MILLICENT: “I can think of one (former) Ya’Makasi who’s got his head on straight. Straighter. Straight-ish.”
ALEJO: “I hear that.”
ALEJO: “And a second who’s . . . brilliant, if a pain in the ass.” Alejo smiles briefly at Ryo.
STORY: “You literally owe me three gigantic favors and you’re calling me a pain in the ass right now.”
TUELLER: “I think he’s flirting.”
STORY: “Gross. Not my type.”
TUELLER: “Also a faux pas in front of Doc.”
MILLICENT: “It is very strange timing.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles at Ryo.
STORY: Alejo and Millie – you’re around a corner in the hallway, not yet to the exit but able to leave if you want to. You heard at least half a dozen guards stomping down the hallway and heading into the room you just fled from. The door closes behind them as they shout “FREEZE!”
STORY: What do you do?
ALEJO: We’re not currently being followed?
STORY: Nope. They were headed to the library.
ALEJO: Alejo stops. Turns. “Shit.”
MILLICENT: Same time, “Shit.”
MILLICENT: Is there a thermostat or wall terminal or anything near by?
STORY: Sure! Right over your head, tiny lady.
MILLICENT: “Boost me, I’m going to set off the fire alarm.”
ALEJO: Alejo picks her up and lifts her as high as he can.
MILLICENT: Millie sets off the fire alarm. Hoping to trigger it to say there’s a fire near the flammables on the other side of the library from us.
MILLICENT: That’s got to be a big deal attention draw in a place like this.
STORY: Sure! It’s a relatively small building, but it’ll definitely add a second alarm to the goings-on and confuse people. Let’s have FA + Interface to see how good you break it.
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 4 + 2 = 6
MILLICENT: Come on now
STORY: You hold up a lighter to the fire alarm and the flame just sort of flutters underneath it for a couple minutes until you burn your finger.
MILLICENT: “Okay this might not work.”
ALEJO: Alejo sets her back down. He looks around and spots a terminal. “Can you hack it? Lock some doors or something? I’ll go for T.”
ALEJO: “But, if this goes south–like further south– you’ve got to make the rendezvous, Millie. You have to get out of here.”
ALEJO: “You can do this without me or T. We can’t do it without you.”
ALEJO: Alejo turns to run to the door with Tueller behind it. He stops, turns back, takes off his helmet and Millie’s, and kisses her passionately. “I think I missed that last time we were about to die.”
MILLICENT: Millie shakes her head to clear it. “Good on you for correcting your mistakes.”
STORY: Millie, you try the terminal but it’s locked down due to the existing emergency alarm.
STORY: Alejo, what are you doing?
ALEJO: Alejo runs towards the door, drawing his stun baton and his assault pistol.
ALEJO: “We’ve got a few minutes before this place is crawling, Doc,” he says over his shoulder as he’s leaving.
ALEJO: Alejo’s going in!
TUELLER: Tueller’s getting ready!
STORY: Tueller, Ryo’s standing at the bottom of the stairs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller grabs the pallet jack, keeping the bullet proof sealed display case between him and the guys at the bottom of the stairs, and then starts to pull it back, retreating.
STORY: There’s sort of some shuffling and adjusting of aims downstairs.
TUELLER: Tueller’s trying to draw people up.
STORY: Sure! Two head up the stairs, one on each side.
TUELLER: And Tueller reverses and pushes the pallet jack and the very heavy and well protected display case down the stairs as hard as he can, and follows it down.
STORY: Oh boy!
STORY: FA + Physique for that one, I think
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 2 + 2 = 4
ALEJO: –Aww shit.
TUELLER: I’m just going to shut my computer and walk into the sea.
TUELLER: —I really liked this plan.
ALEJO: –It was a good plan!
MILLICENT: —Not our night
STORY: You push the glass case forward as hard as you can and the handle of the pallet jack slips out of your hands, leaving you grasping air at the top of the stairs. The case and its contents fall down, bouncing on each step, straight down the middle between the two soldiers on the stairs, who watch it go by, before the entire unit lands at Ryo’s feet and shatters into thousands of pieces of glass mingled with thousands more of nanobots. Ryo looks down at the mess, takes a deep breath, then back up at you, still not speaking.
TUELLER: “I thought it would be better protected than that.”
STORY: Alejo, the door’s open – you slip in just as the case hits the floor. Everyone’s attention is on Tueller and the destruction in front of them. There are four soldiers down here and one man in a suit, his back to you, two more halfway up the stairs, and Tueller on the top landing. What do you do?
ALEJO: Alejo goes for the guy in the suit, with the goal of taking him hostage long enough to get us out of here.
STORY: Launch Assault, please!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 10 + 2 = 12
TUELLER: —Sorry I spilled nanobots everywhere.
STORY: Okay! What happens?
ALEJO: Alejo stuns one of the soldiers before anyone spots him. As that solider falls, he grabs the suit in a chokehold and stuns a second solider. He spins so that he’s using the suit as a shield as the other two soldiers adjust to his presence, but he’s able, because of the close quarters, to disarm one of them and knock him back onto the stairs. Now Alejo is standing, with Ryo in tow, in the corner, shielded from the remaining soldier down here and, at least partially, from the two on the stairs.
ALEJO: He realizes, after this has happened, that he’s holding Ryo. “Shit,” he mutters. “Sorry,” he whispers in Ryo’s ear.
STORY: Ryo chokes and gasps at you in response.
ALEJO: Alejo loosens his grip but doesn’t let go.
STORY: The other soldier spins and trains a gun on you, as does one on the stairs. The other on the stairs keeps covering Tueller. There’s a lot of shouting and someone stumbles for a moment on broken glass.
STORY: Millie, what are you doing?
MILLICENT: So, there’s one soldier at the top of the stairs and two coming up the stairs?
TUELLER: Tueller’s upstairs.
TUELLER: With a soldier on the stairs aimed at him, one aimed at Alejo.
MILLICENT: Millie carefully sneaks in behind him with her stun baton out, ready to do her trademark stun baton move
STORY: Let’s have a FA + Mettle to see how sneakily you accomplish that
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 1
STORY: josh rolled 8 + 1 = 9
MILLICENT: I had an idea for an action, too, if that’s cool.
STORY: Sure, what’s your plan?
MILLICENT: Millie sneaks in and activates the freight elevator. It’s on the side of the stairs, like a granny chair. It’s usually pretty unobtrusive and, because nothing’s too good for the Ya’Makasi collection, it’s super high tech. It silently folds out of the wall and glides up the tracks, hopefully knocking into one or more of the guards on the stairs.
STORY: With that 9, you can successfully activate it, but the guards are gonna see it on the way up – it’ll just force them to move to the same side of the stairs.
MILLICENT: Millie ducks under the apparatus. “Today is not our day.”
ALEJO: Alejo uses this as an opportunity to move, with Ryo, to the other side of the base of the stairs, getting himself and Ryo between Millie and the soldiers.
STORY: Sure. Everyone’s pointing guns at the three of you now. Ryo looks very unhappy but is basically just being pulled around wherever you want to take him.
STORY: Tueller, what do?
TUELLER: Dive at the clustered guards on the stairs.
STORY: Launch that Assault!
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 5 + 2 = 7
STORY: What goes wrong?
TUELLER: Tueller bowls them over and they all three go tumbling down to the bottom of the stairs, but Tueller is really rusty at this and he lands really hard.
TUELLER: The soldiers are definitely not in it anymore, but Tueller might be hurt.
STORY: All right! That’s a long way to fall and a lot of weight to fall on you. If you land funny, that’s gonna be a broken collarbone. Roll +Armor for a Major injury!
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 3 + 2 = 5
TUELLER: Oh dammit.
STORY: Oh gosh.
TUELLER: At least this looks hilarious.
MILLICENT: Genuinely whistled
ALEJO: “Holly shit, T!” Alejo grimaces and almost lets go of Ryo, but doesn’t.
STORY: You land hard, both guards in your arms landing on top of you, and you feel your shoulder take the weight of all three of you and something crack in your chest. Your helmet also slams to the ground with incredible force and cracks right down the middle, splitting and rolling off to either side of you.
ALEJO: “Ryo, if I let you go, can we just talk before this gets worse?”
STORY: Ryo winces. “Fuck!”
TUELLER: “Oh shiiit.’
MILLICENT: Millie bolts over and slides to Tueller’s side. That looked really bad. I’d like to check him out for injuries before I let him move.
STORY: Then he sighs. “Yes, fine. Everybody fall back, now.” When the guards on the floor start to scramble to their feet and cover Tueller, Ryo waves them off. “To the door, please Jeff.”
STORY: “Fuck’s sake.”
ALEJO: Alejo spins, let’s go of Ryo, and steps back.
ALEJO: He nods at Ryo gratefully. “Thank you.”
STORY: Gesturing to the three very confused soldiers standing by the door: “These guys didn’t have to know we know each other, you know.”
STORY: “What am I gonna do with them now?”
STORY: He holds out a hand to the three and answers his own question: “Triple pay, is the answer.”
STORY: “And access to the racing ship?”
TUELLER: “sure”
STORY: The three look at each other, shrug, and nod.
STORY: “All right. Get the others to a medic, please, and –” He makes a lock and key gesture over his mouth. “Yes?”
STORY: The remaining mercs grab their friends and leave.
STORY: Millie, Roll + Expertise please
TUELLER: Tueller just remains lying still for the time being.
TUELLER: “Y’all heard that crack, right?”
ALEJO: Alejo nods again to Ryo. “Gods, we owe you, Ryo. I owe you.”
ALEJO: “Sorry about the choking thing.”
STORY: Ryo looks down at the mess. “Yes, I’d say you do.”
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 9 + 2 = 11
STORY: “It’s fine, but maybe more theater next time, you know I wasn’t escaping that anyway.”
TUELLER: “That wasn’t enough theater for you?”
TUELLER: Tueller says from the floor.
TUELLER: “Did I not sell it enough.”
STORY: Millie, it’s a broken collarbone. You can fashion a sling to Patch Up Tueller and get him on his feet, though he’s going to need a few days off them to be ready to lift anything.
STORY: Ryo rubs his neck. “Not enough on your partner’s end, Tueller. Are you all right?”
TUELLER: “No I’m not fucking alright. I broke my collarbone FOR SURE on the way down.”
TUELLER: “Also a priceless goddamn artifact we need to get our ship back.”
ALEJO: Alejo looks around. “So, this is, ahh, the nanobot thing, huh?” He kicks lightly at a piece of glass, separating it from a nanobot.
TUELLER: “Which I’m currently face down on.”
TUELLER: “Face down in history.”
MILLICENT: “That’s definitely a broken collarbone.”
MILLICENT: “You wishboned it.”
TUELLER: “Oh god please don’t say it like that doc.”
ALEJO: “Epic stairway tackle, T. Epic.”
STORY: Ryo laughs quietly, covering his mouth.
STORY: “Well, that’s… a weird coincidence. For a second I thought you’d come because you heard.”
ALEJO: “Oh god. Heard what?”
MILLICENT: Millie pulls out a piece of cloth from an exterior pocket and hands Tueller a couple of pills from another. “I’m going to make you a sling and you’re not to lift anything heavier than your helmet for a few days. A week would be better.”
TUELLER: Tueller glances up and doesn’t say anything.
MILLICENT: “Here, take these aspirin.”
MILLICENT: Millie fashions and applies the sling while listening to Ryo.
STORY: Ryo leans against a table, shaking his head. “Things are weird around here lately. Less solid than they should be.”
STORY: He rubs his temples. “Nevermind. I shouldn’t say. You all got out.”
TUELLER: “We’ve got a ride right here, Ryo.”
MILLICENT: “Because you stayed in.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods enthusiastically.
TUELLER: “Unless you still want to be boss.”
STORY: “Tueller, your family controls a lot. They’re responsible for a lot of lives.”
STORY: “If this all blows up, it’s not just CJH employees who suffer, it’s everyone who’s paid by any branch of this business. It’s the cities and moons and outposts that depend on that protection.”
STORY: “I can’t just leave.”
ALEJO: “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but . . . what’s making things weird and less solid than they should be?”
STORY: Ryo blows air out of his lips, pursing them.
STORY: “Your sister’s… not well, Tueller.”
TUELLER: Tueller sits up a little straighter; that’s his only response.
STORY: “She’s paranoid, retreating. She sees maybe three people, no one else. She never leaves the compound on the main island.”
STORY: “Sure there are spies and microphones everywhere.”
STORY: “She’s not pissing in bottles and collecting them yet, but I’d bet that’s next month.”
TUELLER: “And people really are after her.”
STORY: “That they are. Hence the decoys.”
MILLICENT: “So, the most powerful crime boss in the system is going full latter years Howard Hughes.”
MILLICENT: “What good are you hoping to do by staying, Ryo?
STORY: “Sergio’s out – oh of course, you know that.” He gestures to the floor.
TUELLER: “You say she’s getting worse. You think it’s a medical thing? Like you find her the right drug cocktail she’s better?”
TUELLER: “Or the gig of being the universe’s worst person is getting to her?”
STORY: Ryo shakes his head. “I’m not a doctor, I don’t know.”
TUELLER: “Alejo, while we talk, you mind grabbing a broom from that closet there and some garbage bags? We still need to get this out of here.”
STORY: “Use the shop vac.”
ALEJO: Alejo frowns slightly, but he gets the vac and starts collecting the bits and pieces.
STORY: It gets loud in the room. Ryo stands around awkwardly.
TUELLER: “You don’t need to stay.”
TUELLER: “Thinking staying will do some good is how she keeps you longer than you should stay.”
TUELLER: “How she eats away at your soul.”
STORY: “Tueller.”
STORY: Everyone’s speaking up louder than is comfortable for this conversation to be heard over the shop vac.
STORY: “She’s a person, Tueller.”
MILLICENT: “What’s the worst case scenario if she goes off the deep end? How much damage could she actually do?”
TUELLER: “I know what she fucking is, Ryo.”
ALEJO: Alejo finishes with the vacuuming and mercifully turns the thing off.
STORY: “It’s not just her, Millie, it’s what Sergio will do if he takes over.”
STORY: “And I don’t think you do, Tueller.”
STORY: “She’s a villain to you.”
TUELLER: “We have a family division that researches weapons of mass destruction, and deploys them.”
ALEJO: “Not saying we should help, but, just for the sake of argument, Ryo, what’s your plan?”
STORY: “To protect the people who live here.”
STORY: “I don’t fucking have a plan, I thought you were here to help. Christ.”
ALEJO: Alejo frowns again. “He’s not wrong, T, about all the people who could get squashed. And . . . we could use allies in what’s coming.”
MILLICENT: Millie sighs and looks down.
MILLICENT: “He’s not wrong.”
MILLICENT: “We’ve got a little bit of runway to get some extra help before we do whatever we’re going to do.”
MILLICENT: “I can’t think of a better set of resources we could ever have access to in the time we have.”
TUELLER: “You want to conscript my sister into this?”
MILLICENT: “And, on the other side of things. If this comes to war and your sister is still in charge and finds out you were involved in starting this? It sounds like she’d join the Collective.”
MILLICENT: Millie guffaws, short and sudden.
MILLICENT: “No, Tueller, that’s not what I’m suggesting.”
MILLICENT: “Your sister is running an organization that’s more powerful than many planets and she’s losing her grip before she learns about the greatest shock of galactic history.”
MILLICENT: “Do you think it sounds like she has the ability to handle what comes next?”
TUELLER: “The notion that anyone does is the funny thing here.”
TUELLER: “I don’t.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods.
MILLICENT: “I can think of one (former) Ya’Makasi who’s got his head on straight. Straighter. Straight-ish.”
ALEJO: “I hear that.”
ALEJO: “And a second who’s . . . brilliant, if a pain in the ass.” Alejo smiles briefly at Ryo.
STORY: “You literally owe me three gigantic favors and you’re calling me a pain in the ass right now.”
TUELLER: “I think he’s flirting.”
STORY: “Gross. Not my type.”
TUELLER: “Also a faux pas in front of Doc.”
MILLICENT: “It is very strange timing.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles at Ryo.
ALEJO: Alejo puts his hands up. “Jesus. I surrender already.”
ALEJO: “Are we doing this thing or not?”
TUELLER: “What is ‘this thing’?”
ALEJO: “Well, either collecting this vacuum and running or,” he gestures around, “helping out with this situation and putting you in place as a temporary custodian of the Ya’Makasi family.” He looks at Millie. “If I’m hearing Doc’s suggestion right.”
STORY: Ryo looks like he has a headache.
TUELLER: Tueller does as well.
TUELLER: “Okay maybe it’s the weak-ass aspirin here, but I missed that.”
MILLICENT: “Oh that’s what I was implying, yes.”
MILLICENT: “You know the business, you know the lieutenants, you know your ass from a hole in the ground.”
TUELLER: “I couldn’t even run Peregrine!”
TUELLER: “Which we need to bring THAT back to if we ever hope to fly her again.”
MILLICENT: “Your sister is imploding and we’re going to need her help soon. If we can help her, we should help her, but if she’s already hiding in a bunker I’d think she’s probably beyond a referral to our very good shared therapist.”
MILLICENT: Millie turns to Ryo. “Weigh in, please.”
STORY: Ryo, who has been pinching the bridge of his nose, looks up blankly. “I was just asking Tueller to go help his sister, now you want to be my new boss?”
STORY: “I don’t have an answer for that.”
TUELLER: “I don’t want the job, that’s for sure.”
ALEJO: “I did ask if you had a plan.” Alejo frowns at Ryo. “So, what sort of ‘help’ do you think we could offer?”
STORY: “I WAS ASKING TUELLER TO GO TALK TO HIS SISTER.”
STORY: “My god, I didn’t ask you to stage a coup. Help her!”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “Fair enough.”
TUELLER: “Fine. You guys take that back to our employer. Get Peregrine back. I’ll go talk to Esi and either get some morphine or get killed. Work for everybody?”
MILLICENT: “You really want to go see her alone and injured?”
TUELLER: “Obviously I don’t want to see her at all! I just got talked into that!”
MILLICENT: “Nitpicking.”
MILLICENT: “Do you want to wait until you’re healed up, we have a ship of our own, and we can come with you?”
MILLICENT: Millie says this calmly, speaking to a child throwing a tantrum.
TUELLER: “Alone and injured is probably the only way she’d let me into a room with her.”
MILLICENT: Millie inclines her head. “Fair.”
STORY: “I’m worried about what she’s going to do in the amount of time it takes you to sort out… whatever it is you’re doing here.” Ryo gestures to the shop vac.
ALEJO: “I hate it. This plan sucks. But . . . I trust Ryo. And I trust him to make sure T isn’t killed.” He looks at Ryo. “If you think this might work, and if you think you can keep T alive regardless . . . fucking terrible plan but . . .”
STORY: “Why do you keep talking about this like it’s a mission?”
STORY: “I’m asking Tueller to go talk to his sister. There’s no plan.”
STORY: “There’s no strategy – she needs help.”
STORY: “You guys have crime poisoning.”
ALEJO: “Well, we’ve got a lot on our minds.”
ALEJO: “Tueller, it’s your call. But we’ve got to move if we’re making our rendezvous.”
MILLICENT: “Also if you don’t have an escape route in mind when going to talk to a Ya’Makasi, then stay in bed.”
MILLICENT: “That’s not an overstatement.”
STORY: Ryo raises his hands. “You know what, forget it.”
TUELLER: “Get out of here.”
TUELLER: “Ignore them Ryo.”
MILLICENT: Millie turns to Alejo. “He’s missed us.”
STORY: “You three aren’t safe to be in a room with.”
STORY: “Let alone to put her in one with.”
TUELLER: “I have no ‘plan’ or ability to put up a fight. If I can get these lugnuts to leave like I’ve been telling them to.”
TUELLER: “Also this way I don’t have to tell our employer I broke his priceless artifact.”
TUELLER: “Go.”
ALEJO: Alejo picks up the vac. He kneels by Tueller and puts a hand on his good shoulder. He doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Then finally he says, “Don’t die. Once we have Peregrine, we’ll be back here for you. Remember who your real family is, okay?”
TUELLER: “Of course.”
ALEJO: He stands and waits for Millie to say her goodbyes. “Look out for him, mission or no,” he says to Ryo. “Please.”
MILLICENT: Millie heads over to Tueller. “I want you to promise me you’re not going to lift anything heavier than a fork until I see you again.”
ALEJO: “Now who’s the flirt?”
TUELLER: “Uh. Okay, Doc.”
MILLICENT: “I just finished programming some new subdermal nanobots with a lattice protocol of my own design for knitting split bone tissue and I.”
MILLICENT: Millie starts to hug him, but remembers his injury at the last second.
TUELLER: Tueller hugs her anyway.
TUELLER: And breathes very audibly.
MILLICENT: “Don’t die, Tueller.”
TUELLER: “Look after him. And our girl.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods, blinking away her tears.
STORY: “Oh good lord, you three.” Ryo snips before walking out of the room.
TUELLER: “Go.”
MILLICENT: Millie sniffs and goes to collect the vacuum.
ALEJO: Alejo already has it. He takes Millie’s hand. “Let’s move, Doc.”
TUELLER: Tueller heads after Ryo.
STORY: All right! We’ve split the party.
TUELLER: Sorry boss!
STORY: It’s cool! I think we follow Alejo and Millie for now
STORY: Alejo and Millie, you make it back to the rendezvous point, where Jac picks you up, looking with a raised eyebrow at the shop vac you load in.
STORY: You have about eight hours onboard before you arrive back at the Tarrasque – anything you want to do?
MILLICENT: Oh man. Millie tries to hack the nanobots to reform the statue as best she can
STORY: Millie, these nanobots have been shut down for centuries, they’re non-operational
MILLICENT: I would like to try and fix them, please and thank you
MILLICENT: I mean, she’s a robotocist, in one of her degrees, anyway.
STORY: They’re not operational! I’m sorry, it’s like asking to resurrect a fossil, it’s not possible.
STORY: It was effectively a statue, the object was interesting for its history, not for its function
MILLICENT: Sure, but if it’s not broken by the time we get there, who cares? Who would know?
MILLICENT: Can she make even smaller nanobots to pilot the originals?
MILLICENT: This seems like a flat-out no, though.
MILLICENT: Am I reading the room correctly?
STORY: It’s shattered into thousands of pieces. It’s a no
MILLICENT: There’s that Anderegg perception
STORY: You did it!
ALEJO: Alejo paces, watching Millie with the shattered statute for a while. He goes and sits in the co-pilot’s chair for a while. He stares at the space around them.
STORY: Nanobots!
TUELLER: Jac did not look with a raised eyebrow at no Tueller, I guess?
STORY: She didn’t comment on it, but it was probably included in that initial raised eyebrow.
STORY: Millie, you can’t do anything with your shop vac bits other than potentially separate the nanobots from the glass shards.
MILLICENT: Oooh, she definitely does that.
STORY: Okay. You get a ton of tiny cuts.
STORY: Anything else to do on the ride back?
ALEJO: Eventually, Alejo goes to talk with Millie about next steps.
ALEJO: “What are we going to tell pirate king?”
MILLICENT: “Here’s your pile of statue.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “And if that’s not enough to get Peregrine back?”
MILLICENT: “I’m not even sure this will count as failure. He’ll probably want to mail a piece to every reporter on Luna.”
MILLICENT: “We’ve saved him the trouble of busting it up.”
MILLICENT: “Well, then we’re going to have to bargain, I suppose.”
MILLICENT: Did Thasht actually fix the ship?
MILLICENT: or is the Tarrasque just heading wherever the weird drive in Peregrine was heading when they captured it?
STORY: If she hadn’t fixed it, the Tarrasque would currently be the universe’s largest bullet.
STORY: So probably she did fix it.
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs.
ALEJO: “I’m worried about Tueller too,” he says, placing a hand over one of hers. He notices the micro cuts. “Damn, Doc!” He stands, gets a med kit, comes back and starts to treat her hands as best as he can.
ALEJO: No other business on my end before we get back to the pirate king.
MILLICENT: Same
STORY: All right! Let’s jump to handing off the shop vac.
STORY: Forsythe stands behind his desk, vacuum hose in his hand, looking very confused.
STORY: He points down, and then between the two of you. “Going to need you to fill in the missing parts on this one.”
MILLICENT: “No missing parts, I assure you. They’re all there.”
MILLICENT: “Some of them are still attached!”
STORY: He smiles and sits.
ALEJO: “You should see the other guys.”
STORY: He gestures for the two of you to sit. “I’m waiting for the part where you tell me what the fuck happened here.”
ALEJO: Alejo sits.
MILLICENT: Millie sits, looks to Alejo.
ALEJO: “There were some hiccups. Some soldiers got in the way. Tueller tried to use the case holding this thing as a battering ram. I think that he assumed that it was sturdier than it turned out to be. The case, that is.”
MILLICENT: “It went down a flight of stairs and didn’t take too well to it.”
MILLICENT: “But I assure you, any scientist worth their salt who receives a piece of this will be able to verify its authenticity.”
ALEJO: “So, we vacuumed it up.” He shrugs. “Like the Doc says, it’s all there. I made sure to get it all.”
STORY: Forsythe presses his hands together and touches his index fingers to his lips.
STORY: “And Tueller?”
ALEJO: “He’s fine. Well, he broke a,” he looks to the Doc, “Something.”
ALEJO: “But he’ll be fine.”
MILLICENT: “Collarbone.”
STORY: “You left him on Io.”
MILLICENT: “We left him in the loving care of family, who presumably will botch the job of patching him up.”
MILLICENT: “Sorry, professional concern.”
MILLICENT: “He’s fine, he’ll be back after he has an uncomfortable conversation.”
STORY: Forsythe steeples his fingers and peers at the two of you.
MILLICENT: “If the point of this was to show you could, well, we did that. If it was for a nice focal piece that ties the room together, I’m afraid we didn’t pull that off.”
STORY: “I’m not in the habit of sending my people into danger to make gestures, Millie.”
ALEJO: “So, where do we stand, then? I take it this isn’t a total bust, or we’d be having different conversation.”
STORY: Let’s make that a FA + Influence please!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 9 + 2 = 11
STORY: He shakes his head. “I don’t like this. Whatever went down, you’re not telling me the whole story.”
STORY: “But fine. I asked you for three jobs, you did them.” He glances at the shop vac. “To a certain definition of ‘did.’”
STORY: “I’ll have the locking clamps released on your ship.”
MILLICENT: Millie heaves a sigh of relief.
ALEJO: Alejo smiles graciously and nods.
MILLICENT: “Thank you. Would you mind telling us why we did those jobs? Or why you took our ship? Or really any context for these last few weeks?”
STORY: He smiles. “You want a job?”
MILLICENT: “I want to know what’s going on.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t dislike you and I am confused by that. I don’t dislike the jobs we did and I am confused by that.”
STORY: “Mm. I get that. But I don’t share secrets with people outside of my organization, and you’re no longer in it.”
STORY: “So do you want to leave with your ship, or do you want a job?”
MILLICENT: “I don’t think I have time for another job, but if I did, I’d like you to know I’d be tempted. If only to find out what you’re after.”
STORY: “Alas, then this is where we part ways. It was fun.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles. “As bosses go, you are a decent one. Listen, while we’re wishing for ponies, may I ask about Thasht?”
STORY: “Sure.”
ALEJO: “I need you to let her go. I mean, not while she’s awake and on your ship, obviously. Honor code thing and all. But she needs to come with us. Please.”
ALEJO: “You don’t need another person taking up a brig space forever.”
STORY: “You can have her, I’m just not interested in her killing any of my men on her way out.”
STORY: “Figure out how to get her offboard and you all get to survive.”
STORY: “Fuck that one up as bad as this,” he gestures vaguely to the hop vac, “and, well, I guess I’ve got to make an offer to Dr. Bolano for a more permanent arrangement.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
ALEJO: He stands. “Good luck with your endeavors, whatever they are.”
STORY: “Thanks. If you ever need a job, c’mon by.”
MILLICENT: Millie stands. “We won’t lose your number.”
ALEJO: Once they are out of the room, Alejo looks at Millie as they head towards Peregrine. “We need a plan to get Thasht to the ship without killing everybody. I’m thinking of knocking her out with something that doesn’t hurt her. Any other terrible ideas? She’s gonna be so pissed.”
ALEJO: “Either that . . . or we just tell her what’s up and hope that she puts that code thing aside for the greater good?”
MILLICENT: “I like idea one over idea two.”
MILLICENT: “But I wonder if that might put us on her hit list as well.”
MILLICENT: I’d like to do some research. Is there anything in Maitri culture that would let Thasht avoid having to kill our former employer?
STORY: Oh, let’s make that Assessment + Influence please! We’ll see how good you are at people learnin’ and culture understandin’!
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6+ 0
STORY: josh rolled 4 + 0 = 4
MILLICENT: GUYS
MILLICENT: Was it adding the + 0 as a bit?
ALEJO: –Haha!
STORY: Bad news, Millie. Their philosophy is pretty airtight. This crew violated her honor by defeating and capturing her, therefore she has to defeat them or be dishonored herself and return to being Maraas.
MILLICENT: Does defeat mean kill in every instance?
STORY: The leader, yes. She wouldn’t have to kill the entire crew, she could just kill TC and take over as captain of the Tarrasque.
MILLICENT: “This is. Not promising.”
MILLICENT: “Maybe we can fake one or more people’s deaths?”
MILLICENT: Big smile, turn to camera.