The Fugitive’s Forge: Session 2
Summary: Andrei sneaks Nika out of Paradox as the Clans Authority arrives. Caught in an uncertain situation, they begin their jump to Marrow. During transit they find some allies and launch a plan to smuggle supplies into Marrow.
We pick up with Andrei deciding to help Nika flee Paradox. There were several questions I asked in The Fugitive's Forge: Session 1.
A Quiet Departure
Starting en media res with Andrei looking to quietly and discreetly sneak Nika off of Paradox. Nika dons a ghillie suit to block the security scanners; worthless against visuals but useful none the less.
Andrei and Nika make it to the Luminous Sorrow without anyone noticing Nika. As they settle in for detachment and departure from Paradox, they hear the umbilicus detach at the same time as the Luminous Sorrow’s sensors chirp and chime indicating the arrival of a large spaceship, the responder pinging Clan Authority Starship (CASS) Mother May I; a carrier loaded with a detachment of 24 snub fighters.
Both Paradox and the Mother May I hail the Luminous Sorrow. Andrei looks to Nika as if to say “Well who do we talk with first?”
Nika in response turns her head away and whispers, “I’m sorry, this shit is my fault. And whomever we talk to might well be the wrong answer.”
Andrei girds himself and issues a quick “Please stand-by” to the Mother May I; then opens an audio to Paradox.
“This is the Luminous Sorrow,” says Andrei.
“Captain, this is station commander Rune Hrefnadóttir, we are scrambling a defense against the Clans Authority and request your support. Be advised, failure to comply will be viewed as hostility and we will take action.”
While the commander was talking, Andrei typed a few commands into the helm.
I’m looking for Andrei to Secure an Advantage through stealth, and get a miss (4 vs [6, 4]). More on that in a bit.
As Station Commander Hrefnadóttir was speaking, Luminous Sorrow hull sensors issued a warning; it appeared that the station was attempting to deploy docking clamps.
“Acknowledged Commander Hrefnadóttir. Though I have strong reason to believe that it is the Luminous Sorrow which they seek. And I’d prefer to not give them a chance. Respectfully, I’d like to leave”
I need to know if Paradox has a fair chance of repealing the Mother May I? I consult the oracle and get, “Yes and…”
“Acknowledged, we’re receiving communications from Mother May I now. Please stand by,” responded Commander Hrefnadóttir.
Andrei and Nika look at each other and both say: “We should run…”
Reaching for the thrusters lever Andrei says, “Hopefully the treasure you’re leaving behind is enough to cover the damage the Luminous Sorrow is about to do to those docking clamps. Rocky, cut us loose.”
“Who’s Rocky?” asks Nika.
“My Robotic Combat Unit; some people call them Raccoons or Coons. But I think Rocky works better. While the commander was talking I sent Rocky on the hull.”
With the failure of the Secure an Advantage move, there will be a cost. But let’s see how Andrei can Face Danger. Given the deployment of Rocky I’m leaning towards this being “command”, so I’ll roll +heart. And I get a miss (4 vs [5, 4]). Well cascading failures sounds great.
The thrusters engage and the Luminous Sorrow slips out of reach of Paradox. Andrei checks his console and notices that Rocky sustained some damage and that the Mother May I has scrambled eight fighters and they are looking to close off all escape vectors.
The comm signals again ping with two hails and Andrei ignores them both. “It’s time to focus on a way out, any ideas?” asks Andrei.
“There’s skimming into Tempest atmosphere and hoping our radiation shielding is better than those fighters,” says Nika, “and it might just blind them and we can sneak out of here.”
Andrei reverses thrusters while flipping the ship towards Tempest. “Alright, let’s seal up,” says Andrei as he seals up his environmental suit.
Radiation Therapy
There’s nothing sneaky about diving into the intense radiation of Tempest, a Jovian gas giant. Just stay the course and keep track of the RADs you’re absorbing. Now it’s time for Andrei to Face Danger. I roll a strong hit (5 vs [2, 1]). Amen!
The Luminous Sorrow dives into the atmosphere, and scanners start going blind. Both Nika and Andrei are performing both the mental calculations to fly as well as keeping an eye on their RAD counts. They change course once in hopes of shaking any pursuit.
And as the radiation alarms begin the countdown, they burst from the atmosphere, scanners again coming alive, and celebrate as they see that their ploy worked.
They establish an evasive course and move outside the Eidolon ring of Tempest. (Sidenote: A phrase I’ve made up, but one that reflects the idea that you cannot activate an Eidolon Drive within a certain relative distance of a gravity well.)
Andrei looks at Nika, and says, “Now, let’s really get out of here.”
The Luminous Sorrow’s Eidolon Drive roars awake and they blink out of phase.
In Transit
Now in E-Space, Andrei heads back to his personal quarters to get his family codex, historical papers bound by iron that was once family swords.
He comes back to the deck and approaches Nika.
“I have a vow to make,” says Andrei, and places his hand on his family iron, then continues, “I vow to you Nika that once we deliver supplies to Marrow that I will help you free Bloodshot and you other former crew members.”
Andrei Swears an Iron Vow and rolls a weak hit (5 vs [4, 8]).
Holding back tears Nika asks, “Why are you being so kind to me?”
“Nika, I understand that the Jackals and their propaganda can compel most anyone to act against their will and nature. And without a path towards reconciliation and restoration, one is doomed to ever follow the path of disintegration.”
This is a moment where Andrei and Nika Develop a Relationship.
“I appreciate your wisdom,” says Nika, “your compassion and empathy humble me. And I am again both sorry and thankful for where we are now. Now, where are we heading?”
“Thank you for the apology,” says Andrei, “And as to where we’re heading, I’ve already got supplies in the cargo hold. I was assuming we’re heading to Marrow, though at this point, I yield to your expertise.”
“If we’re going to make this work, we’re going to need to consider a few modifications to the ship,” says Nika.
Journey to Marrow
To work with the narrative flow, I’ve held off on the Undertake an Expedition move; but it is now time. I create the “Expedition to Marrow” and mark it as “Troublesome.”
For the first segment, I think they are wanting to keep under the radar, so I roll +shadow and get a strong hit (5 vs [3, 1]).
The E-Drive spins down and the Luminous Sorrow returns to known space; at the outer bands of a system pummeled by a neutron start.
“Let’s start making those modifications to the transponder. We can get most of it done before we drop back into E-Space.”
They set about the modifications and wrap up as the E-Drive begins its 20 minute countdown.
They again Undertake an Expedition to keep quiet. I again get a strong hit (7 vs [3, 2]).
They arrive at the outskirts of a frozen Jovian planet expelled from its star system. They resume their modifications and when the time arrives, brace for another jump.
A Sabotage Revealed
They stay the course. I get a weak hit (8 vs [9, 7]). I roll on the Space Peril table and get “Sabotage is revealed.”
They return to known space just beyond the Eidolon range of a Jovian gas giant in a system with a smoldering red start. (Sidenote: The Eidolon Band is the distance from a gravity well; the actual distance is relative to the mass of the gravity well.) They again set about the work of preparing for sneaking into Marrow.
Was the sabotage targeting Andrei? Yes.
Andrei and Nika continue with the various modifications working deep amongst the control panels and across the hull.
And Nika finds something disturbing, she pings Andrei, “I’m going to need you to come down here. I’ve found a problem.”
Andrei joins Nika in the Avionics bay, and sees Nika crouched low and investigating but touching a small device.
“Here is a doozy of a device,” says Nika, “in the business, we call it a Rory Ponder. Outside the Eidolon Band, nothing. Inside an Eidolon Band it broadcasts system access codes on modulated frequencies masked by the magnetic and gravitic fields of the gravity well. Someone tuned in to those modulations with the cryptographic key can gain remote access. Otherwise, it’s almost inaudible chatter.”
“So we remove it?” asks Andrei.
“In theory yes,” says Nika, “but this one appears to be quantum entangled with the Eidolon Sphere. I’m unclear what the nature of the entanglement,” says Nika.
“That Rory will make it hard for us to sneak into Marrow,” says Andrei.
“Any idea who might’ve put it there?” asks Nika.
“Maybe, but that’s not important right now. We’ve gotta disable that thing without disabling our E-Drive. Let’s see what we have in engineering.”
Let’s check the gear. I get a strong hit (11 vs [8, 3]).
After a few hours of rummaging, Andrei stumbles upon an idea.
Disabling the Rory Ponder
“With some of these Anthodium crystals we might be able to reverse the draw of the E-Drive and disentangle the Rory Ponder. Kind of like those childhood finger traps,” says Andrei.
Andrei now needs to Face Danger with wits. I roll a miss (3 vs [7, 7]). And instead of accepting the miss, I tag Andrei’s Fugitive ability, and convert the result to a strong hit.
After a few harrowing hours Nika and Andrei manage to rig up a reverse flow of the E-Drive and watch as the Rory Ponder pops.
Arrival in the Tucana System
They fire up the E-Drive one more time and shift into Eidolon Space. During the transit, Andrei remains quiet, contemplating who might have put the Rory Ponder on his ship…and when.
Nika interrupts Andrei’s reverie, “I’ve got an old pirating trick for dropping into systems that have only one place of any interest. We target arrival at a spot co-linear with the star and the planet, between the star and planet, with thrusters towards that planet. While under thrust, we usually blend in with the star’s radiation and can observe. We then jump again within the system once we get an understanding of the situation.”
Andrei acknowledges by saying, “You know your craft and that sounds good. Here’s hoping the Rory Ponder’s fully disabled.”
With 6 of 10 boxes completed on the mission, I choose for Andrei to Finish an Expedition. The action roll is 6 vs [4, 10], a weak hit.
I mark nothing towards my Legacy Tracks and encounter a complication. Let’s introduce another faction.
I roll up the Wandering Daggers, a localized fringe group of smugglers who are seeking to destabilize the Clans Authority’s grasp by securing a powerful weapon. They loath the disloyal and the nature of their work brings on mutations.
That random roll is just the aid Andrei’s going to need and there’s a nice lingering complication with Nika’s disloyalty.
They arrive in the Tucana System, home of Marrow. The Luminous Sorrow sorry begins thrust towards the burning yellow star. They begin their comm scans when they receive a tight beam communication.
“This is the Sundered Aegis, we spotted your arrival. Any deviation from your present trajectory, and we’ll assume hostility.”
Sensors indicate that the communication was coming from ahead of them along the Luminous Sorrow’s course trajectory. Their sensors struggle to make out any useful information.
Andrei turns to Nika ans says, “Looks like someone had the same idea as you. Thoughts?”
Andrei responds to Sundered Aegis, “Acknowledged. This is the Luminous Sorrow and an opening threat is not well received.”
The Sundered Aegis continues, “Acknowledged, apologies for the circumstances, though the threat is as much for your safety as ours. We are observing the Marrow station.”
“Acknowledged, we too are here for observation,” says Andrei.
At this point, I think Andrei’s trying to Secure an Advantage; and this is likely through observation. I roll +wits and get a miss (4 vs [4, 6]). I’m going to Burn Momentum (from 8 to 2) to convert that to a strong hit.
Andrei continues, “and based on your trajectory and observation activity that you are looking to help Marrow. We are as well.”
“Acknowledged and continue”
“Captain, I’m not in this for glory but to bring about relief for those on Marrow. My hold contains supplies that I’m hoping to bring to Marrow and help alleviate their suffering. I won’t see the Jackals pick over yet another station. Perhaps our objectives align and we can join forces?”
I’m going to have Andrei Compel the Sundered Aegis to join forces. I get a weak hit (7 vs [9, 4]). What is the nature of the complication? “Trusted information is shown to be false.” I’ve got an idea. Namely there’s a trap by the Clans Authority.
“Acknowledged and accepted. Our contact on the inside has been sending us schedules and we’re gearing up to make our move,” says the captain of the Sundered Aegis, “We’ll share plans.”
They share plans and approach. Accompanying the Sundered Aegis, a multipurpose spaceship, is the Drift Runner a decommissioned military corvette.
A Distressing Ruse
A handful of marines join the Luminous Sorrow; lead by Lieutenant Juan Guerra. The Luminous Sorrow jumps into E-Space and then back just outside the Eidolon Band of Marrow’s planet.
The Luminous Sorrow begins issuing a distress call, broadcasting as the Timber Wolf. Shortly afterwards the Sundered Aegis exits Eidolon Space chasing and firing on the Luminous Sorrow.
The Luminous Sorrow requests permission to seek shelter beyond the three Clans Authority ships blockading Paradox. As the Luminous Sorrow requests safety the Drift Runner drops out of E-Drive pursuing the Sundered Aegis.
The transponder of the Drift Runner pinging as a Clans Authority. Amidst the chaos, Andrei attempts to Compel the blockade commander to let them pass on to Marrow, as they have a stockpile of placebos to deliver on behalf of the Clans Authority.
This is a lie and a swindle, so I roll +shadow and get a weak hit (5 vs [2, 5]).
“Timber Wolf, this is Commander Liling Fu of the CASS Justice Delivered acknowledging your distress call I’m dispatching the CASS Seen and Heard a Hobbes-class Cruiser to dispatch your pursuers. The CASS Dotting Father will escort you to Marrow; you will first be subjected to a board and search.”
Andrei winces and responds, “Acknowledged.”
Nika looks at Andrei and says, “Well this is probably going to go sideways.”
“Yeah, if the Seen and Heard gets a vector on the Sundered Aegis it’ll make quick work of that hunk of junk,” says Andrei.
Lieutenant Guerra chuckles as he dons his helmet, “I assure you, we’re in far more danger than the Aegis.”
Lieutenant Guerra then makes his way to the airlock to prepare for any boarding that might happen.
“Listen Andrei, I thought I’d be of more help than this. But…” says Nika.
“No, your knowledge of sensors and systems helped us find a few folk with common cause,” says Andrei.
“We’ll see how our friends turn out. I’m hoping the enemy of our enemy turn out to be our friends.”
Session End
The session-end state of the spaceships.
I introduce a new clock:
- The last of Marrow’s inhabitants flee or falter. This is probably going to come to pass…unless Andrei does something. I set the clock to 4 segments.
I check the background clocks:
- Paradox expands their independence from the Clans Authority.
- The Clan Authority brings Paradox under its control.
I check each clock by rolling on the oracle table. “Paradox expanding their independence” advances another tick; they now have two of four completed. Aside from distance I wonder what are other resources?
Also “The last of Marrow’s inhabitants flee or falter” advances another, but there are signs of hope. What are they?
This sounds like Andrei is trying to Face Danger using Shadow. I roll a miss (7 vs [10, 9]) and a momentary success is undermined by a dire turn of events.