Cast: 

Elizabet Charland, Teamster

Hyram Geiger, Scientist

Jobe Armola, Teamster

The Crew of the Belligerent Badger,a small cargo hauler under the employ of the Deep Space 6 LLC Megacorp are on route to the remote deep space mining station Ypsilon-14 located deep within the asteroid. The ship is to drop off several months worth of provisions and pick up some cargo, classified samples among them. They need to meet the Mining Engineer Mike to receive the samples and sign off to release the cargo to the crew so they can continue off to Prospero’s Dream.

The group is directed to dock in Docking Bay 2, getting a good look at the Science ship The Heracles. The Team Leader, Sonya, meets them in the Bay once it's pressurised. She delivers the bad news. Mike has gone missing yesterday, some of the miners have tried to find him in the mines and tunnels below, but havent had any luck finding him, needing to keep their quota’s up at least Deep Space 6  dock their pay. She regrets informing the group that she does not have the authority to sign off on the cargo or access to the samples the megacorp wants transported without Mike.

Naturally wanting to get off of the station before they themselves violate their contracted timeframe. They get the idea to go to Mike's room and look around, though Jobe, who was unfortunately still recovering from Cryo sickness, and Captain Riley, who was getting the cargo ready to unload, stayed behind. The group meets Morgan and his cat Princey, Morgan mentions that Mike has been acting bizarrely, smashing up a shower and getting into an altercation with another crew member, named Kintaro. 

Poking around Mike's room, a few journals discussing some sort of yellow ooze were found, a loose ceiling tile revealed the discovery of an empty spray bottle that contained water and a handgun with a partial empty clip. A surprise to everyone. The group meets the quirky Rie who has just come off shift and backed up what the group had heard about Mike’s previous behaviour. The group also notices a stash of narcotics above another crew person's room (likely Rie’s).

When asked about the goo, Sonya mentions that it had been discovered in some suterraining caverns appearing here and there but never anything bigger than a  dinner plate, she notes that Dr. Giovanni, the geologist on the Heracles, took interest in it as well. Giovanni had apparently been studying a number of geological samples  and more recently a few samples of the ooze. When asked, the station crew realises they haven’t seen the doctor since he took some samples  back onto his ship yesterday afternoon.. 

The consensus is that Mike is in the mine somewhere, as there is no other place he could be. A back up idea of seeing ifDr. Giovanni had the authority to accept and discharge the shipments was suggested which Captain Riley agreed to pursue while Hyram and Eliazbeth donned vacsuits and descended into the mine by way of the the lift to search for Mike and discuss the matter with Kintaro, the only person on the station that seemed to have a beef with Mike. Once in the mine, the group hears broken screams across the spotty comms system. It sounds like Dana, one of the driller’s currently on shift. Making their way towards where they think she might be the group meets up with Kintaro and Jerome, who arrive a few seconds earlier, to see Dana’s discarded vacsuit torn open with only a few droplets of blood to suggest that it was ever occupied. The group chats with Jerome and Kinataro regarding the situation. They discover a very small amount of the yellow ooze on the suit and follow  a slight trail of it back to the area of the mine that has been ruled off limits. It is here they find the missing vacsuit, likely belonging to Mike, empty and slumped in the ground in the sitting position. The Word “Silence” has been etched into the wall around it.

While examining this new development, Jerome screams the group turns just in time to see Jerome’s suit seemingly peel itself open and his head vanish with a horrible crunching sound  and spraying blood. Something has lifted Jerome's body up off the ground and continued to “Devour” it as the group and the crew all ran back through the airlock to the freight elevator. They got away just in time for the thing, whatever it was to begin to tear through the plastic airlock. As the elevator rose back to the station, everyone has but one question on their minds, what in god’s name is in that mine?

Ending Stress

Hyram 5

Elizabet 5

Jobe 2

Upon returning to the station from the depths, Hyram, Elizabet, and Kantaro begin to stress out, they look for some sort of way to lock out the freight elevator, but unfortunately Mike is the only one with a key. They try to jury rig a solution but all they succeed in doing is disability the lock out mechanism and the emergency stop function. As they are debating what to do Jobe arrives on the scene and Hyram is called back to the badger to help Captain Riley on the comms. As Elizabet and Kantaro try to impress the severity of the situation upon Jobe, the elevator begins to descend back into the mine. The group searches for something, anything that they might use to repair the emergency stop and to keep the elevator from rising, Kantaro rips a light fixture out of the ceiling, for the wiring, and it is then that the group notices that he is sweating yellow ooze. Jobe, thankfully wearing gloves, touched some and it is then where Ashram and Sonya appear on scene. Learning that Kantaro is effectively sweating this strange yellow goo, Sonya and Jobe escort him back to his quarters at gunpoint while Ashram tries to stop the now ascending freight elevator. He is unable to do so and, as the group double times it back towards the crew quarters. Ashram screams as  parts of him vanish bit by bit into the maw of the invisible creature.

The group runs, Sonya stops to pull down a pressurized shutter, and Kantaro runs into Morgan and Princey covering Morgan in oozy yellow sweat. The creature bangs on the shutter as Morgan curses out Kantaro and Princy hisses and both, refusing to let Morgan pick her back up. Kantaro and Morgan are routed back into their rooms by Sonya and Jobe, Rosa and Rie are woken up and it is explained to them what happened when the banging stops. Both women are still in disbelief of the whole situation. But agree with Sonya and the crew that the best thing to do might be to evacuate. Rosa goes and gets a bedpost from her cot as an improvised weapon, and Jobe hands his crowbar to Elizabet, who left her shotgun on the Badger thinking a weapon would not be needed on a simple drop and load mission.

Rie goes back for her bag and screams. Kantaro is in the drop ceiling making his way to the vents. It is a race for the group to unseal the hallway and, seeing Kantaro trying to make his way to the group’s ship, open fire on him. Kataro responds with a Nail Gun, hitting Elizabeth and thankfully not piercing her vac suit. Jobe’s aim is a little off, the nerves of the situation, but tries to lay down cover fire while Sonya opens the airlock with her card. 

She triumphantly gets it open, only to have her entire left arm vanish. The creature is back devouring the team lead as the group can do nothing but watch as they flee. The monster makes short work of Sonya as Kantaro, still fixated on escaping, shoots Rie in the back with a nail. The group can’t seal the airlock without Sonya’s card, currently still in the counsel. Rosa Elizabet and Jobe rush back and get into a tug of war with Kantaro as the monster devours the rest of Sonya. Jobe attempts to shoot Kantaro, but misses hitting Rosa in the lower back and the beast, which now fixates on him. As Elizabet pulls Rosa, who can no longer feel her legs, away from Kantaro, whose attention is momentarily fixated on the creature, the creature strikes Jobe twice, leaving notable claw marks that will definitely scar on the sides and back of Jobe. The group gets the airlock sealed as Captain Riley and Hyram come out to help. Elizabet watches, traumatized, as Kantaro is devoured by the invisible xenoform leaving orange and yellow stains and sprayed gore on the clear airlock walls, traumatizing her and giving her a fear of the yellow ooze.

Back on the ship the group treats Jobe and Rie’s injuries as best as possible. They are not able to do anything for Rosa’s paralysis save for putting her in the spare cryopod until the Badger can reach Prospero’s Dream.. They are still met with the problem that, with only 5 pods on the badger and Rosa taking up one, they are still one pod short. Rie comes up with the idea to spacewalk back through the emergency access hatch to the depressurized airlock 1 and see if Dr. Giovanni can take her out on his ship. No one has heard from Giovanni since yesterday, put as Rie puts it “ my only other options are to go back and get killed or sit here and go insane in jumpspace” A tether is taken across for the group to reach the emergency access, but before Elizabeth goes over, Captain Riley makes it clear what should happen to Rie if the Heracles isn't a viable option. There are only four remaining pods and Riley makes it clear to Elizabet that he puts his crew over some young girl he doesn’t even know.

With some clever work, the trio gains access to Giovanni’s ship, it is state of the art and clean, though the bathroom has been thoroughly worked over by a crow bar. The group makes their way past the 4 cryopods into the science lab and encounters a very sick, very deranged Dr. Ethan Giaovanni, sweaty, slimy, and oozing yellow ooze from all available points. The doctor attacks the group, managing to puncture Elizabet’s suit and shower the trio in yellow ooze jutting forth from the various wounds inflicted upon him. The group looks on in terrified awe as he continues his assault, his head attached to his shotgun blasted body by a strip of flesh and then, even more horrifying, the ooze slowly  rebuilding the obliterated flesh, resembling ballistics gelatin in the process.

A few more well timed shots and the doctor is put down for good, but not before showering everyone's vac suit in yellow gore. Elizabet just knows that she will have nightmares for months after this horrifying experience. Rie plays a cassette that the group finds and the trio learn the ooze reacts poorly to water. Fixing the bathroom enough to get a small sample of water trickling out from a pipe, they conclude that the ooze reacts to water much in the same way grease reacts to dish liquid. Armed with this fact, the trio is prepared to pressurize docking bay 1 and to make their way back into the station to wash the contaminant off of their suits and to find a way to patch up Elizabet’s. Can they avoid the creature to make good on their escape?

Current Stress

Jobe 16

Hyram 5

Elizabet 16

Ypsilon 14 Part 3

Special Guest: Cap’t Riley

The decision is made for Riley and Hyram to bring the Badger back into Docking Bay 2 while Elizabeth, Jobe and Rie pressurize Docking Bay 1 and make their way to the shower room to clean the yellow ooze off of their vac suits. The group rendezvous in the workstation where Hyram notices that the spare vac suits hanging in the work cubbies have all been slashed across the  chest by something sharp and large - claws perhaps?  The crew starts to wonder if the creature is more intelligent than they give it credit as they carefully make their way to the crew quarters, noticing that Morgan’s door is open.

Once they arrive they hear the loud sounds of metal on metal and metal on stone coming from the direction of the showers. They make their way there with haste - Elizabet in the lead. As she arrives she sees her worst nightmare made of oozy flesh. What was once a man, distorted and melty, disfigured runny face  yellow in colour dripping a syrupy yellow ooze everywhere, smashing up the remaining showers with a crowbar. Pangs of fear ripping through her, she opens fire, as do Jobe and Riley peppering the thing with  shot and bullets. It tries to attack but inadvertently busts open a pressurized water pipe, causing a shower like spray to jet into the room. The crew watches as the yellow man pulls back away, just in time for a bullet through its swelling head sends it to its grave. 

Using the one remaining shower and the “shower” created by the errant crowbar swing, Elizabet, Jobe and Rie clean up as Riley and Hyram explore the mess in hopes of finding something they can use against the creature. Instead they hear Morgan,  calling out to Princey the cat, who evidently refuses to come to him. The pair lay a line of water on the metal floor and pull shut the emergency shutter. They head back to the showers empty handed, hearing Morgan call out sadly to whoever is there, and return to the rest of the crew just as they are finishing getting cleaned up.

The crew decides to detach one of the Heracles’s cryopods and transport it to the Badger for install , so there are enough pods for everyone. Hyram expertly detached the pod, a finer job could not be achieved even in pristine ideal conditions. The group gets the pod onto the sliders and moves towards Docking Bay two when Riley, wearing the infrared goggles, sees the creature lurking around 2’s entrance. A fire extinguisher is employed to make the monster semi-visible and the group peppers it and the surrounding area with weapons fire. In the process it strikes a mighty blow against Riley. Hyram tries his old trick from the mine and launches an engaged mining drill in its direction which seems to distort its senses. The beast tries to take down elizabet but instead crashes into the generator. An errant shotgun blast causes the generator to explode killing Riley, who is caught in the ensuing fire storm, and possibly the creature (impossible to know as Riley had the only real means of seeing it.)

With the number of cryopods now a match for the remaining survivors, the crew dashes back to their ship and exits the blackened out station. The shaky survivors  check everything ove and steady their nerves before the jump to Prospero’s Dream. Convinced that all is well, they sink into cryosleep.

They wake at their destination, most are wracked with cryo sickness. Once they exit the realise that Rosa’s pod is open but she is nowhere to be seen. A yellow oozy hand print can be seen on the side of the pod, and crescent like patches of ooze can be found on the floor leading in the direction of the bridge, the group stocks up on water and weapons and slowly approaches to find that Rosa, who is staring out the viewscreen at Prospero’s Dream, a station with millions of inhabitants, all potential carriers. Rosa is covered in a greasy yellow ooze, much like Kantaro was. She tells Elizabet that the ooze is a gift, it is amazingly wondrous, Elizabet retorts with a shotgun blast, taking her head clean off. After the group cleans up after the mess and jettison the corpse, the doc and go through decon. Elizabet begins to compose a letter to Riley’s Brother on Karth to let him know what happened, Rie up and leaves, disappearing into the masses on the station, and the remaining crew of the Belligerent Badger, manages to convince the  suits that the objective was unattainable due to a deadly virus. The corpos do engage the penalty clause for not completing the  exchange, but the group still has good money to live off of for a bit. Someday soon though, they will need to find work again, but what shape will it take?

Ending Stress

Rie 7

Hyram 8

Eliabet 18

Jobe 18

Riley (deceased)

High Score

Elizabet 3

Jobe 2

Hyram 2

Lost

Rosa (dead)

Kantaro (dead)

Dr. Giovanni (dead)

Jerome (dead)

Dana (dead)

Ashraf (dead)

Sonya (dead)

Mike (dead)

Princey (MIA)

Morgan (MIA)

Rie (MIA)

Cast

Zach Bells, Scientist

Lancelot Reddick, Scientist

Mu Zarbo, Teamster

Ronal Marsellis, Marine

Wayne Harlen, Marine

Waking from cryosleep aboard the Bishop’s Folly, the five members of Shift A have a few days to get acquainted with each other and the members of Shift B as they approach the Asphodel Research Station located just inside of the Cartharan Nebula deep in rimspace.

The gruff and ornery teamster Dean attempts to get Mu on board with his points of view regarding the corporation and his negative feelings towards androids, and is tactfully rebuffed by Mu. the scientist Geri approaches Lancelot and Zach, happy to talk their ears off about anything. The lead scientist Schafter is, if anything, the opposite, so engrossed in his research that other people barely register to him. Melina the marine, though quiet and of few words, is a chatterbox compared to Schaffer, she trades off a few passing comments and commentaries with Roland and Wayne on the nature of their job. Zil tries to work an arrangement with Ronal who finds the greasy teamster’s shiftiness with keeping an eye on. Cisco, the lone android who will serve as the station custodian, mainly keeps to herself, finally approaching the scientists in trying to strike up a friendly conversation, all while avoiding Dean and anyone with similar views. 

The Folly gets the crew to the research station in short order and they are met by Tycho, the assistant to Captain Harris. Tycho, with his artificial too-white perfect smile and immovable slicked back hair, resembles a corporate cubicle drone as he leads the crew through the various parts of the station before bringing them up to meet the beleaguered and tired looking Captain Harris. Harris is gruff, no nonsense. He makes his expectations bluntly clear. Ordering Shift B to bed and barking orders and assignments to Shift A. It’s so bad that, on the lift ride back down, Dean floats the idea of work to contract. Wayne gets off at the observation deck, apparently put in charge of watching the foosball table. Zach is sent to the med bay to get it set up, Ronal is sent to patrol the cargo bay, Mu to take stock of the engineering room and Lancelot to make sure the science lab is up to snuff.

Roughly an hour passes, each member of the team notices some strange happenings, Zach thinks he sees a message in place of the warning label on some nitrous oxide canisters. He blinks it away and just attributes it to the last stand of his cryo sickness. Ronal worries he might be seeing things out of the corner of his eyes, until the lights in the cargo bay mysteriously go out for a few moments before coming back on, as unsettling as it is unexplained. Mu has a near mishap when he finds a “sweet spot” and area of null gravity on one of the second level gangplanks, but successfully navigates it with no harm to himself. And Lancelot, who is already a bit unsettled as some of the shapes he has seen in the nebula, hears a mysterious repeating message on a band of the electromagnetic band where this should not be possible, something about the sleepers awakening and the plan proceeding?. It is in this unsettling and slightly unnerving environment that the klaxons suddenly sound and the emergency lights flash. The voice of Tycho can be heard over the comms “ Danger…the Captain.. To the bridge…hurry”

The A shift managed to arrive at the bridge, with the exception of Wayne who, despite efforts, could not get the elevator to stop on his floor. The A shift is greeted by a frightful site. Captain Harris has gone mad, he is violently attacking the consoles with a crowbar, smashing everything in sight, loudly growling about “the plan” Tycho’s broken and beaten body lies on the ground, drenched in the viscous milk white blood that should normally be coursing through his veins. Ronal manages to wrestle the Captain down without incident. It is then, once A shift takes stock of the situation, that they realize all but one escape pod has been ejected, that life support has been diminished, and that cryo gases are being diverted into the life support, which will make everyone drowsy and fall asleep in about an hour.

As they make their way down to both fix the issue and to hopefully save Tycho, leaving Ronal on the bridge with the Captain. They encounter B shift, who have all woken, with the exception of Zil. A shift immediately notices something strange about B shift, they all seem different, their personalities off, except for Cisco. Melina offers to go help in the medbay, Dean to fix life support and the rest wherever. They are convinced to take care of a “problem” in the cargo bay. Melina gets off the lift on floor 4 and heads to cargo while unbeknownst to the crew, the other three head back up to the bridge.

Mu tries to repair cryo, only to be ambushed by zil, who appears quite the combatant in contrast with his earlier behaviour. He savagely beats Mu with a pipe. Mu uses a handheld drill to defend himself, however the injuries, while gruesome, barely register on the man’s cool features.

Meanwhile Zach and Lancelot, with help from Cisco, hook Tycho’s broken form up to the equipment in the android workshop. They learn that Captain Harris, while always a bit of a gruff jerk, had a notable change of behaviour overnight. In fact, he had forgotten things and procedures that he should have known. Tycho did not have time to investigate prior to the Folly’s arrival. The pair hear a crash in the hallway and go to investigate. They note that Melina is in the Med Bay swallowing and injecting any drug she can find into her body. They back away from the heavily armed drug crazed marine just in time for Mu to come running out of cryo, clear in distress, with the murderous Zil hot on his trail.

On the bridge Geri, Schafer and Dean arrive. Ronal is quickly able to pick up on their odd behavior and , after a short struggle, flees the bridge and rides the elevator down to floor 4, just in time to narrowly miss being slashed by Zil. Ronal knocks the teamster on his butt and the entire group, working as a team, manage to subdue him.

Wayne, still on the observation deck, is still trying to get the elevator to stop on two, he is starting to get frustrated not knowing what is going on.

Having subdued Zil and still having the Melina problem to  worry about, to say nothing of the thinning and contaminated air. What will they do next?

Ending Stress

Zach 4 

Ronal 6

Lancelot 7

Mu 8

Having subdued Zil, Cisco continues to tend to the damaged Tycho while the Mu finally fixes cryo with Lanceleot or “Red” as his pals call him, standing guard over him. Mu figures the job will take about 30 minutes. Meanwhile Ronal and Zach decide to address the problem of Melina in the Med Bay. The pair can hear her banging on something in there and are fearful that it might be the nitrous tanks. Turns out that she is trying to break into the narcotics bins, which are locked, and refuses to stop. A fierce gun battle ensues and with some crack shooting by Ronal and clever deception on the part of  Zach, Melina is taken down, but not before the tanks are hit by a stray bullet and explode, doing significant damage to the med bay (and the drug crazed marine as well)

Once cryo gases are taken care of, Ronal heads to the Weapons lockers in the cargo bay and the rest of the  crew ponders what their next moves should be, when the lights, even the emergency lights, go out, tossing the station into pitch darkness. The crew then notice that life support has been shut off. Activating head lamps and well armed with the cache of weapons that Ronal has acquired, they make their way to life support to identify the problem, aware that they only have so much time before they pass out due to oxygen deprivation. An examination of the tech and panels in life support shows that there is nothing wrong with the system. - power has been cut  to this section from engineering. 

Mu decides to take the time to show the rest how to reboot Life Support once power is restored, just in case he says. Deciding that heading to engineering is the best way to solve both of their problems, they do so moving as carefully and as cautiously as possible. Wary of some sort of ambush or attack, looking in every direction - including the often forgotten up - in nervous anticipation of the worst possible outcome, they make their way to the controls needed to restore life support on the second of the three levels. While Mu, who makes sure to warn the rest of the crew regarding the Sweet Spot,  is diligent in his work restoring life support, the moment he is successful is when Captain Harris and the B Shift Strike.

Captain Harris and Geri attack with tranq dart guns while Dean and the now faceless Schafer - a truly frightening sight - come from the other direction with stun batons. It is a truly pitched battle, Schafer is flung over a guardrail, plummeting to the bottom with a broken back, stray shots cause a “bullet tornado” in the sweet spot and an errant shot damages the gravity generator, sending a wave of bullets across the whole of engineering like a swarm of angry hornets. Mu is taken down by the shot and rendered comatose and in need of medical assistance. Ronal and Red are both tranquilised leaving for a time Zach on his own to fight off the Captain, who is spinning slowly in the air due to being clipped by gun fire, and Geri. Thinking cleverly, Zach uses the lack of gravity to his advantage and catches the possessed crewmen by surprise. Thankfully Red and Ronal recover from the knock out drugs fairly quickly and the villainous crew members are quickly gunned down in the zero g.

Cisco, meanwhile continues to converse with Tycho, who has come to the conclusion that there is a strong chance that any and all organic crew members may be affected by whatever is going on. They determine that it is too risky for the human crew to leave. Cisco makes her way to the captain’s quarters - home to the sole remaining escape pod - and barricades herself in, refusing to allow the crew entry unless Tycho is satisfied that they are not affected. After getting the critically wounded Mu into a cryo pod and detaching it for transport, they confront Cisco through the door, go to Tycho and after a logical debate, Tcycho is convinced to a level of certainty equivalent to 99.93% that the conscious crew is OK. He states that Mu, unconscious and in status, can not be confirmed unaffected and therefore cannot board the pod. He has a nearby printer produce this for Cisco’s preview and, leaving Mu behind, they enter the pod and activate the pods distress beacon, are thankfully picked up by the Bishop’s Folly - who makes a bit of a U turn - and continue on to safety.

The Folly drops the crew off at their next stop, the X-class station Prospero’s Dream where most of the former crew of Asphodel Station go their own way and disappear for corporate radar. One crewmember does reach out to Taltrak-Elysium to give a report of what transpired, shortly after all mention of Asphodel Station and the Cartharan Nebula disappear from the web as if they had never existed….

Ending Stress

Lancelot 7

Zach 10

Ronal 10

Cisco 2

High Score

Lancelot  2

Zach       2 

Ronal      2

Cisco       1

Lost

Mu (comatose; presumed dead)

Captain Harris (dead)

Tycho (missing, presumed destroyed)

Zil (presumed dead)

Geri (dead)

Schafer( critically injured; presumed dead)

Dean (dead)

Melina (dead)

Cast

Darla, Marine

PEPE, Android

Rylee, Android

Philo, Scientist

As the crew arrives at Perseus station, they make the unfortunate discovery that their marine’s equipment has been compromised and therefore they must return to the dropship to resolve the matter, leaving the two corporate minded androids and the young scientist to brave the highly caustic acid rain running from ship to station airlock. Thankfully Aquaponics has provided them with the Gorgon Vac suits, tailored specifically to withstand the punishing conditions of the planetoid, at least for a little while. Upon entering the station they encounter Arley, a young woman who is also responsible for maintaining the generator. She is currently trying to deal with a broken water filter, which explains the acrid rotten egg smell that has seeped into the water. 

Arley tells the crew of their terrible situation at the station, the debt bondage, the horrible work and living conditions, the constantly breaking down station, and the absence of recent supplies and basically just how terrible everyone is. She mentions that Rebecca, Vance and Robin disappeared 2 or 3 days ago. The loss of personnel is very important as, due to the contentious nature of the base’s hiring policies, each crewmember has an RFID tag that allows them access to a specific system on the station (and sometimes entrance to the chamber as well) The group is made aware that two of the missing crewmen, Rebecca and Robin, have critical systems (Vance as well but the Hydroponics Garden is doing well overall at the moment). She’s trying to get the water filter system repaired as the water is currently caustic and smells “like ass”. 

The group decides to search for clues as to where the crew members might have gone, as Arley notes, ”there is nowhere really to go, just the geysers and the lake that’s it.” The group also realises that if the three of them have been gone for 2 days, it's likely not good as their suits would have been compromised long ago. However, as has been pointed out, they need their RFID tags to properly interface with the key systems and keep them up and running (or in the case of the Production Matrix, get it up and running again).

A detailed examination of Rebbeca’s room turns up a few items of interest. A crumpled complaint letter to Aquaponics Inc. regarding an incident where Vance spit in her face in front of witnesses, a bottle of unmarked pills and a very neat and trim desk, bed and end table.

The group decides to spilt up. Rylee and Philo examine the Med Bay after Rebecca's journal and letter provides a clue about her not feeling well, same as Vance and Robin. There are a number of records on a laptop, most of which pertain to acid burns. The med bay looks run down, things are old, dusty and dirty, materials are in limited supply, there are some generic painkillers and medications, though a drawer contains a number of pill bottles, each with a small number of random unknown pills.

PEPE stays in the crew quarters and checks out Vance and Robins shared accommodations, he quickly discovers that someone had vomited in the metal bucket and blood could be seen aspirated on the wall and sheets, as if someone had coughed or sneezed it there. As PEPE exits the quarters he encounters Tachyo, the Filtration Engineer, he is curious as to what PEPE is doing and asks a few questions. 

It is at this time that everyone notices the Atmospheric Calibration, the system that keeps clean non caustic air flowing is the system, stops working. Tachyo starts to become nervous, Zorad, whom the group has heard is a hypochondriac, is locked in his room. Zorad’s RFID key is required to work on the system. After some conversation and failed attempts to negotiate, PEPE ultimately knocks Zoard’s door down and takes the card. He heads to the Calibration while Philo, worried about the chance things won't get fixed in time climbs into her vaccsuit. Rylee happens across a confused Tachyo before continuing on into the wilted hydroponics garden, the android continues pon, looking to help with repairs, noticing that perhaps the engineer is looking a bit worse for wear and may be in need of medical assistance, indeed it looks like he may have suffered some sort of stroke. PEPE suggests checking out the medcentre and Rylee, suggests that he goes and lie down in his room, which, confused and turned around, which Tachyo ultimately does 

It is when Philo, now in her Gogron suit, enters the crew quarters and takes note of the obviously ill Zorad behind his propped up door and the newly emerged Tachyo who looks to Philo and the damage and to Philo is when the trouble begins. Tachyo is convinced that Philo is a saboteur who has damaged the base and attacks, landing a number of blows with a pipe on the scientist as she flees towards hydroponics.

Rylee steps up and assists, taking a blow from a pipe and an accidentally friendly tranq dart for her troubles (thankfully being an android they are immune to the dart’s effects). During the conflictRylee’s beloved towel is shorn in two, causing the often eccentric android much distress. Tachyo doesn’t seem to recognize anyone, not even Arley who he has worked with for years. They end up unending the engineer into some hydroponics equipment stunning them long enough to come to his senses. He is still confused and disorientated. They tranq him and strap him down in the filthy medbay where he cannot hurt himself or anyone else.

PEPE, with Zorad’s RFID, returns to repairing the atmospheric calibrator, Arley mentions that she still needs Tachyo’s RFID to fix the water filter properly. Philo becomes frustrated by her inability to determine what exactly is going on with Tachyo due to the antiquated and rundown equipment. It is then that the compactor starts to go, causing foul smelling sewage mixed with the eggy water to create a truly hellish and nauseating smell. Priority is given to trying to straighten out this problem and work is being done. The group decides to give the now awake Tachyo the mystery pills (which he has to swallow sans water) which have the unexpected effect of giving the engineer near perfect memory and perfect recall, for how long they are not sure.

PEPE in search of more information (and believing the bodies of the missing crew to be somewhere on this station) starts pulling open doors. The flesh on their fingers and knuckles are already a write off. He manages to pry open/hack the doorway leading to the production matrix which is currently offline and not extracting or refining sulphur crystals. As PEPE searches the area he notices what appears to be a hidden door, just as he is about to explore what it is and it might lead to , he and everyone remaining on the base hears the sound of the drop ship returning , hopefully bringing them some backup in the form of a fully kitted out Darla 

Finishing Stress

Philo 10

PEPE               6

Rylee               4

Darla lands and instantly regrets carrying her possessions in a duffel bag as she runs across the tarmac into the airlock. She checks to see that a few of her prized possessions are damaged. Upset she continues into the station as the drop ship, eager to not become overexposed or compromised by the acid storm. She continues on into the common area and meets up with Philo and Rylee, who catch her up on everything she has missed. PEPE emerges from the still shut down Production Matrix before suggesting that Rylee give Arley a hand keeping the station in decent repair while Philoe and Darla search magnetic shielding for La-shaye.(Though Philo  is convinced she saw something moving outside on the way)

Once the others have been convinced to leave, PEPE returns to the secret hidden door he found and decides to hack the lock enough to open it, inside he discovers 10 service androids, all very clearly androids, and simple ones too, all except they have the complete physical features of Arley from the neck up. Creeped out, he decides to see if the real Arley is in fact real…a few literal pokes and prods late and PEPE is certain that she is the real deal.

Upon discovering La-Shaye barely holding systems down together in magnetic, Philo and Darla ask them for a list of the parts they need, this as PEPE assists in the repair of the composter, finally stopping the disgusting deluge coming out of the pipes. It is at this point where life support, and atmospheric controls fails…again. The air burns and becomes caustic. People are coughing and choking with flecks of blood in the sputum. Getting all the organics into vaccsuits becomes the priority with PEPE trying to fix it. Unfortunately the atmospheric control valve has corroded away and there is not another new one on Perseus Base. It is brought to the group's attention that these parts are not on the station…but they may be on the Asterion.  

The crew are given  few pointers on how to approach the Asterion and they are soon out into the acidic rains and waters of the Medusa planetoid. PEPE’s feet lead him wrong as he tumbles beneath the surface of the lake. It takes a few minutes but he is able to tread water and rise to the surface without issue. The drop, it turns out, is the edge of a large drop, meaning the trio will have to swim in the lake of pure sulfuric acid the rest of the way. The manage to cross the water and scale the side of the Asterion and successfully gain access to the tilted derelict vessel.

Through some miracle, the backup lights, their dull red orange washing over the various corners of the Asterions corridors like dying street lamps on a foggy night, provide light on the hallway, which itself is turned 60 degrees counterclockwise as a result of the crash. With a bit of luck and some old fashioned muscle, the group manages to scale a hallway leading up towards the back of the ship and discover a cargo hold. Much of the cargo has been dislodged or slid down towards the new bottom of the room, where the floor meets the aft wall, though some of the tie downs and strapping has survived, creating a shadow filled maze of plastic netted cubes rising up the original floor on an angle. The trio begins to sift through what they can below, hoping to find the items required for both the atmospheric controls as well as the magnetic shielding. On a whim PEPE and Darla look up… only to see a man sized worm-like creature, its sphincter-like mouth ringed with rows of sharp dagger sized teeth, descend upon them.

The group does what they can, though only Darla truly comes armed for danger, Philo picks up a crowbar that she finds and PEPE, for reasons only known to the android himself, grabs hold and tries to restrain the creature. PEPE’s efforts paid off for his organic colleagues allowing Darla to make a number of well placed gunshot wounds as she empties her revolver into the monster as Philo beats on it over and over with the crowbar, at one point even reversing it stabbing down into the tough chitinous body. Orangish yellow goop, the creature's blood, oozes forth from a number of wounds and with PEPE reaching into the wounds and pulling out fist fulls of gore. The creature gives as good as it gets, a few well times bites allow it to sink its teeth into Philo’s suit, depressurizing it and compromising the protection against the outside elements. PEPE is dealt a number of  horrifying gory wounds, his milk like blood spraying out of his body and running down every available orifice. The creature tries to escape, but ultimately bleeds out from the sheer number of wounds inflicted upon it.

The relief is short lived as Philo checks PEPE; the android is dead, no amount of improvised first aid will suffice. Acknowledging the pivotal roll PEPE played in their survival, they turn their attention to the other corpse in the room, the worm creature. It appears to be, as far as philo can tell with a cursory investigation, indigenous to the planetoid and has developed to thrive in an environment where sulphur and sulfuric acid fulfils the role of water on earth. Its skin appears to be acid resistant, which turns out to be helpful in coming up with a suitable patch to her vaccsuit. The worm is similar to a number of parasitic worm species, such as hookworm and roundworm, the most curious thing though is how such a creature would grow to the size of this one, roughly as big as a man. The group makes their way through the rest of the now safe hold and finds the needed items. They get ready to make their way back and to deliver the sad news of PEPE’s sacrifice.

But will they have to? In the secret compartment behind the production matrix,one of the Arley droid’s eyes flicker open. The service android looks at itself as PEPE wakes up inside of it. Naked, the androgynous android searches for clothing and the exit, PEPE catches a glimpse of himself (now “herself”?) in a reflective sheet of metal. The face he/she sees is half PEPE half Arley horribly meshed and fused together in the middle. PEPE, alone among the inactive androids, screams.

Ending Stress

Rylee 4

Darla 6

PEPE 19

Philo 13

Medusa’s Nest part 3

While the others look for the Atmospheric control valve Rylee struggles to stem the tide of total atmospheric failure on Perseus station. Though she does not breathe, the caustic air begins to burn Rylee’s through, causing her  to cough up a sticky clotted ball of milky white blood and gore. Putting down her book, she decides to find a vaccsuit out by the airlock, taking an extra air tank off of a remaining suit in a classic example of android humour.

It is at this time that PEPE emerges from the secret room in the production matrix area. He(she?) is still currently inhabiting an unfamiliar body with the face of crewman Arley. PEPE finds two data screens in the secret room among the nine other inactive androids, one that lists 4RL3Y001 through 4RL3Y010 with 4RL3Y006 as being active and another prompting the activation of “Scabdroids”. Naturally Riley is confused to see Arley looking different, naked as an android, and outside of the vaccsuit. PEPE, sharing information  from Rylee’s file, is able to somewhat convince the eccentric droid that they are PEPE in another body. It is roughly at this moment that Darla, who appears agitated, and Philo whose suit is hissing and bubbling around the hastily sealed tear, return and go through a similar exchange. None are exactly sure what to make of PEPEs claims, Darla and Philo watched him die roughly a kilometre away in the Belly of the Asterion roughly an hour before hand, none of what they are saying should be possible…yet here it is, in the low grade pseudo flesh. Darla, needing a minute heads to Rebecca’s quarters  to try and pull herself together

Existential questions put aside, the group makes their way to Atmospheric Conditioning with the Valve…where they encounter Arley who upon seeing PEPE immediately freaks out Rylee and Philo set to replacing the valve while Arely grabs a crowbar and in essence chases herself down. PEPE tries to run, fending off the occasional lucky blow from the crowbar as Arley, apparently having lost the plot, chases him/her down. This gets the attention of Darla who exits to see simply one vaccsuit chasing another, the exact occupants impossible to tell. Eventually PEPE makes his way back to the secret room and activates the scabdroids, the other Arleys start to leave and head to various parts of the station, beginning maintenance, repairs or simply just sitting and waiting. 

It would be an understatement to say that Arley has, at this point, experienced a complete and total mental break. Efforts to snap her out of it are responded to with violence, during which Darla’s revolver discharges gaining the attention of the rest of the base. As Rylee starts the reboot process Philo, Darla and PEPE attempt to contain Arley, accidently trapping Philo from an unlucky discharge of PEPE’s foam gun. Arley goes hand to hand but falls into the remaining vaccsuits hard, shearing off a chunk of pseudo flesh. She bleeds red, then pink followed closely by white. She touches her face with shaking hand and goes catatonic, only to be formed by PEPE who has denoted which android he is by writing his name in sharpie on his gorgon vaccsuit.

The group checks up on the rest of the base. La-shay is a bit freaked out by the Arley droid that suddenly showed up in the Magnetic Shield Generator. The group arrives with the parts and the android silently takes them from the group and begins effecting repairs. Caught up to speed, La-Shay is both unsettled and confused, confusion that turns to distress and shock as she sees the original Arley foamed and injured, what is clearly pseudo flesh, torn from her face. 

As the scabdroids clearly have things under control PEPE decides to check on Tachyo and Zorad. Zorad, looking entirely out of it, walks past both Rylee and PEPE and begins to put on a vaccsuit. Tachyo is missing, quite likely the owner of the fresh footprints Philo and Darla observed upon their return from the Asterion. Attempts to stop Zorad from leaving (he does not respond to any verbal cues or questions) results in him hastily becoming violent, PEPE and Darla grab him while Philo administers the tranq gun. They quickly bring him to the medbay and strap him down before he wakes and attempts to the point of injuring himself to tear free, biting at anyone who gets too close.

Philo examines Zorad and finds a basketball sized lump over his liver, he can feel…something…moving inside, more like “somethings”. Darla, believing them to be worms, draws her pistol and starts to back away. La-Shay tries to calm her and reaches out to lower the gun, which results in an altercation where the revolver discharges, striking La-shay in the thigh. They slump to the ground unable to stand as Philo begins stabbing at the lump releasing a number of larval worms, each roughly 6 to 12 inches long. Upon seeing this, Darla runs out of the room, Zorad goes into shock and starts to convulse, and PEPE quickly scavenges up a sealable container to grab as many of the larvae as possible before Philo stomps them all to death.

Zorad Hemorrhages, foamy blood starts to seep out of his mouth. Philo, realising their is nothing that she can do, instead turns her attention to treating the gunshot wound on La -shay as Zorad goes still…dead. During this, PEPE has managed to get through to the Broken Dream, their ship in orbit, confirming the “mission” is complete. With the drop ship inbound. Unfortunately for the injured La-shay there are no more gorgon suits, they cannot make it to the ship. They grumble, knowing that there is nothing they can do, and that the group intends to leave them on base with the scabdroids, the sole human survivor. 

The group makes their way into the airlock and to the ship, Philo and Darla in the lead and PEPE and Rylee bringing up the rear. Suddenly PEPE is knocked to the Ground. Another Parasitic worm, similar to the first, has found its way to the pad and attacks goreing both PEPE and Rylee as they make their way to the ship. Both make it on board and the bay door closes as the creature makes one final failed lunge. The dropship lifts off, and after a few turbulent moments in the acid clouds, it breaks the bonds of Medusa and returns to the Broken Dream.

The team is given a quick debriefing with instructions that they will begin their jump series back towards Prospero’s Dream where they will receive their payment, slightly reduced due to the inability to recover the 3 missing tags. PEPE is instructed, as the human crew all find their way to available cryopods, to bring the specimen to the lab on the second level. As PEPE enters the lab, the actual technician leaving as he arrives, he notices that their are now two worm larvae and not three, evidence that the glass has been tampered with and that there's a hole in his suit pocket, suggests that the worm is somewhere aboard, but where ?  or in who? PEPE mulls over these questions as they sit, alone in the dark, awaiting the ships first jump.

Ending Stress

Philo 18

PEPE 27+

Rylee 8

Darla 11

High Score

Philo 3

PEPE 3(1)

Rylee 2

Darla 2

Lost

Rebecca (unknown, officially classified deceased)

Vance (unknown, officially classified deceased)

Robin (unknown, officially classified deceased)

Tachyo (MIA, officially classified deceased)

Zorad (deceased)

Arley/4RL3Y000 (classified as deactivated)

PEPE (original chassis destroyed, currently uploaded to 4RL3Y-Type chassis)

Cast

Benito Luc, Marine

Gordon Bestow, Teamster

Ofelia Silvis (AKA: Algae Beard), Android

As the team approaches the mysterious Osprey Station they receive 2 quick burst transmission, one notifying them of the requirements of the mission, retrieve the research, evac the Barnes, and discover the reason for the distress call. On the surface, not bad for a 100Kcr payday. Following shortly, the distress call that was sent by Amir, one of the scientists on the station. The man is clearly afraid and overwhelmed by what ever occurred, but regrettably short on usable details. It is not long after that their ship siddles up to the flex-plastic seal of the extended airlock. The crew dons their protective heart, not wanting to take any chances in the unknowns before proceeding across the fragile looking plastic bridge to the station proper. Gordon looks around, taking a few moments to soak in how small he and indeed everything is when put up against the endless black void. With that unsettling thought they proceed to the hexagonal decon room.

The airlock fiddles a bit, but Gordon figures it is simply time and deep space having done to it what it does to all things. The hex decon room looks fine, a number of rebreathers and vacc suits sit here untouched. Satisfied the trio make their way into the common area where an algae smelling kitchenette, a holographic fire place some sofas and holotainment suits can be found. A trio of small doors on each side lead to the crews rooms, all but one with a name tagged on.

The common area’s most startling feature is the scorch and burn marks of various size and pattern that appear all over. A closer look taken by Ofelia and Gordon notes that some look like they might be the results of a fist sized object striking where some of the burns are, like something with flaming hot hands touched or punched the wall.

As they set off to make their next move, the hear a loud reverberating scream, like that of a man but something different something artificial. The fractal and distorted hologram of a man appears in front of the door to the algae farm, a being buzzing with electricity. Benito wastes no time launching a frag grenade at it but launching too far. The grenade  explodes behind it causing the hologram man to  flicker and critically damages the door between both rooms. It becomes quickly apparent that the hologram is able to harm them, as it strikes at Benito and Ofelia, who comes up with the idea of simplify smashing the numerous projectors around the room.  The group makes a break for engineering, locking the door behind them and hoping that they can shut off the power to...well what ever will work to stop it. Regrettably there is no time to find what they need as the door unlocks by itself and the hologram man makes his way towards them, grabbing at Gordon as the trio further flees into the server room. 

Once in the server room the trio set to work smashing the holoprojectors, with the exception of Ofelia who took offence to a comment of Gordon’s and immediately began to write Gordon’s name in his personalized book of grudges. Benito and Gordon make short work of the projectors by the only door in or out of the Server room, though it is observed that there is a vent large enough for a man (or android) to shimmy through. Confident that they have bought themselves some time. The group takes a look at the control panel, which has a large bulky logic core that seems to have a higher storage capacity and processing speed than the industry standard.   Ofelia notices 3 slots in the console that look big enough for key cards. It would seem that these would be needed to remove the logic core but the current whereabouts of the cards are unknown.

It is during this observation that the hologram man appears to come through the east facing wall. Ofelia makes a break for the vent and shimmies off towards the algae farm while both Gordon and Benito are backed up against the sealed door back to engineering. The hologram man reaches out for the pair and…its hand vanishes. It knows they are there, but it cannot reach them or see them. The crew have created a blind spot! After some deliberation they open the door to engineering and back up. Nothing happens right away but about 30 seconds later the hologram man blips out. The duo run for the vent but not before the hologram man suddenly appears before them in engineering and catches them with his electrified form. Both survive to cross the threshold, leaving the hologram man trapped on the other side as they manage to get into the vent and join Ofelia in the algae farm.

While alone. Ofelia decides to search for something that can be used as an improvised weapon and to construct a fake bear out of algae, during this time he notices a body in the olympic-sized algae pool which he manages to fish out and pull up out of the water. The body is bloated, rotting and riddled with sea slugs. The stench of the rotting waterlogged corpse causes Ofelia to reflect on the various levels of potential hells before he snaps to it and manages to find an access card on the body whose name tag identifies them as Bili. It is around this time that Gordon and Benito make their way into the room, falling unceremoniously out of the vent and onto the floor. The three share their observations and discoveries with each other, Ofelia now referring to himself as “Algae Beard”, just as the hologram man bursts out of the pool and pursues the group towards the next vent. The crew wasn't as quick this time and the hologram man gets in a few quick swings, thankfully the grenade thrown by Bentio earlier unintentionally destroyed a number of the projectors in this room, causing the hologram man’s swings to be less reliable than it would like. The group escapes into the neuro lab which itself smells unpleasantly of pork. 

Ofelia approaches the source of the smell, in the centre of the room ringed by computer interfaces sits a high tech chair which appears to have a number of diodes and sensors attached to the horrifically burnt figure still strapped in, who is also the source of the smell. His face, neck, and chest have been burned black almost straight down to the bone, his clothing and skin fused together from the heat of…whatever caused this here and there. Rummaging Ofelia, manages to find a key card in the pants pocket identifying this man as Dr. Wallace Barnes.

Ofelia continues on to the hard light hologram lab as Benito and Gordon try to figure out a bit of what happened. It turns out that Barnes was trying to upload his mind into the advanced logic core and something went horribly wrong before the half way mark. Ofelia finds the body of Theresa Barnes, her face horribly burned and her eyes melted and blackened in her sockets. Her access card is connected via a lanyard. With the three cards Ofelia makes his way towards The server room  with the intent to remove the modified logic core. He enters the common room with intent to cut through engineering, he’s had enough of vents for one job.

Meanwhile  The Hologram Man, now known to be the partially downloaded mind of Dr. Wallace Barnes, appears and attacks. Bentio flees but Gordon is not so lucky as Wallace electrifying touch reaches through his chest, flash frying his chest and organs. Bentio turns back and grabs up Gordon, fireman carrying his fallen friend, a burst of adrenaline allowing him to surge through the labs to where Ofelia is trying to overcome the now closed and locked door to engineering. At the site of Dr. Barnes, he gives up on the door and bolts back towards the Algae Farm while Benito, cut off,  runs into a crew quarters and hides, smashing the holoportal and projectors in the small room to ensure his safety. In this room he discovers a missing crewman, the Android Delphi whose synthflesh and circuitry has been horribly burned and warped, her logic core swollen from the electricity and the heat. He puts Goron down carefully on the bed and checks for vitals only to find none. Gordon is no more.

Ofelia races through the Algae farm but hits a slippery patch of lichen tumbling into the pool. He fights his way out of the Slurry  and his beard now well and truly “algaefied” (almost looking like an algae-yeti) shimmying back through the vent, he approaches the console despite the minute hindrances imposed by Dr. Wallace. Access cards inserted, Ofelia “Algae-Beard” Silvis pulls the logic core from its port, and Dr. Wallace is no more.

In the aftermath the pair reconvene, with Ofelia noting  down Wallace Barnes’ name in his book  of grudges. Going through the  various rooms and parts of the station, Ofelia finds Amir, the man who sent the original distress signal, with his face and palms burnt down to the bone. All five of the crew have finally been accounted for. Benito manages to learn that the accident in Lab 2 was  no accident, theresa and Amir had rekindled an old affair and, fearing Wallace had discovered it, introduced malicious code that sent an overload through the chair killing Wallace but also stimulating the amygdala during the latter part of the transfer. Angry Enraged and, with a fractured personality, clearly insane, Wallace made his way through the other four, tracking them and killing them before being forced to wait dorment, until the group arrived.

Transporting Gordon back to the ship, logic core in hand, Benito and Ofelia begin their journey back to Prospero’s dream where credits and the relative safety of a n X-class station await. 

Stress

Ofelia/”Algae Beard” 12

Benito 7

High Score

Ofelia/”Algae Beard” 1

Benito 1

Gordon 0

Lost

Gordon, KIA

Wallace Barnes “The Hologram Man”, officially listed as dead

Theresa Barnes, dead

Bili Walker, dead

Amir Chakraborty, dead

Delphi, destroyed, logic core only partially recoverable.

The Spill: Part 1

Cast

Amra, teamster

Wendall Blase, teamster

The crew of the Red Fortitude continues to haul cargo into the ships large bay during their stop off at the remote C-Class station Terran’s Way, having been bouncing and jumping through hyperspace in the far flung corners of the Rim, shunting cargo from wherever to wherever. Using a combination of exo-loaders and traditional forklifts, Wendall, Ngozi, Billson and Zhang move the goods deep into the cargo hold, Ngozi and Billson making certain that nothing blocks the lonely meshless rim and backboard of the ships basketball net, as Amra expertly repairs an issue with the portal seal leading into the interior of the ship.

It is during this process that Wendall notices something interesting about the cargo, a partially open crate reveals a collection of Furbels, a highly prized and valuable children's toy that came out 80 some years ago. Retailing for roughly 10 credits back in the day, an unopened mint condition, in-the-box Furbel is worth approximately 10Kcr to the right buyer, and Wendall potentially knows a few. He takes care to make sure the Furbels get put somewhere he can keep an eye on them. Zhang notices that the box is open and gets some industrial tape to seal it, Wendall ensures that some of the tape is arranged in a way to make the box easy to find. He chats up Dustin West, the marine charged with their safety before deciding to wander back to the Habitat module and come up with a scheme to skim a few k-creds off of this run.

Meanwhile Amra has decided to breathe some slightly less (debatable) stale air on Terran’s way. Looking for a taste of something different before she returns to her bunk and dips back into her 3DVR shades. She discovers carrot flavoured Nutri-Paste and a carbonated beverage that has the flavour of something called “Pineapple” nether were very appealing but, she thinks to herself, at least they were different from the slop on the Fortitude. Having braved a bit of deep space mediocrity, she returns to her quarters and settles in, awaiting the notification to head to cryo and dreading the calls from Ngozi and Billson to participate in a game of Pick-up basketball, their prejump ritual on the ship, beforehand.

As the Fortitude releases from Terran’s Way and Cabel-9 pilots out a safe distance to the nearest jump point, their destination Storm Port, another forgettable C-Class station out in the black, he has an epiphany. The ship’s 4-pack toilet paper rolls in the Small Cargo Bay, 2 of those should be roughly the same size as a single Furbel box. Using the time and lack of attention of most of the crew, Wendall stealthily removes the 20 packages, enough to replace 10 furbels, avoiding the security cameras in the process. He begins to start swapping out the Furbels, but before he can even get a box out of the crate, a firm heavy hand claps down on his shoulder. 

Dustin West interrogates Wendall about what he is up to, but it soon becomes clear that the marine is already well aware of Wendall’s intentions. He tells Wendal that he’s been watching his slippery dealings for a while and, knowing full well the value of the boxed toys, made sure that he noticed them. Having Wendall over a barrel, Dustin informs him that Wendall will be secreting away all 50 of the Furbels and that Dustin will be taking 70% of the take (argued down form 80%) and if Wendall screws up or breathes a word of Dustin’s involvement being spaced out of an airlock will seem like a dream vacation compared to what will happen. With that, Dustin  heads off and decides to patrol in a few strategic camera-blocking positions while Wendall, the enormity of what he has just been roped into, settles in leaving him a bit nervous and jumpy while both imagining how he will pull this off, and envisioning all the terrible things that could go wrong..

Eventually the call for basketball goes out. Wendall abstains, feigning a minor illness (his shakiness coming from his new worries in reality) leaving Billson to draft Amra and Dustin, with Ngozi, Cain, and Zhang making up the other side for some three on three. Amra quickly tires and develops a cramp. She  makes to pass to Billson but Ngozi, trying to intercept, knocks him into some cargo, causing a black oil drum to overturn, pop open, and spill its viscous tarry contents all over Billson, who immediately starts screaming that it feels like he’s melting or benign eaten alive. Ngozi goes to help him up and out of the substance, getting some of it on his hands, arms and legs. Billson vomits all over him. Amra, having a hard time dealing with this, retreats into the cryo bay, hoping the cool air helps her upset stomach.

Medical help is sought as both men become increasingly ill and in pain. Eventually Alizarin, Dr. Banks' android assistant and relief, shows up. They immediately order Dustin and Cain to contain the situation and end up drafting Wendall, who has come to explore the commotion, to grab the portable med cryo beds from the medical bay. They also dispatch Zhang to inform the captain. Amra is tasked with identifying the substance and she heads to the command centre where she, Cabel 9, and Captain Shaw are unable to determine what the cargo ( a single oil drum containing “Sample 77AH4” whatever that is) is, when it was loaded on the ship, or by who. The whole thing is a mystery, save for its destination, the X-class station Prospero’s Dream. Suiting up in hazmat the crew gets the two men in the med beds and confirms that the substance all over the med bay, of which the crew is unsure how to clean, is indeed 77AH4.

Obviously the basketball game is called short. Billson and Ngozi are frozen in stasis in the med bay, and the rest of the crew, save the androids, descend into cryosleep, expecting to arrive at Storm Port sometime between 10 days and a month, depending on how the jump runs.

The crew awakes suddenly to the sound of alarm. The awakening is so abrupt that cryo sickness immediately takes hold. Amra and Wendall make their way to the med bay to find a stim pack to shake off the effects. It quickly becomes clear that the source of the trouble likely occurred in the Medbay as both med bed cryo pods have been busted open, smears of oily black goop are all over the beds and the bay and the broken crumpled form of Alizarin. Ngozi and Billson are missing. It is also clear that the ship has not completed its original intended jump, having stopped somewhere in the black between start point and destination, though where exactly is something that Cable 9 has yet to determine. Stuck alone in space, with a dead/deactivated crewperson and two more missing, what awaits them as they stove to uncover just what happened to Alizarin and the ship?

Stress

Amra 5

Wendall 6

Captain Shaw and the marines catch up with Wendall and Amra in the med bay and themselves bare witness to Alizarin’s brutalised body. Shaw sends Amra with Loser to the reactor to see the problem with the jump drive with Loser for backup and sends Wendal and Dustin - who is eager to stay close to his meal ticket - head out in search of Dr. Ozzie Banks. They have luck in hearing movement in his crew quarters and with a well placed boot, discover Ozzie changing. He is completely bewildered at the site of Alizarin and the goop everywhere, which seems to continue up on the ceiling and through the vent. Ozzie drafts Wendall to help him study the left behind tarry sludge to learn what he can about it.

Amra, with Loser Cain in tow, is in the process of cutting across the cargo bays to make it to the jump drive when a strange burbling noise can be heard…from overhead. At that moment a large blob of black tarry ooze drops on Cain, and both get front row seats to the horror that has literally descended upon them. The ooze begins  absorbing and breaking down loser but already has done a fair amount of work on Billson and Ngozi, their hands arms, feet legs and faces visible in the ooze, as the process spreads and Amra flees in the direction of engineering, loser begs for someone to kill him as he is dragged along, Dustin, while Ozzie and Dustin are getting ready attempts to gun down the creature, its terrifying form just visible in the distance, but to no effect so he closes off the doorway. The trio make it back to Shaw and Cable-9 in the command center in time to see, via the cameras, the ooze chasing after Amra.

Amra makes it through cryo and past the small cargo bay to the reactor room and seals the door, feeling safe until she realizes that if the creature went up and dropped down through the ceiling, it very well could do that here as well. Turning her mind and attention to the jump drive , she takes her time and is able to make a prognosis, it's not good. Something, and by the looks of it the ooze creature, smashed the jump drive repeatedly. Amra gets on the radio and gives Shaw and Cable-9 the bad news, but are thankfully able to discover that there are indeed the parts needed in both the small and the large cargo bays.

Wendall helps Ozzie very carefully attempt to gather up the ooze for analysis, thankfully it does not seem to react to the glass rods and beakers. Dustin remains in the command center, something that sits well with Wendall, who has noticed how shaky the marine has become after seeing the creature. It is during this time that the rest of the crew becomes aware of the fact that no one has seen Zhang since leaving cryo, Wendall goes to investigate and, while in the hallway, is grabbed by Zhao just in time to miss the worst of the creatures assault. The two end up in Zhang’s quarters and seal the door. The thing starts to bang against it and the duo radio for help. Though they can’t see him, Dustin lets lose with a firebomb that, as far as he can tell, only aggravated the creature (though it does burn the un-assimilated human bits). Dustin flees and eventually the flame wreathed ooze seems to give up on the Zhang and Wendall.

During this time, taking advantage of a bad situation, Amra dons a hazmat suit and makes her way into  the small cargo bay and with a quick bit of rummaging finds the needed small components, however the big one is still missing. Daringly she makes her way back and, upon examination, realises the crate with the large axelshapped part is buried under a number of other containers. Meanwhile Wendall has determined that the coast is clear and makes his way through the burn and blasted foam covered hallway to his room and retrieves the controls for his salvage drone. He sends it through to the cargo bay as Amra engages one of the ship’s exo-lifters. She topples the boxes and working with Wendall’s drone manages to get what she came for. The last component required to repair the jumpdrive, which is roughly the size and shape of a car axle

Amra got more than she came for as, at that moment the ooze dropped for the ceiling, It reached out for her, its appendages charred and burned, but she bats it away. She is unable to hold out for ever and she is grappled, making the unpredictable move of going with the flow and rolling the exo-lifter on top of the ooze before crawling away. Wendall manages to pilot the drone, carrying the component, out of the cargo bay dropping it off before turning back to help. The laser cutter on the drone is quite effective, but splits the creature into two viable  organisms who attempt to flee. This gives Amra, the nerves on her stomach on fire, as if her skin is benign grated off with sandpaper, a chance to get away and scrape off the remaining bits of ooze once safe. She is able to get the jump drive hooked back up and running, however the thought of going into cryo with this thing on the move is not of interest to anyone, something must be done.

Before it can be done, one of the creatures descends through the airlock, landing on Wendall, his shoulders back an body burn as his flesh begins to be pared off at the molecular level, bonding with the Spill, Zhang screams as  Wendall runs, in a panic making his way to the med bay where he is able to separate himself from it, leaving a massive scar across his back and where Ozzie is able to repel the creature with a radioactive isotope. Arma makes her way back to the crew quarters, carefully, fearing one of the creatures may come out of anywhere, to recover the drone controls as the drone is their best defense against the oozes. While making her way from the reactor to cargo, she thinks for a moment that she sees something in the black of space, but only for a moment, fearing that somehow the creatures are able to leave the ship, she picks up the pace.

Reaching the controls there is no sign of Zhang, she continues onwards to  the med bay rejoining Wendall and Ozzie, who is able to tell the rest of the crew that while radiation keeps the creature at bay and may even be harmful, bullets, fire, cold and pretty much anything else won’t affect it. What’s more it appears to absorb and assimilate those it touches, organic lifeforms at any rate, metals, plastics, glass, and other such things appear to be immune but, as Ozzie points out, just because it can’t assimilate it, doesn’t mean it can’t get around it.

At that moment, an explosion can be heard from the habitat section airlock. Dustin and Shaw go to investigate, leaving Cable-9 in the command and it is not long before the sounds of gunfire ring out in the distance. Worried, the trio in med bay command the drone to investigate. Just as it is about to turn the corner to the airlock, two figures in matte black advanced battledress, sleek and like nothing seen prior, round the corner, guns raised. A moment later the connection, it would appear that the black tarry horrors are far from the groups only worry…

Ending Stress

Wendall 10

Amra 12

Introducing Captain Shaw

Unbeknownst to Amra and Wendell, Captain Shaw and Dustin were not killed by the invading individuals who had boarded the Red Fortitude, Shaw managed to pull a slightly injured Dustin into the storage area and seal the door. Unable to find a way out, they decided the next best thing they could do was to barricade themselves further, using the shelves and lockers to do so. She manages to find a radio and raise Cabel 9 who as a lone non-combatant is unable to do much to help her. The boarders begin to cut through the door, only to be blocked by the debris. Their solution?A grenade whose explosive power blows the barricade to bits, a piece of shrapnel hitting Dustin  in the neck, evering a major artery. Shaw tries to split herself between gunning down their attackers and helping Dustin, but he knows it is too late and sends Shaw off. Her smartgun leveling a would be assailant, she runs with everything she has to the other ship, still forcibly docked with the Red Fortitude. A hail of bullets rings out as she successfully dives for cover.

Meanwhile, back in the Med Bay, Ozzie Wendell and Amra debate what is going on, They see a pair of the high tech mercenaries rush toward the med bay and make sure that it is sealed. Even going as far as wedging cryo pods against the door. The boarders get a few shots through the window, but only manage to graze Dr. Banks’ shoulder. As the group clutches the makeshift weapons that they have found and wait, Cabel 9’s voice comes across the intercom informing the group that even though Shaw has survived, Dustin is dead, a sad moment for all except probably Wendell, who now no longer needs to worry about how he is going to get his hands on those Furbels. The group is currently stuck and unable to really take action Cabel’s voice begins to cut out and eventually all that can be heard on the intercom is swirling static. Something has jammed the comms.

Shaw, continuing into the boarder’s vessel, finds it surprisingly empty, making her way deeper into the sleek  dimly lit craft, she comes across the engine room. Though not the most tech savvy, she is able to recognize the engines and jump drive as being top of the line, perhaps even better. Careful to move up to the other end, conscious that at any moment she could stumble upon more of the heavily armoured individuals, she passes what appears to be a small storage area, containing a small number of metal crates, each branded with what seems to be a random string of numbers and sealed with a key code. Deciding not to tempt fate and possibly let something else terrible out of a box, this having already happened once on this trip, she continues to the bow fo the ship and  is greeted with a horrifying sight.

Meanwhile Ozzie, Wendell and Amra, barricaded in the med bay, hear the familiar oozing sound of the Spill as it descends from a ceiling vent, as if it were cool molasses being poured from a bottle. There is no longer any doubt as to the fate of Zhang, her partially absorbed distended face front and center in the amalgam. The Spill attempts to reach out for them but is held at bay by the isotopes, after a number of tense minutes, The Spill undulates back up the wall and swings itself into the vent, Ozzie suspects that it has decided to find easier prey.

On the bridge of the boarders’ ship are six cryopods of a design that Shaw has never seen all connected at the top forming an asterix like shape. At the centre is the upper body of an android, its body naked, tubes and wires running from various parts of its body, so many from its skull that the head appears swollen, up into the ceiling . A number of displays can be seen lit up on a flat panel that rings the chamber; a viewport casts a partial view of the Red Fortitude. The android, intimidating, tersely informs Shaw that she is not a member of “Zero Team” and is unauthorised to be on the ship. Shaw tries to alert it to the dangers, even going as far as to tell it to check the vital signs of its team. It decides instead to attempt to detain Shaw by sealing the bridge until zero tarm returns. Shaw responds by blowing the side of its head off with the smart rifle, causing ships systems to go offline, including the process by which the comms were jammed.

This allows Cabel-9, still sealed in the command centre, finally able to restore communication with Ozzie Wendell and Amra. They are unable to detect any sign of zero team or the spills, though they have intermittently heard gun fire. Cabel-9 mentions that many of the security cameras onboard the fortitude have been compromised by the day’s events. They are able to reconnect with shaw on the handheld, and formulate a plan where Ozzie, Amra, Wendell and Cabel-9 . will make their way from the medbay down through the Habitat support module to the airlock where Shaw ill be waiting to cover for them. The quartet moves out carefully, and Wendell notices what appears to be a modified stun baton on the ground. He offers it to Amra as Wendell has his trusty nail gun.Ozzie nervously brandishes a scalpel and Cabel-9, apparently inattentive and unaware of the tense danger of the situation, casually continues along unarmed.

As they approach the common area they are greeted by their worst fear. A spill sits undulating in the middle of the room, it is bigger than the last one, and appears to have amalgamated a number of zero term members. The group uses the nail bomb they attempted, but in their panic had not rolled it far enough and unfortunately the flaming rag did not ignite the non flammable nitrous oxide. The monstrosity “turns” to bear down on the quartet, Amra engages the stun baton, only to be greeted by a glowing green energy as the baton contained a powerful source of radiation (Level2) it makes contact with the spill getting lodged in it, doing repeated damage over time. Ozzie and Amra then run while  Cabel-9 and Wendell, bringing up the rear, buys time with a nail gun and a metal lamp. Wendell’s gambit was costly as the spill reaches out and makes contact, its searing touch making a connection with the wounded Wendell. Cabel-9 sees this and tries to pull Wendell free. Shaw, who knows that the Zero Team ship cannot be piloted or repaired without Cabel’s help, gives Cabel-9 the order to abandon Wendell and head to the other ship. With the most emotion that the aloof deadpan android has ever mustered, it gives Wendell an apologetic look and utters two words, “I’m sorry” as he lets go of Wendell's arm and turns towards the ship.

Miracle of Miracles, as the spill pours forward, Wendell is able to pull free, but at a terrible cost. His left arm sloughs off of his body, as it is too far amalgamated. Blood gushes out of the shoulder, spraying the wall. Cabel-9 turns back to  help him, Amra rushes up as well. The spill seizes the moment to rush forward, sensing more organic material, it bares down on the trio as Shaw and Ozzie shout for them to hurry. Wendell blacks out and Amra, in order to save them all, pushes Wendell’s unconscious form into the encroaching ooze, buying her and Cabel-9 the time to make it to Zero Team’s ship, Ozzie seals the airlock behind them.

They take a moment to let everything that has happened sink in. Even though they cannot see it, they can hear the ooze on the other side of the airlock. Amra and Cabel-9 make their way to the bridge where the two of them remove Zero-Main from the control port,,and begin disassembling Cabel-9 and inserting him into the ports. They are not able to connect everything, as the other body was apparently retrofitted expressly for this purpose. Thought they appear unsettling with their skin largely peeled back from their body and various fluids, including the chalky white fluid with its odour of burning dust and plastic that serves as the “blood” of all android, begins to leak slowly from various parts of their body, Cabel-9 is ok, more than ok as they are able to disengage from the Red Fortitude, just as an explosion on the other side detonates the airlock door on the Red Fortitudes side. The crew see two humanoid forms pinwheeling out of the blown hatch, sucked into space. Amra promises to restore Cabel-9 as they take the ship, with its Jump-3 drive, to the one place that someone can offload a ship such as this and hope to disappear, Prospero’s Dream.

Stress

Amra 19

Shaw 4

High Score

Amra 3

Shaw 1

Lost

Wendell Blase (KIA)

Ngozi Eje (KIA)

Billson Graves (KIA)

Alizarin (KIA)

Loser Cain (KIA)

Dustin West (KIA)

Zhang Huo (KIA)

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***PRELUDE: PROSPERO’S DREAM***

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After their traumatic experiences on Ypsilon-14 and Asphodel station respectively, Jobe Armola and Dr. Zach Bells ended up on Prospero’s Dream where they spent the last couple of months dealing with the fallout from their circumstances. Jobe found a position in Engineering  as a member of Tearmster’s  Local 32819L. It's here that he met Renton, a teamster who is both his mentor and his dealer as Jobe was unable to cope with the stresses of what he saw on Ypsilon and turned to drugs, meth in fact. He always keeps at least a month's supply on his person. It is during this time that Jobe has learned of some strife between the Union and the Golyanovo II Bratva, the criminal organization that largely runs the Dream. The dispute has to do with a teamster freighter fleet that has been captured by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a rival criminal organisation. Reimar, the local steward, and Yandee, the Bratva leader have had heard exchange over the situation.All the tension isn’t making his stress any better, or his habit any cheaper.

Meanwhile Dr. Bells, using their knowledge of chemistry and explosives, has found himself working with the mafia crafting incendiary devices, normally forbidden by the Bratva on the station, but what criminal family doesn't need a bit of spare ordinance around? Unfortunately for Zach, one of his devices exploded prematurely, eliminating his contact. Fearful of discovery and reprisal, Dr Bells looks for any way possible off of this station, fast.

Both manage to meet a man by the name of Victor Vanderkampf, who has the appearance of a grizzled and scarred combat vet. Victor works for a company by the name of Mercer Incorporated, and is looking to hire a few space savvy individuals for a security drill aboard the Merciful Dawn, a colony ship on its way out to a colonizable world. The pay is good for the job (25kcr) and the risk is low. As an added bonus the group’s presence will not be known to the crew until the drill is initiated and it will likely be several months until the job activates. Tempted by money and distance, both sign up.

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***RANE IN BLOOD: PART 1***

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Both awake in cryopods to the sound of alarm and flashing red lights. Both Jobe and Zach manage to get up and find their items. They are in a clean spartan room devoid of any objects save their gear, a third fogged up cryopod, a backlit map of the dawn and a boxy touchscreen console. Unable to do much with the  third pod, the pair approached the screen, which had a button to play a message. Upon hearing the message, it quickly became apparent that Zach and Jobe were in the middle of a dangerous predicament. Vanderkampfs voice informs them that the Ship has been boarded by a group called the New Anglican Blood Pirates, though neither Jobe or Zach know who that is. Vanderkampf informs them that if they do not kill the vicar and put his head in the weight scan receptacle beneath the screen, the ship will explode in roughly 8 hours killing everyone and everything on it. 

The message hints at security tools to help them, and sure enough after the message they are able to  access what appears to be a subroutine program that gives them limited ability to change and influence ship’s systems, but only for a short amount of time. A quick scan reveals at least 15 awake individuals, likely the Blood Pirates. With a deadline to work, and a need to learn more, the pair shuffle into the air vents, the only way out of the room and mosey forward.

They stop at the main hall between engineering and life support as they notice 2 men in sleek red and black vacc suits pushing a laundry cart filled to the brim with human offal and other gore. Both  discuss the Vicar’s temperament as well as how amusing it would be to set the hounds on some of the colonists. The pair attempt to wait until the pirates are out of earshot but make too much noise on their way out of the vents. A shootout ensues during which both pirates are dispatched. Searching their remains, it turns out that the red paint on their suits (and both hope it's just paint) appears to be some sort of iconography. One has a map on a datapad, the coordinates of some mining asteroid, the other has probably the most grim set of tarot cards known to man, painted in human blood.

Victorious for now. The pair return to their secure room via the vent, the only way in or out of the chamber. They scavenge the cryopods and Zach makes what he hopes will be a rather nasty incendiary device, especially with the inclusion of cryo chems and liquid nitrogen. They decide to put the pirates on the backfoot and kill lights, power, and then emergency lights. They return to engineering and hunker down ready for any and all that come.

What comes are 2 more pirate with a horrific inhuman looking creature on a leach. Even in the dark, this multi limbed shuffling disjointed thing, sniffs them out and rushes Zach. Jobe, having retrieved his laser cutter, tries to hold the fort and cut down a few pirates while Zach runs for his life from the horrific creature, taking a wicked claw rake across his back in the process. Jobe takes a bit of buckshot, but reduces the mutation to salsa before both he and Zach cut down the remaining pirates. Injured but not wounded, both attempt to catch a breath, an hour has passed and it very much feels as if they have only dipped their toes in this mess in front of them.

Dr. Zach Bells 10 stress HP 1/18(2)

Jobe Armola   10 stress HP 2/18 (2)

Introducing Captain Shaw

Special Guest NPC: Cabel-9

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INTERLUDE: PROSPERO’S DREAM

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Shortly after the arrival of the Survivors from the Red Fortitude on the Dream. They manage to unload the ship quickly on an interested buyer for roughly  half a billion credits, leaving each of the 5 survivors with 100 mcr. True to her word, Shaw immediately looks for somewhere that can get Cabel-9’s lower body restored. A man directs her to the appropriately named Chop Shop, informing her for the price of a customary palm greasing that to best help her friend, the Babushka is her best bet. The man, clearly in rough shape, parts with a harsh cough and Shaw, wasting no time, follows up on the lead.

The Chop Shop is a grimy cyber and slickware surgery, but unlike many in the area Shaw notices that everyone coming in and out of this one has their parts looking to be well maintained with only the minimal signs of implantation irritation. A heavily tattooed and heavily scarred man stands behind a counter, this is Zhenya.

Zhenya and Shaw go back and forth over the booking, as he claims there is no time for weeks, that is, until Shaw negotiates paying 4 times the going rate for a slot the next day. Zhenya finds himself agreeable to this and sure enough, by the end of next day Cabel-9 is back on their feet. The android is grateful and very appreciative of all that Shaw has done on their behalf. It is on their way out that Zhenya has a parting gift for them. A note that he had been paid to give to Shaw the day before. Once in the clear Shaw and Cabel-9 open it up. It’s brief, claiming that someone has a job for them and to meet at the Stellar Burn, signed V.V.

It is not too long at the bustling smoky atmosphere of the Burn with its throbbing EDM and electrodynamic lights that they make contact with their contact, a man who introduces himself as Viktor Vanderkampf. Moving to a more private area, he identifies himself as an employer of mega corp Mercer Logistics. He provides details of a quick and easy job, working as part of a security drill on the Merciful Dawn, Cabel-9 investigates the issue as best he can but turns up no reason that the mission should turn dangerous. Both agree to take Vanderkampf up on his offer….

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RANE IN BLOOD: PART 2

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Jobe and Zach rummage through the belongings of the two dead pirates in engineering, finding their weapons, ammo and two small items of interest. Zach comes across a bag of odd red sand. The sand appears to have electrostatic and magnetic properties, both are unsure exactly of what it is or where its from, but agree to file that one away until after their lives are no longer in imminent danger. Jobe uncovers a six digit code tattooed on his arm. What it is for neither knows.

What Zach does know is that the third cryo pod in the security room suddenly begins to open. Both make their way back to find Captain Shaw flailing in the dark, the pair manage to get her up to speed with Vamderkampf’s double-cross, and replay the message. They explain the security terminal and what they have done so far, in the process using their last available internal sweep.

Seeing the androids indicators on the Dawn, Shaw realizes for the first time that Cabel-9 is nowhere to be found. Thinking that they may be the android showing up in the Cargo Bay may well be the Cabel-9. They make their way “north” in the direction of the blip, Shaw seeing the signs of combat and the unnatural horrors of the “hound”  as they pass. Slipping into one bay they search and eventually find a cargo container that is home to a Mercer Logistics android, with its big capital M tattooed on its forehead. The android, whose name tag identifies it as Fritz, is panicked, hysterical, and a sobbing emotional mess. So out of touch that it can no longer function, whatever it has seen, it is of no help. The crew seals Fritz back into the crate and continues their search.

The other side is full of luggage and personal effects. There appears to be a Tritanium door that someone tried, rather unsuccessfully, to cut through. Finding absolutely nothing of use, the crew bypasses the main elevator in favor of a more discreet access to the crew deck. Moving along the long metal corridor, they come across the disheveled and clearly injured form of Cabel-9, who woke up on the Dawn prior to the rest of the team. Cabel-9 pseudo skin torn on their face and arm, waking the milky white blood that helps maintain androids, signals for the group to be quiet. They are not alone. A trio of pirates, tracking the wounded android, find them in the open hallway. They decide to rush the crew with their vibrochetes but the team responds with overwhelming firepower.

Shaw’s smart rifle punches through the vacc suit of one pirate and out the back as if he were not even there whereas Jobe cuts another in half with his laser cutter. Dr. Bells gives his makeshift bomb another go, this time with success as the liquid nitrogen shatters on the villain on impact causing his suit and skin to super cool and shatter , spilling his intestines over the floor, taking everyone aback and causing the doctor notable alarm as the grenade more than exceeded expectations. With the blood pirates downed and things quiet for now. They relieved the corpses of a pair of thermal goggles and a stimpack before deciding to crawl up a set of access stairs.

The stairs lead to an access room, the only way out are the vents. Using pictures of the map that Zach has taken, they determine the best way to the bridge is likely going through the vents, however an examination of their surroundings suggests that this area is heavy with pirates, easily 8 or 9. The decision to do so recon is taken and Cabel-9 volunteers to go so the rest of the crew is not put at risk. They are not able to do so quietly. He is called back and Shaw goes, but  has the same problem. Realizing that she is a sitting duck stuck in this vent and any moment she could be slaughtered and can barely turn around she begins to panic. The noise surely travels as a trio of the heat signatures, two human looking ones and one that appears to be a large ape-like creature in shape, head to the crew lounge to try and figure out what is going on.

Shaw moves forward and hurries out of the vents into the service elevator shaft. Though still small and enclosed it is large enough to not trigger her newly acquired claustrophobia. She carefully makes her way down the service ladder and back up the one on the other side. Stopping just before the sealed door. Here she overhears the group talking about the “Hound” picking something up on the other side of the wall (Jobe and Zach, trying to draw attention away from Shaw in the vents, have been making noise) and how if they do not find the source of the problems interrupting their harvest, the Vicar will flay the skin from their bones. Sweat trickles down the side of Shaw's face, she can't communicate with her team and the only way out, the service elevator shaft, has three blood thirsty killers directly on the other side….

Ending Stress

Dr. Zach Bells  1/18(2) 12 stress

Jobe Armola 2/18 (2)  16 stress

Captain Shaw 16/16 (3) 7 stress claustrophobic

Cabel-9  11/11 (2) 9 stress

Rvee, one of the Mercer Logistic androids on board the Merciful Dawn, has not been having a good trip. A vessel filled with pirates and… other things… slammed into the colony ship destined for Memphis7. They immediately swarmed the ship, gunning and cutting down the other androids. Both Rvee and Fritz managed to get away, with Rvee hiding in the kitchen before crawling up and into the vents trying to hide and move far enough away from the sound of gunfire and tortured screams of what he can only suppose are the colonists.

Some time goes by, sounds from the secret maintenance room, where Zach, Jobe, and Cabel-9 are currently holding safe. They don’t sound like the pirates RVee saw earlier, he moves closer to try and hear more but is noisier than intended. This alerts Cabel 9 and Zach to the presence of something in the vents. Jobe, using the goggles, is able to detect what looks like an android in the vents.

Once out of the vent Rvee and the rest of the squad catch each other up, unfortunately, the gorilla-like creature seems to notice the sounds of conversation through the wall and begins to bang on it, alerting the pirates to…something. On goes and returns with another pirate armed with an industrial strength circular saw and they begin to cut through the wall, prompting the gang to enter the vents.

Shaw uses this opportunity to wedge open the elevator doors undetected…well almost. The creatures, a hulking albino ape-like creature with too long arms and fists like wrecking balls, sniffs the air and turns, seeing Shaw just in time for her to unload her smartgun into it. The creature manages eventually to get a swing in on Shaw as she continues firing, supported by Jobe and Rvee. Zach climbs his way down to the elevator car, opening the service access, After the creature is gunned down the band saw wielding pirate attempts to cut through shaw but is himself quickly gunned down, landing hard on the service elevator roof, followed shortly after by a third pirate, cut in half by Jobes cutter for his efforts.

The 4th pirate, having seen how things are going, retreated presumably to alert his companions. Shaw tried to chase him down but slipped in the “hound’s” blood  twisting her ankle. Zach, putting his medical training to use, manages to take a look at and do what he can for it while the group takes a rest before moving forward on their plans to either storm the bridge or wake the crew. In the meantime Jobe and Rvee manage to find the red keycard of Nort, a crew member lodged in the sofa cushions, bridging the total number they have to 2. It is at this moment that Cabel-9, wearing a pair of the goggles, notices the presence  of a number of pirates towards the aft of the ship.

The decision is made to run across the hall and see if there is anything in the crew quarters that could help, the moment Zach walks out into the corridor the telltale clinking of a bouncing explosive before a blinding flash of light accompanied by a bang stuns him. Shaw, who managed to pull back in time, reaches out and tries to drag the bewildered doctor to safety, only to see a horror beyond horrors. A creature, serpentine in nature with a long elongated human face and snake-like arms that themselves end in snake-like heads, moves incredibly, impossibly fast down the corridor and attacks. 

It takes the full might of the team, who fall back into the crew lounge, to tackle this menace. It sinks its fangs into Shaw before moving on to Jobe, whose gun misfeeds burning him. Jobe is having a crisis of confidence and sees his life flash before his eyes as the creature grabs him and begins to open its mouth impossibly wide. Thinking quickly, Rvee throws a fire extinguisher at the creature and shoots it , causing it to explode from the sudden release of pressure. What's more the chemical appears to be causing the snake creature’s skin to melt. It gets its own back as its snake hand gores Rvees left arm off below the elbow, spraying the area with a milky white blood substitute. 

The team rushes to their new comrades' defense, Shaw, out of ammo, rams her vibrochete clear through its chest blinding it with its own blood as Jobe, with an assist from Zach, lines up the shot with his laser cutter and mists the abominations head. The group is able to quickly stop the bleeding from RVs arm, saving the other half to hopefully reattach while the group tries to catch a breather. It looks like there isn’t going to be much of a chance of that as they hear “Serfs! Bleed the Heretics!”

Ending stress

Bells 1/18(2) 17 stress

Jobe 5/14(1) 18 stress (burns scars on dominant arm, lack of confidence in zero-g skill)

Shaw 13/16(3) 11 stress (no armor)

RVee 5/11(2) 6 stress (missing left arm beneath the elbow) 

The crew only has moments to prepare for the onslaught of pirates. Jobe takes Rvee behind the metal table while Zach flips a pinball machine on the opposite side of the room to duck behind. Shaw, with Cabel-9 move to the doorway and get ready to fire down the corridor as they hear the sound of multiple pairs of boots on metal getting closer. Shaw and Cabel lean out to shoot, cutting down a couple of  pirates before having to retreat back into the crew lounge, joining Jobe behind the table.

Pirates continue to rush in, attempting to overwhelm the group with brute force and display of violence, but at the same time putting them in the crossfire between Zach and the rest of the gang. The fire fight is intense, Jobe goes down in a hail of gunfire, bleeding out slowly, sending a wave of panic through the rest of the group. Zach has had enough, and enraged rushes past the assailants to treat Jobe, reviving him with a stimpack before turning his shotgun on the marauders. Shaw runs out of bullets and closes the gap with her vibchete. Jobe takes another bullet, this time to the head, just before his team is able to cut down the last pirate. Thankfully upon inspection, Jobe was only grazed, however he is left somewhat infirm by his duel near death experiences, he rises with help shaky on his feet and in desperate need of his fix.

The lounge is a horror show, blood and bodies, some less than human that the rest, everywhere, the walls and floors peppered with laser burns, shotgun scatter, and bullet holes. The group takes stock of the situation and finds a  few guns and ammo, but also a bloody copy of the passenger manifest, a vial of swirling red gas (the same colour as the magnetic sand found earlier) and a laser cutter with a dead battery.

Zach carefully makes his way down to the med bay but finds nothing helpful for Jobe's injuries he does find a sight that shakes him, a pile of bloody severed torsos stacked in a corner, a single key peeking out from beneath them. There are two auto med pods, however with the power out they cannot be used, and even with power the pods would take too long leaving the group vulnerable to attack. Best just to tough it out. 

The crew make their way to the storage locker room, hopefully to find useful items. However, the locker that goes with the bloody key was stuff with nothing but Hawaiian shirts. There are a pair of hello kitty walkie talkies that work outside of the jammed frequencies. Going further past the lockers to the airlock, the crew finds dozens of vacc suits as well as where the pirate’s ship has linked up with the Merciful Dawn, a cloying red fog swirls along the floor of the access airlock, spilling somewhat into this room before dissipating  into nothing. The group, not wanting to tempt fate, grab enough vacc suits for everyone before returning to the lounge to suit up.

Using the extra armor and Rvee’s keycard, they gain access to and storm the bridge, gunning down the two pirates present and gaining control of the ship, as best they can with no power. The group loot a key card and a microwave rifle off of the dead pirates. As they assess the emergency screen detailing the status of key systems, the comms crackle with static, shortly followed by the sinister voice on the Vicar, he informs the crew that they have interfered with the harvest and have delayed them long enough, he promises on the honor of Martin Rane that should they give up and turn themselves in for their heresy their deaths will be quick and painless. The group refuses, some sneak back down to the security room and restore power while cutting off gravity.

Having found a bioscanner the crew is able to use it to determine that the remaining pirates have moved themselves into Cryobay C. it is during this that the Vicar gives the group one last chance to surrender, promising to kill a colonist over the comms every minute that they dont. The crew is treated to the horrifying experience of listening to obviously disorientated and terrified men and women identify themselves over the airwaves and listening to the anguished screams and gurgles as the Vicar kills them, one after the other. What can the crew do to stop this terror?

Zach  10/18(1) 20 Stress 

Jobe 1/9(0) (nearly died 2x lost 5 min health) 11 Stress

Shaw 11/16(3)  13 Stress

Rvee 5/11 (2) 7 stress (missing left arm beneath the elbow)

Cabel-9 9/11(2) 16 Stress

Tom Murray is not having a good trip.

It should have been a simple job, go to sleep, wake up on some starter colony, get the equipment unloaded, set up and start the processes, then back into cryo and to civilized space. It doesn’t look like that is going to happen though, as having woken up unexpectedly Tom found himself in a pitch black room (without even emergency lights) in his jumpsuit, the other pods in some sort of emergency lockdown. The sound of something trying to cut through the tritanium doors with some sort of power saw. Fumbling around for whatever he could find in the dark, a feeling in Tom’s gut told him that, if whatever was on the other side of the door got through, he should be something else. Managing to find the vent, he crawled out and into the ship finding similar problems.

Tom heard screams of abject terror, the sounds of weapons fire and saw..things.. Through the vents that defied explanation. The smell of freshly spilled blood filled the vents near cryobay D as he finagled himself down to the cargo bays on the engineering deck. Once here, he heard the voice of someone calling himself “The Vicar”  threatening to slaughter the passengers one by one unless the “heretics' ' surrendered themselves for a quick death. Tom felt a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach as, one by one the Vicar slaughtered the clearly disorientated and terrified people. While a bit of a relief that the lights and power came back on, the Zero-G that followed was making things difficult. Thankfully he found a pair of mag boots, slipping them on and activating them, just as he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye in the hall.

Dr. Zach Bells floated down the corridor, passing the cargo bay, and noticed a figure who thankfully did not look like the Blood Pirates or their dreadful mutated lackeys. He approached and, after a brief standoff, Dr. Bells was able to get Tom caught up to the situation as best as possible under the circumstances. He radioed the others waiting back in the crew lounge, letting them know that he found a friend and were on their way back up. Jobe is still looking pale and shaky from his near death experiences (meth can only do so much) and Cabel-9 works to solder Rvee’s wounded arm so it no longer leaks pseudo milk. Shaw waits intently, she is ready to pounce at the first sign of danger. The group meets back up, Rvee and Tom each glad to see a familiar face,  and with a bit of debate over how to deal with the Vicar (who keeps waking and murdering passengers) they make their way to the bridge.

Once there, they scan the cameras and tune in just in time to see the Vicar murder another colonist, splitting them crotch to sternum with a wicked looking pair of blades attached to a gauntlet. They then scan the surrounding areas, noticing small numbers of pirates, each one that has a horrifying looking dreg hound with it, are standing guard or waiting in ambush near cryo bay C. The group decides to lock the other pirates in the rooms they are by manipulating the door controls (Tom and Rvee’s keycards coming in handy hear) before heading into the cryobay through the emergency gangplank that connects it to the still untouched cryo bay A.

Attempts at an ambush were moderately successful. With all the stress Shaw forgot to load her smart rifle and a laser blast fired into the group cuts Rvee down. Thankfully they are only bleeding out and Cabel 9 is able to resuscitate him.

Zach tosses his grenade at the Vicar, but  falls short exploding in an open cryo pod containing much of the damage. Zach and Tom Move up Targeting the two serfs but mainly focusing on the Vicar, who takes an insane amount of punishment with no visible effect. The Vicar Stabs Zach with the Gauntlet, and Zach feels it reach into his chest and shred his heart as if it were some sort of living thing before dropping, Cabel 9, having revived Rvee, rushes out to assess. His shoulders slump, and he shakes his head. Dr Bells is no more. 

The Vicar moves in on Shaw separating his cybernetically modified jaw, the red mist spilling out of its vacc suit revealing his pale grey face and red eyes. A tube snakes out and imbeds in Shaw's neck, syphoning blood and spinal fluid out of her body and healing the gunshot wounds right before her eyes. It is at this moment that the crew feels the floor shudder as something strikes the airlock attached to the gangplank. Shortly after Viktor Vamderkampf machine pistol in one hand, and a bizarre plastic looking whip in the other, rushes past the crew into the room. It is clear to all present that the Vicar and Vanderkampf recognize each other.

The Vicar, body still rapidly healing before the crew’s eyes, rushes Vanderkampf and then Shaw. He moves supernaturally fast, slashing both with the gauntlet, causing Shaw to lose feeling below the waist and fall to the ground. To make matters worse, Vanderkampf gets caught in crossfire not once, but twice as the  crew tries to put the Vicar down. Tom moves up and guns down the second serf, the first one still slowly spinning in the air from his shotgun’s misfire. Shaw, with her  deal a devastating blow against the Vicar, allowing Rvee, still shaky, rushes in with the Vibchete and takes the Vicar’s head clean off.

Cabel-9 helps Shaw up, and Vanderkampf apologizes for his late arrival, thanking the characters for  keeping the blood pirates occupied. He then produces a simple remote and disables the bomb. The group is pissed and suddenly not feeling too poorly about the friendly fire incidents. He offers to pay them extra to help him find the coordinates to Xibalba, the pirate base in this area, and to accompany him there to clean out the pirates. The crew is simply too injured, some on their last legs, some missing arms, some paralyzed, and some dead. Vanderkampf appears to understand their situation, he informs them that they can deactivate the Tick on the Dawn to have it jump worthy again, and if they want it, the pirate ship is theirs for the taking to go wherever. Pyrokinetic Whip in hand, he bids the group adieu as he heads off to “gather information” from the trapped pirates on the dawn.

The remaining crew now only has to gain control of the pirate ship to secure their safety….

Ending Stress

Jobe 1/9(0) 13 stress (Death Wish)

Shaw 4/16(1) Paralyzed -12 hp permanent)

Rvee 1/11(0) 10 Stress (laser Scar, pseudo skin ripped)

Tom 8/14(2) 6 Stress

Zach (Deceased)

Cabel-9 9/11 (2) 18 stress

On the glacial planet of Rimor 89, things have been going good, on the last week of their geological survey, some minor lifeforms have been discovered, though Dr. Kopotsky wont let anyone near “his” discovery , it means a big bonus for all involved. Ol’Byron’s experiments with making the gruel taste not like wallpaste has gone good, and the only headache is the alleged headache between engineer Ivan Malone’s ears as he continues to sleep until he feels better, shirking his duties in the meanwhile.

The other shoe drops about 2 says out of Central Station, the one and only hub for the half dozen or so submersibles that survey the subglacial ocean spanning the mars sized planet. Captain Drave mentions that the ship wont lift, something is wrong in either the ballast tank, engineering or electrical. He gets Catherine and McFadden to go get Ivan, who he feels is likely faking ill to get out of work. On their way through the Galley to the bunks, they have a quick chat with Ol’Byron about the gruel he has cooking on the stove when the oven begins to rattle and two meter long worms burst forth from behind, knocking the gruel onto the floor and causing Byron to slip. A block of knives is also overturned, nicking the poor chef in the process. In trying to save Byron the pair discovered that the Galley was taking on water, Catharine did her best to drag the much heavier Byron to safety in Navigation while McFadden rushed into the bunks to rescue Ivan.

Fireman carrying Ivan to safety, despite his complaints of migraines and illness (if he is faking sick, he was at least dedicated enough to perfect the look), both McFadden and Catharine are bitten by the creatures that attempt to “burrow” in. Thankfully McFadden’s armor is too thick and Catharine is able to keep the worms at bay by swinging a frying pan. They sealed the pressure door and brought the Captain up to speed regarding the worms and the leak. Nonplussed Captain Draves brushes off the whole “alien worms” thing and focuses on the fact that his instruments are not showing a leak. He orders Ivan, who he notes actually looks sick for once, and McFadden to engineer and to investigate the Ballast Tank for signs of damage and Catharine to electrical to make sure there are no issues.

Catherine is able to take the time to look around but finds no real issues. There is a bit of slime on the walls and a few holes in the floor and ceiling of the chamber but other than that and Ivan’s half eaten lunch, everything appears fine. McFadden, having gone back for the armory key, gets attacked by a worm hiding in the cabinet and, grabbing a revolver, grabs the worm and shoots it, causing an exploding of chunky violet goop to explode all over him. He passes a pistol to Catharine as he drags the ill engineer to engineering, which is filled with noxious smog. Something isn’t right here. Leaving Ivan to figure it out, McFadden explores the dark chamber containing the Ballast tank and discovers the source of the problem. There are holes in the tank and holes in the exterior wall of the submersible. The tank is full but due to the damage isn’t functioning. While exploring, McFadden peers into the tank and sees a boil and barnacle covered mass with the face of Dr Kopotsky deep inside. The figure lets loose a gurgling scream, vomiting a number of large 2 metre long worms from its form which  break the surface.

Fast as they are, McFadden is faster. He manages to close the door and  seal it. He calls Ivan and Catharine, only Catherine enters. Ivan is nowhere to be seen.

Thinking maybe what McFadden saw was a clone, they head to research to see if the doctor is there. The normally locked door is slightly ajar, not a good sign. Inside the lab they find a few hazmat suits, a broken specimen jar, notes on the growth of creatures that sound a lot like the worms that the pair had already encountered, a a bit of trodden through vomit in the middle of the floor. Catherine takes a hazmat suit and they determine that the ting in the tank really is the Kopotsky. They give engineering another good look to see if they can find IVan but he has apparently disappeared. They do find a chewed through hosepipe leaking some sort of oil and signs of a worm having been in the area. They also notice that water is leaking into engineering from electrics.

The water in the electrics is dripping down from holes above and below, giving a very claustrophobic feel to the room. To make matters worse a number of worms populate both the shin-deep water on the floor and the coils of damp wires above. The are successful in burrowing partway into McFadden, though he manages to kill one halfway in. Catharine is not so lucky as one burrows fully into her ear and the other under her ribs. Seeing her in agony and knowing that there is nothing that can be done. McFadden shoots Catherine through the head. Mixture of red and violet blood spraying the wall. So jumpy at this point from things jumping out at him and trying to burrow into him, McFadden decides that its every man for himself and  makes his way towards the escape pod.

As he arrives back in the Armory, he sees Ivan in the doorway leading to Navigation. Ivan holds a bloody pipe and is himself covered in blood splatter. There is no sign of Captain Draves or Ol’Byron, the marine assumes the worst. Ivan, screaming like a paranoid madman, rushes McFadden who opens up on him with the machine gun. Ivan takes a shot in the neck and drops his weapon, dealing with the problem, as the last worm lunges into the Armory, narrowly missing McFadden. Outnumbered, he rushes to the pod and tries to get in, fending off the worm as Ivan retrieves his pipe. McFadden gets in and jams the wheel shut with his machine gun. Then goes to seal the outer lock while Ivan and the worm, each only having each other for their means, battle each other with Ivan eventually bludgeoning the worm to death. McFadden gets cozy in the cramped pod and hits the launch button leaving the now worm infested submersible in the dark of the subglacial ocean.

McFadden takes a breather, and in that quiet hears what sounds like motion in the supply cabinet. Opening it just enough to trap the worm inside as it tries to escape, he successfully crushes the creature, killing it. Upon return to central station there are medical appointments and meetings, all of which lead to McFadden being paid a pretty penny, 5 mcr to be exact, to provide what the corps needs and to become invisible afterwards, and what better place, thinks McFadden than Prospero’s Dream to disappear….

Ending Stress

McFadden 7

Catharine 10

High Score

McFadden 1

Lost

Catherine Banfield 

Ol’Byron

Captain Draves

Ivan Mahone

Alder Kopotsky

Having remembered that Zach was in possession of a set of coordinates for Xibalba, which the group learned from Vanderkampf is the location of the New Anglican Blood Pirates’ asteroid base. It is a rogue asteroid in the middle of the void of space. In exchange for the Information Vanderkampf helps clean up the remaining pirates on the Dawn and the Pirate ship, called the Shrike, before paying the group for their trouble and letting them go. Jobe, Rvee and Shaw, still suffering from their injuries, made their way back to the Dream with hopes of recovering from the mental and physical harm.. Tom though, after witnessing the horrors of the Dawn, has agreed to assist Vanderkampf on his assault on the pirate hideout.

In addition to Tom Murray, Vanderkampf has drafted the services of the exobiologist Jonson Rix, the dead-inside Marine Zombie who has no fear of death having already died, and the combat android Verus 8. Offering 100 kcr to each for their troubles, the group boards Victor’s ship, the Premonition, and heads out into deep space.

The group decides that it is best to try to sneak in the quiet exit near the top of the asteroid. On the approach they discover that a trio of live gun drones (essentially cannons with maneuvering thrusters)  are stationed by the drydock. Jonson and Verus 8 are thankfully able to use their expertise to shut down the drones, causing a data loop error where they recognize the approaching ship but no longer have a definition for what a target is or protocols for how to respond to one. Touching down on the drydock landing the umbilical extends to the airlock, built into a pair of large bay doors pockmarked by micro meteor strike. Thankfully the crew is able to confirm that the interior is pressurized with atmosphere. Vanderkampf has a final gift for the crew before boarding, a frag grenade for each of them.

Entering the large shuttle bay they find a partially damaged ship, a small collection of blocky buildings and so much dust and dirt. Seeing no other way to go, they enter the buildings to immediately notice a long dark trail of long dried blood heading to a room down the hall. Signs leading to bathrooms and an elevator are found help give some direction as the crew sweeps the installation. A few useful items are salvaged but this place was clearly the sight of a pitched battle and, shortly after, a slaughter. Jonson finds the worst of it, the blood trail ends in a charnel house of rotting harvested bodies, all missing their spinal cords, most devoid of their major organs. Upon closer inspection Jonson realizes that the bodies were harvested while still alive.

After grabbing a few available rebreathers and oxygen tanks, the group moves into the service elevator, deciding the best place to make their way down to the conveyor belt. They find themselves face to face with a long disused ore conveyor belt. Nothing has been here in quite some time, probably not since the original miners were rounded up and killed. Tom, using his experience as an asteroid miner,  is able to look through the dust to see that  at one point in time the conveyor belt was used to transport ferrous ore gold and even platinum to another location within the asteroid, possibly an ore stockpile. There could very well be a highly valuable stockpile still here somewhere.

Having not found any sign of the pirates, the group decides to go straight to the lowest level, the sump pool and machine shop. The elevator doors open to a fetid stench from the pool beneath the platform, which itself has a number of broken segments and holes in it. The red gas coils along the top of the pool, like smoke on the water, and can be noticed in the pockets of rock in the ceiling. A pressurized door can be seen in the distance. As the group moves across the platform towards it, the realization dawns on some of them that some of the holes in the platform were made by something underneath. Its at that moment that the Dreg Hound, a writhing mass of tentacles twice the size of a man, bursts form knocking over Jonson, Tom and Vanderkampf. The group concentrates their weapons on the beast, but in the violent confusion Toms shotgun hits the elevator panel, Zombie hits the beast which sprays some sort of acidic vomit all over those nearby, Vanderkampf cannot hit the broad side of a barn, Jonson’s rigging gun gests stuck.

They try to fall back to the service elevator, but the panel is damaged. As Tom works to fix it, the horror makes its way towards them, savaging the with its tentacles. Zombie gets off a shot blowing a hole through the mess of tentacles, dropping the creature. Jonson examines it, taking samples and makes the horrifying discovery that, at one point in time, this creature was a human being. With that knowledge they make their way to the door labeled machine shop and detect with a bioscanner 4 individuals on the other side. Unfortunately they alert the occupants, 4 blood pirates by the look of their gear. In a way, the tip off worked in the group's favor as it allowed Tom to toss a grenade into the center of 3 of them, killing them outright. Zombie managed to gun down the last, punching a fist sized hole through his chest with a blast from the pulse rifle. The group tries to take a moment to plan their next move and spend a bit of time looking over the organized supplies taken from ships attacked in prior raids. A voice then comes over the stations PA system identifying itself as Vicar Sturgis and promising the “heretics” a quick death should they surrender.

Ending Stress

Tom Murry 5 Stress 7/14(2) [ + on all rolls next 10 mins]

Zombie 4 Stress 13/13(3)

Jonson Rix 7 Stress 13/15 (1)

Verus 8 4 Stress (2) 

While searching the machine shop, which the Blood Pirates have used to store and sort their non-biological haul, they discover a sealed compartment that contains the android Werner. As Werner awakens he recognizes Vanderkampf, having been hired by him for a secret security test aboard the cruise liner The Year of the Dog. Werner realizes that his mission most likely failed before it began. Vanderkampf informs him that the Dog was lost without a trace over a year ago, confirming Werner’s concerns. Fortunately Vanderkampf and the crew found him and is uping the pay from 25kcr for the initial operation to 100kcr to help clear out the scum on Xibalba.

The group decides to head to the generator to see if they can make use of what they can find there to gain some sort of advantage. Making their way into the deep, thrumming cavern lit only by the oppressive orange-red emergency lights. There are 4 serfs chained to what appears to be an old starship engine that serves as the generator of this station. The pitiable quarter screams profanities and , grabbing whatever they can, rush the crew in the name of Martin Rane.

A grenade and a bit of gunplay easily dispatches the would be threat. An examination of the room turns up an old map of the facility. The group decides that it would be best to NOT disrupt the few lights, the gravity or lifesupport on this rock and leave Jonson and Thomas to guard it. The rest of the crew decide to head back down to the Sump Pool and explore the bowels of the station below, figuring that they will find the Vicar there. It is during this time that Verus 8 begins to hear the voice of the Vicar inexplicably in his mind. Though he has not shared this fact with his crewmates, he notes that it is urging him to lead his crewmates to their intended destination. 

Back on the Elevator, it suddenly stops dead in the middle of the shaft. Werner climbs up to see if they can figure out what the issue might be and repair it. The stop was no accident. The sounds of circular saws quickly followed by the blades themselves through the floor of the elevator car. A few of the group get nicked and Verus loses most of a foot as Werner helps drag everyone up on top of the car. Zombie drops a grenade into the hatch blowing the bottom half of the car away and causes what's left to plummet below, with the crew riding on top of it. 

Vanderkampf and Verus try to push the brake handle located in the mess of ropes and gears up top only for Vanderkampf to lean too hard into it and snap the rod. He tumbles along the lopsided car top and ends up wedged between  the car and the rough uneven elevator shaft. The friction makes quick work of the eternal mercenary’s advanced custom armor and gore his back and stomach the whole way down leaving a trail of chunky blood the whole way down. Once they crash at the bottom the crew finally gets a look at the twisted horror that is what remains of the miraculously still living Vanderkampf. He is barely holding on, his guts spilled out of his belly, blood rapidly pooling around him. A truly terrifying sight and fate for the once seemingly indestructible mercenary. He tries to speak, he tries to reach for something, but any who look at him realises that he is beyond help. Zombie delivers 45 mm of mercy through Vanderkampfs left eye and the crew continues on back to the Machine Shop.

 The crew finds a boot and stuffs enough of it to help Verus walk property and to rest up and recover a bi with the use of a few stimpacks and some general first aid. It is at this moment that the voice of the Vicar, having become increasingly difficult to resist, finally breaks Verus 8, who begins firing on the remaining members of his team. A gunfight erupts and Verus plugs Werner just before Zombie blows the side of his head off, causing the android to fall to the ground and the chunky milky pseudoblood to bleed out. Verus 8’s eyes slowly close for the last time.

A short while after, footsteps can be heard rushing their way up the stairs that lead down to the crew deck. While Zombie and Werner ready themselves against more Blood Pirates, they are instead greeted by  a wild looking naked woman covered in profane symbols drawn in what appears (correctly) to be human blood. The woman, named Math, has clearly seen some things not meant to be seen by mortal man or android. She managed to escape the Red Mass below by beating a serf with his wrench and fleeing…anywhere. With luck she ran into the only no Blood Pirates on the station. The group using a fiber op camera that Zombie scavenged in the machine shop, bypasses the bloodpirates’ living quarters, which seem to not have much activity going on at the moment and make their way down to the old refinery and smelter, now known as the Chapel.

Upon entering they discover an ascendant leading part of the mass, the Vicar Sturgis is currently nowhere to be found. A number of serfs are in the process of harvesting captured individuals and the crew arrives as a pair are cut from crotch to sternum. Zombie, using Vanderkampfs hand cannon, blasts the ascendant leading the procession, breaking the monster’s arm with a through and through and scoring a pivotal hit on his chest, causing him to turn and flee. The serf’s hunker down using their victims for cover. A grenade explodes spraying cavern rock everywhere and splashing some with the boiling pool of genetic scum that the pirates have been chucking “unsuitable matter” into and one by one the murderous fiends and taken out.  The pair of survivors are a gibbering mess, broken by the horrors they’ve seen and experienced, harmful to no one but themselves. The pool of scum is a mystery, examination does show that it is reducing genetic material to its based primordial form in a way not quite understood, though the ankle deep red gnostic gas might somehow play a role.

Ending Stress

Tom Murry 5 Stress 7/14(2) [ + on all rolls next 10 mins]

Zombie 8 Stress 13/13(3)

Jonson Rix 7 Stress 13/15 (1)

Math Liberty 13 Stress 7/12(2)

Werner Gilder 10 Stress 11/13(2)

Lost

Verus 8

Viktor Vanderkampf

The last thing Darby remembers of his life before the oxygen thin caverns was being forcibly woken from cryo and beaten unconscious by the infamous ne anglican blood pirates. Not willing to die like those poor bastards he crawled and dragged himself through tunnels, through cracks and crevasses, finding items left by those who tried and failed before him. He hears the hum of an engine in the dark, then after who knows how long, gunfire, explosions, and for the first time in  what feels like forever, light. He crawls out and is found by Tom Murphy, who himself having past dealings with the Blood Pirates, recognizes in Darby a fellow victim and survivor.

Jonson Rix stands at the edge of the elevator shaft, worried. Its rapid descent and the lack of any ability to reach Zombie Verus 8 or the others via comms has him fearing the worst. The elevator cables sway loosely, too loosely for there to be good news at the bottom end. He hears Tom call him and is surprised to find the emaciated soot covered survivor. The trio are currently trapped deep in this hell and begin looking for some way to snag the cables and find an escape.

Zombie Werner and Math take stock of the carnage left by the fleeing Blood Pirate Ascendent. Heading back up to the Machine Shop, they hide the probably insane survivors of the Red Mass in the crew decks after Zombie plunges a knife into a blind and already near dead ascendent. They decide that they need to get Jonson and Tom and hope to use a pair of salvaged rigging guns to get them down the now vacant elevator shaft.

Turns out that the duo, plus surprise addition Darby, have gotten hold of the elevator cable and are making their way down. There are a few slip ups and Tom snaps his ankle, but the rest get down. They head down to the chapel where Jonson hopes to get a sample from the blood pool but those without an air supply begin to hallucinate, what's worse is that Darby and Jonson begin to show signs of mutation. They quickly get back up to the machine shop to find rebreathers and oxygen. Darby is freaking out, Math is only now starting to no longer see things that are not there in the shadows, and Jonson is obsessed with finding out what is going on.

It is during this that Werner begins to hear a voice not his own deep in his logic core, the voice compels him with as if it were a programming directive, to lead his friends down into the depths of Xibalba, frustrated at the fact that no one is listening or moving fast enough, he heads down himself. Shortly after, while the group is still arguing about how to proceed, they hear a loud ‘crash’ come from the sump pool. Zombie investigates seeing a chitin-covered horror resembling a praying mantis and a lobster rush towards the door. Zombie tries to close it, but isn’t fast enough. The creature gets one of its arms in and tries to swing. Jonson and Darby rush the door and together the three of them shut and seal it, severing the arm of the creature who continues to shriek and pound on it. It is in the cool down from this that the group notices Werner’s absence.

Werner has at this point tread through the length of the chapel and encounters the injured ascendent, awash in red gnostic gas. He growls at Werner for not leading his comrades down with him and that the Vicar will feast on heretic blood tonight. He sends Werner off to bring them, but instead Werner, having seen what Verus 8 had gone through and now himself convinced that his programming has been similarly corrupted, decides to head down to the docked ship instead.

During this, Zombie Jonson Darby and Math all come up with the plan to detonate explosives at the entrance to the Chapel, blocking off the area, and heading down to the pirates ship with the objective of getting off of the asteroid. Victor is dead, Verus is dead, Jonson and Darby are mutating,this place is a living nightmare. They make their way down and successfully collapse the entrance to the Chapel with explosives. They do notice that someone (Werner?) is on the steps further down, but pay no mind to him as of yet.

This gives Werner a bit of time to with the docking bay’s guards, a pair of serfs and a dreg hound that actually looks a bit like a large hound…crossed with an orangutan. Werner attempts to convince them that he hears and obeys the voice of MArtyn Rane in his head. One of them gets the Vicar up on the comms to come see the circumstance for himself. IT is at that moment that the rest of the gang make their way down. Seeing the inevitable stand off  before them, Jonson and Zombie open fire on the Hound while Werner uses this opportunity to try and cut a pirate with his scalpel.  The pirates, unscathed, return fire, dropping Werner while the Dreg Hound brutally mauls Zombie, who must activate his Whiplash injector to stay in the fight. Jonson blows apart the hound while the rest of the gang gun down the remaining pirates.

The group turns their attention to Werner, who is still functional but just barely. Attempts to repair him just make the problem worse and cause him to seize up and die in a horrifying fashion. It is as the group recovers from this that they hear the slow clap of Vicar Sturgis from behind them. The Vicar mocks their effort and taunts the “heretics”. The crew answers by unloading several shots into the Vicar, which fail to drop him. The Vicar exerts his mind control powers on Zombie, ordering him to turn the handcannon on Jonson, who luckily dodges out of the way in time. He sweeps forth using his black grail on Math. Math attempts to grab the tool and turn it on its wielder but fails, getting bitten and having their spinal fluid drained as a result. Math slumps to the ground as Zombie pulls the pin on his two remaining frag grenades and rushes the monster. He trips and falls on his chest exploding and spraying everyone with organic shrapnel. Enraged Darby Tom and Jonson unload everything they have on the Vicar eventually blowing a substantial hole in the ashen faced villain but not before he fells Tom with the black grail. Attempts to help Math unfortunately result in hastening her inevitable demise, lucky Tom’s odds were better, but he will never fully recover from the grail’s  attack. The crew makes their way onto the Scar, the Blood Pirate raider docked here, and the survivors make good their escape back to Prospero’s Dream.

Unfortunately Zombie was in possession of Vanderkampfs credit stick and it was lost in the explosion. Rix  makes it his mission to understand what happened to him and Darby and to understand the bizarre happenings in the blood pirate lair. He makes some headway in discovering that the mutations (which have not seemed to spread but in his case never stop itching) are tied to repeat exposure to the red gas. He is unable to determine why some change the way they do and not others. Jonson manages to get  more than a few papers published in journals and in the months to follow gains a bit of notoriety in the X-class stations scientific community. The others decide to live a bit high on the funds from the sail of the Scar, until the next time adventure calls.

Ending Stress

Jonson 12/15 (1) Stress 17

Darby 18/19 (2) Stress 10

Tom 4/14(1) Stress 18

High Score

Jonson 3

Darby 1

Tom 4

Lost

Zombie

Math

Werner

--------------------------------------------

INTERLUDE: PROSPERO'S DREAM

--------------------------------------------

It’s been hard for Darby to readjust after the events at Xibalba. Therapy, rest, and blowing through a fuckton of credits on booze and other vice has only kept the shakes at bay, and have done little for the sleepless nightmare filled nights. The only silver lining was reconnecting with his old work buddy Thurman Yeung, a fellow teamster, also doing union work on the dream.

The two of them are starting to feel the stress of life on the station. The Stratmeyer Syndicate, responsible for the capture of the Teamster Freighter Fleet some months back, has begun hijacking the video feeds around Prospero’s dream, televising the summary execution of the teamsters they have as hostage one at a time. This has led  Union Local leader Reidmar to threaten a general strike if Yandi and the Bratva don’t pay the ransom. The station feels the tension between the two groups at every corner.

To make matters worse, a second group, identifying as the Hung Lungs (logo: a pair of lungs with a hangman's noose spray painted on their clothing) committed video piracy from within the Dream, threatening to begin a campaign of bombing if the total oxygen debt (which amounts in the billions of credits) is not forgiven in 24 hours.

This is all the prodding that the two teamsters need to start looking for a way off of the station for the time being. They run into a man named Deacon who works for Omnisynth Solutions. The group negotiates a price of 15K to be engineering and maintenance support aboard the Archemedes, Captained by Captain Welshy and the Corp sycophant Henri-008. The meeting goes well and the group signs on for a simple delivery of medicine to Kipsin-9, a mining colony deep on the rim. The pair pick up a bit of armor and firepower, Darby is still a bit shaken from the last time he went under and woke up somewhere very unexpected. However this time all goes well and the ship comes out of jump a few hours away from Kipsin-9 with Darby the worse for wear and a touch of cryosickness.

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CAUSTIC DEPTHS: PART 1

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The Umbilical makes a connection with the station built into the surface of the barren dwarf planet. The pair attempt to deliver the  aerovent ABX to the mining station but the airlock will not open on the station side. Thurman gets the station on the horn and , with a bit of griping in their end, the airlock is unlocked and the shipment can begin. Security escorts them to the clinic, where they meet the Doctor currently dressed in a hazmat suit tending to a roomful stage 3 Lung Rash patients, covered in the tell tale red rashes of late stage patients, hacking and coughing up blood and sputum. The pair realise that they have walked into the middle of a contagion with no protection, the blood smeared painter’s masks deemed unhelpful. Pulling their shirts over their faces they make their way back to the ship, running into disgruntled miners. One, Karl is angry about being transferred down to mine level 2, where the ‘monster’ is (he is quickly told to shut up by security) Karl also tells them about Lung Rash  the infection spread across the colony, and the fact that the corp keeps minors in debt by forcing them to spend more for necessities than they earn, the Aerovent ABX is just another way of doing this.

To make matters worse. The corp has decided to institute a 200% price hike on the drug, something that has earned them a sideways grumble from a miner or two and plenty of side-eye. Darby, already pissed at Herni for not telling them about the epidemic, gets even more upset when informed that while the ship has rebreathers they are prohibited from taking them without an actual in ship emergency. After a few back and forths, security does a double count before issuing the pair an invoice to be taken to Hermand, the manager of the station, after which Doc locks the drugs in a vault. The group almost gets into the middle of a brawl as they pass by the commissary and let it slip to the miners pissed off about the price of Aerovent ABX that they had just dropped off a large shipment. Security has to get involved to keep things from developing into a full blown riot while hurrying the others to the mine office. Here they meet Hermand, whose speech and mannerisms do little more than make the group want to be anywhere but the station. 

At that moment , a tinkling sound, like an aluminium soda pop can on a metal floor, is heard just outside the dockside exit. Darby and the security guards dive to the ground, one taking Hermand with them, as the grenade explodes. Shrapnel catches one of the guards and Thurman as a gang of insurgents file into the room, guns blazing. In the confusion, Hermand grabs Darby and offers him vast amounts of money to get him off of the base via the group’s ship Neither Darby or Thurman seem particularly interested in the weasley managers offer, but decide to follow him down the escape hatch once they hear the gun toting invaders shout out “Kill them all!”. Thurman makes it across fine but Darby catches a stray shot as he hustles across the room. In the end and at the bottom of the hatch only the teamsters, Hermand, and a security guard make it safe to the bottom. A second dead guard fell down the vent-like shaft and became lodged at the bottom, his back badly burned by laser fire. Hermand uses a rock to jamb the vent shut from this end. The group manages to dust themselves off just as a general announcement goes over the base's loudspeakers.

Kharak calls for the miners to rise up, liberate themselves from Omnisyth, to help get the Aerovent for all and to bring hermand for “trail” .Hermand once again offers the group large sums of money to take him to the riot room on the first floor and then to their ship to leave Kipsin-9. It is on this trek that Thurman begins to cough a dry hacking cough, one of the first signs of stage one Lung Rash according the Hermand and the Guard. Thurman suggests taking some aerovent for themselves and Hermand asks why he simply doesn’t just take the cure instead. He then just blurts out that by not curing the populace, they create a need and dependency that helps keep the miners in debt to the company. Hermand sounds pleased about this, as if it were some sort of achievement. They are forced to stop when they hear activity in the tunnel. They see head lamp lights and hear the sounds of  miners up ahead.

Hermand and the guard duck down, with the latter readying his shotgun ready for trouble. Darby and Thurman, however, have just had enough at this point. Both ready their shotguns… and turn them on the guard leaving him alive but with a sucking chest wound. Both the guard and Hermand turn their guns (Hermand had a silver plated concealed pistol tucked in his jacket) on the pair, injuring both, leaving Darby with a weeping gunshot wound. Thurman and Darby both respond with a pair of cinematically perfect headshots, splattering the brains of the morally repugnant duo all over the mineshaft. They take Hermand’s Gun, keycard, and credstick.

The miners, armed only with pickaxes, rock up on the scene. The duo recognize one as Karl, the disgruntled worker from the top of the elevator shaft, who identifies the other miner, a hacking wheezing individual obviously suffering from late stage Lung Rash, as Tom. It is agreed that they will go see Kharak to sort this mess out and presumably get them on their way. Neither are terribly concerned about the fate of Hermand or the Security Guard. 

As the quartet approaches the elevator, Kharak’s voice goes out again over the airwaves. Hermand (to his knowledge) remains at large, the Doc is still sealed in the Clinic, which he has put on lockdown, and the Archemedes will not hand over the rest of the medicine, which Kharak claims has not just treatment for Lungrash but also a cure. Kharak is aware that there are “two crew from the ship” still in the mine somewhere and any and all miners should bring these people to him to use them as leverage to get the Archemedes to open up. Predictably a shouting match engages between the pair and the miners during which violence erupts leading to Tom’s head being ventilated by a shotgun, misting his infected blood in the air. Karl surrenders, and the argument continues, Karl is convinced that Kharak wouldnt mislead them and that any actions by Thurman and Darby were simply for their own self preservation. The elevator ascends to the upper levels.

The group tries to raise Henri-008 but gets Welshy instead. Apparently once the miners tried to force their way onto the ship, Herni’s protocols took over and he locked the umbilical. Welshy tried to open it up but Herni tossed him across the room, surprising Welshy as he didnt think the android was allowed to do that. Henri tried to disengage but Welshy wont let him disengage the umbilical, playing into the android’s Omnisynth protocols regarding company assets that must be verified before they can leave. Its thankfully working for now, but Welshy encourages the pair to get up to them as fast as they can, and hopefully he can convince Henri to open the airlock long enough for just them to get in.

It is at this point that the elevator can be heard coming back down, it is not empty, voices can be heard. They must think fast…

Thurman 5H(2 W) 5 Stress Stage 1 Lung Rash

Darby 18H(1W) 7 Stress Bleeding 1

Doug has been working down in the mine for about a week now, gathering samples, testing the section of tunnels the miners unexpectedly discovered. Things here on Kipsin-9 are pretty terrible, the people are angry, there is a virulent plague seemingly rampaging unchecked and now Doug is down here, where only the sickest of miners seem to be working, where a “monster” has allegedly caused several to go missing. Honestly he’d rather take the monster over the majority of the inhabitants of this hellhole, especially Hermand and his Marine henchmen, any day of the week. 

Doug is working, while simultaneously counting down the minutes he has left in this sinkhole of despair, when he hears Kharak’s voice come out over the PA claiming that he has “liberated the base in the name of the miners, and then, as Doug makes his way through the sporadically lit tunnels back to the elevator, a second one stating they are locked out of the clinic and that the Archemedes, the ship currently docked with the base, is refusing them entry and access to a cure for  Lung Rash. Apparently, according the Kharak, there are a pair of crewmen for the ship that he wants caught so he can ransom them for access to the ship.

There is something about this that just doesn’t add up to ol’ Doug. So when he approaches the elevator and hears sounds of gunplay, he ducks out of sight. He hears some strange voices (the crewmen?) argue with Karl, who in typical Karl fashion tells them that they are in for it. As the Duo runs past, Doug calls them over. After a bit of chatter, Doug, Thurman and Darby all run deeper into the mine, thankfully safe from the ammonia fumes due to the rebreathers. They hear signs of disgruntled pursuit. It seems that the miners are not happy poking around this part of the mine, lest “the creature” come after them. As the hunker down behind a few stalagmites, they hear the screams, revolver fire and something else…something not human. They hide for a bit until they feel the danger has likely passed and move forward to explore.

What they find is fairly horrifying, 3 dead individuals, some with limbs twisted the wrong way, some with limbs torn off, all with large cylindrical shaped holes burrowed into different parts of their body.  Though there was doubt before, none would suggest that “the creature” is made up now. The trio make their way to the elevator and head up to the locker room at the top of the shaft, hoping to make a quick run towards the docking bay and the ship. 

Their hopes are dashed as they arrive at the top only to see a number of the insurgents (with miners as henchmen) standing guard waiting for them. The insurrectionists screw up though and let it slip to the miners that they only want the ship to escape, not to secure a “cure” for Lungrash. The trio take advantage of the situation and open fire, causing the miners to flee. After a short gunbattle, the group runs past the insurrectionists and up towards the docking bay. Dodging revolver fire as they go.

Arriving in the bay, they encounter 3 more individuals, one runs but the other two stand and fight. It is during this that Thurman is critically wounded by a particularly viscous pickaxe swing and tumbles to the ground bleeding out of a particulalrly deep and nasty wound.  Outgunned, low on ammo, and without a chance as Henri-008 will not open the airlock for Doug. They surrender. One of the miners checks Thruman’s body, then his pulse. He shakes his head, Thurman has passed. The surviving Duo is marched to the miner office where Kharak tries to use them to bribe the Android and Captain to open the airlock on their end and give access to the ship….

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It is here that I give two endings, one favourable and one unfavourable, as it was my random role that determined if the characters survived or not. At the time the first course of events that I could think of was the darker of the two. But upon reflection, should I have left this to chance? Consigning Characters to death without agency? It doesn’t really set right with me, so please find both resolutions below:

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Ending 1: Unfavourable

Henri-008 refuses to grant access to the ship, with more and more miners aware that the Insurrectionists have played them for fools. They take as much of the drugs and money with them as possible and try to storm the ship with cutting tools. Henri-008 disengages the umbilical as it pulls away from the docking ring, Captain Welshy unable to stop it. The act causes explosive decompression on both ship and docking bay causing the Archemedes to pinwheel forever in the deep dark of space, and several of the miners and insurgents to be sucked out into space from the now unusable docking area. It is not long after this that the Arsenic Monster comes up from the depths and starts hunting the miners for food. Killing many before it is put down. Kharak and his few surviving followers lock themselves in the office and commissary as the rest of the station resorts to violence, cannibalism and hyperreactive disease control (nothing cures Lungrash like a bullet to the head).

A few weeks later. A ship containing 40 marines shows up to “clean” Kipsin-9. As far as anyone knows there are no survivors (though it is possible some were taken for “Questioning”). 6 months later Omnisynth Solutions begins placing ads, recruiting miners for work in their new mining facility on Kipsin-9.

Ending 2: Favourable

Kharak goes to negotiate with Henri-008…only to hear the voice of Captain Welshy himself instead.  The Captain and Kharak talk over comms for several minutes, after which Kharak, Doug, Darby and the few remaining insurrectionists make their way to the docking ring. The airlock opens and Welshy, looking worse for wear and covered in blood, about as much of it white as red, opens the door. Welshy looks at Darby and Doug then notices Kharak who immediately shoots the last three of his henchmen. “It was the only way I would have enough to pay you what I promised.” he tells Welshy. 

Once they are all on board Welshy tells the pair that he had made arrangements to transport Kharak and his henchmen, but Henri-008 got in the way of it by locking the airlock. Things never should have gone the way they did, he tells them as he expresses his anger for Thurman’s death. “I look after my crew, but I fucked my morals just to get enough to pay of my fucking debt, and now a man is dead because of that.” Both the Captain and Kharak force the pair into the cryopods,with the captain telling them that, while he can’t kill them. He can’t let them know where he is going either. The cryopods beep alerting the occupants that soon sleep will claim them. And then it does.

Both wake up quiet ill from cryosickness and an unfamiliar voice is heard saying ”fuckin of course, new the deal was too good, damn thing was probably stolen. The price was too good,that guy looked shifty!” It would seem that the Archemedes had recently traded hands, and the new buyers have found the duo still in cryosleep, 6 months after they went under. They do not know what happened to the seller, only that he looked tired and full of regret as he left the ship for the last time, disappearing into the teeming crowds of Prospero’s Dream. 

Lost

Thurman: Dead

Darby: MIA (?)

Doug: MIA (?)

Tsade 4 is a frozen world tucked deep in Rimspace. Roughly a half dozen dome habs dot the icy surface all connected to the spaceport at San Vincente via a high speed maglev train. It is on this 5 hour journey from San Vincente to the mining and refining dome hab of Procyon City that Andre, Tristan, and the oft unlucky Darby find themselves, all teamsters, sitting in second class en route to pick up work in one of the worst economies in decades. 

Andre finds himself sitting next to a furtive and stressed out young woman constantly biting her nails and tugging on her shirt collar staring into the icy blizzard landscape. Just being near this woman is enough to unsettle Andre, who tries to distance himself as best he can in the too cramped seating. Speaking of cramped. Tristan finds himself wedged between the window and a man named Jesus, who is dressed in very puffy very warm winter gear. Though a very polite and cheerful individual Jesus is not used to the cold, having been assigned here by his company to do psych evals, and therefore is not comfortable taking off the coats. The two converse and despite Jesus’ aversion to swearing (dubbed “unprofessional language”) the two seem to get along well enough.

Darby ends up next to a tattooed covered (arms, face, who knows where else?)asteroid miner named Erika, who takes out her ear buds (blaring garage band punk rock loud enough for Darby to hear) to introduce herself and strike up a profanity laden conversation. Things seem like they will be fairly straight forward until  a man in formal business attire, in full Karen mode, accosts one of the porter androids who twists the man's wrist and arm around and marches him away, apologizing to everyone for the disturbance. 

Having missed the action, Erika suggests to Darby that they go to grab a bite at the diner car, which appears to be done up like a 1950s American style diner. An animatronic waitress dressed in period time roller waitress garb is fixed on a track behind the counter. Greets them and offers her/its wares. They grab a few drinks and notice perhaps the most apathetic and depressed android they have ever seen sitting with his head in his hands. The android, David, comes and checks their tickets, sounding like he would much rather be doing anything else than be here.

Meanwhile Andre, hoping to get away from his seatmate, who is starting to weird him out a bit, makes a run to the bathroom at the back of the flat sleeper car. In addition to the 40 or so passengers in second class, he notes a roughly equal number of people sleeping on the hard plastic bunks, set into the walls of the car 3 high. At first he thinks that one of the passengers, a young man dressed head to toe like a Norwegian death metal band member, is staring at him intently, but shortly after realizes that this person simply sleeps with his eyes open.

Returning to his seat in second class, Andre and Tristan converse with each other and try to get a rise out of Jesus as subtly as two teamsters can. Erika and Darby make their way back, Erika is sure she has met Darby before on Prospero’s Dream, he just appears very familiar to her. Darby, or “Archie” as he starts calling himself, denies ever being on the station. David enters the car and starts checking people's tickets. Jesus and Tristan oblige, as does Andre, but the girl next to him, who now becomes stressed to the point of rigidity, refuses to acknowledge David. David, visibly wishing he was somewhere else, gets Andre to move from his seat and tries to get the girl's attention by touching her on the shoulder. She flips out, starts screaming, and slashes through the air with a concealed knife, taking off most of David’s index finger in the process. David and the young woman are at a standoff. Other passengers begin videoing the interaction. David asks Andre to go and get the other porter androids to help him out (and to pass him the rest of his finger).

Andre makes his way back past the flat sleepers into the sleeper car, where both Samuel and Joyce, chipper friendly and eager to help, are checking on passengers. Andre relays the situation to them, Samuel goes up and asks that Andre relate the incident to Joyce in detail so that they have a record. Both apologize multiple times for the unpleasant disruption to service. It is during this conversation that strange growling noises are heard coming from the direction of the caboose, where all the passengers check in baggage and dangerous items (Andre’s rigging gun, Tristan’s laser cutter, and Darby’s home made explosives included) are stored.)

Suddenly the door bursts open and roughly a half dozen individuals, pale skin, milky white eyes, and bulging purple veins, dressed in orange scrubs rush into the car. Joyce goes to confront them, and is immediately torn to ribbons. People start to exit the cars and flee forward, Andre chief among them. He gets caught in the mob a bit before being momentarily stopped by a rather large occupant of the flat sleepers. The man thinks Andre is being foolish…until the infected rush forward into the car. It is then a full blown mob panic run to second class with Andre in the lead.

Meanwhile in second class, Samuel and David try to subdue the ticketless young woman. With Sameul doing the bulk of the work and the majority of the passengers simply watching the show. Jesus gets up and offers his services as a therapist to try and calm the situation, though it's not as if anyone seems to be listening. Darby and Erika are commenting on how typical this whole thing is  these days, how the corps like to f@ck you over, when Andre bursts through followed shortly by some of the roughly 50 people behind him, shouting about a terror attack or...something. Samuel, still busy with the young woman, doesn't seem to take it seriously at first, but once people start surging forward in a panic everyone moves. Tristan, trusting Andre not to get it wrong, moves fast, but goes back to “unhook Jesus, whose jacket gets caught on an armrest (Tristan has also at this point “liberated” an armrest for self defense). Darby/Archie and Erika try to move but get caught in the mob, now with several of the infected, a number of whom appear to be passengers. David leaves Samuel to deal with the crazy lady and runs to the dining car. Andre attempts to slip past the tide of individuals and seal the doorway, but gets knocked down and trampled. Thankfully he is able to pull himself back up, but is regrettably unable to make it to the door. He does notice that a number of passengers seem to have purple ringed bite marks on them, the veins around them darkening and rising.

Andre gets to the Dining car. There are roughly 14 people here, not including the automation waitress, who greets every entrant in turn regardless of the situation. Andre, Darby, Erika, Tristan, Jesus, and David  make tracks to the next car in first class. First class is strangely empty. Darby and Andre waste no time in getting the door behind them shut and locked, and succeed just in time for some unfortunate to press up against it begging to be let in. The pair are able to witness as he gets crushed up against the door, effectively suffocated, as the mob presses against him trying to get away from the presumably growing horde of infected. 

Exploring first class the group finds that it is completely empty, not a soul is here. Andre continues up to the engine control room, where the train is ploughing along the maglev, managed by The Conductor, a large android who resembles a crash test dummy in appearance, but with Y-shaped fingers that allow him extra control over the trains systems. Andre tries to get The Conductor to decouple some of the cars or slow the train or…anything. The Conductor refuses, citing his corporate directed protocols and inability to waver from his time table. The Conductor also states that he will stop Andre or anyone else from such interference. Andre calls David for help, but David wants no part of this, stating that The Conductor is the train’s last best defense and can and would “rip my arms off without a second thought”.

The pair return to first class. Banging has recommenced on the door, but this time it is accompanied not by panicked screams but with the wailing moans of the infected. A drinks car has been wedged up against the door to help strengthen it. The alcohol here repurposed for bottle courage and molotovs. They need a plan, they need better weapons than armrests. Darby smashes a whiskey bottle, deciding it's better than nothing. David and Tristan, who has borrowed Jesus’ winter clothing and added to it, decide to climb the rooftops and get into the caboose. This is hazardous for both, even though Tristan has one of the rebreathers from under the first class seat. The train is moving incredibly fast in freezing cold weather in a low oxygen atmosphere. They climb up though, with no other choice, and start to shimmy and climb along the guard rails on top of the train towards its caboose while the rest brace themselves to hold out until the pair return.

Tristan makes it to the second class car behind David and slips as the train takes a particularly sharp turn! David reaches back and grabs him, but the near death experience (if not from the fall then from exposure) Chills him from the inside almost as much as the weather does for the outside. It is not long before the cold starts to get to them both causing them to develop early signs of frostbite and pseudo-frostbite. They struggle but manage to get into the Caboose, although both are stiff from cold and chilled to the bone.

Meanwhile, stress is starting to get the remaining 4 in first class. That’s when Darby and Andre notice that Erika has been bitten under the arm. The purple bite spreads its infection to the surrounding arm. She appears to not have noticed and is shocked when it is pointed out. She is freaking out a bit, but Darby applied a tourniquet on the arm. Andre has other plans, and brains her with the armrest, to which Erika responds with  a punch to the face. Jesus tries to interject and calm people down, but catches a flying bottle of vodka thrown by Erika at Andre in the face. It breaks and Jesus falls to the ground with a mess of glass and booze in his face and hands. Darby manages to separate Andre and Erika and Jesus is thankfully only minorly hurt (a few cuts plus vodka in the eyes). The bangs get louder and an infected arm bursts through the glass. The group responds with a well placed molotov which burns up the infected. Andre gets a good look through the corridor, noticing the death and carnage of the dining car and realizing that, with the sheer number of infected, their troubles will not be over anytime soon. Hopefully it won't be too long before Tristan and David make their way back with the weapons.

Meanwhile, David and Tristan have found the weapons, using David’s key card to unlock them. They have also font searching the checked in cargo and using shreds of textiles to secure weapons to them and themselves to each other for the return trip. Along with this they notice a number of strange pods 5 man sized 2 smaller and one larger. All but the large one have opened. As the pair get ready to leave, it begins unsealing and an absolute hulking figure pulls itself out of the pod its grey skin pulled so tight on its heavily muscled body that surely the giant will rip its own skin just by writing. The thing’s eyes move over Tristan and David, its face controls in anger as it moves towards them….

Ending Stress: 

Andre (2) 3/17 Stress 11

Darby (2)17/19 Stress 6

Tristan (2) 15/15 Stress 8 [Currently suffering from Frostbite [-] on Strength Combat Speed tests that involve the hands, [-] on body saves until treated

Lost 

Joyce : disassembled

Samuel: MIA

Doctor Harvey Ghent, having gotten ahead of the others and locking himself into  the first class toilets, has been trying to wait things out. The sounds of conflict and violence have left him little option but to stay put. Once the noise dies down and he hears the sounds of actual human conversation, curiosity gets the better of his sense of self preservation and he cracks open the door to see what is going on. He sees, and is noticed by Darby Andre and Jesus. Invited out and introductions aside (Though Harvey is cautious in arming himself with a toilet tank top) He examines Erika’s bit and confirms that things do not look good for the asteroid miner, but beyond that is unsure of her condition. Darby, heeding the call of nature, manages to get himself stuck in the bathroom as Jesus wonders how Tristan and David are making out.

Tristan and David are hurriedly fleeing for their lives from the hulking grey skinned monstrosity rushes them. It lands 2 solid hits on Tristan knocking him around like a pinata and causes his ankle to twist. The pair make their way onto the freezing top of the train car and shimmy their way towards the front of the train. They note the large man-sized arm that tries to pull its body through the too small hold and, as they cross the  sleeper car, hear a loud bang and the shrill squeal of ripping metal, suggesting that the creature was not impeded by doors and walls. In their speed to the front they drop tristan’s explosives off the side, disappearing into the drop below They manage to lower themselves down into the first class car, distribute their comrades items while planning their next move

 Erica suddenly vomits, nearly catching Harvey with the spew, but he is able to see the signs and get out of the way in time. She collapses and starts to spasm, Andre, taking the shotgun, mists her head before she can turn. The whole ordeal is unsettling to say the least. This is followed by more infected trying to push in the door. Harvey shoves a lit molotov through the porthole but  gets grabbed and bit. Seeing what’s been happening, he tightens a tourniquet off at the shoulder and then another above the elbow before cutting off the remainder of his arm. The Doctor remains fairly cool through the experience, but the unbidden screams of pain, audible through the bathroom door, as he amputates the limb. The cocktail at least was successful in burning up many of the infected who had made the push on the door, the sounds of zombies replaced with the crackling of fire, then silence.

The group, trapped and a bit demoralised, sits in despair regarding their situation. Everything is quiet, save for what sounds like a pair of dogs scratching aggressively at the door (confirmed by looking through the porthole and nearly being bitten) They can’t leave the train due to the atmosphere, The conductor will become hostile if they try to stop or interfere with the train, and possibly dozens of infected (plus the big grey hulk) keep them from going back to other cars. Suddenly the lights flicker and go out. David hits the ground, unconscious. The next thing everyone knows is the train going off of the maglev rail and, after falling, crashes into the ground below.

Tristan is out. Andrea and Jesus, both injured themselves. Manage to bring him around with some remembered first aid and a stimpack. The group manages to take stock of their situation (Darby is stuck in the bathroom, the door inoperable). The conductor is smashed, its head and limbs missing. Air from outside is seeping in from the edges of the viewscreen. Any available cloth and wadding is jammed in to stop it. Andre decides to try his luck with the ceiling hatch, he is dismayed to discover that at least a half dozen infected are milling around. The group does a sweep of the two “Safe” Cars” and finds the remains of an EMP bomb, explaining the derailment and David’s condition. A safety/emergency kit is found, including a flare gun, mylar blankets, and a radio. 

David comes to and tries to use the radio to summon a rescue. The group decides to see if anything of use can be salvaged from the train and find what looks like a rocket propelled black box designed to punch through the train from the inside out. A strange addition, especially since the ship has its own separate blank box in a fairly usual place. As they are examining it and trying to figure out what they might be able to do with it David lets them know he had momentarily reached someone in Procyon city and explained the situation to them. Rescue could be expected sometime in the next several hours, all they had to do was hold out till then.

It is shortly after this that they hear growls bellows and the sound of buckling metal from the direction of the dining cart. It is the hulking creature, rampaging through the dining car heading in the survivor’s direction. It slams through the car, Andre lights up the drink cart with a flare gun, doing his fair share of damage. The gang unload what’s left of the shotgun and rigging gun, even using the cord to tie it up a bit. It is not long before they are reduced to scavenging anything, including rebreather tanks, ice buckets, broken bottles, anything. The beast takes it all and keeps on coming. First Jesus is downed by his own weapon, trying to fire a rebreather. Harvey Ghent is burned horribly up the left side of his body as he tries to use the rocket black box on the behemoth. Tristan, after a remarkable skill bout of fisticuffs, sees his luck run out and his chest and back punched straight through by the monster’s grotesquely muscled fist and arm. Andre tries to douse a mylar blanket in flame and throw it on the creature, only for him to slip and have the blanket end up falling over him and immolating himself. David and Harvey are all that is left, with one trying to use the rebreather tanks like rocket propelled shells and the other rummaging through the dining cart for anything they can find. Harvey throws eventually makes his way back to the second class car - the last car still attached to the train - and grabs a holstered gun from a legless infected marine, narrowly avoiding being bitten a second time. Harvey turns and, as the behemoth starts to move in his direction. Fires a bullet right through its left eye and out the back of its head, dropping the creature and ending the threat.

Harvey ends up waking in a mental health institution where he spends months being interrogated by staff and made to feel that nothing he experienced happened. He is still missing his right arm from the elbow down and is half covered in burn scars. Months go by with no change, when suddenly two black sit visitors show up demanding to speak with him. Both manage to “convince” the staff that Doctor Ghent should go with them. As the trio leaves, Harvey being pushed along by one of the black suits, the other leans forward tell the good doctor that he should not worry as “The Institute takes good care of its own sir”

Ending Stress

Harvey Ghent -  10 Stress W(1) Burn victim left half of body and face, missing right arm from elbow onward

High Score 

Harvey Ghent 1

Lost

Jesus (KIA)

Erika (KIA)

Tristan (KIA)

Andre (KIA)

David ?

Darby ?

Monique: Android

Jobe Armola: Teamster

Darby “Archie” Marshall, Teamster

Marco Ahmed, Teamster

The crew is hired by Sineco Chemical Solutions as they have lost contact with their refinery, Angelus Fabrica, orbiting the toxic mining world of Carbex deep within the rim. The crew awake on a patrol ship with a Jump-V engine to maximize on the hyperspace time dilation. The pods, also state of the art, allow the crew to wake with no cryo sickness (though there seems to be an issue with one of them needing more time to open) to meet their benefactor John Smithers, a wannabe suit ladder climber who smiles at the prospect of opportunity from disaster like a hungry wolf at a distressed lamb with a trapped foot.

Marco manages to line up the ship, called the Kingfisher, with the sole remaining docking station. The crew come off only to be greeted with the sight of skeletal remains stripped bare, teeth marks can be seen all over it and the word “solutions” is all that is readable with its chewed apart patch. Wisely they decide to head back into the ship and suit up with some protection. The surface of most things is covered with a thin black substance, smudged all over the place, as if by a wet brush. A trail of blood disappears partway across the docks. Something here was ravenous. Even the plastic pallets show signs of something having tried to gnaw on them.

A bit of electrical tomfoolery allows the quartet access to the office. They learn a bit, such as the station was hit by something, there is a warning email for someone named Dash from someone named Badon, informing them of a safe space in the command deck, but needs a key in the refinery. While they are able to find a map and a bit on the station's personnel, they find nothing  of interest nor how they are able to engage the burn to keep the station in low orbit.

They decide to make their way across to the second corridor, much of the light has been damaged making the floor a bit treacherous from the thin broken glass and the hallway, large enough for a pair of exo lifters to walk down side by side, fairly dark. Not dark enough to not see the swaying standing forms, 4 in total. Trying to get their attention reveals them to be the victim of some sort of mind altering infection. Each has a strange pair of pulsating bulges near where the forehead meets the temple. Their eyes sport a bewildered aggression, and their faces and hands are covered in black paste, a combination of charcoal and drool. They advance on the crew, lashing out and biting. The deranged station staff are put down, but not before Jobe, Monique and Darby are bitten. Monique, not worried due to her synthetic nature, takes the time to investigate a small satchel which turns out to  be useful in reaching Badon on channel 4. They pick up a bit of information regarding the timeline, though Badon is not sure why the miners went crazy. Badon informs them of the departure of the Hestia IV, and the damage done to the airlock as a result. He is also able to confirm that the escape pods all launched towards the planet, and he is unable to get a signal to them as well.

Back on the ship Darby and Jobe check themselves for signs of infection in the med area. Jobe is clean but Darby...there seems to be something in his bloodstream that is building up in the base of his spine. To her surprise, Monique is also infected. Not only that, but the infection is reacting in her pseudo milk and pseudo flesh just as it reacts in Darby’s organic body. The crew is unsure how to deal with this, but both John Smithers and Badon will tell them the location of the med bay to help. But can they do it in time?

Ending Stress

Jobe       Stress 10 Wounds 2 (6/9)

Marco     Stress 7 Wounds 2(16/16)

Monique Stress 8 Wounds 3(2/13) Infected

Darby     Stress 8 Wounds 2(4/19) Infected