scary space rpg part nine!

(we roll up characters here!)

(part one is here!)

(part two is here!)

(part three is here!)

(part four is here!)

(part five is here!)

(part six is here!)

(part seven is here!)

(part eight is here!)

GMSG: Okay, Pandora gets the last fuse box welded shut.

Claire: There. That should keep the spiders out of the wiring for a while at least.

Sasha: Let's get a move on, then.

GMSG: It's just a few more minutes of bouncing along in low gravity before your access tunnel ends at another closed door. You've reached the upper ring. Oh, but along the way you came across an open hatch into the tube-train's tunnel.

Elle: Probably where the spider that came at you from the front got in.

Sasha: We'll shut that hatch. Should we weld it too?

GMSG: Like I said, you've been passing maintenance hatches like that on a regular basis since you left the docking hub. So you can weld it if you like, but there are eight or ten others something could come in through.

Elle: I like the way you said "something" instead of "spiders," just to let us know there's other stuff in here we should be worried about.

Ariel: I don't like that! Not at all!

Sasha: Assuming this door to the upper ring needs to be cranked open like the one on the other end did, Narcy keeps watch again while Panda works the mechanism.

GMSG: Beyond the door, once you get it open, you find a train depot for the tube-train. It's basically a drum-shaped area wider than the central axis of the station. Huge, hollow spokes connect the drum to the ring, with gantries and walkways coming out of the spokes and meeting at the train platform that runs along one side of the train tube. People and cargo could be carried across the gantries by tram. Rotational gravity means that the cylindrical sides of the drum act as a floor for the area when the artificial gravity is off. Your access tunnel opens onto that floor.

Akane: Excuse me, game master?

Ariel: psst! It's "warden."

Akane: Oh, yes ... warden? Does this mean hollow spokes are just deep pits now?

GMSG: Very deep. But like the docking hub did, and like the central axis does, they have access tunnels for use in emergencies, so there will be a way to climb down. You find one pretty quickly.

Akane: A very long ladder climb, though ... Yamaguchi Daika has a strength of weakling ...

Hettie: Rev. Mackie is in the same boat.

GMSG: Yep. Everyone with a Strength less than 30 will need to make a Body Save to avoid taking Stress in the form of exhaustion.

Sasha: Narcy laughs at the idea of a Strength less than 30.

Claire: Panda rolls a 58. Not even close to a save.

Akane: 29 for Yamaguchi. It's close to a save, but not one.

Hettie: I roll a 05, so the Rev is bolstered by the power of prayer.

Ariel: My strength is 31. Whew!

GMSG: One point of Stress for Panda and the doc, then. You reach the bottom of the very, very long ladder. There's a hatch, which should open up in a service area of the ring, a couple of small rooms off-limits to everyone but station staff.

Claire: Any chance the power node we're looking for is right there in the service area?

GMSG: Based on the scans you did earlier, you know it's close to the spoke you climbed down, but on the opposite side of the ring. You'll have to exit the service area and cross the promenade that runs along the central curve of the ring. It's about 40 meters across.

Ariel: That doesn't sound too far!

Elle: Assuming something doesn't kill you before you get out of the service area.

Sasha: Whatever. Let's get this door open and check out these service rooms.

GMSG: This one's a simple hatch. When you open it, you're looking out into a small cubby with a communications station on one side, a sliding panel door on the other, and an exit to the promenade straight ahead.

Sasha: Pistol ready. I slide that panel door open.

GMSG: It looks like a utility closet -- but there's a dead body in there, slumped in a corner between a floor-cleaning unit and some shelves stacked with cleaning supplies and appliances. It's in what looks like a flight crew jumpsuit, and it's been there long enough that the rot has mostly dried up and the smell isn't gruesomely strong.

Sasha: Can I tell what killed 'em?

GMSG: Not without a much closer look. But you do see that one leg looks badly broken.

Elle: Critical fail on his body save when he was climbing down the ladder, right?

GMSG: No comment.

Akane: Yamaguchi can coronate it if asked. Be coroner for? Use first aid or pathology to examine. But are we all on ladder still? Or sardines together in the cubby?

GMSG: No one has said anything about what they do at the bottom of the ladder except Sash.

Claire: Okay, well if Narcy moved to slide that door open, is there room in the cubby for me to get down from the ladder?

GMSG: Yes. One or two other people could make a tight fit in the cubby with Narcy, and someone else could stand at the bottom of the ladder shaft. But at least one person would still be on the ladder itself.

Sasha: Well, I'm stepping into the closet to check if Broke-leg Bob here has any weapons or ammo.

GMSG: That will let everyone get down.

Akane: Theory! Broke-leg Bob is hidden in closet. Door to ladder is closed. Door to closet is closed. Someone must have helped Broke-leg into closet and closed doors to leave him safe.

Elle: Pretty good thinking. For a human.

Akane: Apparently I learn it at dog dentistry school.

Sasha: Congratulations, Doc. Can we get back to my looting over here?

GMSG: The body has a flashlight, another pistol, and one spare clip.

Sasha: I'll pass the pistol to Stickshift, but I'm keeping the clip. You've got your vibechete -- if I run out of ammo, all I have to switch to is frag grenades.

Ariel: I don't think you should use those in here!

Sasha: Not planning to, just sayin'. Everybody ready to head into the big hallway?

Akane: We don't want a diagnosis of dead Bob?

Sasha: Eh. Seems like he died of, "Not something you can shoot at," so I'm not sure it matters.

Hettie: Rev. Mackie will take a moment to say a few words over the body, at least. Hmm. In the process, do I notice any chemicals in those cleaning supplies that might have a use?

GMSG: Roll Intellect + Chemistry.

Hettie: I get a 61, but I needed 55 or under.

GMSG: Just having Chemistry, you know a couple of things are flammable, and bleach and ammonia make chlorine gas, but nothing MacGuyver-y jumps out at you.

Sasha: Much as I'd like to hang out and destroy my lungs huffing chlorine gas, are we good to go yet? No complaints? Okay, then I open the promenade door.

GMSG: It's dark out there. The illumination from your suit lights sheds a paltry circle out across the floor, glancing off dusty kiosks and stark, scattered souvenirs knocked from their shelves long ago.

Elle: No piles of bodies? Pol hasn't entirely let go of his plague theory yet.

GMSG: Sorry. There's evidence of a lot of people fleeing through here -- abandoned luggage and fallen disposable cups. But no corpses. At least not in the immediate vicinity.

Claire: Can we see across to where the power node is supposed to be?

GMSG: No. The suit lights don't reach that far, and besides the kiosks, there's also a huge, curved ramp that angles up into the spoke-hole in the ceiling. When the artificial gravity was on, people could walk or ride trams directly from the ring floor along curve of the ramp to enter the spoke and then travel to the train depot in the central spindle.

Ariel: Well that sounds a lot better than having to climb a ladder all the way back up.

Sasha: Don't get your hopes up, Stickshift. Even if we get the gravity on along with the power node, I'm not sure how smart it is to try to make that walk. If the spiders shut things back down before we get to the top ... wheeeeeSPLAT!

Ariel: Oh. Poop. I'm so tired of ladders.

Elle: Don't lose too much hope, Ms. McDiggitt. Maybe once the power is back on, you'll find out you're being chased by something fast, and you won't have any choice but to run for it up the ramp.

Ariel: That doesn't help!

Sasha: Yeah, look, Blue, we've got the Rev down here for moral support. Stick to your own wheelhouse, okay? I'm heading out into the corridor now.

GMSG: It's incredibly quiet. Your footsteps disturb a thin sheet of dust on the carpet. This part of the station hasn't had any powered air circulation for years. The air smells stale. 

Claire: Can I see anything with my IR goggles that the suit lights and flashlights aren't revealing?

GMSG: Not much. The station's rotating, which means that for about half of each rotation, the inner circumference of the ring is in sunlight, and for the other half, the outer circumference is. But the rotation rate is fast enough that very little heat differential can build up, so almost everything is the same temperature. Nearby objects reflect some of the light from infrared sources -- that's you -- and you can faintly see the interior of the ring curving up and away in the distance to either side. That's about it.

Akane: So much science! You're excellent for this Warden job, MSG.

Elle: Or he's just making it sound good off the top of his head.

Hettie: Is there any practical difference?

Sasha: I'm heading carefully out and making my way around that big ramp, looking either way -- and up at the ceiling -- as I go.

GMSG: How closely spaced are all of you?

Ariel: I don't know if I like that question ... can I say, "Just close enough?"

Sasha: Nobody should be tripping over the heels of whoever's in front of them, but I'm assuming we keep within five or six feet of each other. And by "assuming," I mean I glance back from time to time and tell people to tighten up or spread out if I have to.

GMSG: Okay, as Narcy Danger draws even with the central ramp, everyone notices some scattered flickerings of light. Can I get Speed checks all around?

Sasha: Fail with a 42.

Claire: I make it with 33!

Akane: My Speed's okay -- and the dice say 29, so, success.

Hettie: Rev. Mackie gets a nice 09.

Ariel: Poop, 46. That's 10 over what I needed.

Elle: Pol is with the reverend. 09.

GMSG: You see one of the spiders crawl down from around the far edge of the ramp and leap at Narcy. Another scurries up to the top of a kiosk and almost instantly pounces on Yamaguchi's back. Everything's happening lightning fast and almost simultaneously. Elle, Hettie, write a quick note about what you're doing. Ready? Okay, Hettie, what's yours say?

Hettie: "Stab Doc spider vibech"

GMSG: Elle?

Elle: "Yell, 'Holograms!'"

GMSG: Narcy and Stickshift hear you loud and clear, but to everyone else it's a muffled sound coming through the helmet material. Het, roll Intellect to see if you can make it out and process it quickly enough to change your action.

Hettie: 82, I'm afraid.

GMSG: Okay, make your combat roll. You have advantage because the spider seems to be presenting a pretty steady target, for some reason.

Hettie: Ah. How "fortunate" for me. All right, I roll ... 73, and ... 87.

GMSG: Akane, you hear the whizz of a vibechete passing extremely close to your back, and when you try to see what's up, it appears a spider-bot is latched onto your back -- but you can't feel any claws or weight.

Akane: Yamaguchi yells, very shrill. "It's holograms! Everybody, don't kill each other!"

GMSG: Claire, how about Panda?

Claire: I'm looking around with my IR goggles. Can they help me tell if both spiders are fake?

GMSG: Both of them look ghosty to you -- but you see a third spider creeping around another kiosk on the far side of Narcy. You can see it plain as day in IR.

Claire: I point at it and yell, "That one's real!"

Sasha: My turn next, right? I'll shoot the one Ms. Fatale's pointing at.

GMSG: It's the spiders' turn, actually. The one leaping at you lands and clutches at your helmet with its legs. Claire, the real spider shifts its attention to Panda and scuttles around Narcy to attack. It rolls a 12, slashing you with a pointy claw at the end of its leg. Armor save?

Claire: 64. Fail-o.

GMSG: Damage is 13 points.

Claire: Ow!

GMSG: The one that was clawing Yamaguchi leaps onto Stickshift instead. Sash, when you look where Panda's pointing, you kind of see a moving blob of shadowy haze whip past you, clattering as it goes. It skewers her on one of its claws. Between the optical haze and the hologram spider on your helmet, you'll have disadvantage if you fire at the one on Panda.

Sasha: Whatev. Blam! Dammit, one roll's an 84. Second action, shoot again. Oh crap, the worse roll is 88.

GMSG: You hit Panda instead. Claire, make another Armor Save.

Claire: Yeah, no. That's a 78.

GMSG: Sash, roll your damage. Oh, and each one of those failed saves is a point of stress for Panda.

Claire: Suuuuper.

Sasha: Ouch, 18 points. Narcy says, "Damn, sorry, babe!"

GMSG: Aers, you realize right away that the one attacking you isn't real. What do you want to do?

Ariel: I guess I shoot my laser cutter at the one attacking Panda.

Akane: Wait! It's broken!

Ariel: Yeah, but Stickshift doesn't know that. It just made a breaky noise when she tried to smash that other spider ... and who knows if she's smart enough to even remember that.

GMSG: Roll to attack with disadvantage.

Ariel: Oh, it works? I roll ... 84 and 87. Dang.

GMSG: It doesn't work. The rolls were just to see whether it failed to go off or if it blew up. No critical fail, so it just clicks and does nothing.

Ariel: Yikes! Well, I drop it and get out my Vibechete then.

GMSG: New Speed Checks.

Claire: 80.

Elle: 16.

Sasha: 19!

Hettie: 39 succeeds for me.

Ariel: Me too with a 27!

Akane: It's 17 for Yamaguchi. Only Ms. Fatale is slowpoking this round.

GMSG: Elle, what's Pol do or say?

Elle: I tell the marines the camouflaged one has to be the hologram projectors using optical interference by beaming light at the spider to cancel out the light reflecting off it. If they turn of their helmet lights, the optical interference will be the only light hitting that spider, and then they'll be able to see it.

Ariel: I totally do not understand that at all, so I'm pretty sure Stickshift doesn't either.

GMSG: It's also too much to say in the time-frame you've got. You could say, "The camouflage is optical interference! Turn off your lights!" But not all the rest of it.

Elle: Well, that's what I say then.

Sasha: Sorry, Narcy sort of gets it, but I don't want to be in the dark, so let's not.

Elle: You won't be in the dark, because --

GMSG: Already said more than Pol can, Elle. You'll have to wait a round. Akane, it's Yamaguchi's turn next.

Akane: Stun baton against real spider! But the rolls are 90 and 25. Disadvantage, right? Anyway, 90 is first so it doesn't matter.

GMSG: Narcy?

Sasha: Our only techie is about to go down, so I'll try to grab the spider and yank it off her. What's that, like a Combat roll and a Strength roll?

GMSG: Go for it. No disadvantage, because you just have to hit it and grab, not actually get through armor or anything.

Sasha: 67 to hit, 21 on Strength roll. My combat's 54 and another 15 for Close-Quarters Combat means I needed anything under 69 to hit.

GMSG: It tries an opposed Strength roll, but it doesn't beat you, so you manage to pull it off.

Claire: Whew!

GMSG: Aers, it's your turn.

Ariel: I'm rushing over to vibechete whatever Sarge is holding! Um, whoops. I needed 64 or less, and I rolled 66.

GMSG: Critical failure. Sash, make an Armor Save.

Sasha: 42, which succeeds with my vacc suit's bonus.

GMSG: Hettie, it's the reverend's turn. What do you do?

Hettie: I guess I'll try to slash this thing Sarge is holding with my vibechete. Is this going to be disadvantage because it's all blurry?

GMSG: No, its location is pretty obvious now with Narcy holding it. Kind of a wrestling match going on, though, so don't critical fail or you'll hit her instead of the spiderbot.

Sasha: I can take it, Rev. My health is through the roof.

Hettie: Wow, would you look at that? 22.

GMSG: A critical success hacks off a limb with a vibechete, in addition to your damage.

Hettie: Great. Two dice of damage is ... 7.

GMSG: Critter's turn. It tries to wrestle free of Narcy's grip. Opposed Strength check, Sasha. 

Sasha: 06. I'm basically using it to do a total flex pose. Look at these guns.

Elle: You're wearing a spacesuit, Sash.

Sasha: That's what a mass-o-muscles Narcy is.

GMSG: Well, it's not a critical success, but the spider failed with a 70, so it doesn't escape. Claire, what does Panda do?

Claire: I'm going to hang back from the fight and keep looking for other bots. Also, I'll ask the doc for some of those pain pills she mentioned earlier.

GMSG: New Speed Checks.

Elle: 62.

Sasha: 40. Fail.

Hettie: I roll a very nice 15.

Ariel: 03 for Stickshift!

Akane: Yamaguchi is at 04.

Claire: 32 for Panda, which is a success.

GMSG: Ariel, you're up.

Ariel: Vibechete!

GMSG: You still have disadvantage from the hologram spiderbot on your head.

Ariel: Ugh. Seriously? I roll a 66 and 84.

GMSG: The 66 is worse. You hit Narcy. Roll damage.

Sasha: Hey, don't I get an Armor Save?

GMSG: That's two 66's in a row on you, I'm afraid. I was actually nice to let you roll a save the first time.

Ariel: 10 points, Sash.

Sasha: Dammit!

GMSG: Akane, what does Doctor Yamaguchi do?

Akane: Find medicinal assistance for Patient Fatale.

GMSG: Okay. Hettie, what about the reverend?

Hettie: I'll give it another go with this vibechete. And it's another hit with a 19. Not critical this time, unfortunately.

GMSG: It fails its Armor Save. Roll damage.

Hettie: Ah, that's much better. Fourteen points.

GMSG: The spiderbot shudders and sparks a little, but keeps thrashing in Narcy's grip. Claire, what's Panda do?

Claire: I'm popping that pill.

GMSG: Roll a d10 to see how much Health you get back. You also regain 1 stress.

Claire: I'll take it. I roll a 6, which I'll also take. Anything above average is a win in my book.

GMSG: Beasties go. The holographic spider disappears from Narcy's helmet, and Rev. Mackie's head is suddenly engulfed in a swirl of kaleidoscopic colors, effectively blinding her. It's also extremely disturbing and disorienting, so roll a Sanity Save.

Hettie: That's my best one, but I miss with a 57.

GMSG: Mark a point of stress. Sash, the bot in Narcy's grip gives up on breaking loose and slashes at you with a claw ... but misses, barely. Your turn.

Sasha: Can I try to like, physically rip the arms off this thing where I'm holding it?

GMSG: It's pretty tough. Roll a strength check, and if it's a critical success, you pull off an arm. Any success and I'll let you do a d10 damage to it, considering how strong you are.

Sasha: Watch this, baby! Darn, 52. No mad-Wookiee rampage, but my damage is ... dammit, dice on the floor. I'm keeping it, whatever the roll is!

Ariel: Maybe don't throw the dice quite as hard as Sarge is yanking on the spider legs.

Sasha: Hush, you. Where the hell did it go?

Elle: I think it pinged off my foot and went under Hettie's chair.

Sasha: Okay, got it ... yes! 9 points!

GMSG: That's actually enough to take it apart even without a crit. It sputters and jerks and then stops moving.

Sasha: Hah! Eat it, spiderbot!

GMSG: Elle, it's Pol's turn.

Elle: I say, "You people need to rig something to put out optical interference the same way that robot was being disguised."

Hettie: Is Rev. Mackie's head still engulfed in a lightshow? If it is, I agree with that. Oh, wait, no, only Narcy and Stickshift can hear him, I guess.

Sasha: I'll pass it along ... or is it time for new Speed Checks?

GMSG: There's no immediate threat ... and right after Pol broadcasts that, all the holograms disappear.

Elle: Looks like they don't want us to test my idea.

Sasha: Is there a clear path to this service-maintenance shack or whatever?

GMSG: Yes. Once you make it past the ramp, you can see the door with a "Station Personnel Only" sign on it.

Sasha: On the way there, I'll say, "Hey, McDiggitt -- did I give you Broke-leg Bob's pistol for no damn reason?"

Ariel: Oh! That's right, it's right here on my suit belt. I'll remember it next time, I promise! Especially since my laser cutter is kaput.

Hettie: Can we all say a little prayer that there isn't a "next time" anytime soon?

Sasha: You say whatever floats your pew, Rev.

Akane: I think it can't hurt! Is marine training skipping lessons on morale now, Sergeant?

Sasha: Fine. When she's done, I'll give an "Amen."

Ariel: I'm more worried about whether we're at the door yet.

GMSG: Yes. And I think this is a good place to wrap the session up. Everybody gets 10 XP for the session, and Narcy gets a bonus point for killing the spiderbot. Hettie, since it was Charmaigne's first session, you get to level up.

Elle: Pol recommends you take a more applicable skill with some of those improvement points.

Hettie: I don't think the characters actually know when leveling up happens for one another, dear, but I'll take it as advice from you.

Elle: I would never be as rude as Pol.

Claire: Maybe let's not debate that, how about.

(Tune in next time to see what happens in Session Three!)

poem!

i had a week
with all my peeps
and each peep was all i could want:

while cheek-to-cheek

and in our sleeps

we jigged, jammed, and went on a jaunt!

next week i see

my peeps and me

wrapped up in each other again ...

simplicity:

we loving we

and now can i get an "amen!"

early anniversary present!

guys and gals, let me tell you, our computer is o-l-d with a capital whatever-the-egyptian-heiroglyph-for-"old"-is.

now, before you think about that and about the title and put them together and go, "wow, claire, awesome! you're getting a new computer for your anniversary???" the answer is nope, not this year at least.

but not only is the computer old, it hasn't even had an operating system update in years, it's started giving us cranky messages like, "this feature of microsoft word will not function on an os created before the invention of the horse." so msg decided maybe we better update our os. (cool lingo-bingo coincidence: "os" without the periods is like, greek for "bone" and is the root word in "ossified." it's also right there up front in the word "fossil," but i think that's another coincidence and not really etymology.)

unfortunately, the update says it takes 12.1 gigabytes of storage, and when msg checked our hard drive, it said it had 12.125gb of free space. meaning, even if it would let us do the update, we'd never be able to save another document again.

so msg goes looking for things to delete and finds a bunch of duplicate art files that are in photoshop with a shit-ton of layers, which is a big score because those eat the memory up like a hog in chips. he also threw out some video files and other major oink-o drive-space eaters. then he started looking around in his naughty folders for disposable stuff ... and some of the naughty folders include some of my photos and videos, and he peeked in there to see if there were some he wouldn't mind moving to an external drive, or some where we'd taken a bunch of repetitious shots from the same angle. (akane tweeted about this and made it sound a lot more like he was going crazy throwing out precious memories right and left, which was sweet of her to worry about but wasn't really the case.)

anyway, in one of the folders he found a photo shoot where there were a lot of pics "waiting" to be retouched, and they were all in photoshop format, i.e., giganto-sized files for no good reason.

so he went in and looked at them while saving them into png files, and on a couple, he stopped and did the touchup stuff (like fixing my shiny-ass forehead) that had been done on all the other files from the shoot like, 11 years ago.

and then last night he sat down and just went through all the rest of them and fixed them up too.

here are a couple!

but the anniversary present wasn't finding the pictures, or keeping the pictures, or touching up the pictures.

it was reminding me of our love in its youth, when it was bold and swaggering and full of itself, and I felt alive in the newness of everything. when a precious wash of daylight through our bedroom windows could put a glow on the whole world.

it's not that our love was better in those days, but that it was such an adventure. we had so much still to learn about each other, and you can just see in these pictures how full of eager amazement we were to do that learning.

i think i still have a trick or two to show him. and he still surprises me from time to time ...

seeing these pictures just reminded us both, i think, that we have that capacity for exploration within us.

what a gift! ... amiright?!?

happy new year!

well, i guess i'd better get off on the right foot with my blogging, since i'm now on a streak of 3 straight years where i've broken my previous annual posting record.

it'll be okay if i break my streak though. no pressure ...

i'm feeling like the way to have the best 2022 possible is to just be as chill as i can. go with the flow. take it easy. that kinda thing.

hopefully, i can manage it.

you too! (if you agree that sounds like a good strategy, i mean.)

do what it takes to find your joy, okay? sure seems like based on the last few years, it's not going to come looking for you. but that's no big deal, really -- life's actually always been that way, you know? happiness won't fall in your lap, but at the same time, if you don't sit down and take a load off from time to time, you won't have a lap for happiness to hang out in.

anyway, wishing everybody love and contentment in big ol' gobs this year!

xoxo,
claire

sometimes i have no sense of proportion ...

... and sometimes, i only wish i had no sense of proportion.

hey, claire! remember when you were super-proud of yourself for getting 3000 words done on your novel back in november?

sure do, claire! that was great! i'm still pretty tickled about it.

well, claire, look at the word count on this word doc of session notes for the rpg you and the gang have been playing: 38,000 words!

oh. well ... we've been playing that for more than a month, right? so they're not really comparable ...

a month and a half, claire!

okay then, i guess there's only one thing to do ...

knuckle down and try to be that productive on your book, claire?

no, doofus! be 10 times as proud of myself for posting almost 40,000 words of a gaming story!

that's the obvious solution, right everybody? please back me up on this.

scary space rpg part eight!

(we roll up characters here!)

(part one is here!)

(part two is here!)

(part three is here!)

(part four is here!)

(part five is here!)

(part six is here!)

(part seven is here!)

GMSG: Through the faceplate of the body's helmet, Narcy Danger sees a rotting corpse-head, the eyes shrunken and molded over, the skin a leathery patchwork of desiccation and decay.

Sasha: Does it look like their helmet and skull have been drilled?

GMSG: Hard to see from this angle. You'd have to walk around to the far side of the body to see the top of the helmet. But ... as you're peering and trying to see, a flicker of movement inside the helmet catches your eye.

Sasha: Hand-welder ready!

GMSG: You realize the face itself is beginning to pulsate, the flesh writhing and the swaths of rotten skin and mold swelling, expanding.

Sasha: I think I'll take a step back.

GMSG: Just as you do, the entire skull explodes within the helmet, coating the transparent dome with black and green ichor.

Ariel: Ew!

GMSG: Make a Body save to avoid getting weak-kneed from nausea.

Sasha: Nope, 62.

GMSG: The sight makes your stomach flip-flop, and you have to brace yourself with a hand on a knee or the wall. Then you see the gelatinous mess slowly run down the interior of the helmet, slowly clearing the faceplate until you can see --

Elle: Can I make a Speed check real quick to say something before she barfs in her suit?

GMSG: I'll let you say something without a Speed check, but it needs to be a single word.

Elle: Pol dispassionately says, "Hologram."

GMSG: Sash, that's what Narcy hears just as the viscous goo clears away enough to see that the face inside the helmet is now yours. Make a Sanity Save ... I'll let you have advantage from Pol's reminder.

Sasha: 75 and 83. Thanks anyway, Elle.

GMSG: Add three points of Stress.

Elle: If her vitals show a bump in her heart rate, Pol will say, "Am I the only one who remembers where we are?"

Sasha: I'm watching to make sure none of that goo creeps out of the suit to get me, but I say, "Shut up, Blue. I'm pretty sure there's five of us here who remember where your chicken-ass self decided to stay."

Ariel: I think Stickshift has to peek in and look up the ladder to see if she can tell what's happening. And then since she doesn't see Narcy, she says, "Sarge! Where are you!"

Elle: The sergeant is currently not listening to the mission leader's orders, Ms. McDiggitt.

Akane: How much suit is left for removal?

GMSG: You're almost done stripping down to your jumpsuits or whatever's under the vacc suits. Sasha, you see the goo turn into a mass of writhing alien worms that crawl up over the dead-eyed face of your doppelganger.

Sasha: I'll try nudging that pistol with my toe to see if it seems to be real or a projection. Over the comms I'll say I'm checking out the door I found and got a little spooked. No big deal.

GMSG: You feel your boot connect with something solid. The gun is definitely real.

Akane: Is our downstairs marine conveying these communications?

Ariel: I'm just going to step back out of the ladder tube and give the gang a thumbs-up and tell Narcy to be careful.

Sasha: Careful? Do you not remember my middle name?

Ariel: It's not "Careful," is it?

Sasha: I'm gonna scoop the gun up and look at the suit for anyplace there might be some spare clips stashed.

GMSG: As you do, you see the worms eat away at the face in the helmet until there's only a bare skull.

Sasha: Well, I don't really see that, because I'm just keeping an eye on the helmet seams for any gunk flowing out.

GMSG: No gunk. You do find two extra magazines.

Sasha: I'll stuff 'em in a pocket, pistol too. Then I guess I'll glance at what the gore-face is doing before I head back to the ladder.

GMSG: It seems to have reset to how it looked when you first approached.

Sasha: Okay, I'm out. I'll give a quick report on what I found, then get back on the ladder and pull the door all the way closed before heading farther up.

Ariel: I'll tell everybody what she said.

Hettie: Don't you always?

Ariel: What? Oh, haha, "That's what she said."

Akane: Do we think the explosion of face-rot was just hologrammatical? Yamaguchi could check for actual pathology.

Claire: Sounds like a hologram to me. But I want to check it out. I might be able to figure something out from it if I can find the projector unit. I also want see if there might be a power node in that maintenance tunnel. If you guys want to stash my suit in the crates, I'll climb up and have a look while Narcy moves on to the next level.

Hettie: Can do.

Elle: Are we letting our only remaining techie go alone in there without a comm device?

Claire: I promise I'll scream loud enough to be heard if something comes after me, Pol.

GMSG: Okay, here's the scoop, then. Narcy keeps climbing, and finds doors about every 20 meters, all of them on the same side and all of them closed. If you open any, half of them have similar maintenance tunnels behind them, but without any bodies. The others look like storage areas or in one case, a machine shop. In the tunnel, Panda examines the vacc suit and body. The view through the faceplate follows the same sequence as when Narcy looked, but with Panda's face showing up instead. You didn't bring a flashlight, so I assume you're using your IR goggles. The hologram sequence doesn't seem to put out a lot of signal at those wavelengths, so the imagery is faint and ghostly to you, clearly not real. The top of the helmet has a drill-hole in it. There's no sign of an external projection unit.

Claire: Ugh. I guess I'll take the helmet off and see if there's something inside.

GMSG: The helmet seam is stuck with dried organic matter. Do you force it?

Claire: I guess so.

GMSG: The head inside is real, and pulling the helmet off lets it fall down against the deck with a sickening thud, connected only loosely to the body by the leathery, fragmentary flesh of what used to be its neck. There's a finger-sized device inside the helmet also, affixed right at one edge of the faceplate. There's something lens-like and crystalline at one end. You think it's probably some kind of holo-projection unit.

Claire: Any sign of a transmitter or receiver on it?

GMSG: You'd have to open up the casing to see.

Claire: If Narcy hasn't given us the all-clear to follow her up, I'll try using my lockpicks to get it open. Those are the only tools I have.

GMSG: Actually, let's assume you brought at least a small bag of tools with you from The Inner Peace. You had them available, and you planned this pretty thoroughly.

Claire: Nice, thanks!

GMSG: Make a Mechanical Repair + Speed check to get the gizmo open without breaking anything.

Claire: 75. Boo.

GMSG: You didn't Critically Fail so it's not broken, but it takes you so long that Narcy has reached the top of the ladder by the time you're done.

Sasha: What's up there?

GMSG: An iris valve hatch in the ceiling. It's unpowered, so you'll have to open up and crank the manual pump lever to get it open.

Sasha: Sure. I'll radio down that I'm doing that.

Claire: Panda is going to assume that when Narcy gives the all-clear, the others will head up and let her know as they pass the door into this maintenance tunnel. Meanwhile, I have a look at the innards of this doohickey.

GMSG: It looks extremely simple. There's a combination holo-projector and camera at the end with the crystal lens, then a central processor, and a battery. No sign of transmitters or receivers.

Claire: So ... whoever or whatever left it there isn't spying with it -- the only purpose is just to scare the crap out of anybody that comes across it.

GMSG: Speculative, but that seems reasonable.

Claire: Okay, I'll pocket it and see if I can figure out a use for it later.

GMSG: Sasha, you get the hatch open and find yourself looking up and out at a great, conical space. One side of it is the base of the cone. It's an entirely circular wall with a ring of elevator doors along its perimeter. The access shaft lets out right next to it. The floor is the side of the cone, sloping inward from the ring of elevators to a central opening that looks like the entrance to a transport tube. Here, I'll make another sketch.

GMSG: This is super-simplified -- there are ramps from the elevator doors up the interior of the cone, and the transport tube looks like it has smaller access tunnels running along its sides more on a scale for pedestrians. But that's basically how it's laid out.

Elle: You're saying that's not a flashlight with a couple of D batteries in the handle?

GMSG: Hey, do you want me to put the game on hold for an hour and draw it really well?

Elle: Point taken.

GMSG: Just so nobody's confused, though, I'll do a really rough diagram of where this fits in the station.

Elle: No, really, I think we're fine.

Elle: . . .

GMSG: All right, here we go.

Elle: Hm. Okay, well, that's actually kind of cool and useful.

GMSG: So Sash, the rotational force that's been serving you as gravity has steadily decreased while you climbed the ladder, and is much, much lower here. Along the very center of the rotational axis, there won't be any sensation of gravity at all. Your light doesn't illuminate this entire space ... you don't actually see the transport tube yet, I guess.

Ariel: You should have given a spoiler warning then!

GMSG: Sorry. What's Narcy going to do, Sash?

Sasha: For sure definitely wait a second or two and see if I hear anything else moving up here.

GMSG: Quiet as a tomb.

Sasha: All right, guess I'll go far enough up the slope to see the transport tube just so Ariel isn't worried about it being a spoiler anymore. If nothing pops out, I'll radio the others to start up.

Ariel: I'll tell everybody what Sarge said.

GMSG: Super. If nobody has anything else they want to do after stashing their suits, it's not long until Panda hears the sound of people on the ladder.

Claire: Whenever I get done looking at the holomajiggy, I'll take my place in the climbing order or follow them up if they're already all past.

GMSG: Everyone gets up without incident. If you were climbing that far in full gravity, I might have you make Body Saves to avoid some stress from the exertion, but in these conditions it's not particularly tiring at all. What are you going to do once you're all out of the access shaft?

Sasha: Well, once Stickshift is there to keep an eye out, I'm checking the magazine in this handgun to see how many rounds are in it and swapping it out for a full one if it's not at capacity.

GMSG: Looks like there are only three rounds left in the gun. Good idea to check.

Sasha: Okay, I'm set once I get a full clip in. What next, Fatale? We heading into that transport tube?

Claire: I want to have a look around and see if there's an inactive power node we could fire up and not have to go all the way to that active one down at the ring.

GMSG: Make an Intellect + Engineering roll.

Claire: What do you know ... 25! I actually succeed at something.

GMSG: You're able to determine pretty quickly that the various power junctures here aren't equipped with the kind of full-scale control panels to remotely access the nodes deeper in the station.

Claire: Dang. All right, I guess we should head for the closest of those pedestrian tunnels.

GMSG: Walking up the interior of the cone is tricky. You weigh maybe 20% of your normal weight at most, so your strides tend to lift you up off the floor -- but the station keeps rotating while you're in the air, so there's kind of a Coriolis effect that feels like it's pulling you off-course in the direction opposite rotation. People with Zero-G skill are okay, but everyone else needs to make a Speed check to stay on track and not stumble.

Hettie: Ah, the Rev gets a critical success -- 11.

Ariel: 07 for Stickshift!

Akane: Yamaguchi fails with 69.

Sasha: 03.

GMSG: I'll say Rev. Mackie's critical success lets her grab Yamaguchi and steady her. You make it to the tunnel hatch without any spills or mishaps.

Elle: Pol tells them to be careful. "You've had an uncharacteristic degree of success so far. Be sure it doesn't go to your easily lulled organic heads."

Akane: "Thank you, Android-san! This reminder is good for our avoidance of false comfort in a pitch-black station full of brain-drilling spider robots."

Ariel: Is Yamaguchi being sarcastic about that, Akane? I can't really tell.

Akane: Possibly her intention aims for exactly this tone of ambiguous.

Elle: The effect is lost on Pol.

Sasha: Can I get the tunnel door open one-handed with my pistol in the other?

GMSG: No. There's a control panel that would open it with a button if the station were under power, but without electricity, you'll have to turn a manual crank.

Sasha: Well, Fatale, you want to get that open while I cover you?

Claire: Sure.

GMSG: The door opens without too much difficulty. Beyond is a long, dark tube two meters in diameter, extending off into the distance far beyond the reach of your lights.

Claire: After you, Sarge.

Sasha: Peachy. I'll head in ... I'm assuming we keep the same marching order?

GMSG: Unless anybody objects.

Hettie: Rev. Mackie notes that this configuration puts the two marines in their bulky spacesuits at each end -- possibly making it harder for anyone else to see what's ahead or what might be coming up from behind us.

Sasha: But also making it harder for anything to get past us and at you.

Hettie: Just an observation.

Ariel: Should I close the door behind us so we don't have to worry about getting attacked from back there?

GMSG: It's a maintenance tunnel, so there are regular access panels that a spiderbot might get through from the tube-train passageway. But it's up to you if closing the door makes you feel safer.

Elle: Pol chimes in again about not getting a false sense of security.

Claire: I don't think there's much chance of any of us feeling secure as long as we've got you to remind us, Pol.

Sasha: I say leave the door open in case we need to come back this way fast.

Ariel: Roger dodger!

GMSG: It's nerve-wracking and awkward making your way to the station's upper ring -- gravity in the tunnel is only about a tenth of a G. People without Zero-G skill who try to rush will end up bumping their heads a lot.

Akane: Doctor Yamaguchi has pain pills if there are excess head contusions.

Claire: Panda is keeping an eye out on those access panels in case any of them look like they might be for a power junction.

GMSG: Some of them look like fuse boxes, but none appear to be the kind of control sub-station you'd need to activate the power for the docking hub.

Claire: I'll glance into the fuse boxes just in case.

GMSG: There are three total along the way, and you discover that in each of them, a breaker appears to have been manually disengaged.

Sasha: Those effing spiders!

Claire: Can I re-engage them?

GMSG: Yes. The breakers haven't been removed, just clicked to the "Off" position.

Claire: I'll reset them then -- and if it looks possible, I'll weld the panels shut so nothing can come along and re-disconnect them behind us.

Sasha: Guess you'll need your hand-welder back. Here.

GMSG: While you're stopped at the second fuse box, Stickshift McDiggitt thinks she hears something from the dark tunnel behind the group.

Ariel: I get my laser cutter ready!

GMSG: It's low and indistinct at first, barely audible over the sizzle of Panda's hand-welder. But it's getting louder, or closer, and soon it sounds like a person, moaning.

Ariel: Hey, do you guys hear that?

Claire: I'll stop welding for a second.

GMSG: The moaning gets closer. You can make out words now. "Stickshift ... help ... help me ..."

Elle: Not this shit again.

Claire: Yeah, Panda doesn't want to listen to that. I'll try to finish up my weld real quick.

Sasha: I have my gun ready. And I'm not ignoring the tunnel ahead of us either, in case something tries sneaking up from that direction while this thing is distracting us.

GMSG: It's definitely Spanky Spannerman's voice again. "The spiders ... they know things, Stickshift. They can pull ... out ... your soul ..."

Sasha: Hey, Rev -- souls are your bag, right? That sound possible?

Hettie: What is a soul? A piece of ether? The atman that is also brahman? The quantum shadows of our electrochemical neural processes? Or an immortal essence gifted to us by God? All things are possible where there is true infinity. 

Ariel: Um, not to complain or anything, Rev. Mackie, but that's kinda not helping.

Hettie: My point is that mystery is the essence of spirituality, and we cannot learn anything until we are content with some knowledge remaining ever-elusive. In game terms, the reverend is trying to put forward an example of calm in the face of the unknown, a sense that answers are less important than openness, so that we can focus instead of fearing.

Akane: I feel brainier with wisdom already!

GMSG: Het, you can roll Intellect + Mysticism to give everyone Advantage on any Fear or Sanity saves in the next few minutes.

Hettie: Success! 50 is less than the 55 I needed.

Ariel: So ... can I see anything back there in the dark?

GMSG: Maybe a flicker of something? It's hard to tell, with the irregularly flaring light of the welder behind you reflecting off the walls of the tunnel.

Ariel: Well, if I get a bead on anything, I'm laser-cutting it!

GMSG: Panda is getting close to done ... there's nothing but darkness ahead of and behind the group ...

Elle: Here it comes.

Sasha: Shh!

GMSG: CLANG! From the direction you're headed, a loud, metallic crash rings out. Everyone make a Fear Save to avoid being surprised. 

Elle: Told you.

Hettie: Remember the Advantage from Rev's philosophizing. 59 for me, Warden.

Ariel: 90, ugh, but then 12!

Akane: Yamaguchi fails both rolls.

Claire: Panda too.

Sasha: 72 and 17, so Narcy's cool as a space-cucumber.

GMSG: Speed checks for Narcy and Stickshift.

Ariel: 74.

Sasha: 76.

GMSG: Since those are both failures, the enemies get to act first.

Ariel: Enemies? More than one?

GMSG: Yes. From each direction you hear the scrabbling rush of steel hitting steel, and then a spiderbot flies at Narcy from ahead and Stickshift from behind. Narcy, a ball of crackling plasma flame is swelling on the back of yours -- Stickshift, yours has the head of Spanky Spannerman wailing loudly from the back of its carapace. Oof. Both of them miss, though, and Stickshift's rolls a critical failure. Aers, you can take an extra action to fire at it as it's incoming, then your 2 regular actions after that.

Ariel: Okay, uh, Combat is 49, and plus Military Training? That's 59, and I roll ... bleh, 85. If it's in reach I'll smack it twice with the butt of my laser cutter.

GMSG: Sure, it leapt straight toward you, and timed its jump wrong with that critical failure, so it kind of softballed itself at you.

Ariel: Nice. Smack! Nope, 86. Crack! Boo! 77, Critical Failure!

GMSG: Okay, on an odd number, you lose your grip on the laser cutter; even, you damage your weapon somehow. I roll a 10 -- you hear a sound like something breaking in the body of the cutter. Sasha, your turn.

Sasha: Two shots with my handgun. Blam! Blam! 06 and 17! 3d10 each time, 17 and 11.

GMSG: It fails both armor saves, taking full damage. New round, everyone roll Speed.

Ariel: 37 -- noo, I missed by 1!

Hettie: 81.

Akane: 35 is success for Yamaguchi.

Elle: 91, so Pol's advice will have to wait until after the spiders take their turn.

Claire: Panda makes it with 04.

Sasha: Narcy gets a 22, Critical Success.

GMSG: Three actions for Narcy, and she goes first.

Sasha: I'm shooting it until it goes down. 00, Critical Hit!

GMSG: For a handgun, that's Knockdown. It's got too many legs to really be knocked off its feet, but in this low gravity, it's spinning out of control a moment and has to take an action to correct. Damage?

Sasha: 19. Second shot is a ... 44! Critical Hit again!

Ariel: Seriously? I can't even get a plain old hit once.

Sasha: 22 points of damage.

GMSG: I keep failing the armor saves. that second crit kills it.

Sasha: Switch to the one on Stickshift!

GMSG: The whole group's in the way ... if you critically fail, someone's going to get hit.

Sasha: No guts, no glory.

Claire: You're awfully quick to say that when it's someone else's guts you might be shooting.

Sasha: Stick to your welding, babe. I roll a 55, which because I'm so awesome is ...

Ariel: Another Critical Hit? Now you're just trying to embarrass me!

Sasha: Not trying -- succeeding. But don't think I'm picking on Stickshift. Narcy's out to show all you losers up. Damage is 17.

GMSG: This one's spinning too. Panda, you're next.

Claire: Since I've got Zero-G skill, can I try to jump over everybody in the low gravity?

GMSG: Roll Speed + Zero-G if you want to try, but you'll have to get all the way past Stickshift, who's in a bulky vacc suit. Disadvantage if you want to make it that far. Normal roll if you settle for landing with Stickshift between you and the critter.

Claire: I'll do that. At least I'll be close enough to hand-welder it if it gets on her head. Oops. It's a 66 anyway.

GMSG: Critical Failure? You come down on top of somebody and mess up one of their actions. Rolling randomly ... it's Stickshift. Next up is Yamaguchi.

Akane: Combat is very poor for Yamaguchi. She will wait with stun baton ready. Otherwise, no actions.

GMSG: The creature corrects its spin and tries to latch onto Stickshift's helmet ... but misses. Your turn, Ariel.

Ariel: I guess I spend that ruined action getting out from under Panda's lardy bohonkus and pull out my vibechete.

GMSG: Hettie?

Hettie: My equipment list has a flaregun. I believe I'll draw it and attempt to light this thing up.

Elle: I see what you did there.

Hettie: Actually, wait. No ... looking at the weapon chart, it does less damage than my vibechete, which I already have in hand. So I'll just slash at it with that. It's right next to me, right, grappling with Ms. McDiggitt?

GMSG: Correct.

Hettie: Well. That's an 88.

GMSG: On odd, the weapon comes loose from your hand and flies off down the tunnel. Even, you have to roll to see if you hit Stickshift. I roll a 4, so make another Combat check.

Hettie: 70.

GMSG: You miss her, but it's a near thing. Your second action is lost, too.

Hettie: Apparently we just all need to leave the fighting to Narcy Danger.

Sasha: Works for me.

GMSG: Elle, does Pol really want to chime in and say something? If so, it's his turn.

Elle: When would Pol not want to say something? In this case, he'll advise everyone to duck and let the professional have a clear shot. But since only the professionals have their helmets on, I guess they're the only ones who can hear me anyway.

GMSG: That's accurate. New round ... Speed checks, everyone.

Claire: 92.

Sasha: Whoosh. 90. I guess that's it for my run of great dicing.

Hettie: 02.

Ariel: 19!

Akane: Yamaguchi fails this one.

Elle: Good advice coming in at initiative 74.

GMSG: Looks like Reverend Mackie is first.

Hettie: I'm taking that near-miss on Ms. McDiggitt as a sign from higher powers. I'll do my best to shift to one side and let the sergeant have a better line of sight on our opponent.

GMSG: Ariel, you're up and you have your vibechete out.

Ariel: Vrrrrr ... that's the sound it makes ... 08! My damage is only 7 though.

GMSG: 7 is better than nothing. The spider attacks Stickshift again. That's a hit on 02. Armor save?

Ariel: 42 makes it, barely!

GMSG: Akane?

Akane: Already small, but Yamaguchi tries to be smaller and less in the pathway of bullets.

GMSG: Elle?

Elle: I'll suggest to Sergeant Danger that she should relay my advice about ducking to the others.

GMSG: All right then, it's back to Sasha's turn.

Sasha: Better things to do right now, Blue! Boom! 85. Boom? 92. Dang. That's what happens when you talk in my ear while I'm shooting. Stupid androids.

Claire: That just leaves me, right? I'm hand-weldering it. Or not. I roll two swooshes.

GMSG: Time for Speed checks then.

Sasha: 57.

Hettie: 14.

Ariel: *sigh* 71.

Akane: Do I still roll? Is there a way to cower speedily? Well, it's a 48 anyhow.

Claire: 46 for me.

Elle: 24 for Radio Inner Peace.

GMSG: Hettie?

Hettie: After that last round, I'm feeling less sanguine about our marines' ability to deal with the hellish automaton, but I don't care to return to the line of fire, so I'll get that flare gun out after all. Ah, and my roll to hit is a 21, doing ... 4 incandescent points of damage.

GMSG: Elle, the flash of light momentarily swamps the bodycam's exposure setting. As the view returns to normal, Pol can take his turn.

Elle: I'll explain to our other marine that the Sergeant is being uncooperative, and suggest that she relay my advice for the civilians to take cover.

Ariel: I'm busy too, Mr. Circuits!

GMSG: Busy getting attacked, Aers. The robot leaps at you again ... 98. Second action same as the first ... wow, really the same. 97. Panda's turn.

Claire: Okay, this is going to be my weldingest round yet ... 95 ... and 85. Guess not.

GMSG: Yamaguchi?

Akane: Just being very tiny.

GMSG: Narcy?

Sasha: Bang-aroonie! Garh, 90. Then click, click, click because my clip is empty, so I change it for my second action.

GMSG: And that just leaves Stickshift McDiggitt.

Ariel: I roll a 17 on my sonic slicer! VRRRR! Uh, 4 points of damage. Second action, 74, miss.

GMSG: End of the round. Everybody knows what that means, right?

Sasha: 22 on my Speed check! 3 actions!

Hettie: 66. The opposite. That means only 1 action, right?

GMSG: Yeah.

Elle: Sucks to be you ... oh. Spoke too soon. I roll a 99.

Sasha: Can that mean we just skip Pol?

Elle: Hey, you're lucky I haven't been talking two actions' worth of dialogue every turn.

Ariel: 47 for me.

Akane: Very, very small on 64.

Claire: Panda's on 84.

Sasha: Wow, all of you suck. Good thing I have a full mag. Three shots this turn! Blam! 81. Blam! 72. Blam! Better, 34. But only 8 points of damage.

Elle: What was that about sucking?

GMSG: Robot's turn. It hits Stickshift with a 05.

Ariel: Oh no! Uh, Armor Save is ... 22!

GMSG: Second attack is 02. I'll let you have advantage from that Critical Success.

Ariel: 88, yikes! But then 92, so I still blew it, but I didn't Critically Blow It. 

GMSG: It drills through your helmet and into your head for 10 points of damage.

Ariel: Ow!

GMSG: From the monstrosity's back, Spanky's head twists to look you in the eyes and say, "Now we'll be together forever, Stickshift." Roll a Fear Save.

Ariel: 22! I stick my tongue out at its stupid hologram head.

GMSG: It keeps drilling, though. Your turn.

Ariel: Vibechete at the ready! 52, hit! 06, hit! 9 points of damage and 14 points of damage!

GMSG: Your blade pierces deep into its guts and gears, and it judders for a second, but stays on you. 

Akane: My turn is only more shrinkage.

GMSG: Hettie, how about you?

Hettie: I have one more flare ... and while a 31 isn't even that bad a roll, it's still a miss for me.

GMSG: Panda's turn.

Ariel: Come on, Panda! It's about to drill my brains!

Claire: I'll give it another go with my hand-welder ... woohoo! 22!

GMSG: No critical effect listed, but I'll give you advantage on your damage roll.

Claire: I guess that's generous, but my dice give you the middle finger by rolling 2 and 2 again. So crap damage and a waste of advantage.

GMSG: The robot is sputtering and sparking, but not down. Speed checks.

Sasha: 14.

Hettie: 04.

Ariel: 00!

Akane: Very prompt cowering on 10.

Claire: 22.

Elle: I'm not even rolling, and I hope everyone made note of the fact that Pol restrained himself from commenting last round.

Sasha: Damn right, I did! "December 29, 2021, Elle's character mouthed off one less time than normal."

GMSG: So everyone succeeded, and Stickshift goes first with 3 actions.

Ariel: Vibe! 18! Vibe! 67. Vibe! 09! 8 damage and 14 damage!

GMSG: Sweet. I feel really guilty now though, because it made its Armor Save both times.

Ariel: What.

GMSG: Hettie?

Hettie: Out of ammo, staying out of the way.

GMSG: Akane's turn.

Akane: Twins with Harriet.

GMSG: Sasha.

Sasha: Two shots ... or maybe I'll only need one. Let's see. 62 is a hit for ... 18 points

GMSG: Fails its Armor Save, so all you need is that first shot.

Sasha: One and done.

GMSG: And Narcy gets one experience point for each of the two enemies she destroyed.

Sasha: Yes!

Claire: Great. Can I finish my welding now?

GMSG: Sure.

(more of this session next time!)