Ksenia, the figure does not stop, nor does it slow its already deliberate steps. It does not even acknowledge you as you stand before it, gun ready, hand twitching. You hear Boots over the general channel, "K? What now?" Asking you, Ksenia, not Ensign Taban Mei.
Mei, you see whatever Ksenia sees in your HUD, hear what she hears over the open channel. What do you do?
I say evenly, almost detached. "Sanchez, if that entity doesn't stop, lethal force is authorized." I'm preparing my psi for whatever will happen. I'm tensed for a fight.
I bite back a command, remembering I can't give her orders. "Ms. Cribbage... if you please, assist Sanchez however you can."
Ksenia, Church, over the private channel, says, "Do what you must, Ms. Cribbage. We will salvage what we can, afterwards."
Meanwhile, Sung speaks up on the general comms. "Ensign Mei, the drone is launched and should reach your position in three minutes. It's self-guided at the moment, but I am at the controls. Let me know if you need me."
The entity doesn't stop, of course.
[OOC: why don't you both put together rolls. Sanchez is available to Ksenia for an extra Security d8, and if Mei can put together a one sentence command or request for Gaumata, he is available to contribute d8 Science to Mei's psi roll.]
d10 Bravery Drive: This is my element. I was re-built for this! 2d10 Security Skone: I've been trained for combat against alien threats, this guy's going down. d8 Relationship with Church: he gave the okay to the order, I'm all-in on this one d8 Cybernetic Systems Distinction: he keeps pulling at it, why don't I give you some of it, sucker?
d8 Security from Sanchez: he's got my back, like old times
Using Cybernetic Systems: Pushing It: take or step up a Complication to double your Skone die for the next roll.
Ksenia, there's that familiar moment of stillness while your finger is poised beside the trigger, relaxed and expectant, and that is the moment that you hear, over the private channel, "Take care, Boo."
Then it's all happening. Bullets from two guns, expertly aimed and at close range, begin to tear through the space where the entity seems to be, then there's a sort of "pop" at the threshhold of your minds and you all hear for an instant the WORDS again, just two or three before the pop inverts itself and the image of a man freezes and starts to fade just as it opens its mouth to speak and the bullets suddenly find purchase, not in the figure, but behind it as something tall and wide and just plain big starts to fade in to replace it and Ksenia, your frakking metal hand reaches to the barrel of your gun and starts to pull it to the side, trying to aim it toward Boots and Mei, you feel a building pressure on the structure of the barrier and know suddenly that this Big Brother is not the emitter itself and the WORDS are going to be back soon and "Oh shit," Sanchez says, "that's big." and you're pretty sure Gaumata just pissed in zir suit, from the look on zir face and you hope that the plumbing's attached properly and...
Stupid, frakking alien. You think making me aim the rifle at my friend and my heart will force me to shoot them? Take it, idiot, take the frakking gun. I have a pistol, you moron.
I let go of the rifle, and reach with my left hand for the pistol in a pouch on my belt, pulling it and flicking off the safety. "Let's take it down, Boots." I order as I advance, moving quickly, pushing with my left foot now.
Big Brother, you are not hurting them. I will shoot you in whatever face you show me.
Bit it's not a shit of fear, or worry. It's more a shit of frustration and disappointment. That's one of the oldest tricks in the book, Mei, and you fell for it.
But no time to self-deprecate, get that psi block around the emitter, ASAFP! "I'm on it, people!" Mei, be strong.
No no no no, the words, no. Get the barrier back up!
I don't even know what I look like, what I'm doing, I'm focused on protecting everyone. I feel I'm on my knees with the weight of the burden and the pressure of the words. My hands, trying to cover my ears, impossible in the suit. My cheeks hurt from my jaw muscles squeezing into a rictus, I'm not seeing much of anything, I'm making a low keening noise over comm.
My only coherent thought, barely vocalized: "not on my watch"
Ksenia, through the comms, you hear Mei's wordless keen as you see the large shape stagger from the impact of your bullets. It resolves, as the man-semblance fades completely away, into a confused mass of flesh shot through with organic looking "cables" and hardware-analogues, similar in lines to the central core of the Dauntless mission's alien ship, as if related somehow. You have hurt it, clearly, but it continues its heavy steps forward, toward you, toward the stairs down where Mei waits.
I'm getting right in its damn way. It will only reach the crew, and Mei, over my dead frakking body. I force my right arm away, it seems to hang lifeless. I don't need it right now. He isn't using it against me, thankfully.
As I step in its path, a hundred macho lines run through my head, but Mei has the best line - "not on my watch!", so I let it stand. I unload an entire frakking clip in this monstrosity.
"Not on my watch." I can't wait to give Mei some shit over that one, in a friendly way.
Compiling the roll: d10 Sacrifice: I care for this whole crew, I won't let them down. Especially Mei. 2d10 Security: I must hurt this enemy to protect my people. d8 Veteran Distinction: I've been in worse (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)
d8 Sanchez: he's taking flank and unloading, too d8 Big Brother Injured complication
I'm spending a PP to use Fighter in Veterean to double my Skone.
"Gaumata! Give them some imagery, sonar, thermal, UV, I don't care! I'm tired of this thing frakking with our eyes!" I call over comms, straining. We need the truth to be able to overcome.
I feel words on my skin and hear them with my tongue, it's a rough sickly-sweet I want gone. I've got to shore up the psi block with more sense/memory so it doesn't collapse! I didn't realize we're dealing with an entity and an emitter. I push with my will, sharp spears of psi force. I hope it will keep him dancing off-balance so Ksenia and Sanchez can punch his ticket.
Duty - d10 - Sorry, "bro." Orders. Security - d8 - I haven't drawn my sidearm yet, but I'm throwing slugs of my own. Plucky - d8 - I am not going to fail my first mission! Gaumata - Challenging Relationship - 3d10 - I trust zir knows zir's shit. Gaumata's Science- d8
Ksenia, bullets from your sidearm and Boots' bigass gun tear into Big Brother, knocking "him" back toward the wall. You have him pinned and can sense the kill imminent. Then...
Mei, you push with all your strength, trying to distract Big Brother or harm "him," and then it all goes straight to hell. The barrier curves out of control, and your effort comes hurtling back at you with even more energy, overloading your brain and spilling out to ground itself in the only other human psi within light years. You see Gaumata slump to the ground and feel his psychic scream, then...
...Big Brother leans forward against your bullets, damaged and you think nearly done for, but undaunted, nonetheless. "He" begins to move again, toward the stairs.
In your HUD, the view from Mei's suitcam is pointing to the black ceiling of the lower chamber, motionless. Gaumata's shows a view of Mei, lying on the floor, and zir PoV also isn't moving.
Mei, you are a baby, maybe 6 months old, being rocked by a warm soft thing that might be called "mother." You taste a voice, comforting you. rockabybabyinthetreetops...
[OOC: you have a d12 Complication - Mei's in a Coma. Also, I won't keep you on tenterhooks. Gaumata's dead.]
"Shit!" I curse as I pop a clip, working to reload it one-handed. "Boots, keep firing. Immobilize the frakker!" I jam the butt of the pistol into my thigh to slam the clip in place, then I'm moving right at this damn thing. I'm going to shoot it right in the frakking mouth. "Me! Come at ME!"
Mei, what did it do to you? Where's frakking Cora? Gaumata, what the hell are you doing? Not again. I will NOT be the only survivor again.
The basic challenge is still something you've faced a hundred times on a hundred planets. (Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 1, 1. Total: 2)
Big Brother is bad hurt, but keeping on. Still a threat, but you'll get a d12 to roll for his "Injured" complication when you roll. (Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 5, 2. Total: 7)
Your arm is still not entirely under your control. (Rolled: 1d6. Rolls: 1. Total: 1)
I think of Mei, lying there, maybe dying as my finger squeezes smoothly, unloading slug after slug into this monster. Dai, Dinah, Boots, even Church. I can't let them die here.
3d8 Love: I'm not normal, but Dai and Mei have taught me I'm worthy of affection, maybe love. 1d10 Security: I've faced this a hundred times on a hundred planets. 1d4 Veteran of the Aenid Cluster Conflict: nuff said (rolling as d4 for 1 PP)
1d8 Sanchez 1d12 Big Brother's hurt
I'll spend a Plot Point to roll back Mei's coma complication.
Dai, Lourdes, Church and Sung are staring in horror at what the screens show them. Gaumata down, vitals zeroed out. Mei down, brain activity almost nil with rapid spikes at short intervals. Cribbage and Sanchez facing the advance of some thing that has already taken enough slugs to shred a concrete bunker. And the WORDS are back in their heads, a returned and constant distraction in a meaningless repeating pattern.
"Ensign Mei! Orders?" Sung waits for a response, for a brief moment. Church leans his head into his hands. Dinah and Zoo both grip their seats, staring at the screen white-knuckled. If the tension was not so high, someone in the cockpit might hear the Captain mutter "Boo..." just as Dinah pounds the arm of her chair in anger and frustration.
OOC: that's a resounding success. Rich, take a d8 BDH die to put in your pocket, and note that I have a d6 Complication against you: Wounded, for the rest of the Scene.
Ksenia, this scene seems to happen in slow motion. Your mouth open in a scream, you charge toward the thing in front of you, the thing that threatens what you love, may have somehow killed the person you were tasked with protecting. You unload the full clip of your sidearm directly into its head, silence echoing in your suit's external mics. Finally, it falls, broken and motionless. The words still echo in your head.
Ksenia, you feel pain in your left leg and, replaying the last few seconds, realize that Big Brother lashed out as it fell, "fist" connecting with your left leg through the flexible fabric of the suit. That hurts, and you're going to have to rely more on your cybernetic leg to compensate.
I'm limping and leaping down the stairs, using the low-gravity to my advantage. I'm headed for Mei, I have to see if she made it. I see Gaumata's scans as well as hers, I know the truth of that. I order, "Boots. Double tap the ever loving shit out of that alien meat-bag." But my heart. My heart is breaking as I take each step. My eyes are watery and I have to know.
Ksenia, Mei is not alright. She is lying on her back, and you see that her eyes are open through the clear material of her helmet. There is nothing in her face, not peace or pain or fear. It is just slack, and you haven't seen it this way even when you watched her sleep during the journey here. Also, the person your job was to protect lies dead on the floor not far away.
You hear Sanchez, screaming"Fuckyoufuckyoufuckyou!" and you know he's unloading his Marine-issued assault weapon into that thing upstairs. When the cursing stops, Sung's voice over the comms. "Sanchez! Report!"
Ksenia has a dead Gaumata, a comatose Mei, a gimpy sledge, a probably freaked out Marine, a hard trip back to the ship, and an emitter, the original, supposed goal of this exercise, still spitting out words in the back of the heads of everybody that's still functional. Also, a wounded flesh leg and a twitchy metal arm. I think that covers it.
I'm dropping to a knee, which screams in pain, and I have to twist and end up on my butt. I'm pulling Mei into my lap, checking her vitals on the suit. I need to wake her, somehow. I need her to make it, even if the emitter is a lost cause, we need to walk out of here.
I open my helmet, quick, without hesitating or worrying. The sensors said there was atmo. I need to help Mei. If I don't asphyxiate, then I'm opening her visor, too. I'll reach in with my left hand, stroke her cheek gently, the fabric of the suit isn't too rough.
Ksenia, you don't asphyxiate, even though the pain from your knee causes you to gulp deep breaths of uncertain atmosphere, which tastes Nitrogen-rich and has the tang of ionized metal. The WORDS echo in your head, but you can only focus on Taban's slack face, her staring eyes. You touch her cheek and wish that you could feel the temperature, the texture of her skin. Of course, you can't.
I put those frakking words in a compartment and shove them aside, I've got bigger fish to fry right now. There's no time to pull this whole suit! Plus, I'd need to don it again in a few minutes. But I've got to wake her up. I think for a nervous moment, mind flying though options.
In an impulsive move, I reach up to flick off her suit cam, then mine. I realize I'm panting with nerves at seeing her like this, the pain in my leg is sharp, and the words, the words are in my head and I just need my Taban back.
Boots is still up there, I shoot a glance up, just us, he's gone. I suck back a sob, "Taban... God, please wake up." I'm weeping now, and I'm losing my shit. I need to get a grip. I'm acting like some frakking green rookie. I've lost people. I've lost friends. But this feels so different, so raw. Seeing her lying there lost, Taban, I'm empty. I need to reach out, pull her back, somehow.
I lean down, press my face past the opening of her helmet with the visor up, touch my tongue to the inside of my lips, then I kiss Taban Mei.
Ksenia, unfortunately, Taban Mei is not Sleeping Beauty, and you are certainly no Prince Charming. Her eyelids don't flutter, her pulse doesn't quicken, she doesn't suddenly declare, "Oh! You must be my own true love!" She just lies there, slack and inert. Dead weight with a pulse.
Sanchez: "This piece of shit is done, K. Heading down to you now."
I'm looking up when Sanchez comes down, trying to stand. I use my right leg for leverage. "Alright, Boots. Let's get this damn emitter before we lose our shit." I glance over at Gaumata, we'll get zir on the way out. I pick up Mei, which is much harder with my leg, but I manage. I put her in a fireman's carry and stand with a grunt of effort and pain.
"Sung, give me a nav point to the emitter." I look to Sanchez, "Lead on, brother."
Sung jumps on the comms immediately. "Ms. Cribbage, please respect chain of command. Sanchez, the emitter is directly above you, four 'floors' up if all the levels are the same height as what we've seen on your feed. Please escort out contract partner up and assess the threat."
Sanchez is already turning to take an awkward lope up the uneven stairs. Ksenia, you push your way up with Mei's slight weight bearing you down in even this low gravity. Do you take your helmet? How?
"Sorry, Sergeant," I say. I'll bend back down, weight on my right, to pick up my helmet. My rifle's laying on the floor, I'll worry about it if I can. Right now, helmet for later. Oh, I close her visor. Once my helmet's on and she's ready, then I'm up the stairs. I hope Sanchez hasn't gotten far.
Ksenia, Sanchez is keeping it slow and steady, making sure you can keep up. You make it up to the fourth "floor" of this tower, past the ruin that was once Big Brother, the WORDS in your head chanting their dispassionate dithyramb. You make it to the fourth chamber up, fighting against the pain in your flesh and the resistance of your metal. There, in the center of the floor, is something that looks like a the pod of a gigantic... what is it called? ...magnolia tree, pulsing with light in a rhythm that merges with the words in your head to form a complex, compelling pattern. It's clear to your instincts that this is the emitter.
Sanchez, over the comms, "Sung? Cribbage? What's next?" Followed closely by Church. "Cribbage. Preserve that for study if you can."
My voice sounds a little tired when I report, "Alright. Boots, the crate of gear on the sledge should have some equipment we can use, right? I mean, we didn't haul all this shit across the known universe to wave hello at the frakking antenna. What goods do we have? Church, what did the doctor bring?"
There is a confusion of voices on comms, Sung and Church arguing, until, "Sanchez, orders are to eliminate, but Director Church has made a convincing argument that Melzer-Togawa has prior claim. Do what you can to capture and neutralize, but be ready to frag that thing on orders."
Ksenia, what have you done with Mei? Who's going down to rummage through that sledge-full of gear?
I'm still holding her in a fireman's carry. I don't want to let her go. Not until we're back on the Jane. But we've got a job to do. "C'mon, Boots, let's get the gear." I'll head down with him. Despite my strongest desire otherwise, I know I need hands free, so I put Mei on the sledge as we rummage around.
Private channel to Boots: "Boots, you think we can get this sledge up those stairs?"
"Hell, no, K. It's a cargo loader, not a mountain climber. But we can hump up whatever we need, right? How's the Ensign? Who's in charge here now?" That's Sanchez, still on the private channel, just you.
Still on private with Boots, "Ensign's down for now, doc's dead, so we gotta get her back to the Jane soon. Right now, let's see what we got and figure out what we need quick, hump it up, then carry the damn thing down. Priority one is us surviving. If we need to destroy the thing to make this safe for the crew, that's what we're doing, right? As for who's in charge? Sung. Church is the civvie, you guys are the Corps."
Ksenia, your eye is drawn to an item on the manifest. Man-Portable S/C Field Generator Units, modified (6) S/C... you've used a Stasis and Containment field generator before, taking biological samples on one of your Corp Espionage missions for M-T. Seems like as good a bet as any, right? You easily find the crate indicated on the manifest, big, but easy enough for Boots to handle on his own in this low gravity.
Back in the chamber with the emitter, you both set down your burdens. Sanchez keys in the full-crew access code that Church provided, and the case sighs open to reveal six sleek metal devices, cylindrical with a screen on the top of each and an additional handheld controller. These are not like the generators you've used before, and there are no instructions in the case.
[OOC: why don't you give me a roll to "contain" the emitter. Sanchez can lend you his d6 for Science and if you talk to Lourdes, she'll be able to contribute her Engineering d8]
"Dinah," I call over the comms. "Walk me through this, Red. We can't afford any do-overs."
This whole mission is frakked, man. If I trash the emitter, people might be better off, but then Mei fails and I'm probably fired. I hate this. I HATE this.
d8 Duty - I am serving the Corps by making sure Mei is successful at this mission. d6 Science - I'm using SCIENCE, bitches d4 Temper Distinction
d6 Sanchez Science help d8 Lourdes Engineering help
d6 Cyberarm is jacked up
Also activating * Seeing Red: Spend 1 PP to use a Complication as an Asset for one Action; step up the Complication afterward.
Ksenia, with Lourdes piggybacking on your camera feeds and making the occasional comment and educated guess, you and Boots arrange the cylinders in a precise circle around the emitter and power them up. Sussing out the controller is more involved, since Gaumata's modifications to the system are idiosyncratic at best. Eventually, though, you have some degree of confidence that the appropriate buttons have been pushed, the appropriate sequence programmed. Church's confident, calm voice comes over the comms. "Ms. Cribbage, thank you for your efforts in an extreme circumstance. I have every confidence in you."
You initiate the process, and a shimmering sphere forms, originating with the field generators and encompassing the emitter. The sphere quickly shifts colors through the spectrum and the WORDS fade as it settles into a steady pale blue. You won't be able to move it without some further work, but it is neutralized, and it will still be here for study or transport after you get Mei back to the ship.
It is a struggle, with your flesh leg injured and your cyberarm stubbornly refusing to cooperate with you, but you and Sanchez unload much of the equipment from the sledge and use it to take Gaumata's body and Ensign Mei back to the Stalker Jane. The sigh of the airlock pressurizing seems melancholy as you wait impatiently for the inner door. Four faces look at you from the other side of the door when it finally opens. Ksenia, whose eyes do you meet first? What do those eyes tell you?
I meet Church's eyes. I want to look at Cap, but I don't. I want to go have a few brews with Dinah, but I won't. I need to be a pro. I need to feel like this had a reason, some meaning, not some M-T sneaky deal to reduce fraud.
Church's eyes tell me that this is exactly what this mission is about. He's been trying to tell me to dump it all this time. I'm just too damn stubborn to get Mei a feather in her cap.
"We need to get Ensign Mei cared for." First words out of my mouth.
That first frozen moment breaks, and there's immediate activity. Sung helps you lift Mei onto a collapsible gurney waiting in the corridor, and you're at the Medical Bay in no time. Medical is primarily run by a sophisticated expert system that begins running diagnostics as soon as Dinah attaches the monitors. She follows the instructions issued by the computer, attaching a nutrition tube and electrodes to monitor and stimulate Mei's brain.
In the end though, Dinah says, "Robodoc says no physical damage, no scarring or trauma to the brain. My guess? She's going to have to wake herself up, whatever's going on in there. But when she does, she's gonna be fine."
I let Dinah do her thing while I rummage around in the med bay supplies for some medi-glue. I gum up the gash in my leg, and check my vitals. Don't need blood right now and the cybernetics will help regrow over time, so it's just pain. Who cares about pain, means I'm still alive.
"Thanks for your help with the emitter, Dinah." I say as I pull a rolling stool over to sit down heavily and watch her work, and Mei. My damn arm is still twitchy, so I start working at it to take it off.
Ksenia, the Stalker Jane leaves Tara's Daughter ten hours after come through the airlock. Mei's condition remains unchanged for the whole time. Your leg will be fine in a few days, but diagnostics on your cyberarm remain confused and contradictory. Dinah tells you she'll take a look once you're underway.
After a half-hour of intense data analysis and a quick consultation among the six of you, Church unlocks the Melzer-Togawa storage and pulls out a large case containing four spheres, each about the size of your head. "These should be more effective and easier to deploy than your standard issue ordnance," he tells Sung and Sanchez.
Captain Dai, Zoo, comes to visit you as you keep vigil over Mei. She puts her hands on your shoulders and says your name. Doesn't ask if you're okay, doesn't look for conversation, just stands behind you, touching you. Silent support.
The Stalker Jane lifts off. Church enters the med bay and hands you his tablet and a small handheld device. The tablet shows a steady view of the emitter in its chamber. He points out the button that will turn off the containment field, and the button that will detonate the explosives.
The Stalker Jane is on her way out of the system, leaving behind the remains of the planet, with one new crater on one of Tara's daughters.
Days later, you awaken in the med bay to see Mei looking at you. She is awake, and the two of you talk about what happened
Comments
Mei, you see whatever Ksenia sees in your HUD, hear what she hears over the open channel. What do you do?
[Taban Mei]
I say evenly, almost detached. "Sanchez, if that entity doesn't stop, lethal force is authorized." I'm preparing my psi for whatever will happen. I'm tensed for a fight.
I bite back a command, remembering I can't give her orders. "Ms. Cribbage... if you please, assist Sanchez however you can."
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I'm blowing this alien entity to hell.
Meanwhile, Sung speaks up on the general comms. "Ensign Mei, the drone is launched and should reach your position in three minutes. It's self-guided at the moment, but I am at the controls. Let me know if you need me."
The entity doesn't stop, of course.
[OOC: why don't you both put together rolls. Sanchez is available to Ksenia for an extra Security d8, and if Mei can put together a one sentence command or request for Gaumata, he is available to contribute d8 Science to Mei's psi roll.]
[Ksenia Cribbage]
d10 Bravery Drive: This is my element. I was re-built for this!
2d10 Security Skone: I've been trained for combat against alien threats, this guy's going down.
d8 Relationship with Church: he gave the okay to the order, I'm all-in on this one
d8 Cybernetic Systems Distinction: he keeps pulling at it, why don't I give you some of it, sucker?
d8 Security from Sanchez: he's got my back, like old times
Using Cybernetic Systems:
Pushing It: take or step up a Complication to double your Skone die for the next roll.
Challenge: (Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 8, 1. Total: 9)
"Big Brother": (Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 6, 7. Total: 13)
Cyber Complication: (Rolled: 1d6. Rolls: 6. Total: 6)
MEI
Challenge: (Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 3, 7. Total: 10)
"Big Brother": (Rolled: 3d8. Rolls: 5, 1, 6. Total: 12)
Cora Complication: 1d8</roll
[Ksenia Cribbage]
Bravery: (Rolled: 1d10. Rolls: 6. Total: 6)
Security: (Rolled: 2d10. Rolls: 3, 10. Total: 13)
Church: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 1. Total: 1)
Sanchez Security help: 1d8
Cybernetic Systems: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 6. Total: 6)
Sanchez Security help: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 7. Total: 7)
[Ksenia Cribbage]
Well, that's a success with the 10 from Security and a 7 from Sanchez for a 17.
EDIT: I am buying those 1s with a PP for a d8 complication.
You get a 1 for a complication, if you like.
Bravery - 1d6 - Show your backbbone, Mei.
Security - 1d8 - You're the shield, Mei.
Alien-Enhanced Psionic - 1d8 - You're the sword, Mei.
Ksenia Cribbage - 3d8 -Stop kidding yourself, Mei. You don't just look up to her. You're in love, Mei.
Possible: Spend a PP for Cora as a d8 asset
Bravery: (Rolled: 1d6. Rolls: 3. Total: 3)
Security: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 4. Total: 4)
Alien-Enhanced Psionic: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 6. Total: 6)
Ksenia Cribbage: (Rolled: 3d8. Rolls: 3, 7, 3. Total: 13)
[Taban Mei]
Okay, that's a 6+7 = 13.
Then it's all happening. Bullets from two guns, expertly aimed and at close range, begin to tear through the space where the entity seems to be, then there's a sort of "pop" at the threshhold of your minds and you all hear for an instant the WORDS again, just two or three before the pop inverts itself and the image of a man freezes and starts to fade just as it opens its mouth to speak and the bullets suddenly find purchase, not in the figure, but behind it as something tall and wide and just plain big starts to fade in to replace it and Ksenia, your frakking metal hand reaches to the barrel of your gun and starts to pull it to the side, trying to aim it toward Boots and Mei, you feel a building pressure on the structure of the barrier and know suddenly that this Big Brother is not the emitter itself and the WORDS are going to be back soon and "Oh shit," Sanchez says, "that's big." and you're pretty sure Gaumata just pissed in zir suit, from the look on zir face and you hope that the plumbing's attached properly and...
[Ksenia Cribbage]
Stupid, frakking alien. You think making me aim the rifle at my friend and my heart will force me to shoot them? Take it, idiot, take the frakking gun. I have a pistol, you moron.
I let go of the rifle, and reach with my left hand for the pistol in a pouch on my belt, pulling it and flicking off the safety. "Let's take it down, Boots." I order as I advance, moving quickly, pushing with my left foot now.
Big Brother, you are not hurting them. I will shoot you in whatever face you show me.
[Taban Mei]
"Shit," I say.
Bit it's not a shit of fear, or worry. It's more a shit of frustration and disappointment. That's one of the oldest tricks in the book, Mei, and you fell for it.
But no time to self-deprecate, get that psi block around the emitter, ASAFP! "I'm on it, people!" Mei, be strong.
Oh crap, it feels big. You can do it, Mei.
[Taban Mei]
No no no no, the words, no. Get the barrier back up!
I don't even know what I look like, what I'm doing, I'm focused on protecting everyone. I feel I'm on my knees with the weight of the burden and the pressure of the words. My hands, trying to cover my ears, impossible in the suit. My cheeks hurt from my jaw muscles squeezing into a rictus, I'm not seeing much of anything, I'm making a low keening noise over comm.
My only coherent thought, barely vocalized: "not on my watch"
Challenge: (Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 7, 8. Total: 15)
Big Brother: (Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 8, 1. Total: 9)
Cyberplication: (Rolled: 1d6. Rolls: 2. Total: 2)
(Don't forget that you have a d8 complication "Big Brother Injured" to add to your roll.)
MEI
Challenge: (Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 2, 7. Total: 9)
Big Brother: (Rolled: 3d8. Rolls: 2, 8, 5. Total: 15)
Coraplication: (Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 7, 8. Total: 15)
(Don't forget that you have a d8 complication "Big Brother Injured" to add to your roll.)
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I'm getting right in its damn way. It will only reach the crew, and Mei, over my dead frakking body. I force my right arm away, it seems to hang lifeless. I don't need it right now. He isn't using it against me, thankfully.
As I step in its path, a hundred macho lines run through my head, but Mei has the best line - "not on my watch!", so I let it stand. I unload an entire frakking clip in this monstrosity.
"Not on my watch." I can't wait to give Mei some shit over that one, in a friendly way.
Compiling the roll:
d10 Sacrifice: I care for this whole crew, I won't let them down. Especially Mei.
2d10 Security: I must hurt this enemy to protect my people.
d8 Veteran Distinction: I've been in worse (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)
d8 Sanchez: he's taking flank and unloading, too
d8 Big Brother Injured complication
I'm spending a PP to use Fighter in Veterean to double my Skone.
[Ksenia Cribbage]
Sacrifice: (Rolled: 1d10. Rolls: 5. Total: 5)
Security: (Rolled: 2d10. Rolls: 8, 6. Total: 14)
Veteran Distinction: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 2. Total: 2)
Sanchez help: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 5. Total: 5)
"Big Brother" complication: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 5. Total: 5)
[Ksenia Cribbage]
It would be a mere 14. But I'll spend a PP to add one of those 5s, bringing it up to a 19.
[Taban Mei]
"Gaumata! Give them some imagery, sonar, thermal, UV, I don't care! I'm tired of this thing frakking with our eyes!" I call over comms, straining. We need the truth to be able to overcome.
I feel words on my skin and hear them with my tongue, it's a rough sickly-sweet I want gone. I've got to shore up the psi block with more sense/memory so it doesn't collapse! I didn't realize we're dealing with an entity and an emitter. I push with my will, sharp spears of psi force. I hope it will keep him dancing off-balance so Ksenia and Sanchez can punch his ticket.
Duty - d10 - Sorry, "bro." Orders.
Security - d8 - I haven't drawn my sidearm yet, but I'm throwing slugs of my own.
Plucky - d8 - I am not going to fail my first mission!
Gaumata - Challenging Relationship - 3d10 - I trust zir knows zir's shit.
Gaumata's Science- d8
d8 Big Brother Injured complication
Duty - (Rolled: 1d10. Rolls: 1. Total: 1)
Security - (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 1. Total: 1)
Plucky - (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 2. Total: 2)
Gaumata - (Rolled: 3d10. Rolls: 1, 5, 1. Total: 7)
Gaumata's Science - (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 2. Total: 2)
Big Brother Injured complication - (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 3. Total: 3)
2+5 = 7, with what, four 1s of trouble? Enjoy!
Mei, you push with all your strength, trying to distract Big Brother or harm "him," and then it all goes straight to hell. The barrier curves out of control, and your effort comes hurtling back at you with even more energy, overloading your brain and spilling out to ground itself in the only other human psi within light years. You see Gaumata slump to the ground and feel his psychic scream, then...
Ksenia, nonsympathetic doa replume demoted resourceful halvah noncomposite jocasta nine preferentialist approvable perineuritis enfold subchorioidal core undereat overcorrect pandemoniacal sideswipe nuaaw befouler hyssop emblem
...Big Brother leans forward against your bullets, damaged and you think nearly done for, but undaunted, nonetheless. "He" begins to move again, toward the stairs.
In your HUD, the view from Mei's suitcam is pointing to the black ceiling of the lower chamber, motionless. Gaumata's shows a view of Mei, lying on the floor, and zir PoV also isn't moving.
Mei, you are a baby, maybe 6 months old, being rocked by a warm soft thing that might be called "mother." You taste a voice, comforting you. rockabybabyinthetreetops...
[OOC: you have a d12 Complication - Mei's in a Coma. Also, I won't keep you on tenterhooks. Gaumata's dead.]
[Taban Mei]
Warm.
Tired.
Hurt.
Sleep.
[Ksenia Cribbage]
"Shit!" I curse as I pop a clip, working to reload it one-handed. "Boots, keep firing. Immobilize the frakker!" I jam the butt of the pistol into my thigh to slam the clip in place, then I'm moving right at this damn thing. I'm going to shoot it right in the frakking mouth. "Me! Come at ME!"
Mei, what did it do to you? Where's frakking Cora? Gaumata, what the hell are you doing? Not again. I will NOT be the only survivor again.
The basic challenge is still something you've faced a hundred times on a hundred planets.
(Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 1, 1. Total: 2)
Big Brother is bad hurt, but keeping on. Still a threat, but you'll get a d12 to roll for his "Injured" complication when you roll.
(Rolled: 2d8. Rolls: 5, 2. Total: 7)
Your arm is still not entirely under your control.
(Rolled: 1d6. Rolls: 1. Total: 1)
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I think of Mei, lying there, maybe dying as my finger squeezes smoothly, unloading slug after slug into this monster. Dai, Dinah, Boots, even Church. I can't let them die here.
3d8 Love: I'm not normal, but Dai and Mei have taught me I'm worthy of affection, maybe love.
1d10 Security: I've faced this a hundred times on a hundred planets.
1d4 Veteran of the Aenid Cluster Conflict: nuff said (rolling as d4 for 1 PP)
1d8 Sanchez
1d12 Big Brother's hurt
I'll spend a Plot Point to roll back Mei's coma complication.
[Ksenia Cribbage]
Love: (Rolled: 3d8. Rolls: 7, 2, 8. Total: 17)
Security: (Rolled: 1d10. Rolls: 1. Total: 1)
Distinction: (Rolled: 1d4. Rolls: 3. Total: 3)
Sanchez: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 3. Total: 3)
Big Bro Huty: (Rolled: 1d12. Rolls: 8. Total: 8)
[Ksenia Cribbage]
That's a 16, with a single "1" out there.
Dai, Lourdes, Church and Sung are staring in horror at what the screens show them. Gaumata down, vitals zeroed out. Mei down, brain activity almost nil with rapid spikes at short intervals. Cribbage and Sanchez facing the advance of some thing that has already taken enough slugs to shred a concrete bunker. And the WORDS are back in their heads, a returned and constant distraction in a meaningless repeating pattern.
"Ensign Mei! Orders?" Sung waits for a response, for a brief moment. Church leans his head into his hands. Dinah and Zoo both grip their seats, staring at the screen white-knuckled. If the tension was not so high, someone in the cockpit might hear the Captain mutter "Boo..." just as Dinah pounds the arm of her chair in anger and frustration.
Ksenia, this scene seems to happen in slow motion. Your mouth open in a scream, you charge toward the thing in front of you, the thing that threatens what you love, may have somehow killed the person you were tasked with protecting. You unload the full clip of your sidearm directly into its head, silence echoing in your suit's external mics. Finally, it falls, broken and motionless. The words still echo in your head.
nonsympathetic doa replume demoted resourceful halvah noncomposite jocasta nine preferentialist approvable perineuritis enfold subchorioidal core undereat overcorrect pandemoniacal sideswipe nuaaw befouler hyssop emblem
Ksenia, you feel pain in your left leg and, replaying the last few seconds, realize that Big Brother lashed out as it fell, "fist" connecting with your left leg through the flexible fabric of the suit. That hurts, and you're going to have to rely more on your cybernetic leg to compensate.
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I'm limping and leaping down the stairs, using the low-gravity to my advantage. I'm headed for Mei, I have to see if she made it. I see Gaumata's scans as well as hers, I know the truth of that. I order, "Boots. Double tap the ever loving shit out of that alien meat-bag." But my heart. My heart is breaking as I take each step. My eyes are watery and I have to know.
Are you alright, Mei?
You hear Sanchez, screaming "Fuckyoufuckyoufuckyou!" and you know he's unloading his Marine-issued assault weapon into that thing upstairs. When the cursing stops, Sung's voice over the comms. "Sanchez! Report!"
Ksenia has a dead Gaumata, a comatose Mei, a gimpy sledge, a probably freaked out Marine, a hard trip back to the ship, and an emitter, the original, supposed goal of this exercise, still spitting out words in the back of the heads of everybody that's still functional. Also, a wounded flesh leg and a twitchy metal arm. I think that covers it.
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I'm dropping to a knee, which screams in pain, and I have to twist and end up on my butt. I'm pulling Mei into my lap, checking her vitals on the suit. I need to wake her, somehow. I need her to make it, even if the emitter is a lost cause, we need to walk out of here.
I open my helmet, quick, without hesitating or worrying. The sensors said there was atmo. I need to help Mei. If I don't asphyxiate, then I'm opening her visor, too. I'll reach in with my left hand, stroke her cheek gently, the fabric of the suit isn't too rough.
What do you do?
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I put those frakking words in a compartment and shove them aside, I've got bigger fish to fry right now. There's no time to pull this whole suit! Plus, I'd need to don it again in a few minutes. But I've got to wake her up. I think for a nervous moment, mind flying though options.
In an impulsive move, I reach up to flick off her suit cam, then mine. I realize I'm panting with nerves at seeing her like this, the pain in my leg is sharp, and the words, the words are in my head and I just need my Taban back.
Boots is still up there, I shoot a glance up, just us, he's gone. I suck back a sob, "Taban... God, please wake up." I'm weeping now, and I'm losing my shit. I need to get a grip. I'm acting like some frakking green rookie. I've lost people. I've lost friends. But this feels so different, so raw. Seeing her lying there lost, Taban, I'm empty. I need to reach out, pull her back, somehow.
I lean down, press my face past the opening of her helmet with the visor up, touch my tongue to the inside of my lips, then I kiss Taban Mei.
Sanchez: "This piece of shit is done, K. Heading down to you now."
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I'm looking up when Sanchez comes down, trying to stand. I use my right leg for leverage. "Alright, Boots. Let's get this damn emitter before we lose our shit." I glance over at Gaumata, we'll get zir on the way out. I pick up Mei, which is much harder with my leg, but I manage. I put her in a fireman's carry and stand with a grunt of effort and pain.
"Sung, give me a nav point to the emitter." I look to Sanchez, "Lead on, brother."
Sanchez is already turning to take an awkward lope up the uneven stairs. Ksenia, you push your way up with Mei's slight weight bearing you down in even this low gravity. Do you take your helmet? How?
[Ksenia Cribbage]
"Sorry, Sergeant," I say. I'll bend back down, weight on my right, to pick up my helmet. My rifle's laying on the floor, I'll worry about it if I can. Right now, helmet for later. Oh, I close her visor. Once my helmet's on and she's ready, then I'm up the stairs. I hope Sanchez hasn't gotten far.
Sanchez, over the comms, "Sung? Cribbage? What's next?" Followed closely by Church. "Cribbage. Preserve that for study if you can."
[Ksenia Cribbage]
My voice sounds a little tired when I report, "Alright. Boots, the crate of gear on the sledge should have some equipment we can use, right? I mean, we didn't haul all this shit across the known universe to wave hello at the frakking antenna. What goods do we have? Church, what did the doctor bring?"
Ksenia, what have you done with Mei? Who's going down to rummage through that sledge-full of gear?
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I'm still holding her in a fireman's carry. I don't want to let her go. Not until we're back on the Jane. But we've got a job to do. "C'mon, Boots, let's get the gear." I'll head down with him. Despite my strongest desire otherwise, I know I need hands free, so I put Mei on the sledge as we rummage around.
Private channel to Boots: "Boots, you think we can get this sledge up those stairs?"
[Ksenia Cribbage]
Still on private with Boots, "Ensign's down for now, doc's dead, so we gotta get her back to the Jane soon. Right now, let's see what we got and figure out what we need quick, hump it up, then carry the damn thing down. Priority one is us surviving. If we need to destroy the thing to make this safe for the crew, that's what we're doing, right? As for who's in charge? Sung. Church is the civvie, you guys are the Corps."
Back in the chamber with the emitter, you both set down your burdens. Sanchez keys in the full-crew access code that Church provided, and the case sighs open to reveal six sleek metal devices, cylindrical with a screen on the top of each and an additional handheld controller. These are not like the generators you've used before, and there are no instructions in the case.
[OOC: why don't you give me a roll to "contain" the emitter. Sanchez can lend you his d6 for Science and if you talk to Lourdes, she'll be able to contribute her Engineering d8]
[Ksenia Cribbage]
"Dinah," I call over the comms. "Walk me through this, Red. We can't afford any do-overs."
This whole mission is frakked, man. If I trash the emitter, people might be better off, but then Mei fails and I'm probably fired. I hate this. I HATE this.
d8 Duty - I am serving the Corps by making sure Mei is successful at this mission.
d6 Science - I'm using SCIENCE, bitches
d4 Temper Distinction
d6 Sanchez Science help
d8 Lourdes Engineering help
d6 Cyberarm is jacked up
Also activating
* Seeing Red: Spend 1 PP to use a Complication as an Asset for one Action; step up the Complication afterward.
Challenge: (Rolled: 4d8. Rolls: 4, 7, 3, 4. Total: 18) (This is an unfamiliar and tense situation, and your expert is dead.)
[Ksenia Cribbage]
Duty: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 5. Total: 5)
Science: (Rolled: 1d6. Rolls: 6. Total: 6)
Temper: (Rolled: 1d4. Rolls: 2. Total: 2)
Church Relationship: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 7. Total: 7)
Sanchez Science: (Rolled: 1d6. Rolls: 3. Total: 3)
Lourdes Engineering: (Rolled: 1d8. Rolls: 5. Total: 5)
Cyberarm!: (Rolled: 1d6. Rolls: 6. Total: 6)
[Ksenia Cribbage]
That's a 7+6=13.
You initiate the process, and a shimmering sphere forms, originating with the field generators and encompassing the emitter. The sphere quickly shifts colors through the spectrum and the WORDS fade as it settles into a steady pale blue. You won't be able to move it without some further work, but it is neutralized, and it will still be here for study or transport after you get Mei back to the ship.
It is a struggle, with your flesh leg injured and your cyberarm stubbornly refusing to cooperate with you, but you and Sanchez unload much of the equipment from the sledge and use it to take Gaumata's body and Ensign Mei back to the Stalker Jane. The sigh of the airlock pressurizing seems melancholy as you wait impatiently for the inner door. Four faces look at you from the other side of the door when it finally opens. Ksenia, whose eyes do you meet first? What do those eyes tell you?
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I meet Church's eyes. I want to look at Cap, but I don't. I want to go have a few brews with Dinah, but I won't. I need to be a pro. I need to feel like this had a reason, some meaning, not some M-T sneaky deal to reduce fraud.
Church's eyes tell me that this is exactly what this mission is about. He's been trying to tell me to dump it all this time. I'm just too damn stubborn to get Mei a feather in her cap.
"We need to get Ensign Mei cared for." First words out of my mouth.
In the end though, Dinah says, "Robodoc says no physical damage, no scarring or trauma to the brain. My guess? She's going to have to wake herself up, whatever's going on in there. But when she does, she's gonna be fine."
[Ksenia Cribbage]
I let Dinah do her thing while I rummage around in the med bay supplies for some medi-glue. I gum up the gash in my leg, and check my vitals. Don't need blood right now and the cybernetics will help regrow over time, so it's just pain. Who cares about pain, means I'm still alive.
"Thanks for your help with the emitter, Dinah." I say as I pull a rolling stool over to sit down heavily and watch her work, and Mei. My damn arm is still twitchy, so I start working at it to take it off.
After a half-hour of intense data analysis and a quick consultation among the six of you, Church unlocks the Melzer-Togawa storage and pulls out a large case containing four spheres, each about the size of your head. "These should be more effective and easier to deploy than your standard issue ordnance," he tells Sung and Sanchez.
Captain Dai, Zoo, comes to visit you as you keep vigil over Mei. She puts her hands on your shoulders and says your name. Doesn't ask if you're okay, doesn't look for conversation, just stands behind you, touching you. Silent support.
The Stalker Jane lifts off. Church enters the med bay and hands you his tablet and a small handheld device. The tablet shows a steady view of the emitter in its chamber. He points out the button that will turn off the containment field, and the button that will detonate the explosives.
The Stalker Jane is on her way out of the system, leaving behind the remains of the planet, with one new crater on one of Tara's daughters.
Days later, you awaken in the med bay to see Mei looking at you. She is awake, and the two of you talk about what happened
--END SCENE--