Surprisingly, I’m back already, since the group wanted to play again (having never played an RPG before, they were quite excited to get back to it). So I bring you Episode 2 of The Dynasty Falco from the synopsis I wrote up for them yesterday and today:
Last time on The Dynasty Falco:
The crew races against the The Collective to steal sensor data that could help trace rogue AIs, rescuing a defecting android in the process…
Managing to make the jump within a four day sub-light journey of Chevron IV, the crew of the Dynasty Falco turn to their newest problem: tensions rising across the ship. Arriving back on the Falco, Clyde and Pickthorn get into an argument about Clyde’s disappearance in the middle of fights. Clyde insinuates that Pickthorn works for him, and Pickthorn implies that Clyde is privileged, still living off his family’s money even though he’s been on the run. Similarly, Xanthus gets ticked off at Cindy, who suggests that Xanthus treats Bernard, X’s droid, like a second-class person, stirring Xanthus to defend her friendship with Bernard. “He’s here of his own freewill!” she insists. Bernard beeps in agreement, but there seems to be more to their connection than either is willing to discuss with Cindy.
Gathering in Clyde’s quarters, the location of the ship’s bar, the group discusses Cindy’s fate. After some debate, they decide to offer her a choice: she can stay with the ship, if she’s willing to be upgraded with a military-grade augmentation Clyde has in his possession. She initially refuses, but seeing she has little choice in the face of Clyde and Xanthus’s joint position, she agrees, at least to allow Pickthorn to remove the Collective Link that still rings in her head with leadership commands to return.
Pickthorn agrees to perform the procedures, setting her up in his manufactory and putting her into a low-power hibernation. The Link removal goes perfectly, Pickthorn having preformed the procedure many times in his work with the rebel group, 141. He does discover though a few differences in her model, being much younger than himself. When he turns to insert the military reflexes augmentation, he discovers an unwelcome surprise: Cindy has a second link, wired differently into her than the first. Did she know? Do all newer models have this second link? This is an unfamiliar location, it shouldn’t be wired in this way and Pickthorn manages to remove it, but not without significant issues, requiring Cindy to remain in a coma for days to recover. Delivering her to the 141 with the information will now be impossible.
Arriving on the planet, Xanthus scans the surface with her survey system. Chevron IV is a tropical water world, dotted with archipelagos. Making contact with a former associate of hers, Striches, one of the amphibious humanoids native to the planet, he directs her to an uninhabited island in the northern hemisphere.
Her shuttle lands on the white-sand beach about 100 feet from a tiny outcropping of boulders. Striches waits there, next to a giant palm-like tree. Opposite along the beach, from another shuttle, four 141 androids appear. One, approaches the group, and begins the deal. Xanthus hands over the sensor data, receiving a case with another drive: crucial data on the Dynasty family.
Just then, shots ring out from the nearby jungle. Everyone dives for cover and Xanthus climbs up the tree to see what’s going on. Three WRAITH scout ships have landed in the distance, surrounding them. Two on either side of the beach shuttles, and one in the jungle. How they discover them is unclear, but they must be here to collect one or both of the drives.
The 141 leader tries to make his way back to his shuttle, but trips. Diving to his rescue, to prevent the sensor data from being lost or destroyed, Clyde drags him back to the safety of the outcropping, but not without catching a bullet through his shoulder. Three WRAITH soldiers emerge along the beach from their ship behind the group’s shuttle, laying down suppressing fire and preventing the group from reaching their ship.
Pickthorn tries to fire at them with his destructive laser rifle, but he’s out of his element and has terrible aim, striking the shuttle instead and damaging its wing. Flipping through the air off of the tree, Xanthus lands and rushes the group of WRAITH soldiers. Emerging over the sand dune they were hiding behind, she’s a flurry of arms and legs as they attempt to fire on her. She brings down one, two, and then a third with her stun baton. However, then the first solider staggers to his feet, several feet taller than her. He’ll need more than a shock to bring him down.
Clyde turns his attention to the soldiers firing from the jungle. Two squads of three fire from separate positions pinning them down. He throws a plasma grenade at them, but one of the soldiers manages to hit it with the butt of his rifle midair back at the group. Managing to hit his target for once, Pickthorn blasts it in midair creating a wall of smoke between them with the vaporized sand, a newly made layer of glass between them and small fires burning around.
Clyde uses this opportunity to rush the 141 shuttle, noticing that it is now being boarded by one of the squads of soldiers. Jumping into the fray at the ship, he grabs ahold of one of the soldiers, hitting the other two with the blades that emerge from his boots, and snapping his victim’s neck.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the beach, Xanthus takes down the large soldier in hand to hand combat, sweeping his legs and delivering a knockout blow to him while he is down. She runs for the ship, patching the wing’s damage as Pickthorn runs for the shuttle. He gets caught with two bullets in his legs from the squad emerging from around the wall of smoke. Xanthus to the rescue! She runs, grabs him to his feet, and they make their way back to the shuttle amid gunfire.
“We have to leave you!” Xanthus screams through their communicators. “Clyde, get Bernard and find a way back to the ship!” The shuttle lifts off, with one of the WRAITH ships chasing after it. “We need more speed!” Xanthus urges Pickthorn to find a way to help them outrun the WRAITH ship. Stripping out some wires under the console, Pickthorn overrides the ship’s safety limits, allowing them to outrun the WRAITH ship, losing it in the upper atmosphere, but not without severely depleting their fuel supplies. With barely enough inertia to make it inside the ship, the shuttle won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Inside the rebel shuttle back on the surface, Clyde convinces the rebel solider that he’s with the rebellion. Getting the lone android left to wait for Bernard and her leader to get back inside the shuttle. They take off just before they are about to be boarded again with the other two ships rising in pursuit.
Firing the shuttle’s heavy laser cannon at the ships, Clyde hits the wing of one, causing it to spiral into the other ship. They arrive back at the Dynasty Falco. Another two androids rescued. Both sets of data drives secured. The Falco’s scan resistant surface allows it to remain hidden, but for how long?
Next time on the Dynasty Falco: How will they get the rebels back with their ship before WRAITH finds them? How did WRAITH track them down in the first place? What information is on the drive the rebels were selling to the crew? What will happen when Cindy wakes up? Find out next time!