First Voyage, Sketchy Notes vers. (pt. 2)

Scene 1

Uuthan is not an inviting planet. The cool methane and nitrogen atmosphere paints its sky an off blue-grey and renders its rocky landscape in dreary greys and browns. Life, what there is of it, is mostly microbial. In places, sickly chartreuse carpets of living slime photosynthesize in low points at the base of mountains.

Molly is on the scanners:

Easy Perception to detect alien ruins? 5

Hard Perception to detect cultists? 20

Hu: Okay Miss Science, what are we seeing?"

Mo: "Carbon-based goo... microbe sheets, mostly. Given the atmosphere, probably methane-breathing slime molds... I think we can just send a probe to wipe some of that into a sample bottle.

"I'm getting something more interesting in the deserts to the North of here. I'm se ding you a bearing, Hugo."

Hu: 'Going low and slow on your bearings."

Ma: " Interesting how?"

Mo: "Vegetation, maybe?" [Molly responds to a beep] "I'm getting something else. Signs of habitation?"

Ma: "People? Here."

Mo: "I'm getting radio noise, and the radiation consistent with an antimatter reactor. Thermal plumes."

Ma: ' Give me a channel, let's see if they will respond."

Oracle Time!

Are the cultists likely to just start shooting at this point? Yes.
Will they shoot to warn? No.
Using ships? No.
Powers? Yes

Rolling Initiative ...

Marshall

hp 6/6

Hugo

hp 8/8

Molly

hp 3/3

Dejah Thoris

hp 120/120

A missile streaks from the surface towards the Dejah Thoris. Molly has time to scream a warning, which gives Hugo a chance to fire the Dejah Thoris ' afterburner, but it is too late, and a blast rocks the ship, dealing 24 damage!

Alarms scream as the vessel attempts to climb out of range. Hugo furiously calls up the Combat interface,

Marshall throws on a set of VR goggles and starts scanning out of the ships' hundreds of optical sensors looking for the assailant. Cultists gunner Stealth 14, Marshall Perception 23. Marshall spots an exowalker on the mountainside tracking them with a missile launcher and calls the target.

Hugo fires a desperate shot at the walker (AC 14 hp 40) and rakes it for 30 hp.

Molly dives for the damage control computer calling it as she utters a stream of curses, looking for ways to ensure the Dejah Thoris remains spaceworthy.

Round 2

Ma: "I'm taking fire control!"

Hu: "Be my guest!" [He sweeps the holograms sbove the console to his left and they leap to Marshall's console.]

Hugo pulls the ship high, getting ready to evade another missile, as Marshall takes control of the guns. He hones back in on the Mech which sits in the middle of a smoking score in the rock, it's right legs glowing with heat. He spots a figure leaping off the walker and running for cover. Marshall sweeps the laser at the Mech, but misses.

Mo: [hammering controls on her wrist-mounted computer] "GIR, time you get to work, m'love!'

A pod in Molly's bunk bursts open and a robot on triangular treads rolls out. She pulls a thin, opaque visor from a pocket and slides it on, seeing through its glittering lenses.

Ma: "They're running for it!"

Hu: "Why the Hell are they shooting at us in the first place?!"

End Combat

Marshall

hp 6/6

Hugo

hp 8/8

Molly

hp 3/3

Dejah Thoris

hp 96/120

Ma: "Let's find out. How close can you land us to that walker?"

Hu: "Hold on to your, butt, boss."

The Dejah Thoris arcs in an elegant twisting split-S maneuver and comes down on spind,y mechanical legs only meters from the smoking exo-walker.

Molly drives her little robot in VR to a hatch in the corridor and s.ips it in, it's treads illuminated with energy as they cling to walls.

Mo: "I'm going to get started on undoing the damage, boys. Keep me in the loop."

Chaos Factor 🔺️6

Scene 2

Chaos Roll: 1... Scene alteration!

Ambiguous Event: Lie, Failure

Marshall grabbed a rectangular object from a locker on the door after pulling on his armor. With the gentle press of a button it unfolds into a stout rifle, that lets out a gentle gaussian whine as it charges up. The composite armor he has snapped to his suit is bulky, gunmetal Grey, and sports a crystalline mask that makes his face a smooth black dome. Hugo, with his slick ion pistol and thin plating seems far less threatening.

The cultist might have bailed when the ship Scorched his walker, but he didn't go far. He is watching and waiting.

Oracle Time

Did he call for help? Yes
Will they get here before the end of the scene? Yes

Cultist stealth: 11 Marshall's Perception; 18

As they walk closer to the Exowalker Marshall sweeps his rifle, scanning the horizon with enhanced vision. After a moment he spots the shoulder of the cultist against an outcropping. He does not hesitate.

Cultist Scout

Chaotic ▪️ Human ▪️ Vehicle Operator ▪️ Psychic Adept (Renegade Psychic) ▪️ Level 1
HP 4 ▪️ AC 12 ▪️ SV 16
STR 9 ▪️ DEX 10 ▪️ CON 9 ▪️ INT 11 ▪️ WIS 14 ▪️ CHA 12
SKILLS: +1 gunnery ▪️ +2 land vehicles ▪️ +1 ranged attack ▪️ +1 reaction ▪️ +1 repair ▪️ +2 stealth ▪️ +2 urban lore
SAVE: +2 mind effects
Psychic Powers: Psychic Phantasm +0

Gear: breather 5 hours, basic commlink, blaster pistol

Rolling Initiative...

Marshall fires on the Cultist 7 miss

Hugo fires 23: his ion blaster crackles and grazes the cultist who drops twitching to the ground for 5 rou ds.

Round 2

Marshall rushes up and knocks the cultist out with a rifle-butt.

End Combat

As Molly creeps in VR through the repair ducts of the ship, GIR reaches the first damaged module... only it isn't damaged. She mouths a curse as she scans it every way her robot is capable of.

Mo: "I've got a fresh kind of stupid here, boys. Looks like the damage report is the first thing that broke. Getting us spaceworthy is going to be a right pain. How is it looking out there?"

Ma: "We've caught the Hostile. Shaved head, tattoos, robes, stains on his hands and face. Looks like we've got crazies."

Molly pulls her goggles off to check Marshall's feed on a nearby panel, and then catches a glimpse of a display from the corner of her eye."

Mo: Crap. Boys, we've got incoming. Looks like a shrike.

Shrike

A cheap combat starcraft favored by pirates and small freight convoys. Slower and less resilient than a standard fighter.

HP 50 ▪️ AC 13 ▪️ SPD 6 ▪️ SIZE 1 ▪️ MAN 0
Armament: Missiles (range: 1200, Damage 6d6)

Rolling Initiative ...

The shrike takes aim at the Dejah Thoris at 12 increments, the rockets hammer the Cliffside above the ship raining smoking debris.

Molly jumps to the controls of the ship and starts trying to call up a targeting solution (Computer 15)

Hugo leaps onto the Exowalker and aims the still active launcher 25 damage!

Marshall takes cover and starts aiming his plasma rifle.

Round 2

The Shrike closes to 6 units and fires on the Dejah Thoris again: 23 damage! The pilot cannot veer off before getting into range.

The moment the Shrike closes, Molly fires, and hits the Shrike 10 damage!

Marshall unleashes a plasma bolt and hits for 6 damage (I have ruled human scale weapons do half damage. )

Hugo launches a rocket barrage that misses.

Round 3

The Shrike attempts to dodge incoming fire until it is out of range.

Hugo tries again and hits: the ship is blasted 21!

Marshall misses a plasma blast.

Molly tries a desperate parting shot with the laser: miss.

Round 4

The Shrike, smoking and sparking, pulls out to 12 units.

Molly gets one final shot: Nat. 20! Double crit! 80 damage, hull damage! The Shrike explodes in a rain of firey debris.

End Combat

Marshall

hp 6/6

Hugo

hp 8/8

Molly

hp 3/3

Dejah Thoris

hp 73/120

Oracle Time!

Was the prisoner harmed in the crossfire? Extreme Yes
Is the Dejah Thoris still spaceworthy? No. Repairs required
Can she fly? No

Chaos Factor 🔺️7

Scene 3

Chaos Roll: 9

Mo: "So who the hell are they, and why do they want to kill us?"

Marshall pours a coffee from a device on the desk. His coffee bears the crest of his old unit.

Hu: "How can you drink coffee at a time like this?!"

Ma: "Little rituals keep your head on straight. Keep you calm."

Mo: "Fine, I'll take a coffee. Why not? I'm not jittery enough yet."

Hu: "You alright?"

Mo: "I killed that pilot. I... I've fought before. I've sicced minjng drone on a pirate scout. Set a trap. But just shooting someone out of the sky? ...I am gonna be sick. After we hit him so hard, he might've bern running away."

Ma: "You couldn't have known that. We could all be dead right now. Or worse. You did thething you had to do."

Marshall hands Molly a cup of coffee. She sinks into it, trying to find some comfort.

Hu: "So are they pirates?"

Ma: "No they aren't pirates. This is the middle of nowhere. Nobody to rob. No space lane. Pirates don't shoot ships they can steal. And they don't kill their own. Plus they only had one shrike."

Mo: "If they aren't pirates, who are they?"

Ma: "He had a shaved head and a bunch of tattoos on his arms and face... and not the psycho space pirate kind. There's a weird organic residue in his breather. Which is a cheap, patched, home-printed job. He had robes on. And there is no one to rob in this system... We are dealing with crazies... cultists or revolutionaries."

Hu: "Perfect. Let's get the hell out of here."

Mo: "I don't think we can. The Dejah Thoris has been hit twice by rockets. Low-yield rockets, but rockets. Her shield generator smells like it's burning and the gombeen damage control system is banjanxed. I can't even affect repairs until I reprogram the damage computer so it shows me the same thing GIR is seeing."

Hu: "Let's at least get to the other side of the planet and hide."

Mo: "No good. The scrubbers are already saying they are pumping Methane out of our air. We have a leak, and we can't go high enough or fast enough safely."

Ma: "We better be ready for more company. Let's get that walker into the hold and patch it up. Get its ammo fac going if we can. How many shots does it have left?"

Hu: "One."

Ma: "Better than none."

Hu: "Hopefully, it will reload itself. I'll get some collector drones going and get it into the hold."

Ma: "My question is, what are they so keen on protecting out here? And is it the same thing QRC is hoping to find?"

Mo: "QRC mentions both microbial and Vegetation samples. While I am waiting on diagnostics, I will take that residue into the lab. See what I can find."

Ma: "I'm going to recharge my rifle and set some sensors around the perimeter. "

Oracle Time

Does Hugo's abject failure on the Early warning system put the crew in danger? Yes... when the cultists arrive, they will have surprise.

For Molly

I will give her a chance of identifying the residue as a drug derived from an indigenous fungoid. (DC 13 Science on 18+ she will recognize its power to induce psionics.) ... another natural 1...

Oracle Time

Does Molly have a lab accident and learn about the drug the hard way? Yes
is there a chance she can't control it? Yes (I'll give her a save)

I will let her fix the damage report machine and identify the damage that makes it unsafe to fly (DC 8 Computer) ... 16

If she succeeds that, I will let her affect the emergency repairs to get the ship airborne. (DC 13 Repair test. On an 18+ she will make it spaceworthy. ) N/A... lab accident interrupts.

Molly holds the mask of the cultists breather, stabbing the orange residue carefully out. As she shifts the smashed pump unit of the breather gently, wires inside make contact and with a whine the respirator coughed a cloud of dust into Molly's face.

Blinded, she staggered back, coughing. For a few seconds she groped for her panacea pills, and then her mind's walls cracked and she saw the heart of Uuthan. With pupils like pinpricks she stared at the ceiling, and screamed...

Chaos Factor 🔺️8

Scene 4

Chaos Roll 4... Interrupt is Interrupted! Remote Event: Guide Reality.

"Brothers," Yth called, "holding his hands wide in benediction, we can wait no longer." He glanced at his four remaining chosen. Two humans, shorn and tattooed to match his scars, and Brother Om, the hulking Elicant. He wished in this hour that there were ore Yoc like himself in the cult. But it was a rare indulgence, loneliness. He only rarely had a chance to feel lonely anymore.

The voice that always whispers to him was quiet now, though he could feel its anticipation.

"We have already lost Brother Exo and Brother Hawk to these invaders. We can lose no more of the Chosen. Nor can we let them steal the Seed. The time has come. My guide, G'gix, has offered to be manifest in this world to protect us. At last one of Them will walk among us."

There was a murmur of assent.

"Lend me your minds, brothers! Give me the power of your consciousness especially so that G'gix can cross the synapse and preserve the Chosen."

Slowly, as they stood murmuring the ancient mantras together the room became charged, tens, and then with all the painful sluggishness of birth, a Thing clawed its way through a rent in reality, and collapsed, spamming in the middle of their circle.

As it stood and met each gaze the cultists gasped and cringed, but held firm, even as their minds reeled with the horror of what they had just created. Even Yth she'd hot bitter tears. And then the thing screamed a sound like a dagger through the heart, and stormed into the airlock before leaping to the sand.

And then it began to run...