Across a Thousand Dead Worlds: Session 2- Arrival
Nolan eyes the two crew members he has been assigned disdainfully. "Look just don't get in my way and we'll get on fine. They said this has to be a three man job. Or 2 man and a woman I guess... We just get there, you all follow my lead, and we'll get rich alright?" Bernard and Stacy eye Nolan, trying to suppress a laugh. Stacy breaks the silence. "Oh ya? You must be new here. Look when they say its a three man job, that means the ship won't go without three people. You might think were dead weight, but trust me, you'll be begging for five man missions sooner than you think. Better to have more bodies than fewer on these jobs. More people that might be slower when you have to run for your life and get out of dodge, right Bernard?" Bernard stammers a bit, obviously taken aback by Stacy's comment. "Ah, Uh well. Uhm. Look just trust us. You'll learn sooner than later if we make it back to Karum. More bodies is better. And that's all I gotta say about that. Bernard Granier." Bernard extends his hand to Nolan who gives a curt shake. "And the sassy one here, she's Stacy Roberts." Stacy laughs, giving a mockingly coy wave to Nolan. "She handles the meds, I handle the tech. I hope you can handle the rifles, cause it sounds like we're going to need them for this one."
Nolan shrugs, a sly smile crosses his face. "Ya, you might say I can handle the guns. Just make sure you're behind me if I start shooting. I tend to not to discriminate when it comes to targets in the field. Now if you ladies are ready, lets get this show on the road okay?"
Bernard shakes his head, rolling his eyes at Nolan's back as he walks away. "Get a load of this guy, huh Stacy? Newbies, they always have that swagger to them. I'd like to see if he's full of all this talk if we get back, ey?" Stacy gives an innocent smile to Bernard before following Nolan. "I don't know what you're talking about! I get all my boys back to Karum, don't I?"
After their introductions, the crew boards their ship. Dubbed the Smooth Discovery, they know they are in for a pretty short trip. Only two weeks is a blessing. Bernard and Stacy both know better than to complain about such a short trip on the Arsaidh ships. It could be much longer and lead to a lot of surprises.
After getting their gear loaded up onto the Smooth Discovery, the trio departs Karum station for their short journey to their work site, dubbed Kalgho-432099 by the last crew that visited.
Departing on a Mission -> +5 stress to all crew members
As they step onto the ship, the mood sours. Bernard and Stacy's jovial mood quickly turns to stoic submission, as the two know how grueling the trip can be. Nolan tries to brush off the sudden change in mood, but it's hard to ignore how quickly the mood changes. They settle in as the ship begins the journey to their destination.
Week 1 Journey roll (d100) -> Random event 20% chance; 26
No event
-1 Oxygen and Food per crew member; 15/18 Oxygen/food
The first week of travel goes by without any incident. Nolan slowly comes to accept that he's going to have to lean on these two to get him through this trip. While making money is the end goal, the in between goal comes down to getting back to Karum alive. He listens to stories of the pairs previous jobs, the reality finally sets in when he hears of all the crew members who never made it back from an Arsaidh site. And even with Stacy being an expert combat medic, it seems like every mission has a loss or two. Though he never admits it, he's glad Bernard and Stacy are along for his first job. Nolan settles in to his role as the third to this seemingly functional duo.
Week 2 Journey roll (d100) -> Random event 30% chance; 03
Random event
Event roll (d6) -> 4; Mental or Physical issue
Issue roll (d6) -> 6; Random crew member suffers anxiety
attack
Crew member (D3; 1-Nolan/2-Stacy/3-Bernard) -> 3;
Bernard
Stress Reaction (d6) -> 2; Starts an argument
During the second week of the trip, Bernard starts digging into Stacy more than usual. The two bicker like an old married couple, but Nolan recognizes that Bernard is on edge. He tries to keep his distance from the two, hoping they'll work out whatever is going on before they arrive. Finally Bernard breaks. Nolan doesn't hear most of the argument but gets the gist. "Look Stacy, you're job is to keep us alive. And let me tell ya, I know your track record. Its not as good as you think. You do your job and don't tell me how to handle my shit! Alright!? You got that!?" Stacy walks away, cursing out Bernard. But the damage has been done. A small schism forms between the two. Nolan only hopes that their emotions don't get in the way when it comes to the job at hand. Bernard and Stacy don't speak to each other for the rest of the trip. Its an awkward and quiet journey, but Nolan's happy for the silent treatment as opposed to endless arguments the two had been in before.
+1 Stress to Bernard and Stacy; -1 Oxygen and Food per crew member; 12/18 Oxygen/food
After a rather quiet remainder of their journey, they finally see their destination off in the distance. At first, it appears as just a speck that Nolan sees out of the viewport. But with time it grows in size until he recognizes that this must be the satellite station Kalgho-432099. The moon the station orbits glows behind it brightly in the distance. The ship expertly navigates itself into a large docking bay. The trio readies to depart. In the last few hours of their approach, Nolan heard Bernard quietly apologize to Stacy. There is a silent weight lifted from all of their chests. They are here. Now the work must begin.
Arrival -> -10 Stress for all crew members; 0 stress for each of the characters
The trio departs the ship after readying themselves for departure. They know the air isn't particularly harmful, so they simply don their standard suits, load an oxygen pellet into their oxygen converter, and give their weapons a once over. Upon exiting the ship, they are met with an eerily quiet docking bay. The sounds of their boots on the metallic flooring is muffled by the strange moss substance that covers every visible surface of the surrounding walls. "Well, I'd advise not getting to close to the walls until we know that moss isn't dangerous. Lets move. Keep quiet and follow me." Nolan quickly takes charge, shouldering his rifle and heading towards the large bay doors that exit the docking bay and lead into the facility.
Site Exploration (d10) -> 8; Automated Security
Measures
Security measures (d10) -> 5; Lockdown
As they enter the enxt room, a blaring alarm sounds, and the doors behind them immediately seal shut. Nolan curses under his breath as he sees all exits from the room have done the same. "Bernard? Anything you can do about this?" Bernard spots a terminal before nodding to Nolan, "Yeah, just gimme a minute. Make yourselves useful and see if there's anything the last crew left behind here."
Bernard begins hacking into the terminal to deactivate the lockdown while Stacy and Nolan search around the room.
Hacking Difficulty (d6) -> 5
GM Note: To hack a system, first the difficulty is determined. In this case it is difficulty 5, about as bad as it can get! To hack the system, the player rolls d6 equal to the difficulty. If any of the rolls are 1, the system is locked. A successful Arsaidh Technology roll allows for 1 re-roll.
Arsaidh Technology (Bernard: d20+15) -> 27; Success!; 1
re-roll for the hacking attempt
Hacking (5d6 dice pool) -> 3, 4, 4, 5, 6; No 1s- Success!
GM Note: While Bernard is taking time to hack the terminal, Stacy and Nolan
can scavenge around to see if they find any valuable scraps. This is an
Arsaidh Technology roll
Scavenge (Stacy: d20 +7) -> 24; Success +100 dc of
scrap
Scavenge (Nolan: d20-5) -> 5; Failure
While Bernard works at the terminal Stacy and Nolan look around the room for anything that could be brought back to the station. The room is obviously some kind of central control room connected to the hangar. Stacy quickly picks up a few pieces of scrap tech that will be worth something back on Karum. Nolan, being extremely unfamiliar with everything he's looking at, spots nothing that seems worthwhile. After some searching, the doors open and the blaring alarm silences. "Ah! Got it! Well that wasn't too hard. Station should be all open to us now. Best be careful though. Don't want to trigger that lockdown again. Might be a bit less lucky in finding a terminal that can unlock everything the next time."
They pick a direction and move out.
Time -> Enter a new location +1, Hacking/scavenge +1; 2 out of 6 on the time track
Site Exploration (d10) -> 5; Hazard Manifest (Physical
disturbance)
Hazard (d20) -> 5; Assaults character with visions
GM Note: Our site's hazard is Physical disturbance, so being assaulted with visions will mean that someone sees something disturbing...
Character (d3; Nolan/Stacy/Bernard) -> 5; Bernard
As the group moves through the next hallway, the Bernard spots a strange lump at the base of the wall that looks to be disturbing the moss substance. He moves over to get a better look. Bending down to take a closer look, he sees the half decomposed head of a human man. Likely one of the few that didn't make it back from the last expedition to the site. Bernard's head begins to spin, as he feels his stomach lurch. He stumbles backwards...
Facing Danger vs +2 Stress (Bernard: d20+13) -> 28; Success; Bernard is able to keep his composure and only gains +1 stress from seeing the head of a former diver.
Bernard takes a few steps back from the wall, taking several deep breathes. Stacy and Nolan turn, quizzical looks on both of their faces. "I'd highly recommend staying away from the walls... I think whatever this is is likely carnivorous... Or at least won't pass on a free meal from something newly dead" He points down towards the lump in the moss that he just examined. Stacy and Nolan glance at it, cursing under their breath as they see the decomposing head. Nolan pats Bernard on the shoulder, giving him a curt nod. "Good eyes. Keep as far from the walls as you can. I don't plan on being moss food before the end of this, clear?" He turns back and they continue down the hallway.
Time -> Enter a new area +1; 3 out of 6 on the time track
Site Exploration (d10) -> 2; Encounter
Encounter Setup
Difficulty (d20) -> 15; Elite
Elite encounter- 3 person crew (d20) -> 13; 2x Elite
creatures and 4x easy creatures
Creature type (d6) -> 5; Synthetic
Size and damage mods (d20) -> 8; Large dog sized
creatures, -1 damage modifier
Drive (d4) -> 3; Destruction
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