The figure takes off his helmet, revealing his ruggedly handsome face.
"Failsafe??" says Sofia in disbelief. "What the fuck?"
"Sofia, listen..."
"I thought you were dead you bastard" Sofia yells as she starts slamming her fists down on Failsafe's armored chest. Failsafe grabs her by the wrists, and Bones pulls out his pistol.
"You abandoned the fleet?" says Bones as he points his gun at Failsafe.
"Just let me explain!" says Failsafe. "Look, I was always in the fleet to support my family. My mom is sick and my dad can't afford her medical care so I'd send something home after every haul. They think I fly freight. Last year, my brother got killed in a mining accident, and three months ago, like I said, my sister went missing. It's my family, Bones. What would you do in my situation?"
"The fleet is your family!" yells Bones.
"I always planned to go back. I know I'll have to pay a price but you're right, it is family. It's home. That's why when I heard Sofia's name mentioned, I came to help instead of hanging back with a disguise on".
"That doesn't matter right now" says Bones. "I ought to shoot you where you stand for what you've done."
"Bones, stop." says Sofia. She sounds tired. "He came running when he heard someone from the fleet was in danger. He at least deserves a trial."
There's a very tense pause. "Fine, have it your way" says Bones, and he angrily holsters his gun. "Let's go take down this gang and get back to The Snakepit."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, we're not just going to walk up to the front door and blast our way in." says Jett. "We need to remember our goals - find the ship, find the sister."
"Face it, she's dead." says Bones, staring pointedly at Failsafe.
"Then we find out for sure" says Jett.
"And make them pay" says Failsafe, grimly.
"Let's pool our knowledge. Failsafe, what have you learned from tailing Shen? Sofia, what do you remember about the gang?"
Gather Information(Wits)—9 vs 3|10
"I only made the connection with the disappearing ships a few days ago. I wasn't trailing him when Sofia showed up or I would have recognized her. I do know where he sleeps though." says Failsafe.
"The gang isn't big, like they don't have territory or anything like that. They have two apartments that have had the wall knocked through to make a big lab. There were maybe six of them, all armed with pistols or shotguns. Plus a tech. Only one way in, only one way out. There was a guard outside the door when I went there, and it's bolted from the inside with another guard inside."
"Sounds like a tough nut to crack. Let's check Shen's apartment first. Failsafe, go to the market and let us know if he leaves his stall. Don't be seen" says Jett.
Jett checks to make sure he has his breaking and entering kit.
Check Your Gear(Supply)—7 vs 1|9 Supply:5 → 4
He puts the kit in his pack and they head out to Shen's apartment.
They reach the door. Jett takes out his codebreaker and uses it on the keypad.
Face Danger(Wits)—4 vs 8|5 Momentum:2 → 3
The door slides open and they step inside.
"Ok, look around for anything that might be useful. Don't make too much noise, the last thing we want is the neighbors getting suspicious." says Jett.
Gather Information(Wits)—9 vs 1|10 Momentum:3 → 4
Jett starts checking the computer while the others search drawers and cupboards. In one series of messages, Shen and someone called 'Cypher' are discussing what to do with the ship - they seem to want to return it but are afraid of reprisals for stealing it in the first place if they approach a member of the Cobras about the issue.
As for the missing people, Jett sees a large file about something called 'The Array'. He copies it to a datapad for later reading.
Without warning, two men wearing gang colors walk in through the open door.
"You didn't know about the silent alarm, huh? Do you have any idea who you're robbing?"
Jett, Sofia, and Bones turn to face the men.
"Oh hell, Ivan, that's the girl. The Cobra."
Bones pulls his shirt to the side to show off his own Cobra tattoos. "Fuck off, voidroach" he says.
Compel(Iron)—5 vs 10|6
"Nah, dude, I think you'd better drop your piece" says Ivan as he pulls a pistol from his waistband. The other ganger is talking frantically into his communicator. Sofia and Bones both pull out their guns. At the sight of this, the other ganger drops the communicator and pulls a gun of his own.
Jett stares at the deadly tableau for a single second that seems to stretch on forever.
Then everybody starts firing.