that desk. The guard is down, Alejo’s still incapacitated, and there’s starting to be rather a lot of smoke in this room.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Grab three things–the walkie off of the guard, the EMP weapon, which I tuck into my belt, and then Alejo.
TUELLER: Slinging him over a shoulder. “I’m sorry buddy.”
ALEJO: “Yahhagrr!”
STORY: Oh it hurts so much, Alejo.
TUELLER: “I guess that’s a ‘yes’“.
STORY: Where are you headed?
ALEJO: “Ahhhhggggg!” He screams.
STORY: You’ve got sort of a general idea of what’s where in this place. Not guaranteed to get lost, at least.
TUELLER: Hmmm. Back to the dock where Alejo stowed his boarding armor.
STORY: You know that’s a long way with a lot of potential battles between you and there. Still going?
TUELLER: Hmmm. No.
TUELLER: Okay, first step.
TUELLER: Tueller leaves Tormod’s office, shuts the door, and gets on the walkie.
TUELLER: “FUCK ALL YOU GUYS, TORMOD’S NOT DEAD BUT HE WILL BE UNLESS YOU FUCKERS GET HERE IMMEDIATELY.”
TUELLER: Tueller leaves the walkie on so it squelches any response, and then runs off towards…he doesn’t know where.
TUELLER: “Any idea where Millie is, Ejo?”
TUELLER: Tueller whispers away from the walkie.
ALEJO: “Ahhagggrr. Ahhaggarr.”
TUELLER: “Shit. Okay, you get any ideas, give me one for left, and a two for right, please.”
TUELLER: “I’m…kind of working on instinct here.”
TUELLER: “Though if you have a better plan, give me three and we’ll work it out.”
TUELLER: Tueller takes off.
TUELLER: Walkie bouncing on his ass, right hand free, hurt left hand cradling Alejo over his shoulder.
TUELLER: “Sorry about all this, again.”
STORY: Where are you going?
TUELLER: I don’t know where I am! Is there a directory or signs on the walls?
STORY: No, but like I said you have sort of a general idea of where the major areas in this base are. I just want to know what you’re looking to do.
ALEJO: Can Alejo get his bearings at all? He has a datapoint on the base layout.
STORY: Alejo knows exactly where he is. He just can’t move or talk.
TUELLER: Science or database division. Tormod said both Millie and Noma were working with him.
STORY: Okay, let’s have Assessment + Mettle to see how well you find your way there while the base is full of panicky employees who are also trying to kill you.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 6 + 1 = 7
TUELLER: “I’m hoping the Doc and or Noma are in the science division section. Give me as many grunts as it takes if you know where we’re going, buddy. I hope they can fix you better than I can.”
TUELLER: “And I hope they’re alive.”
ALEJO: “Uhagggh.”
STORY: Get Involved, Alejo. + Mettle
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 10 + 2 = 12
STORY: Full success! The two of you, one thrown over the other’s shoulders and in extreme pain, pick your way through a series of hallways, barely managing to escape the people searching for you in a few instances – and you hear over the walkie as they sort out the actual truth, discover the fire in Chandra’s office, and re-establish the kill orders they were given.
STORY: Tueller, you get a data point on the layout of the base.
STORY: Millie!
STORY: You’ve just disconnected the deck from your main machine when the door opens.
STORY: The guard enters, pistol ready, looking for you.
STORY: What do you do?
MILLICENT: Button press
STORY: The room is plunged into darkness. What next?
MILLICENT: Millie tries to kick the chair in one direction and dive into the opposite direction
STORY: That’s a Launch Assault!
MILLICENT: huh
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 – 1
STORY: josh rolled 3 – 1 = 2
STORY: You kick the chair, which flies across the room in a direction you can’t see, and the muzzle flare of the pistol briefly blinds you. Please roll to Brace for Impact on a Serious injury
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6
STORY: josh rolled 11
STORY: It’s a flesh wound! You choose – where does the bullet graze?
MILLICENT: I feel like shoulder is traditional
STORY: It goes straight through the muscle on top of your shoulder, you can tell because you hear it bury itself into the wall behind you. Painful, but good news, as it is less likely to be life threatening that way. You’re bleeding from a Major Injury.
STORY: What now?
MILLICENT: “You shot me!” Millie winces, immediately realizing what a bad idea it is to speak and ducks down under the table.
STORY: Another shot goes off, let’s see how lucky you are – FA + Mettle please
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 1
STORY: josh rolled 6 + 1 = 7
STORY: Lucky enough! You don’t get a new opportunity from this, but the shot goes clean over your head.
STORY: And – good news. There’s sound from the hallway.
STORY: Tueller, you’re in front of the room you suspect houses Millie. What are you doing?
TUELLER: Can I safely assume we heard gunshots from there?
STORY: You did! Also all the lights have shut off.
TUELLER: Everywhere?
STORY: Yep!
TUELLER: Tueller sets Alejo down and gives a very quiet “shhh”, and then sidles into the room, and throws the walkie talkie into what seems like it’d be a corner.
TUELLER: Let’s go left corner.
STORY: We’ll see how your luck is too. FA + Mettle
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 8 + 1 = 9
STORY: You hear it hit something meaty-sounding, a small grunt, and the metallic clatter of a gun being pointed at you.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Oh man I hit the guy?
TUELLER: I kill the fuck out of him (I hope)
STORY: Launch Assault!
TUELLER: “Motherfucker”
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: What goes wrong?
TUELLER: Any help from Millie on this?
STORY: Nope! It’s pitch dark and she’s hiding under a desk.
TUELLER: Tueller runs towards the clack of the gun and grapples rather than lashing out. His stabbed slide gives out as he’s grappling with the guy with the gun, and it fires into Tueller’s side.
TUELLER: The same one he injured against the Antaam.
STORY: That’s another Serious injury! Let’s have a Brace for Impact please.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: That’s your third Serious injury, which means this one becomes a Critical one. You snap the guard’s neck as you both fall to the floor, you breathing heavily and bleeding through the hole in your armor.
TUELLER: “Oh shit that…that hurts.”
STORY: Tueller, you’re going to need help to get back up.
TUELLER: “Oh I hope that was worth it. Doc, you here?”
MILLICENT: “Tueller?”
TUELLER: “Could it be anyone else?”
MILLICENT: Millie opens the deck and restores the lights.
TUELLER: “Do you know many neck-crackers who sound like me?”
MILLICENT: Two bleeding out co-captains?
TUELLER: Everywhere?
TUELLER: “Alejo’s just inside the door. We…could use some help getting back on our feet.”
STORY: One bleeding out, the other convulsing quietly on the floor outside, though you don’t know that really.
TUELLER: “Gunshot wound here. His upgrades are fried.”
MILLICENT: Millie drags them inside and shuts the door.
STORY: FA + Physique, please
TUELLER: “Tormod had root access on him.”
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 – 1
STORY: josh rolled 7 – 1 = 6
STORY: You struggle but can’t get Alejo into the room with you.
TUELLER: Tueller struggles to sit himself up, and grabs the gun from the guard.
STORY: Tueller, you can’t do that
STORY: You’re basically dying right now until you get medical attention.
MILLICENT: Okay, I hand Tueller the guard’s gun and patch him up, hoping he can watch our back while I do so
TUELLER: Tueller fails to sit himself up and pathetically reaches for the gun, and fails.
TUELLER: “Could…maybe use a hand here Doc.”
STORY: Yeah, you don’t have any medical supplies, you can’t patch him up right now.
TUELLER: “Get Alejo running again.”
TUELLER: “Boarding armor is holding my guts in. I’ll be fine. Just going to lie here a bit.
MILLICENT: Millie takes a look at Tueller’s injuries and realizes she can’t do much with them until she gets a decent medical kit. “What happened to him?” She indicates Alejo.
TUELLER: “Tormod had root access. Sudo seizure.”
MILLICENT: “Here, hold here, if you can.” She presses Tueller’s hands over the wound.
MILLICENT: “Oh! His upgrades?”
TUELLER: “Downgrades, now.”
TUELLER: Tueller holds his side and breathes in. And then out.
MILLICENT: Millie inspects Alejo, can she fix him without cutting him up? Maybe by accessing the gear using the deck?
STORY: You’d have to figure out Tormod’s security to get access to whatever he did, or you can grab the boot knife from the guard and disconnect Alejo’s upgrades.
STORY: It would require cutting into his neck, though.
MILLICENT: I’m going to try and get in through the deck
STORY: Access please!
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 11 + 2 = 13
STORY: It takes surprisingly little time for you to get past Chandra’s security and from there you’re easily able to cancel the software upgrade that’s currently halting Alejo’s systems.
STORY: Alejo! You have your body again.
STORY: You’re tired, and there’s that hole in your back, but you’re otherwise unharmed.
TUELLER: “Oh good. I’m just going to lie here.”
TUELLER: “For now.”
MILLICENT: “Welcome back, how do you feel?”
ALEJO: Alejo curls up in a ball for a moment before stretching back out. “Oh, Jesus.” He sits up. “Thank you. T. What do you need to help Tueller?” He grimaces and tries to slowly stand.
MILLICENT: Millie gives him a hand and stands, stretching.
ALEJO: He gives her a quick hug and then moves towards Tueller. “Thank you.” He says and puts a hand on Tueller’s shoulder.
ALEJO: He looks at Millie.
MILLICENT: “I need a medical suite, or failing that, decent tools. The med bay where Kahn is being held will do.
MILLICENT: “What happened, what’s going on?”
MILLICENT: Millie tries something new, “Sit rep!”
ALEJO: “Can we move him? Chandra’s dead. This place is crawling.”
MILLICENT: “Chandra’s dead?”
ALEJO: “T, can you move?”
ALEJO: “Yeah, Tueller punched his asshole face clean off.”
STORY: Millie, Assessment + Expertise
TUELLER: “I am not particularly mobile right now, now.”
MILLICENT: “No! Shit shit shit”
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: You can move him very gently, but neither of you can carry him. You’ll need some way to transport him there.
MILLICENT: Millie opens the deck carefully on the table and searches the security system for anything that might conceivably house an AI.
TUELLER: Tueller nudges the gun towards Alejo. “This might be…yeah.”
TUELLER: “Helpful.”
STORY: Nothing you can find, Millie.
TUELLER: “More for you than me.”
MILLICENT: “Shit.”
STORY: Tueller, speaking is difficult. You’ve never been hurt this bad. You think you might be dying.
ALEJO: Alejo takes it. “You don’t die. Time to follow an order, alright.”
STORY: (You’d be right!)
MILLICENT: “Noma’s here, but I don’t know where and she might be dead.”
MILLICENT: “Oh, and your sister is here.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t know if she’s in a cell or still undercover or what.”
TUELLER: “This is my fault, so I…yeah, take responsibility, but I hurt.”
MILLICENT: “Kahn is in the med bay, which is where all the tools I’ll need will be. I suggest that’s our next stop.”
TUELLER: Tueller gives a thumbs up with a hand that has a hole in it.
ALEJO: Alejo nods.
ALEJO: Is there a chair in here?
MILLICENT: It’s a wheely chair if we want it to be, per Jess
MILLICENT: Alejo looks at the chair, Millie looks at him looking at the chair. “No, come on.” STORY: Alejo, let’s have a FA + Physique to muscle Tueller into this chair without hurting him
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: alejo rolled 5 + 1 = 6
STORY: Shit! Millie, Alejo starts to roll Tueller into position but he doesn’t know how to do this medical stuff. He’s going to drop him.
MILLICENT: Millie jumps in, holds the wound and positions Tueller safely.
STORY: Roll Get Involved + Expertise, please!
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 7 + 2 = 9
STORY: Millie, you can get in and keep Tueller’s wounds from worsening, but the deck is going to slip out of your hands and hit the floor.
STORY: Proceed?
MILLICENT: Proceed
STORY: It clatters to the ground and you hear the screen, and possibly something else inside, crack.
STORY: But Tueller’s alive, and in the chair, and god Tueller does it hurt.
TUELLER: Tueller gives a very weak moan that’s more disturbing than a scream.
STORY: You begin the gambit to get him where he needs to be – Millie, do you know which way to go?
MILLICENT: I think Millie should know, yeah. She’s been taking care of Kahn and going to that room to work
MILLICENT: She ought to be able to triangulate those.
STORY: All right, lead the way – there’s still general havoc and you know there are people looking for the three of you. Give us Face Adversity + Mettle to get Tueller on this little chair through these halls without anyone finding you.
TUELLER: Tueller’s eyes are unfocused. He’s not really conscious.
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 1
STORY: josh rolled 10 + 1 = 11
STORY: Again, a couple of close calls, but no one sees you and you reach the door to the infirmary. Strangely, it’s locked.
ALEJO: Alejo glances around, and seeing no one, fires a shot into the handle mechanism.
STORY: It works, because this is a TV show!
STORY: Alejo, you swing the door open and a gunshot rings out from inside the room, ricocheting off the doorframe inches from your head.
STORY: “Soto! Christ!”
STORY: Ryo is inside, inexpertly holding a pistol, standing in front of Kahn’s gurney and shaking. Two dead guards lay on the floor, and two nurses cower in a corner.
ALEJO: “Ryo,” Alejo responds, glancing back down the hallway again before pulling the door closed behind them. “How’s Kahn?”
ALEJO: He helps Millie with Tueller, getting him wherever he needs to go in order to get patched up so he doesn’t die.
STORY: “Alive.” He winces, then looks down at his waist and pulls his jacket to the side. There’s a large blood stain there. “We both are, for now.”
TUELLER: “cccccpbmgthh”
STORY: Ryo leans back against a counter, exhaling and looking at the ceiling.
ALEJO: “Shit. Hang tight. I’ll help you in a second, Ryo.” He focuses on Tueller. “Keep an eye on that door, alright. And stay awake.”
MILLICENT: Millie starts with Alejo, finds the gear she needs and gets to work.
STORY: Millie! Let’s have a Patch Up
ALEJO: “I don’t know much about anything but very, very basic patching up, Doc. So, you tell me what to do and I’ll do my best.”
MILLICENT: Millie checks him out and sighs, leaning against the wall.
MILLICENT: “It’s really bad. I think I can fix it, but I’m going to have to.”
MILLICENT: “I just want you to know I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have to.”
MILLICENT: “I’m beyond the desire to just tinker inside people.”
MILLICENT: To Tueller, “You get that, right, Ya’Makasi?”
TUELLER: “hhmtiiii” Tueller’s eyes are glassy.
MILLICENT: “That’s a yes.”
ALEJO: “You got this, Doc,” Alejo says softly to her.
MILLICENT: “You all heard it.”
MILLICENT: Millie does Surgery
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 7 + 2 = 9
STORY: With that roll, you can stabilize him, but not treat him – so he won’t be dying, but he also won’t be better.
STORY: We might get semi-conscious Tueller, but his punching days are done for a while.
MILLICENT: Millie sits back, takes the towel Alejo offers her and dabs the sweat from her eyes.
MILLICENT: “I’m done.”
MILLICENT: Throughout the surgery she’s been asking for increasingly weird things.
MILLICENT: But since it’s Chandra’s operating room the parts are there.
MILLICENT: She’s obviously added some machinery to Tueller.
MILLICENT: “I gave him a new heart.”
MILLICENT: “Well, ventricle. Right ventricle. But it’s more dramatic if I say it the other way.”
MILLICENT: “He’ll live until I can spend more time on him. But not jumping out of planes or punching for a while.”
STORY: This takes a while. Half an hour, long enough that you can imagine whoever is looking for you has had time to get organized and put out the fire. It’s going to be more dangerous from here.
STORY: You’ve got two unconscious patients and three injured, but walking, allies.
ALEJO: “You’re amazing, Doc. Well done.”
MILLICENT: “Yes, this was my finest work.”
STORY: Sorry, Tueller, you’ve had open heart surgery, you’re spectating for the rest of this one.
STORY: You can interject with colorful dream fragments if you like.
ALEJO: “You’re up, Ryo.” Alejo helps him to a bed. “Doc, can you make sure he’s not gonna die.”
MILLICENT: Millie takes a look at Ryo
STORY: Ryo waves you off. “I’m fine. I’ll make it out of here, at least. Speaking of.”
STORY: “Got a plan for that?”
ALEJO: “Oh, I was really hoping you had that one under control. Where’s my sister?”
ALEJO: He heads over to Khan and looks at him, touching his shoulder briefly.
STORY: “Cells. Level 2.”
STORY: Kahn’s breathing, but unconscious.
ALEJO: “We’ve got a ship that will be back in,” he looks for a clock.
STORY: Four more hours.
ALEJO: “Four hours,” he mutters and shakes his head.
ALEJO: “What do we have for transports?”
STORY: He shakes his head. “You’re not gonna like it.”
STORY: “If you don’t have anyone coming for you… we’ve got to take the Augusta King.”
MILLICENT: “Where’s Noma?”
STORY: Ryo shakes his head. “I couldn’t find her. I don’t know, Millie, I’m sorry. He played that one close to the chest.”
STORY: “And I assume… he’s dead?”
ALEJO: “Chandra’s no longer our problem.”
STORY: He nods. “We just have a pile of new ones instead. Thanks for that.”
ALEJO: “If Tueller hadn’t done it, I would have.”
STORY: He looks at Millie. “Maybe Calixta knows. She was his wife, after all.”
STORY: “We’re gonna need Calixta anyway, I don’t know how to get past the security on the Augusta King.”
MILLICENT: Millie frowns. “Calixta first. If she doesn’t know where Noma is we take this place apart beam by beam.”
ALEJO: “Doc, can you get into the system here? Can we get into the cameras? Get a sense of where the bad guys are between us and Cali and between us and the Augusta?”
ALEJO: He looks back and Tueller and Kahn. “We definitely need Cali.” He turns to Ryo and Millie, “And we can’t move them unless and until we have to.”
STORY: “Wait.” Ryo lifts his watch to his mouth. “Astra, are you safe?”
STORY: A voice comes in through the other end. “Yes sir. Hiding. Where to?”
STORY: “Medical, and change into flats if you have the opportunity.”
ALEJO: “Who’s Astra?” He mouths this to Ryo.
STORY: The communicator chirps out.
STORY: “My assistant. She and I can get these two to the bay. You get Calixta.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. He goes over to Ryo, checks his pistol for him, as Ryo isn’t much of a gun guy, and then hands it back. “Tueller is a brother to me. And you know what Kahn means to me. Make sure they get to that bay.”
STORY: He nods. “We’ll wait five minutes for you.”
ALEJO: “Do. Then go, if we’re not there.” Alejo turns to Millie. “Ready?”
ALEJO: “If we find Cali, we can find Noma, if she’s still here.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods to the ready question.
ALEJO: “And, I hate to ask, but do we have what we need to deal with the deck? Whatever started all of this?”
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs.
MILLICENT: “I don’t know. I was just getting started when you all showed up.”
STORY: You’ve got the deck, it’s just damaged – you won’t know how bad until you have time to breathe and plug it into something.
MILLICENT: “Plus I dropped the deck getting Tueller into that chair. I just. I don’t know.”
ALEJO: He nods. “Do we need . . . something to collect whatever Chandra has for data? Do we have time for that? Do we need it?”
ALEJO: He checks the pistol that Tueller gave him and then looks to see if the other dead bodies have any additional weapons.
STORY: Ryo shakes his head. “I’ve got everything useful, and once we leave this place will be on lockdown to anyone without my level of access. Just get her and get on the ship.”
STORY: You can get another pistol and a couple boot knives from these guards, Alejo
ALEJO: “I did miss you, Ryo.” Alejo says this while he collects the gear. He hands one of the pistols to Millie. “Let’s do this.”
MILLICENT: Is there a taser or something less life-threatening?
STORY: Nope!
MILLICENT: Millie takes the pistol and turns the safety on
ALEJO: Alejo notices her do this. “Appreciate that,” he says with a wry smile. “I’ll take the lead. Stay close.”
ALEJO: Alejo goes to the door, turns back, “Be safe,” he says to Ryo. Then he heads out, checking the hallway and moving towards the cells.
STORY: FA + Mettle please! Do a third successful sneak!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 7 + 2 = 9
STORY: You make your way there, but as you get to the last hallway, you catch sight of three guards on the opposite end, moving towards the room you were told Calixta is in.
STORY: What do you do?
ALEJO: Where are we in relationship to them? Can we get behind them? Can we engage them and still have some cover?
STORY: You’re at opposite ends of a hallway, with the door to Calixta’s cell in the middle. They’re walking towards you but haven’t seen you. You can get the jump on them now or let them get to her room first.
STORY: You’ve got cover now, but it’s a bare hallway once you step out.
ALEJO: Get the jump on them and push Millie behind the cover.
STORY: All right! You take out one of them instantly with a bullet through the temple. Let’s have Open Fire for the other two.
ALEJO: I’m using my closeup
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+3
STORY: ablair01 rolled 5 + 3 = 8
STORY: Okay, there’s some collateral damage here. You take the second one out instantly, walking calmly down the hallway in Chapman stance. The third you catch in the leg and he falls down, spraying bullets as he does. Three go through the door and you hear someone cry out inside.
STORY: What do you do?
ALEJO: Run towards the door and shout for Millie to come quickly. He shoots the remaining guard dead on the way.
STORY: You pull the door open and Calixta emerges instantly, limping on a bleeding leg.
STORY: “Come on. I know a shortcut.”
ALEJO: “Cali!”
STORY: She’s all business, not even stopping to greet you, just trying to move as quickly as she can on an injured leg.
ALEJO: Alejo looks back to see if Millie is coming.
ALEJO: “Noma, do you know where she is?” Alejo says after her, still looking for Millie.
STORY: “Yes. Don’t slow down.” She’s moving down the hallway, in the direction the guards came from.
ALEJO: “Doc’s with me, keep moving. We’re with you.”
ALEJO: He picks up one of the guard’s pistols as he gets Millie and then catches up to Calixta.
STORY: She limps ahead, at one point pausing and squeezing against a bulkhead to let a group of guards run past. Halfway down the next hallway, she lifts a panel off the wall and waves the two of you in.
MILLICENT: Millie follows
STORY: “Go. Third right, second left, down the long tube, then drop a level and you’ll be in the shuttle bay.”
MILLICENT: “Noma?”
STORY: “I’ll bring her.”
STORY: “Go.”
MILLICENT: Millie frowns.
ALEJO: Alejo hands her the pistol he picked up. “I’m not leaving you again.”
MILLICENT: “And I’m not leaving Noma.”
ALEJO: “We’re not leaving Noma, no.”
STORY: “Jesus Christ, you two fucking heroes. Fine, I’ll go first.” She goes into the tunnel.
ALEJO: Alejo smiles at this and takes up the rear as they move down the tunnel.
STORY: You hurry down the tunnels as fast as you can, the sounds of havoc all around you. You can hear footfalls above and below, and on either side – you’re moving through the walls. You catch a few shouted orders – they’re converging on the shuttle bay. They know where you’re headed.
STORY: From ahead of you, not looking, “Do you have your visor, Millie?”
MILLICENT: “It’s in my room. I didn’t have time to go back for it.”
STORY: “Fine. I’ll find a console.”
STORY: You reach the last turn, a short ladder you have to climb down.
STORY: “Don’t argue with me now – you get down here and be in place. I’m going up to plug in and set a distraction. Wait for it, then go. Understood?”
ALEJO: “And you? Noma?”
STORY: “I’ll catch up.”
STORY: “Go, NOW.”
MILLICENT: “Wait, what does any of that mean?”
ALEJO: Alejo grimaces. “Doc, we don’t have time. We need to go now.”
MILLICENT: “Are you speaking in code? Is this a twin thing?”
ALEJO: He’s looking at Cali. “You better get this right.”
STORY: She nods. “Love you both. GO.”
STORY: She climbs the ladder.
STORY: What do you do?
ALEJO: Alejo gestures for Millie to follow him down. “We gotta go, Doc. Come on.”
MILLICENT: Mille frowns fiercely up at Calixta. “I could’ve had you hung out to dry and I didn’t. Not bringing that up for any reason in particular, just. Reminding us all of the recent past.”
STORY: She’s already upstairs.
ALEJO: “Lectures latter, Doc. Living now.”
MILLICENT: Millie pushes Alejo toward the ladder. “Well go then.”
MILLICENT: “What are you waiting for?”
ALEJO: Alejo heads down, keeping an eye out for trouble below.
MILLICENT: Millie looks up the ladder where Calixta went and her nose wrinkles. She fights back a tear and climbs down.
STORY: You watch dozens of employees converge on the cargo bay, taking up positions around the Augusta King, some armed, some just there to see what they can offer.
STORY: They don’t see you, since you’re on the other side of an air vent, but you’re about 20 meters from the ramp into the belly of Chandra’s ship. It’ll be a quick and dangerous run.
STORY: And as you wait for whatever distraction Calixta’s arranging, you realize you’re not likely to all make it out of this. Tueller, you assume, is onboard. But three people running through a firing squad?
STORY: Your luck is going to run out.
MILLICENT: Millie reaches her hand out, still staring out at the troops.
ALEJO: Alejo gets them both into place, ready to make the run when that distraction comes. “Doc, when the moment comes, you run. You run and don’t look back, alright. That’s a gods damned order. You have to make it. I can’t do this without you. You can without me.” He takes her hand.
MILLICENT: Millie stifles a laugh. “Yes, captain.”
MILLICENT: “Mr. Soto?”
ALEJO: He smiles and shakes his head. “Cap to you.”
ALEJO: He squeezes her hand. And then gets serious again.
MILLICENT: “Cap. I’m so very glad you chose my ship to steal.”
STORY: The huge bay doors open and air rushes through the huge room – pulling a sudden and powerful wind through your hiding place and ripping the vent out of place. You’re exposed. You’re 20 meters from the ship. And everyone gathered in the shuttle bay just turned to look at you.
STORY: Calixta’s distraction sort of worked. At the very least, the mood in the room went from tension to outright insanity.
STORY: What do you do?
ALEJO: Alejo jumps up and runs, making sure Millie is in front of him. And he fires at as many bad guys has he can, making himself the biggest target possible. He also screams like a wild man.
MILLICENT: “It’s worse than I thought, I’m afraid you’ve got bed bugs-” Alejo starts his jump forward. “Oh hell!” Millie runs.
STORY: Calixta comes sliding down the ladder behind you, feet on the outside like they do in space movies, shouting “GO GO GO!”
STORY: Let’s have a Face Adversity + Mettle, Alejo
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 5 + 2 = 7
STORY: You make sure Millie gets to the ship, but making yourself a target meant you took two bullets along the way. Calixta, following behind you, gets tagged as well but stumbles behind you to the ramp, falling and grabbing one of the support tethers.
STORY: “Get me to the bridge, NOW,” she shouts at the two of you.
ALEJO: Alejo helps her, as best as he can.
MILLICENT: Millie identifies the most likely spot for the bridge and drags her along
STORY: It’s brutal, but the three of you drag yourselves to the bridge and get Calixta down in the pilot’s seat. She reaches up above her and pulls down a thin cable, plugging it into a port you hadn’t noticed on the back of her neck. The ship powers on and lurches, and she looks at the console. “Fuck. FUCK. Mooring clamps are still engaged. They’re controlled… from the bay.”
STORY: She shakes her head, looking at the two of you miserably. “I’m the only one who can pilot this ship.”
STORY: I’d like to know who is going to go back outside to get your ship free.
ALEJO: Alejo runs, without a word, as fast as he can.
ALEJO: “Get them outta here, Cali!”
ALEJO: He shouts over his shoulder.
MILLICENT: Millie calls after him, “I’ll keep them alive. You do the same! You know, for yourself!”
MILLICENT: Yelling, “WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE SHOT?”
STORY: Alejo, there’s no getting back on this ship once you leave. Proceed?
ALEJO: Yes.
STORY: Okay.
STORY: You rush out and down the ramp, grabbing a sledgehammer you noticed in the hallway, and use your super-speed to dart towards the mooring clamps and swing the hammer as hard as you can at them. As it crashes down, one of the two clamps is broken free, and the guards outside have realized what’s happening. When you move to the second clamp and swing the hammer again, five of them open fire. You’re hit more times than you can register, but you raise the hammer one more time with the last of your strength and bring it down on the bolt holding that mooring clamp together.
STORY: Millie, from inside the bridge, you hear a terrible cacophony of gunfire. You cannot see what the guards outside are firing at, but you know you’ve seen Alejo for the last time. The ship wrenches itself free, and seconds later Calixta is spinning her around and taking off to break atmo. Do you look behind you as you leave?
MILLICENT: I do
STORY: You see the guards converge on Alejo’s still body, and one put a bullet into his head. There’s no further movement.
MILLICENT: Millie cries into the window as the credits roll.