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So there was a bug causing issues here on SoloRPG.com
I used a different online GM Emulator to keep the game going but ALL my notes are here on this site.  So there might be a bit of continuity errors because of that.  Anyway here is my latest storytelling:

So I'm stuck on the ship.  I imagine we are parked for a while anything interesting happen while parked?

(Somewhat Unlikely | 8[d10]) Yes +Twist: Emotional event / Changes the goal

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

NPC Action

Befriend

A plan

Dependable and insane inquisitor who is as strong as you and whose motivation is to comprehend pleasure and is focused on your rewards.

ok used a bunch of buttons to try and figure out how to proceed with the twist. now lets see how to use these prompts.

Lets try this:
===
I am asked to be part of another greeting party in one of the shuttle bays.  All our shuttles and drop ships are gone right now having gone with the Tak Units on their jobs.  So receiving a shuttle is easy right now.  All the info I have about the visitors is that they are from another mercenary firm: Executive Outcomes, Based somewhere in the Selirium System.

The shuttle lands and the liquid nitrogen cools the deck as usual.  The guests come down the steps of the shuttle and I am gobsmacked to see that I recognize one of them.  A classmate from Gaelmore Magic Academy.  A woman named Abra Black. 

When we were in Gaelmore she had talked about her dad and her granddad being members of the Council of Inquisitors.  I got the feel she wanted to follow in their footsteps.  And apparently she did, cause she was wearing the black and red suit that was synonymous with the inquisitors.  The elite magic police force that investigated and punished mages that violated the Olympus Accords.  Mages tended not to trust the Inquisitors, but the types of mages the Inquisitors went after were true monsters.  The kind of mages that go down in history books because of how many people they murdered or worlds they destroyed.  So while mages tended not to trust inquisitors, they had no choice but to grudgingly admit, inquisitors were necessary. 

I was no different than most mages in that respect.  I had a healthy fear of inquisitors because of what they represented.  So you can imagine how unsettling it was for me when she saw me.  Showed that she recognized me as well as I recognized her.  She waved and approached me ahead of her escorts with a look on her face that had me wondering if I should start running for uncharted space.

"Jason Burkhind, You are a sight for sore eyes.  How have you been getting by?"
"Uh, Well pretty good, kinda.  At least for the most part.  There's been a few things not as great but I'm getting by."
I had the decency to feel a little bad that my first instinct was to recoil in fear from Abra.  We were classmates after all, and we got along pretty good at Gaelmore.  Under any other circumstances we would be greeting each other as long lost friends.  But that red and black suit just put an edge to things I couldn't ignore no matter how hard I tried.  

Im pretty sure she noticed, cause I think I saw a little hurt in her eyes when I gave my greeting.  I could also tell she was about to give me a friendly hug in greeting but she stopped herself at the last moment.  But her expression never changed and she just kept moving forward.

"I had heard some things hadn't worked out so well for you.  It sucks what happened with the Bird in the Hand.  I am sorry about that."
"I'm still surviving"
"Thats good at least.  Well, there's something with that that got put on my plate actually.  I need to have a meeting with you and your captain.  You're not in trouble! You're just involved through no fault of your own.  I'll explain in the meeting."
"Ok I'll request the meeting."
I went on to introduce the rest of the greeting party who included the XO in fact.  Who had just stood by and allowed our guest to greet me without interrupting.  After introducing her to Inquisitor Black she resumed her role as the head of the party and welcomed her and her Executive Outcomes escorts.
I made a modest effort to salvage my greeting as they were leading Abra on a brief tour of the public areas of the ship.
"Abra, it is good to see you again.  Congratulations on following the family tradition.  It must have been a huge challenge."
Some of the hurt eased in her eyes,  "Thank you Jay.  It was.  A challenge I mean, and it still is in a lot of ways."

The meeting with the Captain happened about two hours later.  In Attendance:
Me again of course, The Captain obviously, The XO, Abra and her escorts who looked very relaxed despite obviously watching for threats to their charge,
"So the reason I am here is because there has been a roundabout accusation made against Mage Burkhind to the Council that he was involved in activities that violate the Accords."  She raised her hands and tried to speak over the little uproar and my heart attack that comment caused.  "We know the accusations are false.  Or I should say, I know they are false."
"How do you know they are false?  and if you know they are false why are you here anyway?"  Thank you captain, you asked the very questions I wanted to ask.

"Accusations like this need specifics to properly begin an investigation.  This accusation included details from the Stornberg Conference.  Thanks to the fact that you are doing work for The Mountain we were able to gain access to reports about the incident you provided prior to taking your current project. I knew right away because I went to magic academy with him.  And I know what Runes of Power he studied.  We both studied forces together, we were in the same classes.  And everyone at the academy knew he also studied space, because there's not a single mage that studies space without bragging about it daily to everyone who will listen.  The accusation was claiming you used your magic to facilitate the gas attack then tried to cover it up when you got yourself caught in it.  I knew none of that was possible because the accusation implied the use of Transmutation Magic.  And as I just explained, I know what Runes Jason studied. 
"
The council takes all accusations seriously.  Including deliberately False accusations.  We know sometimes accusations are false because of a lack of complete knowledge of what really happened or lack of knowledge of how magic works.  Truth is, of the thousands of accusations made every year only a small fraction of that total turn out to be legitimate.  And those usually turn out to be less severe than initially suspected.  But an accusation as obviously manufactured as this, specifically to make a false accusation is something we take every bit as serious as an actual violation of the Accords.  There was a lot of random chance that put this accusation in front of me.  The lead councilor gave it to me because they looked up what academy you went to and they saw we both went to Gaelmore.  While any inquisitor worth their salt would have uncovered that the accusation was false eventually it would still have made life miserable for Jason for a while and likely would have affected his employment too.  Blue Ridge wouldn't be offered any more jobs from The Mountain if they had a Mage under investigation by the Inquisitors after all.  Fortunately I was able to head off all that because I knew Jason personally.  Then I requested to be given the assignment to investigate who would try to frame my old classmate and why."

So this girl stuck her neck out, stopped a whole investigation in its tracks, then came out all this way,  all for me.  And I treat her like she's some diseased wretch when she tries to greet me like the old classmate I am.  Geez, I already feel bad about that, way to crank it up to eleven universe.

The Captain and the XO discuss the current working theory about Minister McClelland and the SQSS Little Gina.  I tell Abra that its mostly circumstantial so we cant really prove anything with it.  But she says not to worry about that point.  She has resources she can apply in this case because this is now an official investigation and she assures me this is enough to start getting judicial writs authorizing the pursuit of the evidence. 

The process can be accelerated if there is a Runic Farcaster Facility in the Dzhebariki system.  The Farcaster is a magical means to communicate instantly across the Protectorate.  With it you can send a message across all the light years to another such Facility in a system.  Usually the way it works is, you give your message to the Runemage in one facility, and they perform the ritual to make the connection to the appropriate facility in whatever system you want to contact, and they read the message to another Runemage in that facility who will then see to it that the message is delivered to the intended recipient.  Using the system is expensive, and most people dont like the obvious lack of privacy and will therefore typically just send their messages via the periodic couriers that travel between systems.  But couriers are slow and it can take weeks or even months for a message to get to the right place that way.  So the Farcasters exist.  You can request private transmission but arranging that is complex and takes time because they need to find the recipient.  and if they happen to be unreachable at the moment for whatever reason you could find yourself sitting in the facility waiting for a long time to talk to whoever you wanted to.  Fortunately for Abra, when making private calls in an official capacity, there are dedicated Farcasters on Mars for the various government ministries and branches.  So the wait is much less.

So after making the explanation, there better be a Farcaster in the system.

(Somewhat Likely | 8[d10]) Yes

Sweet.  Near rim are developed enough to have one.  At least 60% of them are anyway.  And Dzhebariki is one of them.

No way is it on this moon we orbit.  Its on one of the primary worlds of this system  We will name this world: Kipiyevo

Now the twist said 'changes the goal' soooo:


"I need to go to the Runic Farcaster on Kipiyevo.  Afterwards I would like to remain aboard the Hammer and Blade, At least for the time being, I suspect that the Little Gina will likely make an appearance before your work here is done.  I think this Minister McClelland is rather anxious to see you separated from Blue Ridge Security."
"In that case I will inform the Central Committee representative on the station we have accepted a contract to escort a Representative of the Protectorate to the Farcaster.  That way if Little Gina makes its appearance sooner rather than later we will all be here ready for it."
"That, ... could work actually.  You could tell them that the "Master of the Field" will cover any jobs that come around while you are gone.  That is allowed in our contract isnt it?"
One of the escorts, aka bodyguards, actually spoke.  "We are contracted to ensure your safety while conducting this investigation and to assist in whatever way you need.  So yes you can have our ship act as an alibi for the Blue Ridge guys while you send your message and they play bait."
The Captain smirked at the little jab from the rival mercenaries but otherwise made no reaction.  The XO just shook her head then said,  "I'll send the communiques and get us ready to disembark."
"Thank you Commander." The XO walked out and the Captain addressed me.  "2nd Lieutenant, I am going to temporarily assign you to Inquisitor Black's escort, Dont worry guys you will have Command of the escort mission, we'll consider this a joint operation for now.  The 2nd Lieutenant will be under your command when accompanying Inquisitor Black."
"We will need it all in writing before we agree."
"I'll have the contract written up in an hour."
"Sounds good.  I look forward to working with you 2nd Lieutenant Burkhind."
"Uh, thanks, me too.  And I will try my best not to embarrass my Captain."
everyone got a chuckle out of that.

I walked with Abra to the cabin we were putting her up in for now.  I wished I could get a minute in private so I could say what I wanted without the two looming gorillas we were at her cabin and saying goodbyes when:

"Uh, Abra, could I have a moment, um, please?"
She looked at me for a moment then gave a weak smile.  "Sure, come on in."
"One moment"  One of the bodyguards went in to clear the room.  He swept it with a device of some kind then again with another.  Came out and nodded to his teammate "Its clear"
"Its ok guys, give us a moment."
"Yes Ma'am"
and we entered her cabin.

"... Hey your cabin is bigger than mine."
She gave a quick exhale through her nose. "Sorry about that."
"No thats not.  *sigh* Abra, I'm sorry about how I greeted you.  I hated myself for it as soon as I did it."
"It's ok Jay, I have learned to expect that reaction.  It comes with the territory.  Seeing you made me feel a little too nostalgic and I forgot that,"
"You should feel nostalgic, we were classmates, friends.  And I just... You don't deserve that.  Everyone knows what you're doing is important, I know what you do is important, but you still get shunned for it."
"... ... Thanks  Jay.  It's nice to hear that from someone that doesn't wear this uniform."
"I remembered you instantly when I saw you, I remembered the classes, the homework, and Groff's Whitewater Punch."
"Oh My God Yes!  Did anyone ever figure out the recipe for that stuff?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"No one could drink that stuff without being completely trashed by the end of your first cup."
"Heheheh yea. ... It really is good to see you agin Abra."  I gave her a big tight "hello long lost friend" hug; which, after a moment, she returned whole heartedly.
"Just staying in this cabin sounds dull.  Wanna see this ship's rec area?"
"Can I get coffee there?"
"We got something there people call coffee but I'm not convinced it really is."
"Heh, I'd love to see it."
"Great lets go."

With a friendship successfully salvaged and a new mission to attend to, once all the legal mumbo jumbo between the captains of the Master of the Field and Hammer and Blade was settled.  We disembarked for the Runic Farcaster on Kipiyevo.  We could, once we were a sufficient distance from Dzhebariki Chetvertaya's gravity well, teleport directly to Kipiyevo, But systems tend to frown on that if you do it without permission.  And right now, Dzhebariki Customs were not giving permission to anyone.  Anyone porting in close to a planet right now was to be considered hostile.  And while we could clear up any misunderstandings before the guns started shooting, we didnt want to cause anything to disrupt any of our operations currently running.  For any of our employers.

That meant taking the slow way.  Traveling by fusion drive.  Oh it was still pretty fast, but not instantaneous.

"According to what I've heard, not counting the Protectorate Navy, there hasn't been a intra system teleport to or from inside the asteroid belt in Sol since the Eugenics War."
"And its just a thing no one questions?  There is no official law or regulation on any of the books?"
"That sums it up right there.  There is nothing but some unconscious agreement by everyone that visits Sol that other than the occasional in system arrival port, you don't teleport inside the belt."

Me and Abra started having daily rec room coffee hangouts.  I wasn't willing to call them dates.  Not while I was the subject of an investigation anyway.  Not only that, I didn't think she was interested in such a thing.  Either way I was getting the feeling that she hadn't been able to do this for a while.  A long while.  Just talk to a fellow mage over coffee.  That red and black uniform she wanted so bad in the academy came with a steep price I'm not sure she really understood at the time.  Likely the only friends she had were her fellow Inquisitors.

*****I just felt this was the way J should play this and realized he was running with the aspect "So there is a heart under there".  Therefore I am awarding myself +1 Fate Point.*****

So anything interesting happen on our trip to the Farcaster?

(Somewhat Likely | 4[d10]) No, but...

It took 9 days to reach Kipiyevo by fusion drive.  We were pulling 10 to 12 gravities cruising so the most all us mages had to do was keep the gravity runes charged.  They drain faster under strain.  We were all alone out there on the trip.  Nothing was coming within 85 million kilometers of us.  So the captain started having me dangle the bait a bit.  I sent requests out to our deployed units (except for the stealth units working with the hand) and tak teams to provide an updated casualty report.  This was a task I was kinda hesitant about but I did it anyway and braced myself.  I would transmit over an open frequency: "2nd Lieutenant Burkhind to *unit/tak team* The Captain has asked me to request an updated report on any casualties you have taken."  The hope was anyone trying to find me would get word of the transmissions and maybe the Little Gina would make its appearance.

I could tell most of our people were a bit confused by the request because there is a procedure for making these reports and this wasn't it.  But they seemed able to figure out that the captain was up to something so they just played along.  They all reported to me that there have been zero casualties in zero engagements.  The Captain was kind enough to confirm that that was exactly what she got in the official sit reps earlier.  I was more than a little surprised and talked a bit about it with Brian in the simulacrum office during shift change.
He chuckled a bit and told me:  "Yea, that's something civilians just don't understand about war.  You see all the holos and think a war is all action all the time.  In reality though, its the opposite.  In every war, at any moment, even the moments when there are multiple battles happening at once in different places, a minimum of 80% of the opposing armies are just sitting around trying to fend off boredom."
That was interesting to learn.

"Well, we're in parking orbit over Kipiyevo and there is exactly zero sign that 'Little Gina' is even in the system.  It was a long shot anyway I guess; but, its still disappointing."
"I understand.  Well once I make my report to the Council they should issue a Writ allowing me to investigate that McClelland guy.  I could go to the Susquehannock system and start digging in his yard for skeletons.  Even if I don't find anything it should rattle him enough that he backs off of you and you can finally start getting your life put back together.  It would be nice to be able to say I helped a friend find his feet again."
"I'll wait and hear what they say first, even I admit the theory is all circumstantial.  But if you do end up going to Susquehannock, be careful of this guy.  If it is him then he already shown he's not afraid to kill a few people if he has to."
"Its a promise.  Alright lets get down there ad send a message."

magic buttons at the bottom of the page, does anything interfere with us at the farcaster?

(50/50 | 3[d10]) No

the buttons have spoken.

It turns out to be a pretty uneventful trip to the farcaster.  We set down at the spaceport and arrange transportation.  There are no aircars available so we have to get an SUV.  Yes the big civilian vehicles that carry 8 to 10 with lots of cargo room left over and can traverse most level terrain are still called SUV's even though they don't resemble their ancient ancestors at all. 

We hear news about the war raging in the system on the news channels while we travel.  The rebels actually do have ships apparently and they are attacking all shipping with Central Committee Loyalist markers in their identifier beacons.  To date they haven't attacked any shipping with tags from other star systems though they have contacted them and tried to dissuade them from doing business with the Loyalists.  Or if they are here to do business with the rebels they give them free escorts.  Of corse the Loyalists are doing the same thing.  Both sides are playing that game as smart as they can I guess.  So far there have been no direct fights between the rebel and loyalist navies, both just hitting unescorted shipping.  Ironically there was a fight between two mercenary companies ships that ended in what amounted to a draw in that no ships or shipping was destroyed but the targeted convoy did return to their point of origin and took cover behind the defenses of a trade station.

The Protectorate Navy has not made an appearance yet though word is there is a small fleet consisting of 3 destroyers and a Trumpets of War class heavy cruiser currently in the Tuyên Quang system.

The ground sea and air war on the planets, moons, and settled planetoids and asteroids is sporadic.  The Loyalists have the bigger and more well equipped army but the rebels seem to be using the equipment and resources they do have wisely.  They have also established themselves as the vastly more maneuverable of the two evading fights they know they cant win and choosing only fights they have a chance. They don't win all of those but they do win.  Under these conditions, Abra, the two goons, and I eventually figure this war could go on for quite a few years.  We debate the possibilities of both Loyalist and Rebel victories and eventually figure this is the Loyalist's war to lose.  The only way the Rebels win is if they keep forcing the Loyalist to play by their rules.  But the moment the Loyalists can force a large scale battle there would be no way the rebels could win head to head.

It only takes a little over an hour to reach the Farcaster and Abra makes her call.  It takes two and a half hours to report the details of my theory and to make the case that investigating the crooked minister was the way to go.  She emerges and explains she needs to come back at a specified time tomorrow because her director wanted to confer with both higher level directors as well as a legal expert to see if this was something the Council of Inquisitors even could investigate or if it needed to be handed over to a more standard police force in the Protectorate.

So we need to get a hotel.  Which there are several to choose from, and in an effort to head off any awkwardness or immature high school like antics the Goons request three rooms.  Why not four?  Because one of the goons will be awake keeping watch.  They inform me and Abra that we are to get a full night's rest and be ready for the scheduled appointment at the Farcaster the next day.  Which ok thats all fair and we just go with the flow on that.  Eventually its off to bed and to awake the next day.

We have some time before the farcster appointment.  Lets see what happens.

any sign of McClelland's antics?

(Unlikely | 5[d10]) No

Yea its unlikely.  I was much easier to track before I was working for Blue Ridge and that thing in the Sol system was after I'd been there for months.  His resources are good but not good enough to track me after the Hammer and Blade jumped out of the system.  He might have found out where I am after the bait dangling the Captain had me doing but it'll take time for him to get a ship and crew here to do anything.  So unlikely probability was the best choice in my mind.

so we got some time.  How to kill it?
"A card trick?  Really?  Jason, you're a mage."
"But not a Transmutaionmage."
"Why do you even know these ancient sleight of hand games?"
"I spent a lot of time in my recent past too poor to go out on the town in the evenings."
"... ... Sad sorry."
"Not your fault, besides I got a decent job now."
"A dangerous job."
"Look who's talking."
"... yea ok I have to give you that point."
"Ok so now that that's settled, Pick a card!"
Abra does a facepalm

Eventually the appointment time comes and Abra has her second conference by Farcaster.

so what do they tell her?

(Very Likely | 7[d10]) Yes

Yea I said it was very likely but there was a chance for a no.

now how do she proceed?

Separate

well damn, how specific can the "Get Action" button get?  Its like it was reading along as I was typing this story out and decided what it wanted her to do.  And it chose the opposite of what I was wanting to do.  But I have to admit this makes more sense.  Her staying on the Hammer and Blade wont advance the investigation.  So the Council of Inquisitors is going to have her go to the Susquehannock system and start an investigation there.  Executive Outcomes has been contracted by the Council to guard a few specific Inquisitors and to act as backup if necessary.  Inquisitors working on cases that are considered low profile with low probability of finding a rogue mage.  This case has just gone up in profile but time is of the essence so they have expanded the contract to allow Abra to go straight to Susquehannock on board Master of the Field.  I will be sorry to see her go.  But I am glad I got to see her again, and I'm glad we reconnected as friends.  We take the shuttle back to Hammer and Blade and set course back to Grazhdanskaya Stantsiya 01 where we will link up with Master of the Field and Abra will set off to begin her investigation into that corrupt asshole McClelland.

On the way the Captain has us run a few ship combat drills.

I start practicing ways to defend the ship.  Which gets rather harrowing even when not under fire. 

Every type of mage has their own abilities in their toolset.  The easiest to imagine would be the energymage.  Use lightning to shoot down missiles.  Use electric fields to shield against lasers and particle beams.  Alter the kinetic energy of projectiles.  As a Forcemage I have to think of different ways to defend the ship.  So I alter the momentum of the missiles, turning the velocity into mass slowing them down enough for the CCS to shoot them down.  Which is difficult in the extreme targeting those fast moving missiles.  All of it must be done on the fly by instinct.  The same with laser and particle beams.  I create tiny sinks of super high gravity to bend light or particles away from the ship or at least turn a direct hit into a grazing shot.  This is both difficult and dangerous because the gravity needed to do that is extreme.  I am creating mini black holes to perform this trick and doing that as close to the ship as I need to tends to have various effects on the ship.  All of these effects are bad.  So when the captain makes me redo these drills several times, my discomfort increases exponentially as the maintenance crews start giving me very dirty and soon to be angry looks.  And the only question I have is how bad do I damage the ship in these drills.

(19 = 14[d20]+5) Critical Damage: Requires immediate attention; clearly disabling if not immediately desctructive.

Well the job was nice while it lasted.  Am I fired?  This is a good question.  on the one hand I almost ripped an engine off the ship and injured several crewmen.  Any deaths?

(50/50 | 3[d10]) No

Thank the answer buttons for small favors

On the other hand.  Because I didn't think to play it out in the training montage, Its not something I got training on at the headquarters on Earth.  Rather shortsighted but understandable.  They were given the task of bringing an older civilian up to military speed and under pressure to do it fast because of need for mages.  So I basically got thrown into a situation I was completely unprepared for.  And when I point out my lack of training; the captain insists that the drill IS training. 

Which is true. 

Technically. 

The fact is that unless you are a mage, you don't really understand how dangerous the power of magic can get.  Mages are always under strict control (unless you are breaking the Accords in which case the Inquisitors get you) so how destructive they can be is not something generally known.  And since all the other mages the Captain specifically and Blue Ridge Security in general have ever dealt with were former military.  They never saw a mage untrained in defending a ship.  So there was a whole lot of ignorance of potential consequences to spread around.

This puts the Captain in a dilemma.  While the damage I inflicted is clearly deserving of some disciplinary action, the fact that Blue Ridge itself did not properly train me for the task is clearly not my fault.  And the Captain is not accustomed for punishing people for things that are clearly not their fault.

This is going to need the Directors to weigh in.  So running on partial power with broken engines we make our slow way back to Grazhdanskaya Stantsiya 01 where we will need to utilize their repair facilities and send a message by Protectorate Courier Service to Sol.

This can take some time.

anyway.  here goes,  I wanted to redeem myself but I need an opportunity. so:


* Do I get a chance to redeem myself on the long flight back to the station? - Yes, but...
So I'm pretty miserable.  but stoic.  The crew is kinda split on me.  Word that I was never trained has spread, as has the fact I told the captain this.  fortunately Brian is on my side.  He knew it was a mistake to have me jump into the deep end like that but he was unable to alert the Captain in time.  He turns into one of my best advocates.  I'm still confined to quarters.

Abra takes some time to commiserate with me how I just can never seem to catch a break.  She also volunteers to give me some training.  A point i see as useless because I expect to be fired.  But she insists and does it anyway.

Things quiet down.  Repairs are in progress.  Sick bay heals the hurt crew.  I get training with Abra, which turns us into regular comrades in arms in addition to friends now.

  and at some point at about the halfway mark:

Battle Stations!

The alarms jolt me awake and as I was drilled to hell and back I bolted to my station (the simulacrum chamber) faster than anyone else gets to their station.  Of course im out of breath and hurting from that run but i was first on station.

The rebels see this as a good chance to take out a powerful enemy.  We are working for the Committee openly.  our Protectorate job is top secret.  So sadly we gotta fight this fight we dont want. 

running is not an option given our damaged engines.  so we have to either beat them up enough they break off or destroy them.  They come at us with three small gunships and two destroyers.

our orders are to defend the ship.  Abra will be helping so we are able to split the tasks.  I am assigned the missiles.  Brian will try to deflect beam weapons.  Abra will be assisting Brian.  The gunships only have beam and particle weapons so the number of missiles will not be as large.  Though each destroyer has 16 missiles  so 32 every 30 to 40 seconds is quite a tall order.

The captain plans to engage the Gunships first.
I will have to hold the line

First wave:
I have to create zones large enough to catch as many missiles as possible.  Abra has taught me that I dont have to catch all of them.  Thats what caused my trouble when I damaged the ship. 
By altering the force of momentum in a group of missiles,  I exchange velocity for mass.  This slows the rate of closure of the missiles and the sudden alteration of mass throws off the targeting computers.  So they are slow heavy and inaccurate after I zap them.  The  CCWS (Close Combat Weapon System) is designed to shoot down missiles and small craft.  All I have to do is slow down or cause to miss enough of them in each volley that the CCWS has an easier time doing its job.

I remember abra also said to not catch the first to arrive.  slow down the second or third set.  Thats the time a CCWS starts to get overwhelmed if its going to be overwhelmed.
alright lets go:

32 missiles.  The tactical information on the screens in the enhanced simulacrum show that there are 4 sets.  as always each set is somewhat offset from the others as the missiles try to approach from various directions to avoid the CCWS tryingg to shoot them down.  So I will try for the 3rd set of 8 first.

The amplifier will allow me to create the area affect that coves all 8 missiles with just 2 shifts of success.  That sounds like a lot but when youre talking an area thousands of kilometers across that really not that much. so I will charge 5 shifts of power.  My Lore covers 3 so I need to roll a +2

Here goes nothin:


(Note: while this site was down I went to a different site.  I will continue to use that site from time to time but this site will be my primary playing site.  I like some of the random generators there.  theyre the same as here but different.)

so the rolls:



1 = +0 -1 +1 +1 0

I will take the backlash in the form of physical stress.

so I create a zone of good effect.  How many missiles do I catch though?  8 missiles, 8 rolls against good? they are smart AI's but not smart enough to see an invisible zone of magic.  Yea lets play it that way.  I like that way to play it.

4 = +1 +1 +1 +1 0

Fuk you 1 miss

0 = +0 -1 +0 +1 0

-1 = +0 +1 -1 -1 0

-2 = +0 -1 +0 -1 0

2 = +0 +1 +0 +1 0

0 = +1 -1 -1 +1 0

1 = -1 +1 +0 +1 0

0 = +1 +0 -1 +0 0

OK not bad.  Only the one missed.  The others get hit and are slowed down slightly and made just a bit heavier.  Its not much.  but in a game of milliseconds it dont take much

do any go off course?

(50/50 | 7[d10]) Yes

ok I judge the 2 with the negative results go off course.  so even better.
Now to see whats faster me or the 4th set:

set agility is good so +3

-2 = +1 -1 -1 -1 0

ok so I gotta beat a 1:

-1 = +0 -1 -1 +1 0

ok no go.

how well does I help?

CCWS Vs Set 1, 2, 3*, and 4

CCWS then Sets  these are direct opposing rolls.  set 1 is even set 2 is given a +1 set 3 gives the CCWS a +1 which gets set 4 at even again.

-1 = -1 +0 -1 +1 0

-1 = +0 -1 -1 +1 0

tie goes to player

2 = +1 +0 +0 +1 0

-1 = -1 -1 +1 +0 0

fuck

(4 = 1[d20]+3) Negligible: Nick/Scratch/Dent.

right ok

4 = +0 +0 +0 +1 +3

3 = -1 +0 +0 +1 +3

ok now 4

3 = +0 -1 +0 +1 +3

3 = +1 -1 -1 +1 +3

tie to player

the fight rages.  Im gonna skip everything else but my part in it.  I know it aint over yet so I got another round of missiles  same deal as last time lets go.  ( i will ask about the battle with the answer buttons after this round)

like last time 32 missiles in 4 sets. CCWS tryingg to shoot them down.  So I will try for the 3rd set of 8 again.

The amplifier lets me cover all 8 missiles with just 2 shifts of success. so I will charge 5 shifts of power like last time.  My Lore covers 3 so I need to roll a +2

alright the 8 rolls for 8 missiles they need a 3

-3 = +0 -1 -1 -1 0

-1 = +0 +0 +0 -1 0

1 = -1 +1 +1 +0 0

1 = +0 +1 -1 +1 0

2 = +0 +1 +0 +1 0

-2 = -1 +1 -1 -1 0

0 = -1 +0 +0 +1 0

-3 = -1 -1 -1 +0 0

Cool 4 of them go off course  That will actually help the CCWS a lot and will hold back the +1 the second set got last time so its even, even, +3 for CCWS, +1 for CCWS.

-2 = +1 -1 -1 -1 0

-3 = -1 -1 -1 +0 0

-2 is better than -3 so CCWS wins

2 = +0 +1 +0 +1 0

2 = +1 +1 -1 +1 0

Tie to player

5 = +0 +1 +1 +0 +3

no roll needed for the missiles

-2 = -1 -1 +0 -1 +1

3 = +1 +0 +0 +1 +1

Tap Aw Shit again -1 fate point roll that all again

0 = +0 +0 +0 -1 +1

0 = +1 -1 +1 -1 0

tie to player

OK are any of the gunships out of the fight?

(50/50 | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

so two are out of the fight.  And I will get minor assistance this round because of the lower intensity of beam weapons.

The assistance will take the form as a free fate point I can call on if I need it.

we will do this all again.  One more verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit worse.

need a 2

0 = +0 +0 +1 -1 0

I will take Physical stress backlash all stress boxes filled now will take consequences next

8 missiles need a 3

-1 = +0 -1 +0 +0 0

0 = +0 +0 +0 +0 0

2 = +1 +0 +0 +1 0

2 = +1 +1 +1 -1 0

-1 = -1 +1 +0 -1 0

-1 = +0 -1 +1 -1 0

-2 = +1 -1 -1 -1 0

2 = +1 +1 +1 -1 0

Again 4 go off course.  So same bonuses as last time

-1 = -1 -1 +1 +0 0

-3 = -1 +0 -1 -1 0

ok CCWS wins its ugly but it wins

-2 = -1 +0 -1 +0 0

0 = +0 -1 +1 +0 0

no, dont want that.  - tap free fate point

0 = +0 +0 -1 +1 0

-3 = -1 -1 +0 -1 0

better

5 = -1 +1 +1 +1 +3

cool no need to roll for missiles

2 = +1 -1 +0 +1 +1

0 = +1 +1 -1 -1 0

yes got out clean.  So is the last gunship gone?

(Likely | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

and the Captain is now giving attention to the destroyers.  I will get more help from my fellow mages.They will take out on of the sets for me.  SO I only need worry about 3 this round

They will take out set 1  I will focus on set three again.

-2 = +0 +0 -1 -1 0

tap aw shit again -1 fate point

only 1 left now

0 = +1 +0 -1 +0 0

1 = +0 +0 +0 +1 0

3 = +0 +1 +1 +1 0

2 = +0 +1 +0 +1 0

-1 = -1 +0 +0 +0 0

3 = +1 +1 +0 +1 0

-1 = -1 +1 +0 -1 0

0 = -1 +1 +0 +0 0

2 off course but 2 missed by effect

so it evens out

set1 gone

3 = +1 +0 +1 +1 0

-1 = +0 -1 +1 -1 0

set 2 gone

1 = -1 +1 +0 +1 0

1 = +0 +1 +1 -1 0

tie to player

1 = +1 +0 -1 +1 0

1 = +0 +0 +0 +1 0

tie to player


ok hows the destroyer holding up

(20 = 20[d20]) Critical Damage: Requires immediate attention; clearly disabling if not immediately desctructive.

AWESOME one is out of commission

have they had enough?  do the retreat?

(Somewhat Likely | 7[d10]) Yes

Thank Yew

does this redeem me in the eyes of the crew?
A Little?

(Somewhat Likely | 9[d10]) Yes

Some?

(50/50 | 7[d10]) Yes

quite a bit?

(Somewhat Unlikely | 8[d10]) Yes

A Lot?

(Unlikely | 4[d10]) No

OK I'll take what I can get.  At least the open hostility goes away and some will talk to me again

Our return to Grazhdanskaya Stantsiya 01 has several results. 
First the courier is here so we get the message out to the directors.
The ship gets in line for repairs
Defeating the rebel fleet gets us a bonus so repairs will be no charge to us.  Yay?
The crew is all healed by now
and they are talking to me again
but there are still some haters
there is controversy to the whole thing though as expected.
Abra is leaving on her mission to investigate McClelland

We separate under good terms.  Sorry to see her go but it is what it is.  Maybe something will come of it and I'll get out from under this debt.  Time will tell.
Im still confined to quarters for the most part.  But my performance in the fight was noted by the command staff. 
Im gonna make a contacts roll.  To see if I know anyone on the station that can help speed up the repairs.  Doubtful but I got the skill, time to use it:

3 = +1 +1 +1 -1 +1

Thats not bad.  I think that will let me help a little actually.  A drinking buddy from Badinov's.  He'll do me a solid for a price.  I tell the Captain.  She is getting anxious because the secret missions could be getting done soon and we need to be ready to go.  so what does the contact want?

From the off site generator:

Patron: friend or relative

Impetus: poverty

Activity: elimination

Target: item

Complication: competition

Trigger: chance meeting

I can work with this.  The price is a job. 


--------------------------------------non milestone break

this is a good place to break.  I'll post this for prosperity and fun, and continue later
-------------------------------non milestone break
Reset Stress
Reset Fate Points to adjusted refresh
---------------------------------------------------

With repairs underway ahead of schedule I am sent with a team of two crewmembers to find out what the job is.  The crewmembers are still a bit perturbed with me, but I did handle the fight with the destroyer type ships pretty well.  They weren't protectorate navy destroyers but they were in the same weight class.  so they dont grumble too much about going with me.

I meet Gordy (my contact) at our old watering hole.  Badinov's Dive.
Gordy isnt someone highly placed but he is a shift leader for one of the drydocks.  And He was able to increase our priority by making a small "adjustment" to labor and material availability.  Nothing too nefarious.  Just delayed the receiving in of a few shipments by one day and let a few additional guys take a day off.

So now to repay the favor:
"I'm not sure I understand this right."  I say after a brief explanation.  "Its a standard com unit.  They cost less than 50 Solien a piece.  I got two of them on me now, One is my personal unit I bought years ago and have attached to my data pad.  And the other is linked to the Hammer and it's com channels.  What good will scrapping this one do?"
"You answered what good it will do yourself just now.  The com unit is linked into a specific set of communication protocols that give the guy access to information he should not have.  Like your connection to the Hammer.  He's too connected while he has it so he's untouchable even though it's illegal for him to have those protocols."

So the story works like this:  The station "drydocks" (a name that wont seem to go out of style no matter how archaic it is) have companies of workers that are for the most part independent contractors.  The Company Chief Executives bid on various ship repair and construction jobs and ship captains hire the team with the best bid.  Well one of the Executives got a com unit that has the security protocols to let him listen in on what is supposed to be secure communications between ships requesting time in the station drydocks and station control.  How this executive got it no one knows, and no one is supposed to know he has it either, but Gordy found out by accident one day while he was getting beat up over a labor dispute with the shift leaders of the company in question.  He tried going to his bosses, who tried going to station police, who did nothing.  The connections and leverage this guy has with that unit is just too great. 

Now its not altruism that has Gordy wanting to level the playing field.  He wouldn't care if it was his company that had the unit.  But its not his company that has it.  And with things going as they are.  His company is going to go bankrupt if they keep getting outmaneuvered by this other company.  The information they get lets them get inside almost every job because they have early knowledge of what's going on and they can make early preparations that no one else even knows need to be made.  And if his company goes bankrupt Gordy and everyone else working therre is unemployed.  And the likelyhood of finding another job like this, that pays as well, is zero.  Not on this station anyway.  And tickets off the station, are expensive.  And Gordy has a family to provide for.

Once I get the eplaination and understand the job its time to get to work.  We know where the unit is.  We just got to get to it.  Then permanently wreck it.

So the nice thing about being from a big ship.  Is that big ships carry little ships.  So getting an appointment to discuss the potential construction of a small shuttle or dropship *could* fall to the level of a junior to mid level officer.  And I am a junior to mid level officer.  Even though i am an Old Junior to mid level officer.  But thats not the important thing.  The captain actually helps when I explain my plan.  We just need to pull it off.  It a simple plan.  and if pulled off right.  No one will ever know we did it.

So the three of us go in and await the secretary to guide us to the office of the CEO who will be making the bid. 

The hard part is to find the unit itself.  But we think we have a good idea where it would be.  I need a distraction so I can slip away.  Then if I can confirm the unit location.  I can deal with it in an instant.

Im sent with a shuttle pilot and an engineer.  As fortune has it the engineer is Scott Montgomery.  Who is on the fence about me.  The hack was a thing between us too.  Now I wrecked his ship. 

How mad at me is he?

39 = 39[d100]

ok, not great.  but at least he's heard how I was kinda shafted by circumstances.  and he's mellowing slowly because of it.  But he's still annoyed.  Either way he is gonna give this mission his all because it means getting the ship fixed faster.

How's the Pilot?

1 = 1[d100]

damn.  Not mad at all.  they were in a similar situation.  They were from a planet bound police force prior to becoming a merc.  They had a similar instance with a dropship.  Not in scale of damage but because they were being asked to do something they never trained for there was a certain amount of collateral damage to shuttles, dropships, and shuttle bay.  They got to stay on the ship.  and things smoothed over after a while.  They think the same thing will happen for me.  Especially since they are hurting for mages right now.

I actually feel a little better after getting that story.

So there is a plan but it all hinges on the right distraction.  AND me finding the com unit.  We are given a pretty good idea based on what Gordy found out that day.  So we set up a meeting using the story we want to commission the construction of a new dropship.

The pilot and engineer do the talking.  Im looking for my chance to slip away and find the com unit.

NPC Action

(Neat!  I can work with this.  Love buttons that help when I'm stuck)
While they are talking about designs and requirements and wish lists with the head of the company a man in a suit comes knocks on the door in a particular pattern that dont sound natural. 
"Um, sorry,"  the CEO says to us,  "Yes?"
"Sorry to interrupt sir but H&B just called with something you need to hear."
"This better be good or I will be having words with them.  I appologise this should only take me a moment."
"It's fine we can wait a few moments anyway.  Chalk it up to 'shit happens'."
"Thank you for your understanding I promise this wont take long."
he walks out and after a few seconds I see the man is keeping watch on us.  The two guys I'm with fill the silence with shop talk about shuttles and drop ships and I ask the man watching us if I could be directed to a rest room.
He gives me a few directions and offers to call someone to guide me.  I refuse saying "If I get lost just going down a hallway I deserve to stay lost forever."

Rapour +1 for me and whats this NPC minion got?
ummm
I say,
He's a minion! he follows orders and got the personality of a cardboard box.  He got a 0.

so here goes:


-1 = -1 -1 +0 +0 +1

-2 = -1 -1 +1 -1 0

wow that was close

we both got the personality of cardboard.  But it looks like I'm corrugated cardboard while he's like that single ply stuff that popcorn comes in at the movie theater.

The NPC lets me go unguided.  Now for a little slip around a corner and lets find mr. CEO

If I understand the plan right, the Captain was to be calling the drydock about a fictional problem that the current company doing the work cant deal with so is there anyone else that can take this other job while the other guys finish their work.
Its thin.  very thin and would never stand up to any sort of scrutiny.  But thats not the point.  This is my one chance to find the unit and wreck it.  Without getting caught. 
and there is no play here.  I saw what way CEO went out the door but I need some luck to be able to follow him.
So here goes:


1 = +1 +0 +1 -1 0

not very lucky but nothing bad happens  but lucky enough I catch a glimpse of him.  So head on down that hall instead of this one and (alertness +1)

1 = +0 +1 -1 +0 +1

0 = -1 +0 +1 +0 0

made it opposed and I win so I found where you went and there is the unit.  Just as the door closes I see it.  Its a small box attached to a standard Com Console you would find on a ship.  The box is the decoder.  They could hide that little thing anywhere but the box needs to be hardwired into the Com unit.  and the two of them together makes it a bit conspicuous to hide and not as portable.  So they set it in this room where no one is supposed to go.  I note that CEO is the only one there and I see him turning on the unit to listen  as the door auto closed behind him. 
I'll simply be inconspicuous and wait for him to leave while I figure out how to sabotage the thing.  And I think I got a good way to do it.

I play lost.  Yes i do, I play lost till I see CEO leave.  Knew it wouldnt take long.  I spent the time looking lost preparing then as he left I subtly make my way up to the door.
First I need not not draw attention while my Runes are glowing with my prepared spell.
Lets see how I do

-1 = -1 +1 +0 -1 0

FATE POINT!!!

Aw Shit here we go again

0 = -1 +1 +1 -1 0

against the security alertness

0 = -1 +1 -1 +0 +1

gave em a +1 instead of +2 cus they probly bored in a construction shop.  Theres not many high level secrets stored in a construction shop.  So while they are professional security they are professional low level civilian security.

And I got a tie, and Player wins ties

NOow for the spell
this could suck

1 = +1 -1 +0 +1 0

Fate point.  Loyal to paycheck.  again.  paycheck is everything god damnit.
I need a superb effect for this. So I buy it with a fate point to give me the extra success i needed on that roll.

My power which I was preparing and focusing does its job.  And in the middle of the room, behind a closed door that I send my magic through as I walk past, thee area of the room I saw the box attached to the com unit.  I momentarily shut off Van Der Waals forces.

It lasts just a second, if that, before the magic dissipates and cold natural physics comes rushing back in.  But that fraction is all it takes.  When Van Der Waals forces shut off in that box, all the molecular bonds are suddenly, ... gone.  Then Physics comes back and the bonds instantly reform.  It causes a bit of THUMP I feel in my chest.  But that box is now all sorts of fucked up as all the molecules disassembled and reassembled in random ways. That box will never work again and they will never even be able to identify what the hell happened to it.  They might figure out it was me eventually.  But I'll be gone from here by then.

There might be some fallout from this later.  But for now the Job is done and we can finish the game and go home.

My return to the Hammer and Blade is met with some nods of almost approval from the crew.  I came through on the job.  Got everyone in and out with no fuss.  And we got away clean.  At least as clean as we can be anyway.  I think I managed to redeem myself a bit more in the eyes of the crew.  And that was the only mission I was worried about.
-------------------------------non milestone break
Reset Stress
Reset Fate Points to adjusted refresh
---------------------------------------------------

=========================================================================================================================================
So life got in the way.  Havent played in a while.  so just gonna ease back into it.  fortunately this site kept everything for me so I can look up where everything was and what I was doing.

I do forget how things were supposed to get going again so i'll use some of the tools mark put down here and see what comes up.

=============================================================================================================================================


Time progresses forward.  Im looking for a new place to live IRL and this guy here in my solo universe is waiting to see what happens to his employment with BRS.

Fortunately IRL Im not in trouble at work.  Not yet anyway.  Gotta keep it that way.  So lets ask fate how hot the water is.  It should have cooled a bit.

-4 = 26[d100]-30

Ok so learning what im doing when defending the ship as well as pulling off the job, which has that contracting firm making all kinda accusations but the captain smartly asked him to report to the authorities on the station and we would cooperate with their investigation.  Which the CEO couldnt do without answering the question about how he got that decryption unit.  so we were good.  for the most part.

As an added bonus the contractors doing our repairs throw in some refits for the shuttles and dropships for cheap for leveling the playing field.

We are finally out of drydock when we get the verdict from the Directors of Blue Ridge.  Time to face the music:

(50/50 | 4[d10]) No

Well thats good news.  Not fired.  Seems they agree that my not being properly trained was a major failing on their part.  Hard to believe they were so reasonable about this.  Probably helped no one was killed.  There is a balance to be paid though.  I will be demoted to Ensign.  With a pay cut.  And loss of shore pass privileges for a time.  And continued confinement to quarters.  They leave it to Captain's prerogative how long confinement continues, as well as whether or not I should be transferred to another ship.  Lets see how that goes. 

Whatever she may decide, it wont happen right away.  So I will cool my heels and try to make nice with everyone.  We got work to do once we are out of the Drydock anyway.  Escort mission.  Committee Heavy Haulers Outbound carrying everything from ore to refined metals and industrial gasses.  We need to make sure they make it safely out of the system to their jump point.


So escorting.  everyone hates escort missions.  How may days will it take to get to their jump point?

9 = 2[d10]+7

ok 9 days. 

Do you have any idea how much fun being confined to quarters can be?  Im only allowed out for drills and my shift.
anything happen while im whiling away the time in my quarters?

(Somewhat Unlikely | 2[d10]) No

thats no help

two large haulers wont leave this system without the rebels challenging it.  so lets see what they bring:

how many ships?  they dont have many resources but they do have them.  they would want to be sure they could take our ship.  and we bested them once already.
so what do they send?

Bounty hunter

ok theyre sending a merc unit.  mercs fighting mercs.  how wars are fought in the future.
so mercs are expensive so prolly only one ship.  but it will be equivalent to ours.

Being locked up like I am theres not much to talk 'bout.  Im passing time as best as I can... at least we know where I am when it goes down. 
Alarm goes off, I book it to the simulacrum. Fairchance gives me the same job as last time.  Messing with the missiles. 

One thing abut this fight, they're not after us.  The Haulers are their targets.  So we prolly wont get much incoming fire.  So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Lets do this thing:

The enemy in this fight can only fire two salvos of 6 each at a time. 
Our plan is this:  I will focus all my attention on the second salvo each time, Lieutenant Fairchance focuses on the first. 
our ship will attempt to close with the enemy to bring our guns to bear.  We dont expect our own missile salvos to actually reach them; we think they have an extremely powerful CIWS that will make short work of our salvos.  They have 2 sets of 150's which are not powerful enough to do much to a ship if it has been armored like ours.  The haulers are likely unarmored so 150's could probably do some damage to them. But the 150's are really designed to shoot down missiles, so 2 sets mean they have a very strong anti missile defense. 
We on the other hand have one set of 150's and a heavier beam weapons system commonly referred to as 300's.  300's are not useful for shooting down missiles but can do some good damage to ships once in range.  The Haulers probably each have a "Half Set" of 150's for shooting down missiles while they run like hell. 

the plan is to mess with the incoming salvos enough the haulers can take them out while we chase away the enemy.

Well I'll let Fairchance do what Fairchance do and let ships do what ships do and Let focus on my first salvo  Using amplifier again 2 shifts to cover area big enough to catch all the missiles and 3 for effect thats 5 shifts.  Lore = good so need roll of +2:

0 = +0 +1 -1 +0 0

Ah Shit fate point to reroll

1 = +1 +0 +1 -1 0

Fuck you dice

now the missiles theey need a 3

0 = -1 +1 -1 +1 0

-1 = +0 +0 -1 +0 0

-1 = +0 -1 -1 +1 0

1 = +0 +1 +0 +0 0

-2 = -1 +0 -1 +0 0

3 = +1 +1 +1 +0 0

Ok one made it through.  lets see how well the hauler des against the missiles:
First, do the negatives go off course?

(50/50 | 2[d10]) No

Shit.  At least Theyre slowed and messed up.  That'll help the hauler, I hope.  I'll say the hauler gets a +1 and with the mess I gave the missiles  (3 got negatives thats half, lets give them a -1)
So first the Salvo:

-3 = +0 -1 -1 -1 0

awesome

-1 = -1 +0 +0 -1 +1

damn, but the hauler won so thats all that matters.
Next round as we continue to close
Im only gonna go for a effect of 2 this time so I need only 4 shifts.  Lore=good so+3 I need to roll a 1:

2 = -1 +1 +1 +1 0

Yay

Missiles go:

3 = +1 +1 +1 +0 0

3 = +1 +1 +1 +0 0

1 = +1 -1 +0 +1 0

1 = +1 +0 -1 +1 0

0 = -1 +1 -1 +1 0

1 = -1 +1 +1 +0 0

Fuck you dice

ok the hauler and missiles are unmodified here.  Hauler gets +1 and missiles are null.  First the missiles:

1 = +0 +1 -1 +1 0

1 = +0 +0 -1 +1 +1

Tie to player.  So hauler doing good.

2 salvos.  Hows the other hauler?  Any damage?

(Unlikely | 3[d10]) No

Yea, Fairchance is good at his job.  Unlikely anything would get past him unaffected.

Hows our ship?  Any damage?

(Very Unlikely | 3[d10]) No

AAANNND the enemy?

(Unlikely | 4[d10]) No

Well ok then next salvo:

do the 4 shifts again:

0 = +1 +0 +0 -1 0

FUCK!
Backlash physical stress

Missiles?

1 = +1 +0 +1 -1 0

0 = +1 +1 -1 -1 0

-3 = -1 -1 -1 +0 0

-2 = -1 -1 +1 -1 0

1 = +1 -1 +0 +1 0

-2 = -1 -1 +1 -1 0

awesome.  That gives the hauler the +1 and salvo a -1 again

1 = +0 +1 +1 +0 -1

typical

0 = -1 -1 +1 +0 +1

FUCK

How bad?  Get damage, but i messed with all the missiles so damage should be mitigated some.  Lets mod it a -5 on the D20 mark's get damage uses

(8 = 13[d20]+-5) Minor Damage: Largely superficial; degrades performance, but not disabling.

Ok we'll deal

hows the other ship.  Any damage?

(Somewhat Unlikely | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

WOAH FUCK!  well now I dont feel as bad

So they get a mod to the damage but its a +2 for the and on the yes

(22 = 20[d20]+2) Destroyed.

HOLLEEEEEYYYY FUCK!!!

Do they consider that a good enough win to break off?

(50/50 | 7[d10]) Yes +Twist: Item / Ends the scene

Ah, I can use this.  I can see in the tactical display in the simulacrum the enemy breaks off sharply and the other Hauler is damaged. 
Their captain dont wanna risk the trip with a damaged ship so its returning to the station for repairs.  We'll escort back.  Victory for the Rebels.
We send out our shuttles in SAR operations for the crew of the other hauler.  do we find anyone alive?

(50/50 | 3[d10]) No +Twist: Emotional event / Changes the goal

wow ok I barely figured out the first and it hands me 2 twists.  Let me think here...

Ok, so no survivors, but the SAR find something odd in the wreckage.  something that they are so tight lipped about the servers make comments about it when my meals are delivered.
thats interesting so what now?
Im not gonna learn anything else in my quarters.  and Lt F. knows as much as I do when we talk during our debriefing and AAR reviews.  At the AAR the Captain informs me my confinement is over.
Yay!  thats good.  I cant think of how to advance any plot when confined to quarters.

Then she asks both me and Lt F to come take a look at something.

We head to an isolated holding area.  that is under guard.  thats, interesting, but not unheard of.  Kinda typical for cargo such as weapons and amunition.  Not for salvage from a civiian cargo ship though.

Inside there is what looks like a glass cylinder.  Cracked and broken.  but there is/was a person in there.  They are sadly deceased, another victim of this system's civil war when that ship blew up.  What they doing in a cylinder? Ths cylinder looks vaguely like a medical ICU pod. 

"This is a medical pod" Says the captain.  (Ok cool I identified it correctly.  what do I win?)  "According to our ships doctor this pod is typical for extreme cases where a patient has suffered near fatal injuries of illness.  But this person looks healthy.  the interesting thing to us is the runes around the extremities of this person.  Our doctor is not a mage so we are hoping you can identify the runes"

Both me and Lt F look and roll our Lore:

my Lore is Good so +3

2 = -1 +1 -1 +0 +3

And F:

5 = +0 +0 +1 +0 +4

I dont know nothing but F knows something.

"Its not my field, but this is Bio Mage Runes. with a bit of Energy Runes mixed in.  They look like Runic tattoo's but they're not.  The design is wrong."
I think I see what he means when he points.
"They are set to receive power from an outside source, not from this poor kid"

"Explain." says the captain

"Runic Tattoos take magic from the user, the runes for that would be here.  But instead they're here.  So someone else is activating these, not the victim here."  F explains.
"But other than that we cant tell you what they do.  These are Bio Mage runes.  Thats all we can tell you.  You need a Bio Mage to explain them."

Activate:
Stunt -Mage Reconize Mage- Lore as contacts to Know a Mage:

4 = +0 +1 +1 -1 +3

That's Great  Literally, a 4 is Great on the Fate ladder.

"Fortunately, I know a guy"  I tell them.  "But he's not here.  As in He's not in this System.  As of Last year He was in the Uritinus System.  In a city called Ustinov on the planet Tyndarus.  I might be able to get a message to him to Identify the runes.  It could be an expensive Farcast message though."

"I see."  was all the captain said for a period of not less than 15 seconds.  "Well, thank you for your help gentlemen.  Jason I'll get back to you on contacting your friend.  Dismissed."
"Yes Sir!"

Well,  Guess now I wait.  At least my confinement is over so maybe my luck is changing.

=================================================================================
Yea, that was fun.  Been away a while.  New Job, and Moved.  Finally had some time to myself to recharge the batteries and be creative for myself for a change.
=================================================================================
=================================================================================

Dear God its been forever. Been going through it. Its a depressing state of affairs when work is the best thing going in your life.
But I'm climbing out of the hole and gonna try and get back to living a life. And I want gaming to be a part of it. (Solo and with a group)

So first thing first. I need to read this whole thing to remind myself where I left off. (its like going back to Dragon Quest after not playing for a while... Where am I and wath was I doing and What button does what?)

++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
So I am all up to date and I know what I was doing.
Lets Play A Game!
=====================================+++++++++++++++++++

What do you do?

Good question Oracle. The First obvious thing is I get a message ready for my contact. I include all the details and relevant pics and package it all up nicely. I have the whole thing ready and now I just wait on the captain to decide to get in touch with me about contacting the contact.

Other than that... Well lets enjoy not being confined to quarters. I'll go to the rec room and see if one of the common comp setups are free so I can play my game I havent been able to touch because I dont have my own comp in my own room.

No, but... +Event: Heal / Death

Lets see... That was to answer the question: Well is anyone there that has an issue with me in a bad way.


Ok Weeelllll who is it... I think I have an Idea

Engineer McGomery walk up to the compy Im gaming on.
"they let you out I see."
"Uh, Yea."
"Word is they're not scuttling ya."
"Got busted to Ensign with a paycut. And maybe getting kicked off the ship. Dont know yet."
"Possible."
"I know. I'll just have to deal with it."
"Whats your preference?"
"I like this ship. I like this crew. I'd like to be allowed to stay. But if not? Well, wont be the first time I get my ass fired from a ship."
...
...
...
...
"For what its worth. What I've been hearing has been pretty split between them that think you're better off elsewhere and the ones that think you should stay. With the edge going to the stay guys."
...
...
"That's actually a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, I have met some that were on my side in the whole mess. But I thought they were in the minority."
"Don't get me wrong. You screwed up bad. But you took responsibility and accepted the consequences. And you didn't bitch about it. The fact that no one got killed helps too."
"I did kinda blame my lack of training."
"Only when you were asked directly in the follow up. Look kid,"
"Im in my 40's"
"Look kid, Just take the praise when you get it. You aint dodging or trying to weasel out of anything. You're ready to take whatever they give you. And you've handled yourself pretty good since then. That gets its own kind of respect."
"Ok, I'll take the praise along with the punishments."
"Good I was getting tired of trying"
"Heh, right. Thanks Scott."
"Sure thing"
"I do wish I could get the verdict on if I get to stay or not over with. I got enough going on to worry about that too."
"Well, My guess is there will be an unofficial poll taken by section leaders and officers, who will use that to make their recommendations to the captain. If what I hear around the ship is a predictor, You'll probably stay. Also we cant forget the fact we really need a mage on this ship."
"Yea, True. Guess my magic is my ace in the hole again."
"And in truth, I hope you stay too."
"Wow, thanks again man, That really means a lot."
"Yea, no sweat, besides, If you leave the chances I'll get to go after whoever hacked my comp goes off the ship with ya."

Mercs gonna merc I guess.

The meet with Scott was rather therapeutic for me. Nice to know Im not universally reviled for the screw up.

Verdict time:
For the event Im gonna give myself a bit of a positive modifier to determine if I stay on the ship. But how much of one to give me?

So better than even are on my side. That sounds like a

14 = 11[d20]+3

Ok 70% in my favor 14/20 so as long as I roll more than 30 on a 100:


68 = 68[d100]

Yay I get to stay on the ship!
So this will have its downsides I'm sure for a while. I will have to work to win over the haters. Which that thought is interesting to me. It marks the first time I've actively wanted to stay with a ship for who I was with on the ship rather than just the paycheck. Might be time to change an aspect.

In the meantime there is the bit about the message to my Bio Mage contact.

Ok now how does this get handled? I can think of only two ways and one is expensive (farcaster) so lets see if the oracle got any ideas (this might take a few tries):


Busily / Smooth

kinda farcasterish But not sure

no, on second thought. That wouldn't be smooth. It must mean the courier. No, cause that means - gotta wait for the return message. and with the way plans are right now with the black ops, we could be moving out fast. In which case the return message would never get to me. That means speed is needed. That means farcaster. Will likely be a few days to get a return message but it will be much shorter than the wait for couriers.

Ok Set sail for Kipyevo again.

However; as I figured in the convo with Scott: Mercs gotta merc.

Thats why I found myself in Professional Dress again in the shuttle bay as part of another greeting party.
Short version: The captain advertised we were headed to Kipyevo and were willing to take any officials or buisinessmen that needed a farcaster along. A bunch of corrupt idiots and assholes with inflated egos and a sense of self-importance bordering on megalomania took her up on the offer.

They were the kind of people that the people who work for a living want to cut up and feed to the pigs. A District Governor from Andryushkino and five owners of various corporations that operate on and around the moons of the gas giant Dzhebariki Chetvertaya, (of which Andryushkino is one). If I were to guess the vital messages these ass warts absolutely needed to send by farcaster were likely love letters to various mistresses promising once again they will be leaving their wives after the war ended. I absolutely could not stand these kind of people. They represented all the kind of people who made up the Amikampur Group and the Chamber of Regions.

And Here I am with orders to Schmoose and suck up to these sleeze buckets. I thought of refusing the order at first but the captain reminded me of the fact I was *Just Barely* allowed to stay employed on this ship and that put the end to that request before I even made it.

I sure hope we're charging them extra service fees on this contract.

So what happen on the way? Please say I dont have to schmoose these stains on my shorts too much

Lets get the oracle workin to see how the trip goes:

NPC Action

Attainment

Ammo (.45 cal)

Hmmmmmmmmm
I think I can work with this

Im off duty and headed to the rec room when I notice something odd. One of the golden boys sneakin around. Subtlety is not my thing so I'ma gonna just head up to the rat and ask point blank.

"What's up doc?"
*Startled noise* "Hu What? Nothing. Im looking for something."
"So what did you lose maybe I can help find it."
"No you cant! It's confidential and I dont want anyone handling it."
"You already lost it, and if you're looking for it in the hallways someone probably already handled it to their section lead or commanding officer."
"Hrumpf, Youre probably right. I'll have to check."
"Shall I show you the way?"
"NO! I know where I'm going. I'll deal with it. Later."
"You sure? Its no problem for me"
"I said NO! Now leave me alone before I report to the captain that her crew is harassing me."
"Fine Fine. Leaving you alone."

He heads off. And I work real hard to not flatten him like a pancake by jacking the gravity.

Later in Lt. Fairchance's office:
"So he was sneaking around. Not exactly something we can do anything about."
"You sure? At least I can stop being nice to him right? He's Suspicious after all."
"No he is still our employer."
"Nuts."


So oracle, will I find this guy sneaking around again before we get to the Farcaster?"

(50/50 | 4[d10]) No

Ok if you say so.

++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
Pause Point
no Break Just need to deal with real life.
Status quo when next I start. Hopefully not too long.
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
And now back to our show
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================


The shuttle ride down was hell.
No it wasnt rough, there wasnt any attack, and i didnt get airsick.
No the oligarchs couldnt understand why a commoner like me was traveling to the Farcaster. Ok they didnt put it that way but thats the vibe I was getting.


Ignoring them was the best option to my mind.
Do any of them say anything directly to me?


(Unlikely | 4[d10]) No

Didnt think so. Gussing its just the snide comments.
Wonder what sneakypants is doing. Do I notice anything about this fruitcake?
I Have an average alertness (+1)
So

2 = +0 +1 +1 -1 +1

So good alertness check.
He's definitely fiddling with somethin. Not sure what it is tho.

I'm not gonna interact with any of them unless I have to so I guess the trip will go in silence on my account. Sneak guy is fiddling with something and looking sus but no idea what hes doing. Just gotta keep eyes open I guess


We land. Is our transportation ready?

(50/50 | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

And? Hmm And what or who?

Cunning and hostile caretaker who is much weaker than you and whose motivation is to comprehend medicines and is focused on your superiors.

Ok I see, We are met by some local Govt official along with the car to take us to the farcaster. He gives me and my shipmate/bodyguard a sneer before schmoozing the money.

At some point the Govy guy tells my crewmate (((Just who did they send with me? Lets see.
(is it someone I know?

(Somewhat Likely | 7[d10]) Yes

Cool, Is it one of the guys I did the shipbuilders job with?

(Somewhat Likely | 3[d10]) No +Event: Overthrow / Tension

Ah, So this is one of the guys that still think I shoulda got thrown off the ship I guess.

That could be an issue. Not like its unexpected.

ANyway- Gov guy tells my crewmate:
"Alright now come along and guide these gentlemen to their transportation and dont forget their travel bags and other possessions."
"Sorry thats not the job I'm here for. The spaceport has people for that if you these men need that."
"Oh so youre the pilot then? Very good They've told me it was a very smooth landing. We need more like you in the system defense forces."
"The pilot is still aboard the dropship, He'll be ..."
"Then what are you here for if your not here to help and your not the pilot?"
"I'm here as a bodyguard."
"Oh, very sorry then, Well your services are no longer needed. I've arranged to have the regional police send a team to provide potection for these industrialists."
"I'm not here for them. Im here for the mage."
"This ... man ... is a mage?"

-I show him my medallion. [the medallion is given to all mages after graduating from the mage academy. It shows that {1 I am a mage, 2 what runes of power I possess}]-

"WHAT? Well So what he's a mage, Why does he get a special escort?"
... "Um, because without him the ship is stranded here?"
"Bah, Useless. Well if your not going to be helpful here then get out of the way. Right this way gentlemen I have arranged transport to the farcaster and accomodations for a few nights so that you may await a responce to your missives."

I turn to my shipmate:
"This guy looks like trouble."
"Whatever. As long as they dont cause any delays."


Off to the farcaster. With only some annoyances from the gov suckup.

So How long do I have to wait for a response?


7 = 7[d8]

A full week.
Thats a long wait. Oh right, Abra had a specialized one at inquisitor HQ so there was no looking for recipient getting message to them, getting response, all that good stuff.
Farcasters are faster than couriers. But they are not instantaneous

Let me guess, The rich bitches didnt have to wait that long did they?
They all got their farcaster messages responded to within a day or two didnt they?
Not even gonna roll for it.
They did.

so whats the longest they had to wait?

4 = 5[d6]-1

4 days
so by the end of day 5:

"If you continue to interfere with the buisiness of these gentlemen I will be forced to apply government censure against you and Blue Ridge Security for disrupting commerce."
"The terms of the contract they signed was clear that we would wait for all responses before leaving. If your commerce requires breaching contracts to remain functional it does not deserve to exist."
"You are just a ships mage! You can not comprehend the importance of what these men are doing and how many lives depend on them. You will tell your ship to take them back to their homes now or else ..."
"Or Else What? Censure? No sweat of our brow! The Miroslavan Pact is hiring in this system too."

That got the attention of the businessmen.

"You dare speak treason to me Mr. Burkhind?"
"Of course not! I cant threaten something that doesnt exist!"
"YOU JUST SAID.."
"I Just Said that if you fire us, we will find employment elsewhere! We are not your loyal subjects MISTER YANOVICH! Nor are we members of the Dzhebariki Central Armed Forces! We Are Mercenaries! Mer-Cen-Aries! Hired guns. Sell swords. Independent Contractors. We are loyal as long as you pay us. Thats how mercenaries work Mr. Yanovich. The moment you stop paying we take our services elsewhere. In much the same way as your secretary or janitor when you fire them. They find employment wherever they can. And right now, in this system, there are a lot of people hiring."

That looks like an attempt at intimidation to me. Too bad its not a skill I have. SO I got it at mediocre (+0)
But Ima spend a fate point for a +2 to this roll

4 = +0 +0 +1 +1 +2

Nice.
And this guy got to have some traits and skillz to have it roll off his back (he govt after all so give him a +1

2 = +0 +0 +1 +0 +1

Yanov is speechless. Nice.


Later that night i suppose:
Is it too soon for anything to happen with sneakyguy?

(50/50 | 8[d10]) Yes

Me and my chaperone are having dinner.
So who is this character? Likely one of the permanent anti-boarding/Secuity team of Hammer and Blade. So we'll go with that. And they not a fan of mine. Even after five days.

"so.."
I'm rather startled this guy has somethin to say to me. Even if its just one word "Yea?"
"You dunked on Yanovich."
"I did, didn't I?"
"Was kinda impressive in fact."
"He had been finding ways to piss me off all week. I finally had enough and felt the need to tell him to shut up."
"Rather bold statement though, Fire us and we'll go to the competition?"
"What? Was that wrong?"
"Well there's no way to know where we would go next if we were taken off our contracts here. Corporate would likely have something to say about it."
"I'm sure they would, but Ive also been playing the job hunter a lot in recent years. Been let go and gone to the ship in the very next dock to see if they were hiring. I just applied the same logic"

[ok lets get to know this person a bit. Got theyre ship security, what else?]

Independent female artist

[Ok. Interesting hobby for a jarhead. too bad i'm on their bad side. Wonder how to change that. Getting the people in charge of my safety to not hate me could be useful you know. Not that I dont think they will do their job anyway, but you know, they might go a bit extra mile for someone they respect and like.]

[Need to give her a name now. Lets see...]

Raelyn Natera
Ship security detail is made up mostly of members of rifle and security units. some temporary detached to ship security others are a reserve pool.
Raelyn is detached from Unit 5 "Cowboys" Fiercely loyal to friends. And apparently an artist of some kind


And also, Female. I guess

"I see."
...
...
"Soooooo?"
"Not bad I guess. Was surprising to see you step up like that."
"Umhum Thanks."

I'll just take the win for what its worth and not push it.

Head off to bed and then start day 6 of 7 on my wait for a response.

How does day 6 start?

Use the adventure glyphs.

OK i see them and it looks like.........

Wake up. Wait for Raelyn cuz, Aint allowed to go no where without the escort. Head out for breakfast of some donut and coffee. And thats when
Roll Alert:

1 = +1 +0 +0 -1 +1

Maybe caught a glimpse of ... somethin? Maybe... Im thinking. wondering. should I check?
"What is with you?"
Guess raelyn noticed me noticing nothing
"Not sure, Thought maybe something was something but maybe its nothing over there?"
"Did you fall out of bed and hit your head last night?"
"Dont think so."
"So whats with the mabe maybe or not bullshit?"
"I think I might of seen something shifty over there. But I wasnt really sure I saw what I think I saw"
*sighs* "Fine stay here"
"Staying here."

She'll head over to the side street and:


Disrupt

As she gets near the corner of the street we are walking and the sidestreet she slows and gets a perplexed look on her face. She gets cautious and suspicious. She has hand on sidearm. As she peers around corner, Theres a shout and a big wave of documents and a briefcase comes flying at her. And sounds of several someones running the other way.

So Does se get pissed enough to chase?

(50/50 | 8[d10]) Yes

Well ok then... If the magic buttons say so, then they say so.

"HEY! Get Back Here!"
"HEY RAE! WAIT!"
aaaaaaaaaaaannd shes gone. I aint fast enough to catch up. But I guess I should try.

Give Raelyn an athletics of 2

3 = +0 +0 +1 +0 +2

I got a 0

3 = +1 +1 +0 +1 0

Well Shit, I guess I can catch up to the... Uh What exactly is happenin when I catch up?

Rae has chased them down. and who is them?
good question.... OH I KMNOW:
Its Sneaky Ass Bitch! The business billionaire bastard I found sneaking on the ship.

And hes blubbering a story that makes no sense. Well it might if he'd stop blubbering.
Here's what Im thinkin happened:
She caught him, And he figured he was gonna get got, whatever got means, and when he figured she wasnt out to get him but was ship girl, he started blubbering askin for help.
Yea, I like that plot.


So a few moments later, back on normal streets, at a small cafe lookin place with coffee and donuts:
"I have a few questions about this whole story."
{only a few Rae?}
"I have been dodging efforts to intercept or prevent my Farcaster communique since II boarded the Hammer and Blade."

"So is that why I saw you sneakin around before in "O" Country?"
"O country?"
"Wait, he was sneakin in O country?"
"Whats O country?"
"The place I saw you sneakin, which you havent denied yet I might add"
Rae taps the table firmly with her cup: "Where exactly in O country was he sneakin?"
"I found him just around the corner from my cabin."
...
...
...
Raelyn appears to think.. "Your cabin is on Mage Row. and around the corner is THE DECK ARMORY!"
"I get this looks bad"
"Looks bad? It IS bad!"
"Fine Fine tell you what! Take me into custody and bring me in front of the Captain. I need to be delt with obviously."
[Well this just went in an unexpected direction. Seriously how did I come up with that?]



"Into custody?"
"Yes."
"Why woul.... riiiiiiight the sneakin... Anyone other than me thinkin this is not gonna end well?"

Well Rae, me and sneak are headin back to the hotel I guess. Rae puts in a call to the ship askin to take sneak back to the ship. Easy to do when the sitch is explained. Lets take the guy to the spaceport.
And it'll be on the way the hit thats been gettin teased happens.

So we'll be usin a standard civilian ground transport. The spacemage equivalent of a SUV. the big civilian vehicles that carry 8 to 10 with lots of cargo room left over and can traverse most level terrain are still called SUV's even though they don't resemble their ancient ancestors at all. There's only the three of us. Sneak is quiet. and I'm aannoyed. so whts gonna hit us?

This turns out to be easy money

My own custom random list has said so.


"Ummm, Lnce Cpl Natera? Have youuuuuuu????"
"Yes Ensign, I have."
"Do we?"
"Not till they do."
"Ok. Well youre the bodyguard so I'll just follow your lead."
"Be ready, They'll do something stupid up ahead when we get to the onramp to the highway. Probably something set up in advance. Judging by the fruitcake following us, It'll be obvious."
"I'll be ready with the magic support. Want me on offence or defense?"
"Defense."
"You Got It!"


And at the onramp, very poorly camouflaged, Was the bozos setting off the trap. They threw out road spikes to blow the tires.
But They were so obvious in location and totally not spec ops in execution that Rae had her plan in motion I got ready to support if needed.
First as they look like they gonna toss the spikes, she's already veered off the road, and around behind them.

They toss out the spikes - in the wrong direction - and we breeze around and past them. We get back on the road and the onramp. I look behind us and the chase vehicle speeds up to chase us and rolls right over the spikes. So tell me get answer buttons, do they crash spectacularly?

(50/50 | 3[d10]) No

Ok all they do is spin on the rims a bit but ultimately crawl to a stop.
Rae slows down and we look behind us. "Well I'll be fucked!"
"Rae, Language, my virgin ears!"
"Oh please, youre one of Cheeks' buddies."
"Yea yea, Are those the other farcaster guys?"
"Sure are" Get a pic or two on your datapad."
*click click*
"That n the dashcam footage will be enough."
"Enough for what?"
"To proove breach of contract! They double crossed us on the job! We signed a contract to transport them here. But they just tried to kill one of our clients, which creates an automatic conflict of interests. Which means we have to choose what contracts we will continue to honor. And with the footage, We will continue to serve sneaky here, and we will charge those guys breach of contract penalties. Easy money."
Sounds good. But I still need to get my farcaster response. SO what do we do when we come back."
"We wont. We'll go to another location with increased security. We'll also send a team to find these guys and inform them of the contract termination and penalties. But that wont be our problem. We'll be staying in a new location and keep going to the farcaster every day to check if you get a response."
"I think i understand."
ALright off to the port."

Like it said. Easy money.

Things go just as Rae said.
We report what happened. Dashcam footage and my pics were sent to the ship over the dropship comm. The Captain sent down additional security and the contract termination team. We sent sneak up to the ship. and I waited my one more day for the farcaster response.
Which I get on day 7.

And long story short. What those runes were on the poor wretch in the broken pod... Were runic slave collars.

Which are 100% Grade A Breach of the Olympus Accords.

Well shit

++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
Minor Milestone Break:
Reset Stress, Reset Fate Points, Remove Minor Consequence, Remove Moderate Consequence if justification obtained in last session.

Awesome. Got to play twice in two weeks
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
Good stuff. Makes me want to check out the book series.

And welcome back by the way.
(05-21-2023, 09:02 AM)mark Wrote: [ -> ]Good stuff.  Makes me want to check out the book series.

And welcome back by the way.

Thanks, Glad to be back.  Its a sign to me im getting my life back in order.  I'm glad this place was here waiting for me.

And I recommend the series to anyone that has a taste for Sci Fi and Fantasy.  The Starship's Mage was the first series I ever saw that combined the two into one and Glen Stewart was clever in how he did it.  At least I think he was.  I read the series on Kindle from Amazon.  (Dont know if its available anywhere else, never had to look)
There's now 13 books in the series with one minor completed side series.
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
Decided That the previous game should count as a Medium Milestone - Having settled whether I get fired or not, and the bits with Abra and other things. I think counts as a Medium Milestone
So +1 Skill point.
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================

Skills (current):
Superb - +5 -----
Great -- +4 1 Will
Good --- +3 1 Lore / 2 Star Navigation
Fair --- +2 1 Pistol / 2 Physic / 3 Hacking /4 Scholarship / 5 Brawl
Average- +1 1 Shuttle Pilot / 2 Contacts / 3 Alert / 4 Investigation / 5 Spacewalking / 6 Rapport


Add +1 Skill point to increase Scholarship to Good

Skills (NEW):
Superb - +5 -----
Great -- +4 1 Will
Good --- +3 1 Lore / 2 Star Navigation / 3 Scholarship
Fair --- +2 1 Pistol / 2 Physic / 3 Hacking /4 Brawl
Average- +1 1 Shuttle Pilot / 2 Contacts / 3 Alert / 4 Investigation / 5 Spacewalking / 6 Rapport

++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
ALSO:
Change Attribute: Im unquestionably loyal, to the paycheck -to- I am Loyal to this Ship and Crew
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================

++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
Start New Chapter
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++================================

Obviously, as soon as we returned to the ship, I was called into a meeting with the Captain, the XO, Brian, Raelyn, and the head surgeon, Doctor Richards.
Rae gives her report about acting as my chaperone and details about the rich boys bustup. After a few questions she is dismissed. I tap two fingers to my brow in a farewell salute which she actually returns and heads off to somewhere else. Yay looks like I won her over.

Then we went over the reply to my Farcaster message.

The revelation that this was something that violates the Olympus Accords was a major deal. The fact that farcaster messages are not entirely confidential means that there are likely some forwarded messages being sent to the inquisitors. So another complication in the mess.

"I already had Abra sticking her neck out for me and now this. All this attention from the Inquisitors I seem to be stacking on myself is making me very nervous."
"Yea, your contact mentioned that. Sounds like he expects to hear something too."
"I need to make it up to him somehow. Do you have any idea how bad form it is to sick the Inquisitors on a guy?"

"We can deal with that later. The question is what if anything do we do with this inforamtion?" Says the Captain.
...
...
...
...
"Im asking for opinions gentlemen!"
"Uh, We could have the teams on the ground look inot the slave, see if we can find out who they were and stuff?"
"I dont like the idea of making them split their attention with a job they are not really trained for. They're soldiers, not police detectives."
.... "Ummmm Well i guess doing nothing but wait for the inquisitors to show up again is a possibility."
"Ugh, Do I have to?"
"Well Jay whats your idea?"
"Not sure I have one... ... Maybe we can send this info to the Hand? This could be something he might want to look into."
"You are right about him being interested, but getting a message to him would be difficult. He made it so that if there was to be any communication, he would initiate it."
"Isnt there any contingency plans for communication? Not even a drop box?"

Know what - good question... Hey get answer buttons?

(Somewhat Unlikely | 4[d10]) No +Event: Return / Success

Hmmmmmmmm so what does that mean now buttons?

Ah I know!
So here be the situations:

With no way to contact Hand Fury its mostly just a sit and wait. The only real moves we make are resupplying and/or picking up tak teams from completed jobs and carrying them to new jobs. Most of the jobs seem to be cake walks. With the Committee Forces only hiring small teams to handle what the teams call "Junk Work".

Except, that is, for Units 2 and 4. The "Cowboys" and "Warhorses" respectively. The Cowboys are a standard infantry unit while the Warhorses are an armored corps equipped with Power Armor and 2 tracked support vehicles. These guys got in the shit. They been running support for a Comittee batallion on Vasylivka which. like Andryushkino, is a moon around the gas giant Dzhebariki Chetvertaya. Unlike Andryushkino however, Vasylivka has been fully terraformed.

The cowboys is also the unit Raelyn is permanently assigned to. (She was only temporarily attached to ship security)

Time has progressed and one evening while Im on duty as the ship is moseying along to another resupply:

"Bridge to Jump Mage!"
[The simulacrum has a communications system linked to the bridge so the Jump Mage can receive orders on the fly]
"Jump Mage here"
"We need an immediate jump to Vasylivka!"
"It'll take me little time for prep calculations."
"We dont have time! Ground units are getting slammed! We need to extract ASAP!"
"Understood! But for a jump that close to a planet can I at least have a few moments to try and get us close?"
"Clocks Ticking Burkhind!"
"Aye Aye Captain!"

So just off to the side of the simulacrum is the jump mage office with nav charts and other tools of the trade. I look at the current positions of the ship, the planets, and the orbital vectors."
Need to do rapid calculations so Star Nav skill check at -1 for inside the system jump.

-1 = +0 -1 +1 +0 -1

Not Great,
Spend fate point to make it a flat 0

My skill is 3 so the roll is great.
That means the rapid calcs are done quickly by making lots of assumptions and a few shortcuts but also pretty accurate.
Run to the simulacrum. Send com to bridge: "Jumping now!"
[Control Magic: -1 mental stress {will}]


-2 = -1 -1 -1 +1 0

Take Backlash (1 Physical Stress) plus -1 fate point: (Loyal to ship and crew again)

[Magic Effect: {Lore}]

1 = -1 +0 +1 +1 0

Ship wide announcement to prepare for jump and *Boooff*

Soon as we jump in ship goes to full power to get closer so we can send in the shuttles for Evac.
I'm a bit worse for wear. But because this was not a long jump I dont need to go to sleep. Brian shows up as backup just in case. Good thing too. Theres a few rebel gunships supporting the battle.
Need to hold them off while we run the gauntlet

Gunships are only armed with beam turrets. I cant mess with the forces inflicted on light like i can a missile. Theoretically I can use gravity to bend light but that was what got me in trouble and busted down to ensign and I almost lost my job here. This will cause me to be gun shy about it. SO any attempts to black hole the gigawatt lazers will be at a -2 (next time a -1) I'll be more effective on the gunships themselves but they need to get in range which probably wont happen.

Brian is an energymage, So he can create a lightning barrier. Not great but more effective than I will be.

There are 3 gunships

Captain will be fighting with everything we got, both missiles and guns

I'll be only rolling for effect on brian's turns for the sake of simplifying things.

So Gunships go first. All are shootin so here goes our attempts:

Me:
Control:

1 = +1 -1 +0 +1 0

Effect

-3 = -1 +0 -1 +1 -2

Damage to ship?

(50/50 | 6[d10]) Yes, but...

Modify ship damage -4

(8 = 12[d20]+-4) Minor Damage: Largely superficial; degrades performance, but not disabling.

Brian Effect:

-2 = +1 -1 -1 -1 0

Dam dude help a brother out here.

Damage to ship?

(50/50 | 4[d10]) No

(50/50 will be the worst chance for ship damage here thanks to ships armor and good helmsman)

Because I said so thats why. Im the GM here AKA: God Man. That means I can say so. Fight Me!

So H&B returns fire
Missile Salvos (2)

2 = +0 +0 +1 +1 0

1 = +1 +1 -1 +0 0

Does that damage a gunship?

(Likely | 5[d10]) Yes, but...

Salvo 1

(1 = 3[d20]+-2) Negligible: Nick/Scratch/Dent.

damn

(Somewhat Likely | 7[d10]) Yes

Salvo 2

(20 = 20[d20]) Critical Damage: Requires immediate attention; clearly disabling if not immediately desctructive.

YES! One DOwn
Next Round We will Launce the dropships

Me:

-1 = -1 +1 -1 +0 0

Damn backlash Physical Stress

0 = -1 +1 +1 +1 -2

ok so damage to ship?

(Somewhat Unlikely | 5[d10]) No

Brian:

-3 = +0 -1 -1 -1 0

Damage to ship?

(50/50 | 4[d10]) No

Lucky Lucky
H&B returns fire
Missile Salvos (2)

-1 = -1 +1 -1 +0 0

-2 = -1 -1 -1 +1 0

No damage to gunships

Ship Guns:

-2 = +0 -1 -1 +0 0

damnit!

Dropships launch We gotta sheild them

Me:

1 = +0 +0 +1 +0 0

1 = +1 +1 +0 +1 -2

Holy shit! I blocked them
Brian:

-3 = +0 -1 +1 -1 -2

Damage to ship?

(50/50 | 7[d10]) Yes

(2 = 2[d20]) Negligible: Nick/Scratch/Dent.

I can live with that

H&B:
Missiles (2) then guns:

2 = +1 +0 +0 +1 0

0 = -1 +1 +0 +0 0

3 = +1 +0 +1 +1 0

Gunship damage (1st then 3rd)

(Somewhat Likely | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

(Likely | 3[d10]) No

Ok The Damage is a +5 modifyer

(7 = 2[d20]+5) Minor Damage: Largely superficial; degrades performance, but not disabling.

Damn

one more round to dropships out of range

me:

0 = -1 +1 -1 +1 0

-3 = +1 -1 +0 -1 -2

ship dam

(50/50 | 9[d10]) Yes

(15 = 15[d20]) Moderate Damage: Hampers functionality significantly; will require repair/mechanical attention.

FUCK! That plus the minor earlier is giving us a +5 mod to ship damage also eliminates 1 missile salvo

brian:

0 = +0 +0 -1 +1 0

(Somewhat Unlikely | 4[d10]) No

ok no ship damage

missile and gun:

-3 = -1 +0 -1 -1 0

-2 = +1 -1 -1 -1 0

fuck This is sucking hard and Im taking consequenses now

Me


-2 = -1 -1 -1 +1 0

FKN CHRIST!
Backlash


-1 = -1 -1 +1 +0 0

Last Fate Point:

brian:

4 = +1 -1 -1 +0 +5

missile and gun

1 = +0 +0 +0 +1 0

2 = +1 +1 +1 -1 0

Missile N gun damage?:

(Somewhat Likely | 9[d10]) Yes

(Likely | 9[d10]) Yes

(11 = 11[d20]) Minor Damage: Largely superficial; degrades performance, but not disabling.

(4 = 4[d20]) Negligible: Nick/Scratch/Dent.

A Little Help Here? Damnit!

me: (now with 2 minor mental consequences)

0 = +1 -1 +0 +0 0

-1 = +1 +0 -1 -1 0

(50/50 | 1[d10]) No, and... +Event: Neglect / Benefits

ship dam?
Ok I will give the ship a bonus to hit this round

Brian

-1 = +0 -1 +1 -1 0

Ship dam?

(50/50 | 5[d10]) No, but...

Dropship will take longer

Missile n gun at +1

4 = +1 +1 +0 +1 +1

3 = +1 +0 +0 +1 +1

(Sure Thing | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

(Very Likely | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

Damage +5 mod

(19 = 14[d20]+5) Critical Damage: Requires immediate attention; clearly disabling if not immediately desctructive.

(21 = 16[d20]+5) Destroyed.

Awesome. All three gunships destryed or disabled. I am needing sickbay. As Is Brian. As Is Ship. But Dropships return with beat up ground units.
Lets get TF outa here

And the Earlier return success that came before this fight? That was the Little Gina doing its thing here. BUT the EW team caught them in the act!

too bad we're too damaged to run em down after picking up the ground teams. But the EW teams did give them a compy virus. So they will be in the system for a bit.
So I got that going for me. Which is nice.

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Non Break Pause
No stress or fate point recovery here
Just need to pause for life to happen again for a while.
-I am experimenting with ways to make space combat happen. So far I dont like any of the ways Ive done it. Ive tried to avoid making specs for the ships and stuff but I might have to. Was hoping the buttons would save me from that fate. I'm looking for ideas.
Anyway. This session is done for now.
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