M-Space - Part 5 : Allies by necessity

Scene 10

Chaos: Out of control (d8)

Setup: to the ship

NPC List: station personnel, mystery antagonists, New Dawn contingent, SpecEx Hanna, parasites

Threads: long term-goal, short-term goal, freedom, Cloelia, station

[Getting back to the ship will also use Random Location Crafting; 50/50 chance for the small or large location column: 1d2=small]

T0 : expected - expected - none

The corridor outside the recreation area is dim, but there are no new signs of fighting.

"Everyone needs to move as quickly and quietly as possible," says SpecEx Hanna. "And if someone runs towards us, open fire immediately -- friendlies or no."

"Just a moment," says Damiana. "What's happening?"

"Maybe your scientist friend would care to explain."

"The quarantine breach... Oh, God..."


T1 : expected - none - none
T2 : expected - expected - expected

Unnerved by SpecEx Hanna's orders, everyone nevertheless obeys, and they begin moving swiftly yet silently forward through the dark station.

T3 : special - none - special
Loc: RETURN
Obj: THIS IS BAD (random) : Small, Hidden

At length they come to a T-junction, where passage area is sealed off by a manual pressure door. "We need to go through there," says one of the soldiers, glancing at a wristcomp holomap.

[Hard (-20%) Perception rolls are needed, only 2 characters make them]

"Stop!" shout Theophania and Damiana almost in unison.

Everyone freezes.

"There's something on the ceiling above the door," says Damiana, pointing.

"A proximity mine!" gasps the soldier.

"We need to double back," says SpecEx Hanna.


T4 : random - none - expected
Location: Aromatic, Personal

They backtrack, and alter their route. The new path to the ship takes them through a crew quarters section. First they move through a laundry station. Piles of dirty laundry, half-put into machines, still sit where they were abandoned at the start of the invasion.


T5 : random - none - expected
Location: Atmosphere, Artistic

From there they cut through a disused storeroom which was converted into an art studio. Several half-done paintings on easels surround a table with a bowl of commissary fruits arranged for a still life.


T6 : special - random - random
Location: EXIT HERE
Encounter: Busy, Evil
Object: Bizarre, Fuel

A lifepod station is across the corridor on the other end. [1d10-4=0] All ten pods have been launched. Tubs of paraffin are stacked by the entrance to one of the pods for some unaccountable purpose.

[Encounter is 1d6=5 parasite hosts. They are (1d12): 1-5 station personnel, 6-9 New Dawn troops, 10 freighter crew/passengers, 11-12 mixed (d10 for each): 7]

Five figures rush towards the group out of the gloom, New Dawn soldiers in combat armour. One of them has a rifle slung on their back, the rest are unarmed. Hanna shouts for her soldiers to engage and the rest to fall back.

[Q: Do they get away? likely : O2 C5 - yes]

Blaster bolts pound into the armour of the maddened soldiers. One of them leaps upon the handcuffed station tech, knocking him over. Hanna's soldiers keep firing. Everyone else is running.

The sounds of blaster fire behind the runners suddenly stop, followed by sounds of a scuffle. Then they round the corner at the next junction, leaving it behind.


T7 : random - special - expected
Location: Enclosed, Dry
Encounter: MULTI-ELEMENT -- expected, expected (Parasites, Station, New Dawn: 2d3=P&S)

[Q: Can they avoid the encounter? 50/50 (4+): O6 C5 - yes

Damiana needs to roll Willpower (61%) vs Loyalty (62%): 34 vs 95, will not intervene]

They run blindly through the dark station. SpecEx Hanna is hurriedly calling up the station schematics on her handcomp. They almost blunder straight into a group of parasite hosts savaging a pair of station personnel. Hanna says to keep going, and no one hesitates.


T8 : random - special - random
Location: Confusing, Bright
Encounter: EXIT HERE
Object: Important, Classy

[Exit Here = small docking area.

Q: What is beyond? 1 system shuttle, 2 hyperspace shuttle, 3 escape pod, 4 workpod, 5 small private ship, 6 sunbeam corp military lander (i.e. the cavalry): 1d6=5]

They come to a corridor with emergency klaxons blaring and flashing red lights. A high-security airlock entrance is set into the wall.

"What's this?" asks Hanna.

"What???" responds Damiana."

SpecEx Hanna looks up for a moment, then blasts the loudspeaker above their heads.

"What's through there?"

[Damiana once again check Loyalty vs Willpower: 81 fail vs 38 success, willpower (i.e. self-preservation) carries the day]

Damiana considers the question for a moment, then realises there's only one clear option for survival. "It's a way to save all our lives."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a ship. We can escape. but..."

"But what?"

"We need to come to an agreement first."

"I'm listening."

"We go to a neutral system, then all go our separate ways. No one's a traitor, everyone lives. Agreed?"

"Agreed. So how do we get to it?"

"We, er, need to open the security door."

"Don't you have clearance? Or whatever?"

"Not this level. Only the senior executives, and maybe security..."

"Dammit."

"I can bypass the lock, if you give me a minute," says Cloelia. "I'll need your handcomp, if you don't mind. And someone's ID badge."

[Cloelia needs a difficult Electronics (56-20=36%): 30, succeeds]

Cloelia uses the corer of Stipan's ID as a screwdriver to get into the access panel, then plugs in the handcomp and gets to work on running a bypass. Meanwhile Theophania and Hanna are standing guard. Hanna spots something a few metres away on the floor, and goes to investigate. It turns out to be a leather attaché case, still handcuffed to its owners arm. The rest of the owner is not present.

Damiana looks over to see what it is. "Ugh... but that might be important..."

No one moves to pick it up.

Cloelia stands back in triumph as the security readout flashes green, but the airlock door fails to open. She sighs and starts in on the manual release crank, which is now unlocked.

Beyond is a sealed landing bay containing a single small starship. Other than the flashing light coming in from the corridor, the bay is in complete darkness.

They quickly go inside to examine the ship by torchlight. It s currently powered down, and the entry hatch is closed.

[Q: Is the ship locked? likely (3+): O5 C2 - yes, and...]

Cloelia examines opens the access panel by the hatch, and looks deflated when she finds only a keypad beneath. "No way I'm opening this up without proper tools," she says. "ship hulls are made of stronger stuff."

"Maybe there's a clue in the case out in the corridor," says Damiana.

"That's probably just wishful thinking. I'll let us in from inside," says Theophania.

"Um, what?"

"Ssshhhh. I need to concentrate."

Damiana's silence is mere consternation. Theophania shines her torch through the viewport into the empty cockpit and stares. [Teleport 42% : 46, fail -1PP ; next round 34, success -4pp]

Damiana is opening her mouth to finally speak her mind when Theophania is suddenly not there.

Then the cockpit lights up with a reluctant flicker. A few seconds later the entry hatch slides open and the ramp extends. Theophania stands silhouetted against the open hatch. "We'll discuss this later. For now we need to get the hangar doors open and the ship moving."

"C-can any of us fly it?" stammers Hanna, walking up the ramp.

"I can," says Theophania. "Can anyone plot a course?"

[Q: Can Hanna? Doubtful (6) O6 C3 - yes, but... base skill level +10% (at this point I decided she needed her own character sheet; rolling up a PC without using life paths is pretty quick once you've made a few.]

"Fortunately, yes," says Hanna. "I learnt a bit of astrogation in the navy."

"I'll go out to open the hangar doors," says Cloelia. "Help me get into this vac suit. And promise not to leave without me!"

[Easy Vac suit roll to avoid mishaps (51+20=71%): 29, no issues]

As Theophania preps the ship for launch and Cloelia gets the bay doors open, SpecEx Hanna releases Damiana and Stipan from the binders. When Cloelia returns and is safely through the airlock, Theophania fires the manoeuvring thrusters to propel the ship out of the open ceiling.

[Q: Is there anyone on the New Dawn ship monitoring sensors? 50/50 (4+): O5 C6 - yes.

Sensor skill (60%) roll succeeds. Hanna also gets to make a Sensors (54%) roll, succeeding.]

"Shit," says Hanna from the co-pilot's chair. "The Vengeance is firing up her guns."

Theophania immediately makes evasive manoeuvres and rolls the ship. She fires thrusters as lasers streak past [their Gunnery (60%) vs her Pilot (37%): 17 (success) vs 04 crit!] and interposes the bulk of the station between her and any successive shots.

[Q: Pursuit? unlikely (5+): O3 C1 - no, and... might not be able to leave]

Theophania is braced to manoeuvre again, but the New Dawn ship never comes out from behind the station. "They must still be attached," offers Hanna.

[Q: Is the ship fuelled up? unknown d6=2: O6 C6 - yes

+EVENT: PC positive - Failure / A project : the destruction of the station after raid by opposing corp means T won't suffer fallout, and may even be considered for another mission if she runs into Olafemi again (noted for later)

The ship has Hyperdrive-3, 1d3=1 hex fuel]


Scene 11

Chaos: Out of control (d8)

Setup: space travel

NPC List: New Dawn, Sunbeam, Cloelia, SpecEx Hanna, Damiana, Stipan

Threads: long term-goal, short-term goal, Cloelia, Corporate War

Once they are well away from the station, Theophania calls a meeting a meeting in the lounge. She has Hanna put the sensor readouts up on the lounge screens in case of warnings or pursuit.

"So it looks like the ship didn't get re-fuelled before the station was attacked." says Theophania.

"Meaning...?" asks Damiana

"We've a rather limited range."

"Narrowed options are preferable," says Hanna. "Under the circumstances."

"Indeed," says Damiana. "So, where can we go?"

Theophania pulls up the sector chart on a screen. "We're here, at Aug, so using all our fuel we can only reach Makif and Audrima."

"Not much of a choice..." mutters Hanna. "I guess we're going to Makif."

"Not so fast!" says Stipan. "You're not still in charge, you know. We need to vote on it. Weigh our options carefully first."

"Be my guest. I'll let you lot debate this whilst I start plotting the course to Makif."

"I'd really rather you didn't."

"Why don't you all read the entries on both systems in the sector data and leave me to it. I'm not throwing my weight around and I don't claim to speak for all of you -- but there's no real choice here."

She wanders out to the bridge. The others watch her go in silence, then call up the data on the two systems. Each has but a single inhabited world. Eidiya (in Audrima) is a low-population, failed colony whose toxic atmosphere is slowly eroding the antiquated life support machinery. Aretesi (in Makif) is a failed terraforming project, and currently a hotspot for armed conflict -- but at least there's a refuelling station, and despite the ground wars, outsiders still find reason to visit for trade.

[Q: Any dissenters? unlikely (5+): O3 C1 - no, and...]

No one wants to spend weeks or possibly even years stuck on Eidiya waiting for a ship to come by with fuel for sale, so the vote is unanimous as Hanna had said.

[Navigation software? Level 1d6-2=1, +5%
H's Astrogation (40+5=45%): 25, ok]

Hanna plots a course for Makif. With the minimal fuel levels, she estimates travel time at 6 days.

[Q: Any unforeseen problems with the ship? Doubtful (6): O6 C1 - yes, and...
Q: Immediate? 50/50 (4+): O2 C2 - no, and... occurs after arrival in destination system
+Event: NPC action - Stipan - Communicate / Masses (he's going to try to send a message to his corp as soon as they are back in normal space (lacks Communication skill, so can't send from hyperspace))]

Within the hour, the ship has entered hyperspace. Theophania and Hanna emerge from the cockpit into the lounge to find the others all staring expectantly.

"Now that we're safely away," says Damiana, "I believe you have something you were going to explain to us..."

"I really want to hear this, super bad," adds Cloelia.

"Right," says Theophania, "that. It's, uh, just a thing. I can do. I dunno how. It's maybe genetic, but no one else in my family... also it was never in my doctor's reports. I've been told -- later, when I had it studied-- I can somehow project a psionic field around myself that allows me to slip a small distance through spacetime. It's just like any other kind of thinking, to me. I couldn't tell you how I do it, but I do it all the time. When I want to. Just one of the mysteries of the universe, or summat."

"Is there anything... else you can do?" asks Damiana.

"No, that's my one good party trick. And before you ask, I have to see where I'm going to end up or it doesn't work. It's embarrassing how many times I've locked myself out of my own flat."

[It's a hard (-20%) Deceit roll to convince the others with her halting explanation: (77-20=57%): 47

vs everyone else's willpower--

C&H fail; D 30, S 24; T wins the contest -- for now.]

No one is quite sure of the explanation, but they aren't sure asking questions will get them anywhere, so decide to keep schtum for the time being. Cloelia isn't sure she wants to know any more. In fact, she might like to forget...

After a few more moments of awkward silence, Damiana suggests they explore the ship and figure out sleeping arrangements. The ship has [2d6=] five cabins, one of which is larger than the rest. Cloelia pipes up almost immediately, saying she'd like to take the captain's suite since she and Theophania will be sharing, and it works out to less space per person than a private room. [simple Influence (51%) roll: 05, crit!] No one has any objections, and they're maybe even relieved that the logic of the situation works for everyone.

"I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds..." she says as they are looking through the cabin.

"Not at all!" says Theophania as she locks the door, and then decency requires we fade to black...


next post: hyperspace