Starlight:Come Ride With Me

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January 22, 2016 – Episode 7: Come Ride With Me

Game Outline

1. Jerias Obligation
2. Recap of very end
   1. You and the Tyson clear the landing bay of the massive Cydonian home ship and see the vessel has already begin breaking apart into smaller ship. They all begin to scatter in different directions as waves of Cydonian fighters swarm around you. Your combat radar lights up with thousands of red and green dots, and somewhere below the home ship is a massive red glow. Something massive is down there, and you spare a glance, but see nothing but the red lights at the front of the approaching watcher ships. Whatever the hulking giant on your scope is, you can't make a visual of it. You don't have much time to consider this as you and the Tyson are set upon by a wave of Watchers, only this time you're not alone. Kalu Venn says he's with you, and you can hear Lieutenant Barnabas calling out nearby radar contacts and enemy ship movements. The Tyson gets hit several times, ripping armor plating to shreds, and the panic wells up from the pit of your stomach. The lives on board the Tyson - the Captain, CPO Zakiri, Professor Sikarna, Lieutenant Oliver, Lieutenant Ford, Ensign Crocetti & Ensign Soward. The Watchers seem to be gunning directly for them. A few more exchanges of fire with the enemy vessel, and the panic subsides, as the Tyson slides into the docking bay. You're able to turn your attention to the task at hand, clearing a path through the system to the designated jump point. It's an arduous slog. The watchers fastest ship is the small one you're most familiar with. Though easily killed, they come in waves that always nearly break your back. The only thing keeping you alive is occational visits into sortie tube for mid-fight replacement of shredded armor plates and damaged internal components. The Cydonians don't fare as well. All they have to protect them is a thin layer of armor and their wits, and the running battle proves to be a slow game of attrition. You see hundreds of them die within the first 15 minutes of the engagement, before the home ships scrambling has managed to spread the enemy lines. The bulk of the watcher force seems to be following your ship, and as you approach the jump point, you hear Kalu Venn call over the open channel. "Knights, I need volunteers for-" he is interrupted by the captain. "I DO SAY, I think you all may want to get out of the way. Prepare for Grav Cannon!" The starlight spins in place and you move out of the way of the ship just as the Gravity Cannon's beam arcs above you. The watcher ships vanish before your eyes, and there is a moment of stunned silence over the radio. "W.. we appear to be clear" calls out the Homeship, and the fight is over. You begin heading back to the Starlight to prepare for the coming jump.
3. After getting back on the ship
   1. Barnabas calls them to come to the landing bay. When they arrive, the commander is already there greeting Kalu Venn onto the ship. Zakiri is kneeling next to the Tyson, with his head leaned against the hull. His son is wandering around the bay, collecting parts and tools.
   2. When the PCs show, the commander asks the to come along. They escort Kalu Venn to his room, which is next to the PCs. Barnabas shows him into the room, and Langer tells the PCs she wants them to do make their guest feel welcomed, to help him with anything he needs, and to give him a tour of the ship in the morning.
   3. As the PCs are preparing to get some sleep, Kalu Venn clears his throat from the doorway.
      1. He is holding someone’s cat (meow) at arm’s length.
         1. We’ll say it’s Lietentant Swafford’s
      2. “I am seeing an explaination.”
      3. “is this some kind of… live food?”
      4. “yes, I had considered the similarity..”
4. The tour
   1. Interrupted by the captain
      1. At one point, in a hallway, the captain is riding down the middle of a hallway on a floor buffer
         1. The floor is a metal grate
         2. There really isn’t any reason for a floor buffer on the ship
         3. As he passes Finn, he idles the buffer and gestures for him to come closer
            1. Pops a party popper in his face and continues down the hallway.
      2. In the lunch room, he’s sitting at their regular table. He will make comments
         1. Nice weather today isn’t it?
         2. Wonder if they’ll try to talk to him? Probably not. No interest in the game world what-so-ever.
5. After the tour, and the rest of the trip.
   1. Day after tour meeting with Barnabas
      1. First, Lopez – meeting is in a room off the engine room, which they’ve never used before
         1. Lieutenant, before we start, I want you to understand that nothing that’s said between you and I should go beyond this room. Not to anyone on you team, not to anyone in command, not to anyone in the lunch room.. you understand?
         2. Good, don’t feel as though you have to agree to this. Right now, this isn’t a matter of commanding officer and subordinate. This is something I want you to do personally.
         3. I have some concerns about the Senator. After considering over the information I’ve gotten from you and your team, I would like to ask that you do, in fact, join in on one of the senator’s meetings.
         4. The problem is, they probably won’t trust you very much if you just show up out of the blue. I would like you to go to them after… well, if you agree, something is going to happen that will drive you to joining their meetings. Maybe you’ll be a bit upset by how things are going. Maybe you really will be.
         5. We … I don’t know anything. This is… probing. We need to figure out if something is going on.
         6. Do you agree?
         7. I would ask mr slover to do this, but as you are aware, he doesn’t quite have a working relationship with those around the senator.
      2. If he agrees, the door opens and Slover is there
         1. Slover, thank you for coming.
         2. I’ve had time to consider the field report from the mission, and I have to say, I’m rather upset at some things I’ve seen.
         3. According to this report, after first contact with the Cydonians, there was nearly an hour of attempted communication on their part without any response.
         4. I, and command, understands as you state the standing radio silence order as the reason, but people in leadership positions are not expected to be mindless robots. Leaders need to be able to think on their feet and outside of the box, especially considering the situation we’re currently in. We may have missed a… historical opportunity otherwise. I understand the letter of your orders didn’t include a contingency if you ran into a non-hostile alien species, but we need a reasonable application of common sense.
         5. If brett tries to interrupt
            1. “Lieutenant Junior Grade, I am speaking, and this isn’t a discussion or a committee.”
            2. Remember this
         6. I’ve been running this department rather loosely, mostly because I’d hoped we wouldn’t be in this damned situation so long, so that’s on me, but as I see, there’s no end in sight, so we’re making a few changes.
         7. Lieutenant Junior Grade Slover – you are hereby being given a field promotion to Lieutenant. With that promotion, you are now Commanding Officer of the squadron. Since we’re severely short staffed that also makes you the executive officer of the Air Department. Lieutenant Junior Grade Lopez – you are the Lieutenant Slover’s executive officer and tactical officer. You will be expected to 100% support your commanding officer in combat missions from a tactical standpoint, as clearly you have a proficiency for that. Is that understood?
         8. Lieutenant, I will leave it up to you who your wingman will be. I do need to know before the end of the day though.
         9. Very good. We’re scheduled for another simulator training session in 2 hours. You are all dismissed until then.
   2. Let’s see what brett does with that
      1. If he goes to a meeting, they are discussing Shakespeare, specifically Hamlet.
         1. The meeting is in an empty classroom of some sort, much smaller than the meeting room the pilots use. The room is packed, however, with the senator sitting in a comfortable looking chair in a corner, he has a tablet in his lap. There are approximately 20 people here, mostly enlisted, from across departments. Meechum greets Lopez at the door, and thanks him for coming out.
      2. After our last meeting, there was a quote I wanted you all to consider: “When sorrow comes they come not single spies But in battalions.” Can someone tell me what that means?... Mr Lopez, as a new guest, would you like to take a guess?
      3. The rest of the meeting is covering act 5 of the play
      4. After the meeting, the Senator will call him over.
         1. Lieutenant, I’m glad you decided to join us. I don’t know how familiar you are with Shakespeare, but if there’s any classical literature from Brazil you’d like to discuss, please let me know and I’m sure we can try to find a copy.
         2. What made you decide to give us a visit?
         3. I hope you enjoyed yourself
         4. We could always use more friends, Mr Lopez.
6. After the Jump
   1. A meeting is called in the cafeteria to let everyone know.
   2. It is decided, that Kalu Venn will stay with the Starlight. He will facilitate continued communication with the Cydonians. Also, a diplomat will also be welcomed aboard.
   3. The senator will interrupt with a protest at letting aliens on board
   4. Captain stands up at the meeting – he’s been quiet thus far. “Senator. I would like to remind you this is not a committee. This has already been decided by the myself and the Commander.” He then sits back down and goes back to ignoring what’s going on.
      1. This is important especially if Barnabas said the same to Lopez
   5. Diplomat is named Arvis Mal.

Musical Inspiration
Song:	Knights of Cydonia
Artist:	Muse
Album:	Black Holes and Revelations
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