Enjoying the Local Sights

We continued on course to the planet Gograpaty after our random encounter in space. There was some talk between Cyrus and Captain Keiran about updating the crew log after the allegation that Cole's actual identity might be that of one Donald Watson but it was decided that changes won't be needed. Cole might have a shady past and is constantly trying to make a profit every step of the way but we're always glad to have him on board as pilot. A fact which was evident as we entered Gograpaty's atmosphere and he flew SS Second Chance avoiding a massive hurricane that raged on a significant portion of the planet.

so much H2O

We landed in the city of Chifeng and were greeted by the city's delegation composed of female warriors. As we made our way to the planet, Cyrus looked through the database to gather information on the planet and its inhabitants so we were familiar with their tribes being matriarchies. Open brandishing of weapons wasn't frowned upon but Jokkenson's large chain-axe raised a few eyebrows. Fortunately, Captain Keiran quickly explained that Jokkenson was honour-bound to carry the weapon of his ancestors by him. The tribes of Gograpaty took honour quite seriously so the delegation allowed it but warned us that they'll be keeping a watchful eye on us.

We decided to split our group. Captain Keiran took Jokkenson and Cyrus to socialise in a tavern, Ian and Yannick went into the merchant district to look for parts for the ship while Cole was left in charge of SS Second Chance until the Captain's return. Our session narrative switched around between these two groups, leaving Cole's player to exchange notes with the GM.

The first group was mainly enjoying drinks. At one point Jokkenson got drunk enough that he issued a challenge to arm wrestle which was first taken up by Captain Keiran who quickly admitted defeat as he had a premonition of his hand getting broken by Jokkenson's brute force. Next up was Cyrus who easily won the match despite his scrawny looks. He may have used his telekinesis to help him win in this particular case.

Meanwhile, Ian and Yannick ventured into the merchant district where they got a fairly good idea of how the city was built. It was clear from the state of the buildings that the locals utilised anything they could find to build their floating city, as not having any land mass on the planet meant they didn't have easy access to building materials. We could see pieces of ships fashioned into walls or repurposed to be used in various other ways. Eventually, Yannick's explanations of what sort of parts he was looking for led us to a scrapyard where fate decided to bury Yannick in a pile of rubble. He failed his roll to get out of the way and Ian failed his roll to help him so it took a while to get him out.

We had to end the session before finding out what Cole was up to during our absence.

Snakes on a Spaceship

I went to Amsterdam for a week instead of attending our regular gaming session but I was given a quick rundown of what happened after our ship's alarms went off.

Apparently, the incoming ships were some form of 3 small fighters from the ACRE Corporation that demanded the return of stolen merchandise. They threatened to board our ship so we engaged them in combat. I'm told that starship combat is quite dangerous and after several hits, we decided to play dead, let them board us and fight hand-to-hand.

I do not come in peace

A single pilot came on board our ship looking for Donald Watson. He didn't believe us when told that no such individual is part of our crew. He identified Cole as the person he was looking for, who quickly made a break for the fighter ship but was stopped by a single arm swipe. After a few hits from an axe and some fireballs being thrown at him, we realised this guy was an android. He didn't last long Cole pulled a single critical wire our of the back of its neck just before Jokkenson chopped its head right off.

Shortly after, it came to light that this android wasn't a seperate entity from its ship so Jokkenson charged into the fighter docked to our ship only to see the last surviving fighter disappear into the distance.

The fighter began a countdown type sequence in the meantime.
Our sessions keep ending on cliffhangers!

We start this session trying to figure out what to do with a fighter ship attached to our ship that might be counting down to self-destruct. As players, we're not ones to back down on a challenge so it's only natural we would attempt to override the fighter's system to stop the self-destruct sequence.

Cole and Cyrus were elected to plug themselves into the fighter's system and hack their way through to the control core. Their consciousnesses found themselves in a white corridor with buttons numbered 1 to 10. While some of the buttons did nothing and pushing them only wasted time before the denotation would trigger, one offered a ladder leading up to a similar corridor with numbered buttons. A similar selection of numbers through guesswork allowed them to find another ladder, which they took but at one point Cole pressed a button that opened a trap door underneath him that transported him back a few levels. It's around this point that they realised they were in some form of Snakes & Ladders puzzle.

It's that sort of game, all right

Cole's player succesfully rolled for the use of his Unique Gift Focus which allowed him to recall trivia with uncanny accuracy. The Game Master ruled this would allow him, as a player, to search for the board online... so everyone at the table took out their phones, did an image search and compared notes to the several different boards that we found. It was great seeing everyone work in tandem to figure out this puzzle thrown at us.

Meanwhile, Ian tried to establish communications with codename Bob's ship to check on their status. As he lacks the necessary skills to attempt the task, I had some fun roleplaying his inability to make sense of the controls that Cyrus usually uses. We've learned that Bob's ship took some heavy damage and he clearly wasn't in the mood for small talk while he was dealing with the damage caused by the fighters' attacks.

Only a few seconds were left before the fighter ship would self-destruct. While Cyrus and Cole were hacking away in virtual reality, Yannick was working on a way to seal the explosion and minimise the damage while Jokkenson stood on the ready holding a rope tied to our two programming specialists. Soon after Cyrus entered the last sequence which deactivated the self-destruct routine, Jokkenson pulled on the rope, ejecting them both from the ship and its system. We found out they were successful only after the lack of the expected explosion.

In the ensuing calm, we contacted Bob's ship once more with the offer to sell him the fully functional fighter. Although keeping the ship was a tempting prospect, logistically it offered too many issues to be a viable option. We gained some credits after a lengthy negotiation over its price and handed it over to Bob... but not before we made a copy of the data the ship's systems held.

Upgrades Galore

We started this session a few minutes early to give ourselves time to go over Character Advancement. The previous mission our characters were given was intended to give us a feel for the rules and how the game plays, after which we were told that we would gain two levels for our characters. This means more Health and more Skills.

I like to use what goes on in-game as an explanation of how my character sheet improves and since I roleplayed interactions with Cyrus and Yannick, I thought it appropriate to give him a point in Know to reflect the knowledge Ian took out of these conversations. Naturally, I've improved his Shoot to the maximum possible as that's his main specialty. As a Partial Psychic, I'm also required to progressively improve my psychic skill, Telekinesis in Ian's case, which allowed me to gain the ability to walk on vertical and overhanging surfaces as if they were horizontal. In a way, this gives Ian the ability to ignore gravity.

Gun Kata anyone?

We also got to the point where we could gain another Focus or improve an existing one. While I was tempted to improve Gunslinger (Ian's other Focus is Alert), I found Close Combatant more inspiring in a combat situation. While another level of Gunslinger would allow Ian to deal 1d4 damage on a miss with a gun, Close Combatant allows me to ignore penalties from using pistols in a melee fight. I can't wait for a scene where this becomes relevant.

When everyone was done assigning points to their characters, it was time to return to our in-game adventures. It was approximately half a year since our initial assignment during which time we got to know each other better as a team. We were called in to the briefing room where we were told that the fugitive we caught at SS Aurelia, Arthur Smith, has finally started talking. We were given information about arms dealing proceedings taking place on a planet called Gograpaty. It was a planet with no land mass due to terraforming incidents, leaving it covered in an ocean, forcing people to live on floating cities made out of any salvageable parts. The communities there were organised in a tribes which prohibited selling weaponry. As these weapons were being sold to rebel factions, our mission was to stop their operations.

At the end of the briefing we were told we were being assigned a new ship, an upgrade from the previous one, but we stayed at the table after our superior officer left the room to discuss our strategy. We went through several suggestion and settled on posing as buyers so we can amass enough evidence to either allow the local authorities to deal with the smugglers or have reason to blow them up with a clear conscience.

In order for this plan to work, however, Ian suggested we'd need better weaponry so we can present ourselves as serious buyers who aren't interested in any low-tech equipment. Cole informed us that he might be able to reach out to a contact who would be able to provide us with above standard weaponry for a reasonable price. With that in mind we went off to the docking bay to inspect our new ship. As it turned out, it was SS Aurelia which we were inspecting on our very first mission. Captain Keiran re-christened it SS Second Chance before we got our entire crew on-board and flew off into space.

Our first stop was the meeting Cole set up with a merchant, codename Bob, who would provide us with sufficiently flashy and effective weapons. Bob requested Cole (similarly codenamed Bob) to come on-board his ship with no weapons to browse his wares and make a deal. Captain Keiran didn't want Cole to go alone and as Ian without his pistols would have been less effective in a fight, Cole was accompanied by Jokkenson who, quite literally, is a weapon.

This does not bode well

They both went through scanners that checked for weapons on-board the ship, inspected the wares, reached a financial agreement, transfered the funds and left with their purchases. Jokkenson was especially happy with the thunder gun he was carrying, a large two-handed weapon capable of disintegrating its target. They also came back with a sniper rifle and two pairs of thermal and mag pistols.

We were about to distribute the wares among ourselves when our radars picked up incoming spacecrafts approaching our position.