TUELLER: “I hear you’ve gotten up to some shit.”
STORY: Thasht blinks at you. She releases Alejo and stands, nodding.
STORY: “I have.”
ALEJO: Alejo stands up slowly. “It’s so good to see you, Thasht,” he smiles tearing up a bit.
TUELLER: “Anything good?”
STORY: “We have conquered many.”
TUELLER: Tueller smiles.
MILLICENT: “Atta girl.”
TUELLER: “Thank you for saving the ship, by the way.”
STORY: She nods. “Half.”
TUELLER: “It’s unclear whether this is a visit or the start of your newfound freedom, but we might need to get your word of honor that you won’t kill anyone on this ship.”
STORY: “Absolutely not. It would be a dishonor to myself and my people not to kill my captors.”
STORY: “Now free me.”
MILLICENT: “I’m confused.”
STORY: The three of you step back into Forsythe’s office after returning from heist #2. He turns toward the door, nods at you with a finger up, and finishes the wave he was on – all handled in a language not being picked up by your translators.
STORY: “Comrades, thank you, please sit.”
ALEJO: Alejo takes a seat.
TUELLER: Tueller does so.
STORY: “We hadn’t discussed – should I credit your SectorNet accounts, or do you take cash?”
TUELLER: “Cash, for now.”
MILLICENT: Millie raises an eyebrow.
TUELLER: Tueller opens his mouth a couple of times to speak and then stops himself.
TUELLER: “Cash is king,” he finally says.
STORY: “Fair enough.” He places three stacks of metal chits on the table and pushes them across to you.
TUELLER: Recognizable currency for us, I assume?
STORY: Yup. Any bank will transfer them to local currency. “All right. Ready for number three, or would you like to see your Maitri friend first?”
TUELLER: Tueller sweeps them all up and they disappear almost like they were never there.
TUELLER: “Maitri first.”
TUELLER: Tueller tries and fails to sound nonchalant about that.
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “I’d like to see her.”
STORY: He nods. “Jac will take you down. See if you can calm her, will you?”
TUELLER: Tueller smiles, “I’ll do my best,”
TUELLER: Tueller stands up and walks out.
MILLICENT: Millie stays for a moment, considering Forsythe, then follows.
STORY: Jac leads you wordlessly down a series of passageways and stairs, winding a bit. You assume you’re deep in the belly of the ship.
STORY: You arrive at a reinforced locked door. She punches in a code and it slides open to reveal a small antechamber and a cell door beyond through which you can see Thasht. Jac clears her throat. “Step inside, please.”
TUELLER: Tueller does so unquestioningly.
ALEJO: Alejo does. He gives Jac a quick nod as he does so.
MILLICENT: Millie does as well.
STORY: Jac closes the door behind you. She speaks through the porthole. “Four six six nine.” She juts her chin towards the keypad next to Thasht’s cell.
TUELLER: “Thanks.”
TUELLER: Tueller types it in immediately.
TUELLER: And braces.
STORY: Thasht, sitting in her cell with one pair of arms resting on her knees, watches Alejo carefully as you open the door, then leaps to her feet and tackles him.
TUELLER: “Oh shit.”
TUELLER: “Loll that’s really Alejo it’s complicated please don’t kill him again,”
STORY: She holds down your arms with one pair of hands and holds your head firmly by the chin with a third hand, fire in her eyes.
ALEJO: Alejo laughs as he’s thrown to the floor. “Hi! Please don’t kill me.”
STORY: “You watched him die.” She does not look away from Alejo.
ALEJO: “Yup,” he tries to take a calm breath.
TUELLER: “It’s really him.”
STORY: “Explain.”
TUELLER: “The explanation is…bad.”
TUELLER: “If we tell you, you’re part of something extremely huge and you won’t be able to stay out of it.”
TUELLER: “You can’t know about it until it’s too late. Do you want in?”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles up at her warmly.
TUELLER: “Don’t antagonize her, Ejo.”
ALEJO: “I’m just layin’ around, bud. You got this.”
STORY: Thasht looks like she’s thinking hard.
STORY: “I do not understand your threat.”
TUELLER: Tueller struggles for a little bit. “It’s not a threat. Knowing why he’s back just necessitates learning about things you might not want to know. Knowing about it for us,” Tueller indicates Millie and Ejo, “means that we have to decide whether to run or go to war or something else.”
TUELLER: “It’s redefined our lives.”
TUELLER: “Sorry, I can’t be more specific. You wouldn’t be able to go back to your [word I can’t remember but Tueller knows] if you know.”
TUELLER: Tueller shrugs. “Or you can just trust me–it’s him. We’re back together.”
STORY: Thasht looks up at Tueller, peering at him carefully.
STORY: “Where were you?”
TUELLER: “I was in jail. For my crimes. Then dealing with these…issues that we can’t talk about unless you want in.”
TUELLER: “I missed you, by the way. It’s good to see you.”
TUELLER: “I hear you’ve gotten up to some shit.”
STORY: Thasht blinks at you. She releases Alejo and stands, nodding.
STORY: “I have.”
ALEJO: Alejo stands up slowly. “It’s so good to see you, Thasht,” he smiles tearing up a bit.
TUELLER: “Anything good?”
STORY: “We have conquered many.”
TUELLER: Tueller smiles.
MILLICENT: “Atta girl.”
TUELLER: “Thank you for saving the ship, by the way.”
STORY: She nods. “Half.”
TUELLER: “It’s unclear whether this is a visit or the start of your newfound freedom, but we might need to get your word of honor that you won’t kill anyone on this ship.”
STORY: “Absolutely not. It would be a dishonor to myself and my people not to kill my captors.”
STORY: “Now free me.”
MILLICENT: “I’m confused.”
TUELLER: “I don’t think that’ll work.”
MILLICENT: “Didn’t I capture you a couple years ago?”
ALEJO: “Ohh, Doc . . . ” Alejo puffs out a long puff of air.
STORY: “Your memory is bad, doctor. Your capture made me Maraas. That was why I could not return to my people.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t get it, I guess.”
STORY: “That is correct, Dr. Breedlove. You have never understood honor.”
ALEJO: “Listen, Thasht. We need the ship back. And to get it, we need these people’s help. We’ve got a much bigger war to deal with. That’s . . . the stuff T was talking about. We could use your help. Either way, I’m not letting you rot in here. But we can’t risk a battle with the pirate king. Not right now.”
STORY: Thasht looks straight at you, Alejo. “Then leave me.”
ALEJO: Alejo frowns. “Not on my life.” He shakes he head and sighs. He looks to Tueller. “Any ideas here?”
TUELLER: Tueller looks at her. “Honestly, this guy seems pretty decent so far and I’d prefer you didn’t kill him. We’re getting our ship back, he’s paying us good money, and no one has died. And I’d prefer you not be the first one, because he far outnumbers and outguns us.”
STORY: “Your preference is noted. He stole your ship and jailed me. Let me out and fight with me, or leave me here.”
MILLICENT: “Is there a third option? Something else that would salvage your honor in this situation?”
MILLICENT: “I take it seriously, but I don’t understand it, so I’m deferring to your judgment.”
STORY: “Let me fight him.”
MILLICENT: “Do you have to kill him? Can you fight him to first blood or something?”
STORY: Thasht raises an eyebrow at you.
STORY: “I suppose it should not surprise me that you have learned nothing of the Maitri in our time together.”
MILLICENT: “I guess you picked up a lot about interstellar particle physics while we were shipmates?”
STORY: “I was a physicist before we met, Dr. Breedlove.”
MILLICENT: “Well then pick one of my other degrees and pretend I was sarcastic about that.”
STORY: Thasht nods. “Goodbye, my friends. I would like you to leave now.”
TUELLER: Tueller stands and nods as well.
MILLICENT: “I’m saying, I don’t think it’s fair to assume I should have learned more about your culture, which you are famously tight-lipped about, while you learned little about mine.”
ALEJO: Alejo takes a deep breath. Shakes his head. Then nods. “It’s good to see you, Thasht.” He turns to leave.
STORY: Thasht nods a farewell to you.
TUELLER: “I’m sorry. I’ll see you soon, if I can. And I’ll see what I can do.”
STORY: Thasht sits back down and rests her hands on her knees.
TUELLER: Tueller leaves and heads back towards Forsythe.
STORY: Forsythe is happy to see you. “How’d it go?”
TUELLER: “Uhhh, fine, I guess?”
TUELLER: “I do not recommend letting her out just yet.”
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs.
STORY: Forsythe nods. “So she still wants to kill us.”
TUELLER: “She will likely do that, yes.”
STORY: “Makes sense. Maitri have that code.”
TUELLER: “They do. Makes them stubborn. They’re really good at it, too, which is probably why they haven’t been totally wiped out yet.”
STORY: “Indeed.”
TUELLER: “She’s a good person, though, so please don’t kill her.”
STORY: He holds up his hands. “No plans to. But I hope you understand, I can’t really let her out.”
TUELLER: Tueller nods ruefully.
ALEJO: Alejo is quiet. He sits again.
STORY: “Job three?”
MILLICENT: “Bring it on.”
TUELLER: Tueller is quiet for a little bit, trying to think about Loll.
TUELLER: And then comes back to the meeting at hand and nods.
ALEJO: “What’s next?”
STORY: He takes out a piece of yellowed paper from a book and slaps it down on the table in front of you.
STORY: “I need you to find this and bring it here.”
MILLICENT: Do any of us recognize it?
TUELLER: “Huh.”
TUELLER: “Not fucking around, are you?”
STORY: “I’m sorry, Tueller. Wars are being fought over that thing. Did you know the Evanuris thinks Erde-Maris has stolen it?”
TUELLER: “Hah!”
STORY: “People are dying so your sister can have a private laugh.”
TUELLER: “Lovely.”
MILLICENT: “What’s the significance of this. Thing?”
TUELLER: “Excellent. Just fucking excellent. Last I saw this, it was in the private library island of the Ya’Makasi. On Io, of course.”
ALEJO: “Well shit.”
MILLICENT: “Ah.”
TUELLER: “It is a dense statue, made out of extinct nanorobots assembled into the form you see, of an undiscovered alien species. You may have learned about it in school–it was was found by the Clarke expedition on Mars; the first evidence of alien lifeforms in the solar system.”
TUELLER: “Some assholes still worship it as the gods who seeded the solar system.”
MILLICENT: “Huh. Interesting.”
MILLICENT: “And we have to steal it from your sister?”
TUELLER: “From Io, at least.”
TUELLER: “Esi was not always in the library. Maybe we won’t run into her!” Tueller gives a mirthless laugh.
MILLICENT: “Sure, and if we get off Io then we’re free and clear.”
STORY: “In my book, at least.”
TUELLER: “One book at a time.”
MILLICENT: “Is there a reason you want this thing?”
STORY: “Yes.”
MILLICENT: “Will you tell us? Please.”
STORY: Forsythe smiles. “Do you think I would have said ‘yes’ in response if I was eager to tell you more?”
MILLICENT: “No, but for the second time today I thought asking nicely might get me anywhere.”
STORY: “Worth a shot. But no.”
ALEJO: “Well, unless you’ve got a plan for us, we should probably get some more of that delicious brown stuff and get to work.”
STORY: “All yours. Good luck.”
STORY: Forsythe takes his leave.
STORY: What’s the plan, stan?
TUELLER: Tueller gives the basics of the location. Io has a series of floating islands that rearrange themselves so no one can identify them and strike, but Tueller knows the pattern; with at least three hours of telescope range of Io he can identify the library island, which always follows the main island so Esi and the family can get to and from the archives. It’s a large uninhabited place, full of the family’s archives, collection, and records. People go there to gloat, to read, to study, or for some peace and quiet.
TUELLER: Unless things have changed, we should be able to find it, no problem.
TUELLER: We should find out what the defenses and state of Io are, since the Ya’Makasis were arrested and Esi went into defensive mode.
TUELLER: But yeah, then we just have to go there, not die, and get one of the most important historical artifacts in human history.
TUELLER: No problem!
STORY: Simple!
TUELLER: I mean we can probably just fast forward to having done that.
TUELLER: Good job team!
MILLICENT: We did it!
TUELLER: Go us!
STORY: Jac can take you in the moonskipper, so that’s step 1.
STORY: Step 2?
ALEJO: Alejo toasts our success!
MILLICENT: Was all of Io owned by the Ya’Makasis?
TUELLER: Yes.
ALEJO: Step 2, we need to get a code to get through Io’s security net. Ryo? Though that could put him in serious jeopardy if this artifact is discovered missing. And it probably will be, right?
MILLICENT: Shit
ALEJO: I mean, could we put a forged copy of the thing in the library, since no one goes there anyway? Would that fool anyone?
MILLICENT: It’s made of nanobots, right?
TUELLER: Extinct nanobots.
TUELLER: Inert, at least.
TUELLER: Basically like coral.
MILLICENT: Sure, but what do they have to fool? Can Millie create some nanobots that’ll show up on scanners as coral?
STORY: Both times you have done a job for TC he has taken steps to ensure the act is discovered and he gets credit.
STORY: So you can assume this is not a secret job.
MILLICENT: That’s a good point, covering things up probably won’t work.
TUELLER: They were built by nanobots getting it to that shape.
MILLICENT: So, it’s a two-part job. We steal the statue and either prepare for Ya’Makasi wrath or try and hide our identities/frame someone for the job.
TUELLER: We could frame Forsythe.
MILLICENT: He would probably want us to.
TUELLER: We’re going in his ship, and he’s going to want it, so let him have the credit.
ALEJO: So, how do we get permission to land on Io? Does Tueller or Alejo have any contacts, other than Ryo, who owe us a favor?
ALEJO: Alejo tries to recall someone, but everyone he thinks of is someone who he doesn’t want dead.
MILLICENT: Does Ryo still owe us a favor? I mean, I’m guessing he’s still friendly, but damn, he threw his life away for us.
STORY: By my count you now owe Ryo two favors
ALEJO: Yeah, Alejo isn’t willing to put Ryo on the line for this anyway.
ALEJO: Unless we can’t come up with some other way.
MILLICENT: Maybe we can simulate an emergency that is so rare that the Ya’Makasis would need to bring in outside help to fix it.
MILLICENT: Like the space version of posing as firefighters or animal control or something.
TUELLER: Just as a reminder, Esi has been on lockdown for a year and had every boarding party killed.
ALEJO: “We could just ask for it nicely?”
MILLICENT: gulp
TUELLER: At least back when we were collecting bodies for the Ark.
TUELLER: But we’re not going for the main base, so security will hopefully be lighter and more lenient.
TUELLER: Tueller’s plan is a bit risky, but possible. He suggests we identify the target, then come in low on the opposite side of the moon. If we keep under 15 meters the entire time, we’d avoid the lidar system. Then we dock with the entryway, and hopefully disable the lock system electronically, either by hacking it or spoofing it.
MILLICENT: I love it
TUELLER: Get to the target, get it on a dolly (it’s heavy, Tueller can shift it but not carry it), get to our ship, and get out either directly or the same way.
TUELLER: Get out during Jovian day when the system is at it’s least responsive.
MILLICENT: Sounds like Step 3 to me.
TUELLER: Step 4: Profit!
ALEJO: Let’s do it!
STORY: All right! You make the trip to Io uneventfully. This time, instead of sitting in total silence for a number of hours, you play cards and Jac ignores you.
TUELLER: When we get within telescope range, Tueller puts it on screen and stares intently forever.
TUELLER: After two hours of that, with him taking extensive notes on graph paper, he says, “That’s it.”
TUELLER: He looks at Jac, and puts a dotted line out from the one he pointed to, and then draws a circle. “It should go on this path–this is where we want to meet it in two hours.”
STORY: Okay! Let’s make that a Command roll please Tueller!
TUELLER: Command is Influence.
TUELLER: Oh it must be.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 11
STORY: Eyyyy! Jac pushes the thrusters juuuust past what is reasonable and skips along your path balletically. You hold on to a bulkhead as you stand behind her and she doesn’t miss a beat.
STORY: She brings you down right where she’s supposed to and nods an acknowledgement that you have two hours. She’s leaving ten minutes after your pickup deadline, so it’s a narrow window.
MILLICENT: Okay! Millie claps her hands.
MILLICENT: Crime!
TUELLER: Tueller nods. He has not tried to win Jac over at all, just acknowledged here professionally.
TUELLER: CRIME.
TUELLER: Let’s do a crime.
ALEJO: Alejo checks his gear and disembarks, all business.
TUELLER: “Keep your visors down and don’t use names if you can possibly avoid it. Want to avoid leaving a record here.”
TUELLER: “Doc, the door is all yours.”
STORY: CRIME!
MILLICENT: Crime! Millie rolls up and examines the door. She’s brought a little piece of gear she’s hoping she can use to emulate the signal from a keycard.
MILLICENT: Gonna spoof past the door.
ALEJO: Alejo takes up a position that allows him to watch both of the approaches to the door.
STORY: Millie, let’s have an Access roll!
TUELLER: Tueller is in his normal position, ready to go through the door and be a bullet sponge
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 9 + 2 = 11
MILLICENT: Ain’t no need for a bullet sponge today!
TUELLER: From your mouth to God’s ears.
STORY: Wooo! You spoof and the door pops open politely. There’s a little fssshh as the pressure equalizes.
STORY: What now?
TUELLER: Tueller heads straight for where the artifact last was!
STORY: Let’s make that Assessment + Mettle!
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 7 + 1 = 8
STORY: It’s not where it used to be, but you do see it quickly – upstairs, a few feet back from the balcony, in a glass case.
TUELLER: Tueller points up there, and then starts moving to the stairs, keeping a low profile.
STORY: FA + Mettle for sneakin’!
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 8 + 1 = 9
TUELLER: —I imagine when Millie is sneaking, she does it like a cartoon character sneaks–ostentatiously keeping a low profile.
STORY: As you slip up the stairs, you hear the door open and close. Either someone just left, or someone just came in.
TUELLER: What do you mean, “the door”?
STORY: What do you do?
STORY: The door you came through.
STORY: Your exit.
ALEJO: Alejo quickly hides behind another nearby case.
TUELLER: From outside, then?
MILLICENT: —When Millie sneaks it’s the sound of violin strings being plucked
STORY: Either someone just came in from outside, or went outside from in here.
TUELLER: Tueller grabs Millie and ducks behind an Easter Island moa and holds a hand over her mouth, which is in a helmet so utterly useless.
MILLICENT: Millie looks down at the hand, considering.
TUELLER: Not so much ducking behind the Moa, since it’s huge.
ALEJO: Alejo’s closest to the door. He listens carefully, adjusting his position for an attack on anyone approaching.
TUELLER: Very quietly, “Just be quiet and listen for a moment.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods, as much as possible.
TUELLER: Tueller’s going to give it a full minute before doing anything else, listening for anyone out there.
STORY: You hear someone walking around downstairs, their shoes clicking on the tile floor.
ALEJO: Alejo signals that someone is downstairs. He then gestures for the others to go to the artifact and get to work. He’ll stay and watch their backs.
TUELLER: Downstairs is going away from us, correct?
STORY: You can’t really tell. It’s just someone walking around down there, maybe looking at the stacks.
MILLICENT: Millie heads to try and get the artifact.
TUELLER: Tueller sneaks up to the artifact, trying to walk lightly.
TUELLER: https://media.giphy.com/media/4dAqzSvxV15Is/200.gif
STORY: Millie! It’s in a large glass case, maybe eight feet tall and three wide on each side.. What do you do?
MILLICENT: I check for traps, goddammit
MILLICENT: Is Millie the rogue?
MILLICENT: I guess I always saw her as the wizard
TUELLER: Cast Detect Magic!
STORY: Assessment + Interface, please
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 12 + 2 = 14
MILLICENT: HELL YES I DETECT ALL MAGIC
ALEJO: –Woooo
TUELLER: Wow.
STORY: You find a tiny panel in the base of the cabinet that houses the security device, and gain a Data Point to help disarm it.
STORY: Alejo, that person walking around downstairs has paused. What do you do, Millie?
MILLICENT: I start the disarming process until told otherwise.
STORY: FA + Interface please!
TUELLER: Tueller lets her work.
ALEJO: Alejo hits his com to her and whispers, “Movement downstairs stopped. Keep things real quiet.”
MILLICENT: I’ll use my Data Point on it
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 3
STORY: josh rolled 9 + 3 = 12
TUELLER: Whoa.
MILLICENT: THAT IS HOW YOU DO THIS, and if I may, SON
STORY: Pop. A tiny tinkle and the security for this booth is off.
STORY: You’ve still got a big glass box to move, of course.
TUELLER: That’s where I’m a Viking.
STORY: What do you do?
MILLICENT: Millie takes a quiet step back and gestures grandly for Tueller to do his thing.
STORY: Alejo, the downstairs person has started moving again. Tueller, what do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller leans in and says “Wait here” and sneak walks over to the next room, which when he last was here was an Archive and had a utility closet for moments such as these.
STORY: Indeed it does!
TUELLER: He goes to get the pallet jack and brings it back to where Millie is waiting.
STORY: Oh, you’re gonna take the whole thing with the glass?
STORY: Okay!
STORY: Well I mean, that’s gonna be FA + Physique please.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 8 + 2 = 10
STORY: Tueller, you tip the whole situation onto your pallet jack and have just lifted it from the floor when you all hear someone start to walk up the stairs.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Prepare to ambush them!
ALEJO: Alejo gestures for them to take cover. He prepares to disable whoever it is.
TUELLER: You can’t gesture, we can’t see you.
STORY: So I’m clear, are you all in boarding armor? This is an indoor space, you don’t need oxygen.
TUELLER: Yeah, we didn’t take it off.
STORY: Okay. It’s a little awkward, but you can move around.
TUELLER: And you never know when you might have to go outside on a lava moon.
STORY: Although I should have made it harder for you to overhear anything.
STORY: Anyway
STORY: Let’s have a group roll, everybody give me FA + Mettle, if at least half of you pass, you pass
TUELLER: I assumed boarding armor would have a speaker system where you could hear ambient noise at a normal level.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 8 + 1 = 9
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 3 + 2 = 5
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 1
STORY: josh rolled 8 + 1 = 9
ALEJO: Well, apparently Alejo is gesturing to himself in the dark, so . . . you all didn’t fuck it up.
STORY: All right. You manage to stay hidden, but only Tueller and Millie see who’s coming.
STORY: Sergio Ndrangheta is walking up the stairs, reading a book. He hasn’t noticed you, but he will see the pallet jack soon.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Huh. I guess he got out of jail.
TUELLER: Tueller’s going to pop open his visor so he can be seen, step out and say “Hi Serj. How’s it going?”
STORY: Sergio stops one step from the top landing, his foot hovering in the air. He stares at you with his mouth hanging just open.
STORY: “Uuh.”
STORY: “Wh–”
STORY: He notices the pallet jack.
STORY: Then blinks, and narrows his eyes. “Where are the other two?”
STORY: “Oh, there’s the doctor. Hello, doctor.”
TUELLER: “Around.”
STORY: He sees Millie hiding rather badly behind an asteroid.
MILLICENT: Millie waves.
TUELLER: “He’s around but I don’t ever know precisely where.”
STORY: “So he isn’t dead. I thought you might have faked that.”
TUELLER: “We were just about to leave, though. How’re you doing?”
STORY: “I’m… fine. You?”
TUELLER: “Processing, still. Getting better, though I still fall into my old habits far too easily.”
TUELLER: That’s not intended as a threat or delivered as one.
STORY: “Mm. Same.”
STORY: Sergio eyes a pair of swords on the wall nervously.
TUELLER: “Back with the organization? Or here like we are?”
TUELLER: “They’re priceless, by the way. Hanzo swords.”
STORY: “Well, I’m reading a book and you’re in boarding armor stealing an ancient artifact, so… you take a guess.”
TUELLER: “That book itself is a first edition and worth more than most spaceships.”
TUELLER: “Maybe a little less with the dog ears.”
STORY: He closes it, bouncing it thoughtfully, then flings it at you, Tueller.
STORY: He bolts for the swords. What do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller was waiting for something, and goes for Sergio.
TUELLER: I’m going to try to knock him the fuck out.
STORY: That’s a Launch Assault!
ALEJO: Alejo will get involved as necessary. Can he use sneak attack from his position?
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 4 + 2 = 6
STORY: Alejo got a 5 on his Mettle so I’m gonna say he wasn’t in a good position to be ready to help on this one, plus this is kind of Tueller’s big thing so let’s let him handle it
ALEJO: Okay!
STORY: Sergio makes it to the swords first, draws one, and readies it. The other is still mounted on the wall. Tueller, you stop before running into the pointy end. Sergio checks his surroundings and looks for an exit.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller does not go for a sword. I still want to knock him the fuck out.
STORY: Okay! You can Launch Assault again, he’s ready with the sword this time.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: You move in to conk him on the head and he swings hard, the blade whipping towards your left hand and ready to make contact. You have time to dodge, but he’ll get away. What do you do?
STORY: You have a brief flashback to college.
TUELLER: Oh man.
TUELLER: —Sorry, this is a tough call.
STORY: I bet!
TUELLER: Tueller flinches back at the last minute, and takes a moment to get in a new defensive position, during which time Sergio scrambles away.
STORY: He’s down the stairs and out the door before any of you can catch him.
MILLICENT: —haha I was on the edge of my seat!
TUELLER: “We need to get gone now.”
TUELLER: “Shame. I had hopes for him.”
TUELLER: “I guess we’re nemeses again.”
STORY: Moments later, sirens and that awful blaap, blaap, blaap. “ALERT. THE SYSTEM WILL LOCK DOWN IN TEN SECONDS. PLEASE GET SOMEWHERE SAFE. ALERT.”
TUELLER: “Shit.”
STORY: You remember this from childhood, spending a few boring afternoons locked in the library because one of your siblings thought it would be funny to pull the intruder alarm.
STORY: What do you do?
MILLICENT: “I mean, that’s a choice you make too.”
TUELLER: Shout “ALEJO GET TO THE DOOR AND FUCKING WEDGE IT GO MAN”
ALEJO: Alejo does.
TUELLER: Tueller grabs the statue and pulls it onto the jack to get moving.
STORY: The door is closed when you get there, it always is – but you can reach it in time. What do you wedge in it?
ALEJO: One of the swords. Alejo grabs it as he runs past.
STORY: A priceless doorstop. You wedge it into the hinge, holding the door open. You also hear scrambling in the hallway, more than one body, so it’s not just Sergio running. What do you do?
MILLICENT: Book it
ALEJO: Yeah, run like hell.
STORY: Alejo, you can make it out before anyone gets there. Millie, roll FA + Mettle please to see if you do. Tueller, you’re bringing the statue?
TUELLER: Yes
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6+ 1
STORY: josh rolled 12 + 1 = 13
ALEJO: –Wow. Nice diceroller hack!
MILLICENT: —Thanks, Millie cobbled it together for me
STORY: Millie, you slip out just behind Alejo and run hand in hand through the hallway to the exit.
STORY: Tueller, there’s just no way you can get out in under a minute with that thing. As you struggle with a pallet jack at the top of the stairs, trying to figure out the mechanism for attaching it to the little rail setup they have, six Ya’Makasi security guards file in and take position, rifles trained on you. “FREEZE!” and so on is shouted, until their leader enters.
STORY: Ryo rushes in and looks up at the stairs, puts a hand on his forehead, and says to the floor, “Oh for fuck’s sake.”
TUELLER: Tueller waves from behind the bullet proof glass display case, “Hey.”
MILLICENT: SWOOSH
