Where we left off...
Sable is a courier who has work her way in the ranks and was given the special task of expending the reach of the courier guild into an uncharted sector the Devil's Chain.
She has acquired her first notable job in the sector. Transporting a Black service shipment that marked Red, which means rush as fast as possible.
With this new resolves Sable has reaffirmed her mission to expand the Courier Guild's reach in the sector and live up to the legacy of her parents. I believe this calls Swear and Iron Vow and +1 Momentum for the start of the session.
Expand the Influence of the Courier Guild in Devil's Reach
Swear an Iron Vow(Heart)—4 vs 7|3
Seeing as her first job started with her being unable to speak with the client a weak hit seems fitting. Something about the Courier Guild is they are neutral, their loyalty is to only the cargo they carry. When setting up new routes in uncharted sectors like this it's very crucial to prevent any one faction from monopolizing the courier's services. She will have to be careful going forward.
Let's begin...
Begin a Session Momentum:4 → 5
INT. CR-497 COCKPIT WAITING JUST OUTSIDE OF GLIMMER OUTPOST
Sable clicked the datapad into place and her destination began populating her nav. Little lines raced across the screen as her course was charted. She sat down in her chair and began charging the e-drive for the journey. Might as well call Leela.
She fired up the commlink and perky young lady appeared with a forced smile. "Any information on the client in the registry?"
Gather Information(Wits)—7 vs 3|9
"Uhhh not really, just a deposit slip and a name Given Name(70)Merrick Family Name(35)Arden," Leela answered, "didn't you meet them when you picked up the package."
"No, I was stopped before I could land, four fighters showed up and a transport shuttle with the package. They loaded it and left." Sable looked out her viewport at the chrome fighters still hovering around her location. "Well almost all of them. I have two fighter waiting for me to leave and about a dozen auto turrets trained on my location."
"That's odd," Leela murmured to herself, Sable quickly inquired, "I've checked the feeds for the holocast at any mention of a Merrick Arden, but there's nothing. whoever it is they are being extremely secretive."
“Things are getting weird around here, more than usual. You know some warships showed up the other day, big ones.” Sable explained. “Whoever they are they traipsing around in huge armor sets, some of them even took out a whole carpark, just destroyed the whole thing. I saw it on the holocast.”
“Oh—wow,” Leela leaned into the feed.
“They are everywhere. Showing up at all the bars, clubs—“
“In there suits?”
“Yeah! Some are all janked up somehow too, or they’re some alien race I don’t recognize and I’m being prejudice.” Sable relaxed into the conversation, especially after Leela chuckled. Sable watched as lights flickered against her face through the screen—she must have been watching the holocast.
“Oh my, they really did a number on that carpark—that’s a lot of blood. They went to bars with those suits on?”
“Yep,” Sable popped the word, “well, hopefully they will fend off these stupid pirates. They attacked a ship and then suicided into the planet. It’s got everyone on edge.”
“I hope so,” Leela paused, but didn’t look back up to the screen. Her thoughts passive and genuine. “I do worry about you Sable, I only have 187 days left in my apprenticeship and I hope I don’t get transferred to another courier because you—well, you know—died.”
Sable took a breath, the words sinking into her. It was uncomfortable. She didn’t like having someone waiting on her, especially not worrying about her. Maybe Leela wasn’t a leash. Man, I’m such an asshole.
"Hey Leela," Sables tone grew soft, "I'm sorry about earlier. I know you must have told me whatever was going on in your life at some point, I just didn't take the time to listen, or even care and... well I'm sorry about that."
Does Leela accept her apology? 50/50(18)Yes
Develop Your Relationship Leela Asper +1 (1/10)
Leela met Sable's gazed with pouty sort of thinking face. "My girlfriend left me last week. Took the apartment"
"That—that sucks," Sable was in uncharted space with this, "I uh, well you could always live in my apartment. It's empty now and I don't think I'm coming back."
"Oh, well, that would be—nice actually, I'm couch surfing right now. Thanks Sable." Leela seemed genuine.
The awkward nods continued for a minute before Leela promptly cut the feed after Sable declared the e-drive was charged and ready to go. The chrome fighters watched her every second of the way as she turned to make headway towards her destination.
To the Delivery Point: Glimmer Job
`iv-move:Undertake an Expedition|Edge|3|2|0|3|5|move:starforged/exploration/undertake_an_expedition` `iv-track-advance:To the Delivery Point: Glimmer Job|The Starforged/Campaign Sable Rowe/Progress/Sable/To the Delivery Point Glimmer Job.md|0|8|dangerous|1` > What sort of complication does Sable face? `iv-oracle:Action|8|Attack|oracle_rollable:starforged/core/action` `iv-oracle:Theme|55|Love|oracle_rollable:starforged/core/theme`Health:5 → 3
Endure Harm(Health)—6 vs 10|5
INT. CR-479 COCKPIT
She has nodded off in her chair on the flight deck. It was known to happen, the subtle light shifting over head as she cruised FTL speed through a relatively easy passage. The gentle hum of the engines reverberating through the hull lulling her to sleep. The rude awakening came in the form of a forceful slam of her face into her console.
"Where am I?" The male voice woke her mind and sent her into a panicked frenzy as she was pulled out of her chair by her hair.
Sable shrieked and grabbed at his are as she hit the cold metal plates on the floor. Her mind was racing with incoherent thoughts as her heart raged against it's ribbed cage, fear turned her veins cold as she tried to parse out what was happening.
"I don't know—" she cried out as he slammed her head against the wall.
"Like fuck you don't know, you're the one driving this thing." He twisted her head to face him. Her hair a sweaty mess sticking to her face with fearful tears and runny snot.
"I don't know—I don't know who you are." She managed to say between sobs.
"Shit," he muttered and let her go.
"Wait, wait, you—I do know, you're umm, from the club, last night," she began piecing together the events of last night. "you came back with me to my ship. I—I thought you left."
"Shit!" He screamed it this time. "I've missed roll call. You have to take me back."
"I—I can't, I have to get—" she stopped herself, "I have to get to my destination. I'll change the nav to drop by a station and drop you off, you can call someone, or I'll even pay for your transport back."
Compel(Heart)—2 vs 2|3
"Fine," his aggression seemed to dissipate, "I'll uh, take a shower then."
Sable wiped her nose and blood smeared on her courier suit. Well, then, uhm—remember to disengage the fuel line and check the fucking bathroom before you take off.
Undertake an Expedition(Edge)—6 vs 4|1 Momentum:2 → 4 To the Delivery Point: Glimmer Job +1 (4/10)
INT. THE CARGO HOLD OF CR-497
“Do you ever go anywhere without that thing?” Sable observed Dal-Karus as he sorted out his—metal suit thing.
“Your cabin.”
“Oh ha-ha,” She took a sip of her java letting the sarcasm fade. “I can’t be seen with you while you’re wearing that thing, so the drop off will have to be more discrete then I think you're used to being.”
“You were seen with me the other day.” He was precise with his words while sober.
“I wasn’t—“ she stopped herself again. He didn’t need to know she was on a job. “I’m a courier, I have to be seen as neutral. I don’t want me being around you in that to influence the appearance of my neutrality.”
“This station has transports yes?” He asked, Sable shrugged in response. “You’re a courier, surely you should know.”
“The guild just barely expanded to this sector, I’ve barely been anywhere.” She explained. “Which is why it’s so important for you to disembark quietly and make no trouble on my wake.”
Does he ask about the giant black menacing crate? 50/50(16)Yes
“Is that thing why you’re worried?” He pointed towards the crate.
“I have a job to do. That’s all.”
“Hey, I didn’t ask to be kidnapped.”
“I didn’t kidnap you! I thought you left, I didn’t expect you to sleep in my tub.” She raised her voice and he glared at her with a stern face, his jaw flaring.
"What's in it?" Boldened, he asked a question he knew she wouldn't answer.
“We’re almost there. You should—I don’t know, buckle in a I guess. I’ve never had guests so I don’t know how coming out of FTL is when you’re—wondering about.” Sable waved her hand passively.
Explore a Waypoint(Wits)—7 vs 4|5 Momentum:4 → 6
INT. KARMA STATION - PRIVATE LOADING DOCK
Settlement:Karma Station
The station was perfect. It was a large traveling station manned by automated systems ran by an ancient AI system. What it's original purpose was it completely unknown at this point, but several stations like this are still in existence. Some the AI has turned hostile or the system's become corrupt. This station was mostly intact, even if it was missing some amenities—like food for humans.
Sable gave Dal-Karus some rations to last him until he got back to his station. He clambered of the shipped, ducking considerably as he did.
"This is an automated station. Should have comms and anything else you need, hell some of these things even ships you can rent." Sable lingered at the loading ramp.
Make a Connection(Heart)—5 vs 7|6
"So you're just going to leave me here with these machines and an uncontrolled AI." He complained.
Sable sneered, "You fucking chipped my tooth! 'oh thanks for last night WHAM'—" she retorted mockingly, "you know what, fuck you."
He turned to move towards to her, beginning some rant. She slammed the cargo hold door with her fist and it shut with finality. She growled to herself and skipped ladder prongs to get back up to the cockpit to leave before he could protest any further.
Courier Job: Glimmer Outpost +1 (2/10)
Undertake an Expedition(Edge)—6 vs 7|2 Saftey:5 → 4 Supply:5 → 4
To the Delivery Point: Glimmer Job +1 (6/10)
INT. CR-497 CARGO HOLD
Sable came out of FTL and a blip on her console started to flash a warning. It took her a second to figure out what this warning was flashing at her.
"Preservation module offline..." she read to herself. The little square indicator made her jump as she realized the module was not a module connected to her ship, but part of the sensors attached to the black box. She grabbed her datapad and raced to the cargo hold to check on the thing.
She didn't even realize this thing had a preservation module. Whatever was inside was perishable. Somehow the battery on the module failed so she connected it to an external power supply to keep it running. It didn't directly plug into her ship—security measure of course—but it did divert power. She drained an emergency power supply to make it work. She could delay the e-drive charge—but she was already delayed is it was.
Undertake an Expedition(Edge)—9 vs 9|1
Spaceborne Peril(15)Dust clouds imperil navigation or conceal foes
Pirates? 50/50(19)Yes Is this related to the package? 50/50(67)No, so they don't know what she has, they are just attacking her.
Enter the Fray(Wits)—3 vs 3|4
The CR-497 came out of FTL into a thick sparkling cloud of shifting cosmic dust. It was beautiful and dangerous. Moves like fog across her viewport. The static charge from the dust made her sensors wiry and confused. She would have to navigate manually, slowly out of the cloud so she could chart her next course.
“If you weren’t so dangerous I would just sit here and watch how beautiful you are, but—I can’t afford to just sit blind for a few hours.” Sable talked to the cloud as though it were listening.
Does the cloud display any paranormal phenomena? 50/50(15)Yes
She glances, a flicker catching her eye. She took a double take and leaned in closer. There, just through the window was—a face? Soft in its features. Glittering in the dust, swirling around a strange ethereal beauty. Sable leaned in closer, trying to get a better look, her body hanging over her console, her toes pressed against the ground as she strained her body to see this strange beautiful face.
Sable shrieked as the face turned ghastly against the window. Wide eyes opened and slammed against the window. Sable fell back in her chair, her heart racing, her skin crawling. Its cheeks sunk in and it howled a ghastly wail.
Then her world spun as two ships appeared from the fog.
Dustcloud Battle
React Under Fire(Edge)—9 vs 7|8 Momentum:6 → 8
"Shit!" The red warnings rang out as her proximity alarms finally sensed something. The two ships came, each from different direction attempting to ram into her. She punched the throttle and sent herself into a spin, the angle making them both miss her narrowly. Dustcloud Battle +1 (2/10)
"Are they trying to just hit me?" Their maneuvers were confusing, all manner of logic vanished as the two small ships chased her within the clouds. The dust swirled and spun in her vision, making it impossible to see. She shut off the low visibility warnings and paralleled herself to one of the ships, goading him to try to hit her again. They might thought themselves brave, but they were stupid to attack a courier’s ship.
Strike(Edge)—9 vs 10|9 Pay the Price(64)Your vehicle suffers damage Position:Position → out of combat Starship / Integrity:5 → 3 Withstand Damage(Starship / Integrity)—4 vs 5|3 Momentum:8 → 7 Starship / Integrity:3 → 4
Her plan betrayed her as the ship she was following threw out a magnetic anchor and attached itself to her ship. It banked hard and tried to slingshot her into the other ship—that was coming in fast to her far side. She shut off the thruster opposite the anchor and push into the other as hard as she could. The trajectory change was too sudden for the other ship to course correct and it scrapped along the hull of her ship. Sable cringe at the sound of scraping metal and repeatedly apologized to her ship.
React Under Fire(Edge)—8 vs 1|8 Spirit:5 → 4 Endure Stress(Spirit)—6 vs 7|10 Spirit:4 → 3
She felt the sudden clank of another anchor attaching itself to her ship. She rebalanced the thrusters and moved in tandem with the pull of their ships. Her only goal at the moment was to not let them rip her apart. She glanced outside, watching the two ships spin around her.
Then the faces appeared and distorted her vision, their gaunt visage pressed against the glass until they shattered through. Dozens of screaming masks poured into the cockpit. She held her breath and listened to her ship, doing everything she could to keep it together.
React Under Fire(Edge)—9 vs 10|3 Courier / Safety:4 → 3
The cold left Sable and she opened her eyes. The screaming faces went through the floor and towards the storage bay. "I have to get out of this cloud."
React Under Fire(Edge)—8 vs 7|4 Momentum:7 → 8 Position:Position → in a bad spot
Sable checked her ship’s sensors to see where the magnetic anchors were attached to her ship and smiled. She hit the 'Waste Hatch' and the panel flung open, the force the anchor had ahold of it ripped the panel off and sent one ship spinning out of control.
Strike(Edge)—6 vs 5|9 Dustcloud Battle +2 (6/10) Position:Position → in control
Sable barrel rolled and pushed her thruster to the limit, being the one to pull that nasty slingshot move. She slammed her anchored prisoner into its partner ship and the two twisted and collided together. Sable felt relief course through her, all she had to do now was figure out how to get this anchor to detach. Her victory was short lived as the mass of steel was still functional enough to spool up their guns.
"Oh fu—"
React Under Fire(Edge)—10 vs 8|1 Momentum:8 → 10 Strike(Edge)—6 vs 6|1 Dustcloud Battle +2 (10/10) Take Decisive Action(track)—0 vs 10|8
"—ck you," Sable put some slack into the anchor and pulled her ship in a tight circle to wrap the cable around the barrel, and twist their gun loose. She cackled as that whole section of their ship ripped free and any surviving pilots now had to contend with the unforgiving expanse of space. Luckily it gave her the time to figure out how to detach the anchor, check on the cargo and get the hell out of the creepy dust cloud.
Dustcloud Battlecompleted
Courier Job: Glimmer Outpost +1 (4/10) Momentum:2 → 3
Post Session Notes:
So Sable totally missed out on a relationship with Dal-Kurus. Which, she was right, he did knock her teeth in for—well, not 'no reason', but he could have nicer about it.
Her first combat! Though she has no guns, so it's just her moving around to avoid getting hit. Which is what she's good at. Next session I hope to figure out where this package is going and let her rest up a little.