Overview

Brief summary of the session

Mission

Federation of Lost Worlds:

• Extract Dr. Ianthe Talcum from the Federation embassy in Carby.
• Extract her mech Fawn if possible.
• Secondary: (Secret, Corvus) Destroy the data Ianthe gave to the Humanitarian leaning embassy staff.

Rules of Engagement:

The following rules will be the standard ROE for the crew of the Parousia.

• The Squad may not loot, requisition, steal, and/or destroy civilian, commercial, and/or governmental property.

• The Squad may not threaten or use force on civilians.

• The Squad may not use pre-emptive force against hostile or potentially hostile targets. The squad should only attack if they have already been attacked, and not initiate violence themselves.

• The Squad may not use disproportionate force. If the squad is attacked with fists and feet, they should not respond with gunfire.

• The Squad is prohibited from any escalation of force. The squad should never increase the deadliness of a conflict.

• The Squad will provide support to any civilians, deserters, and wounded enemy soldiers. The squad may be required to provide or refuse support to any of these groups, and the level of that support may vary.

• The Squad is prohibited from deployment of chemical, biological, explosive, and/or poisonous weapons.

• The Squad is prohibited from the use of “enhanced interrogation.”

• The Squad is prohibited from firing upon or presenting as a clearly marked medical transport or facility.

Synopsis

Preparation

Nero Simmons enters Macro's office as the rest of the crew is leaving the building. Macro shows Simmons his mission record and asks what is unusual about it. It is clear that the missions Simmons has been on have been particularly deadly, far above average. Macro also points out that despite this, Simmons has never received serious injury, and his mech has remained largely unscathed. Simmons acknowledges the () but is non committal when asked of he know why. Macro is a little disappointed, but says he won't push - all he really needs is for Simmons to accept his new assignment as protection for the Lost Worlds expedition. Simmons does so, and Macro wishes him luck, saying that he hopes Simmons luck is the right kind. 

Marion and Rayleigh head to requisitions for supplies. Marion orders gear, rations, and other various team needs, as well as a variety of specialized prosthetics for herself. When asked, Rayleigh admits that he doesn't have the gear for an expedition, and she helps him outfit. The requisitions officer asks if they need weapons, and Marion hesitates, but Rayleigh immediately says yes, and the officer sets him up with a basic kit. Marion turns down the offer of a firearm for herself. They return to her apartment, where she sets Rayleigh up on the couch.

Corvus returns home to the lab. As they enter, they are greeted by their friends, who were waiting to console them about being turned down again. When he tells them the good news, they are excited but a bit apprehensive - this is a huge and dangerous undertaking, and some of them had just assumed it would never happen. Nevertheless, they congratulate Corvus and set about preparing them for their journey.

Annie goes straight to her meeting with Arbit Woods (Sr). She waits for him at their meeting place, a balcony walkway that overlooks the city docks. He arrives soon, and asks about her meeting tonight. She tells him, despite Macro's warning. Woods does not seem surprised by what he hears. He tells her that it's to be expected, but that he believes she did the right thing, and is glad that she used force to protect her life. Annie thanks him and says that means a lot to her. Woods segues to his real topic - he has a favor to ask her. He says that when he was working in lost space, before he found her, he had a few run-ins with a criminal known only as The Outlaw. Woods beat him and brought him in three times, but every time he escaped, despite seemingly impossible odds. After the third time the Outlaw disappeared, but in the months since his retirement Woods has picked up on clues that suggest the Outlaw is at large once more. He jokes that the bastard was too afraid to face him and had to wait till he was off the walk - then tells Annie that if she has the chance, she should show the Outlaw that Arbit Woods is still a name to be feared. He gives her a bullet with "the Outlaw" carved into it.

Early the next morning, Corvus walks to the (columbarium?) in the city. They stop in front of the grave of Irene (), and tell them that they are finally going, though this isn't ever how they expected it to happen. (more?) He stands silent for a moment, then heads off for the ship.

The Parousia

The crew assembles at the ship. Technicians at the dock are horrified to hear that they don't have an engineer on board, but eventually give the ship's specs over the Corvus. The crew oversees loading of supplies. When Simmons arrives, Corvus sends Rayleigh to show him where he'll be staying. Rayleigh tries to get to know Simmons, but is met with a stone wall, and ends up just tlaking about himself. Macro arrives and gives them a brief goodbye and good luck.

They board the ship, and all but Simmons file up to the bridge, where they find a glass column int he palce of the helm. A voice from within introduces itself as Parri, and says that they will be helping them with ship basic functions, as well as piloting for them. Corvus is visibly relieved by this, leaving the rest of the drew wondering why the hell he volunteered to fly the ship. Parri asks Corvus to confirm their course, and they edit it slightly, opting for a safer but slower route.

The crew settles in to the ship. Simmons and Annie bond a bit over their need to make a gym out of something. Corvus and Marion keep themselves occupied with research. Rayleigh bounces between them all, learning and helping where he can but sometimes just being under foot. When they arrive at their destination, they are gathered on the bridge for their mission briefing.

The Mission

Briefing

Macro outlines the situation on the ground: There are two warring groups on the planet of Nesillihit. One is the Tenembraus, lead by PomTower. They represent the official governing class of the planet, and are in control of the planet's standing military. The other is the Liberation Army of Forest and Skies, or LAFS, lead by Turner Cob. They are a rebel group who has been fighting to depose the government due their alleged mistreatment of the workers. They have a smaller guerilla force, and are mostly made up of civilians. The Tenembraus have invested with Provinces for arms, and are piloting V&G mechs, while LAFS went to ORION, and are fielding mechs of their own. Both are inferior products - the Temembraus V&Gs are 3D printed and extremely fragile, and the LAFS leave their mechs off until the last minute to save on their subscription plan.

This mission will bring the team down in the city of Carby, which is currently a hotbed of conflict. Off the main square of the town is a communications tower that would provide the faction in control with superior access to off-world communication, and off-world resources.

The team's target is Dr. Ianthe Talcum, a Relic scientist who has spent the last several years in the deep Lost Worlds, scanning planets for notable features. She was on her way home when the conflict trapped her in the Federation Embassy, just across the square from the contested radio tower. The Federation is worried that one of the planet factions will find out that there is a high value target in the town and will attempt to use her as leverage to force them to take a side. She has also proven difficult to extract because she will not leave without her mech.

The Federation can land the Parousia at an airfield just outside of town, but the crew have to get in and out themselves - the factions have the city locked down with anti-aircraft weaponry and armed checkpoints.

They ask a few more questions about the political situation on the planet. Looking over the local data, Marion notices that a large, suspiciously normal ship has set down several miles away at an airfield on the other side of the town.

As they rest of the crew discusses strategy, Macro asks for a private word with Corvus. He tells them that the staff at the Carby embassy have strong Humanitarian allegiances, and that it is likely that they have collected Ianthe's mission data already for their own purposes. Corvus' secret mission is to wipe it from their databases.

The crew decide on a plan - Marion, Corvus, and Rayleigh will enter the town with their legitimate credentials in Marion's civilian mech. They will travel to the embassy and make contact with Ianthe, then attempt to negotiate a way out for her and her mech. Annie and Simmons will stay outside of town in their mechs, and will investigate the very normal ship and be ready to provide support should things go bad.

On The Ground

They touch down in the late afternoon. The diplomatic party borrows a Jeep from the airfield and drives to the town. They come up to a LAFS checkpoint and are met by a single teenager with a gun. He checks their credentials, and upon hearing that Marion is a reporter, asks if she wants to interview him. She obliges, and gains some insight on the local political situation. He lets them through, and they face little resistance on the rest of their trip in. They travel through a lovely town that is riddled with bullet holes and smoke, but many areas are still populated and moving.

They arrive at the square at dusk and find it abandoned. There is a large barricade with a gate, but no visible guards, and the lights of the shops and embassy are out. They knock on the gate, and a young woman appears and asks what they are doing. They ask her what is going on, and she says that everyone heads home early to avoid the skirmishes that happen in the night. She opens the gate for them when they ask her to, and introduces herself as Hess.

They chat with Hess. She recognizes Marion's name, and says she's glad she's doing a piece on the planet. Corvus thinks that he notices something strange about her tattoo sleeves when she accepts a light from Rayleigh, but can't get a good look. They hear a motor approaching nearby, and she begins to get antsy, saying that she should hurry home as well. The party is antsy as well - the embassy is unnervingly quiet, and Hess never closed the gate to this supposedly hotly contested square. Hess dodges further questions about the town, and tries to leave, but Marion catches her arm. She asks her what is really going on here - Corvus fails to keep his cool, and asks what is wrong, and if they're in danger. Hess hesitates, then drops an act. She says she was trying to do this nice and smooth, but that they should get out of here - now. Then she pulls out of Marion's grip and hightails it out of the square.

-

Annie and Simmons walk in their mechs to investigate the other airfield. They manage to approach stealthily, and get an eye on the suspiciously un-suspicious ship. It seems to be a normal cargo ship, and Simmon's scanners tell them there is only one person aboard, in the pilot's seat. Annie decides she can likely get into the ship with her Arbit credentials, so she dismounts and approaches the ship on foot.

As soon as she draws near, she hears a click, and a speaker on the ship demands to know what she is doing. She introduces herself, and says that she is just making sure that everything is on the level, seeing as they're so close to planetary conflict. The voice relaxes, and invites her to come on board. Annie almost accepts, but hesitates. She says there's no need for that, and that she just wants a few questions answered.

She asks what they are transporting - cloth, he says. She asks him to open the cargo holds to prove this, and he seems to hit a limit of patience. He asks if she is detaining him, and when she says no, tells her that he is done talking, and shuts off coms.

-

After Hess' departure, they hear the motor receding, but are frozen in the square, unsure of how to proceed. Marion tires to gather information using her radio scanners, and find the embassy's station, but can only hear the sounds of a faint alarm and dripping. Despite the urge to follow Hess, they decide to investigate the embassy first - their priority is the target, Ianthe. They enter easily using Corvus' security clearance, and find the receptionist dead at the desk, executed point blank. The power to the building is cut, and they have no idea where to start their search.

Corvus says that he can fix it - he disappears behind the desk and plugs some of the computer wires into... himself? The others can't see clearly. The computer and camera system powers up, and they scan the building. It is dark and full of bodies - they see no one left alive. Scanning back in the footage, they see Hess walk in through the front door. She approaches the front desk, and when questioned, tells the receptionist that she is from acquisitions. Then she pulls a pistol seemingly from thin air, and executes the receptionist. She disappears the pistol, walks through the metal detectors without setting them off, and continues through the facility. They fast forward through the rest of her killing - she reaches a room that seems to be her goal, but there is no one there. Then she heads to the basement level, where the camera coverage ends. The back dock camera does see a bay door open, revealing a huge box. Then Hess leaves the building the way she came and heads off across the square toward the communications tower.

The group is shaken - the timestamp on the last image of her is only a minute before they ran into her, spotless and collected, and apparently very capable of killing them all. They assume her target was Ianthe, but it appears that she was unable to find her. Marion suggests they check the basement to be sure, but Corvus brings them back to earth - if Ianthe was in the basement, she is dead, and checking won't change that. They move on to the next possibility - the communications tower.

They rush across the square and use Corvus' card to open the door. The room they enter is not a lobby, and has an armed guard, who is shocked to be walked in on. They ask if Hess has been here, and he says they are the fist people in hours. They ask if Ianthe is here, and he hesitates to tell them until they show credentials and claim to be her extraction. He points them in her direction. They find her plugged into the communications systems, and have to wake her up. She is ready for extraction, but when she hears about the embassy she insists that they go after the box - it contains Fawn, her mech, and she will not leave without them. The crew tries to object, but she insists that Fawn is much more than a machine, they are unique, and a person, and far more valuable than her. They look at each other - and head off after Hess and the box.

-

The team in the city radios Annie and Simmons to tell them they may have a truck on route. Simmons, impatient with the situation, stands up from his hiding place and goes to walk his mech over to the road. The pilot of the ship is immediately on alert and asks Annie who the hell that is, and she responds that she doesn't know. The pilot calls bullshit, and launches his own mech. Annie starts running for her mech, but he takes an immediate swing at her, nearly crushing her in a single blow. Simmons intercedes with a hail of missiles, buying Annie time. She makes it to her mech and engages fully with the other pilot, leaving Simmons free to intercept the approaching truck.

-

The rest of the crew race out of the city, Marion and Ianthe in the Cerulean Gaze, Corvus and Rayleigh in the Jeep. Fighting has started in the streets, and they dodge through the crossfire and narrowly dodge mechs, trying to keep their heads low. Marion scans the surroundings and finds a safer path, and Rayleigh makes a daring jump in the Jeep to make it there.

-

The cargo ship opens a new bay, and a new mech emerges. It flies to the truck, now visible on the road approaching Simmons, and picks up it's Pilot - Hess. She dives into the fight to help her teammate, who she calls Rom, whos mech has almost been destroyed by Annie. Simmons is left to contend with a seemingly self driving truck.

He asks IF to check it out, and she attempts to take over the apparently automated controls and turn the vehicle around. However, the program in the truck fights back, hard, causing physical damage to Simmons mech, and apparently infecting it with a virus. IF fights back,

Downtime

Hazard: Corvus receives a voice message from their spouse, Jade. He scolds them for leaving without telling him - and on a Thursday, then says that he is coming to get them. Corvus sends one back urging him not to.

Simmons intrudes in Corvus' room to find a tool for fixing his mech. Corvus is wearing cat footie pjs. Corvus offers to help after seeing the weird tools he's selecting. They run diagnostics on (mech), and If introduces herself despite being told not to. Simmons tells Corvus that she's just a VI, Corvus is a little suspicious about how much is running on the Mech's software. They upload a program to straighten things out, and If replicates herself onto their hard drive. Simmons is wise to her ways and asks Corvus to give him the hard drive so she doesn't spread - Corvus agrees if he can get his normal programs off, but secretly takes a copy of If as well.

Marion files a story about the situation on Nesillihit, see doc.

We see Nero go through a night time routine with If - as he is about to fall asleep, she gives him a scenario. "You are walking in a forest. You see a bird laying on the ground. What do you do?" "Keep walking." "You roll your ankle and fall to the ground. a bird lands in the tree above you. What do you do?" "Bandage the ankle." "The bird lands on the ground in front of you. What do you do?" "grab the bird" "The bird dies in your hand. A fly lands on its eye and begins eating its eye. You can kill the fly or bring the bird back. What do you do?"He hesitates. "I bring back the bird". "Goodnight".

They arrive at the next planet - out of the way, in a part of the map Fawn had labeled, "here there be monsters". (description). Macro asks them to investigate the town of (), where something has been interfering with the road construction efforts. The trip to the city is almost 2 weeks long.

Road trip!

The fuck around and ignore each other.(description) Almost a week in, they come across a Burger Planet(c). They walk in, desperate for a change of scenery. They are greeted by a synthetic cat person, who introduces themself as Sushi. They are desperate for conversation and something to do. They say they used to work in the city before they were sent here, and specialize in remote operations. the party tries to question them about the city, but they say that it is difficult to talk about because it includes many memories of their ex girlfriend.

Corvus asks if they have any fish burgers, and Sushi gets sad. They say they aren't allowed to use fish, even though they were originally made to make sushi and would love to do so. Corvus and Rayleigh resolve to catch Sushi a fish so that they can fulfill their dream, and go outside. The rest of the party stays in and enjoys their burgers, which are shockingly good.

Marion strikes up a conversation with Simmons, who makes some negative assumptions about her "privileged" background.

Cast

Player Characters

• Annie Woods
• Corvus Rubrum
• Marion Maxwell
• Nero Simmons
• Rayleigh Manfred

NPCs

• Arbit Woods
• Fawn
• Hess
• If
• Jade ()
• Ianthe Talcum
• Irene ()
• Macro
• Pari
• Rom
• The Outlaw