Session 27: Escaping Ein Sof Report

General Summary

Introduction

In the first year of the first month of 2352, a group of passengers arrived in the FreeST Mining Corporation's outpost on Nibian 6. They departed the Profit-Class Ship named the Salters Peppers together. Most of them had no prior knowledge of the others in their company. Some of them simply sought a ride. Some of them sought an escape. Each fleeing, in their own ways. However, when tragedy struck, these heroes displayed a quality which provided the first thread to bind them together. The first true moment, the initial bond, of this legendary group was forged when each of them chose, surrounded by physical monstrosities, to fight back. To protect. To save. Each of them, running from enemies, choices, or their own past, each found a hope that perhaps they had been running toward something all along. The heroes continued their rise to glory by destroying a group of slavers in the New Avon system. They rescued victims, were cheered by towns, and made allies on a planet of plains and dust. From there, they turned course towards a mythical refinery built against a Star. Though many were still lost as the mysterious monsters ravaged the station, their actions still saved the lives of thousands and befriended a choice few. Returning to their awaiting ship in the Port scarred but wiser to some of the mysteries of the universe, a friend was kidnapped by Krasians while another proved himself to be a permanent ally to the rest.   Their luck turned as the crew returned to New Avon to find it abandoned by corporations and controlled by the Syndicate. Their confidence was shaken as their initial plot to save the city and their allies within was disrupted by the scale of the threats looming above them. A decision was made to hide, to change their name, and to shift away from the spotlight they'd found themselves in.   The crew fled to the Graveyard, a dangerous journey only undertaken by the brave or desperate. Their journey was not in vain as they gathered information, painted and squibbed their targeted ship, and were blessed by an AI from a madman. Conflict followed our crew there, as it so often does, ending in a massacre aboard the safe haven caused (in part) by their hands. Burdened with a mission of redemption and the driving urges of a Divine Assassin, the crew fled to the far reaches of the Rim. They found themselves flying through the barely understood Z-Space and encountering a ghost ship of legends. They performed a risky maneuver within Z-Space and found themselves trapped in a dimensional pocket, narrowly escaping using all of their knowledge and skills. They found themselves in the home and haven of the Bounty Hunters seeking a man marked by Fate for death. In a final twist, their traitorous guide and their target of murderous intent ended up escaping the planet with them after a major life-change by the assassin himself.   A trip to complete the time-sensitive mission of redemption found the crew locked in a Cyborg's battle with his own mind before arriving onto a planet claiming to provide all of the pleasures of the universe. The true cost of those purported pleasures was quickly revealed to be drenched in the blood of the downtrodden. Days were spend in the jungle of Paphadis in seeking Sprin, the powerful but fatal drug that may as well be the blood of berserkers, and embroiled in a cat-and-mouse game between a group of trained assassins. When at last they left, it was a broken, bloody, and narrow survival that would be a stretch to be called a victory.   But at last they returned to the hidden home of the outcasts to pay their debt of redemption. Once again, the strings of fate tightened into a garrote as undelivered information left the home of their almost allies destroyed by their mutual enemies in a revealed war upon the galaxy. Old enemies were seen, favors were debatably refused, and alliances left in questions as they fled along with a new survivor escaping from, or to, something. They brought along another entity, which soon was possessed by a shard of an aspect of a deity. Its malevolent designs were quickly revealed and narrowly salvaged, despite their extensive, or at least attempted, damage to many of the ship's systems.   They returned once more to where it all began, Nibian 6, to recover and disseminate the truth of the attack, Fate, and the mysterious alien entities known as Hosts. As they left this haven of allies, they quickly found themselves pursued by those same enemies who destroyed the Graveyard. A terrible blow to their engines from a new weapon did not stop their escape into Z-Space, but may have contributed to them plummeting through into a massive, mysterious city trapped outside of time and space.   Their initial encounters in the city left them stuck, without technology, and a crewmate dead. They fought at, then conversed with, a mythological alien entity who gave them one possible path to escape. They found themselves in a battle with shifting, disturbing creatures of biblical mythology before tracking into this unknown city to find parts to repair their ship and escape. They uncovered some ancient items and technology as they traveled, salvaged a wrecked messenger ship, and were last seen approaching a massive, old colony ship that seems to have fallen out of time into this land of wondrous horrors.   They began as individuals running from something. They stand before the colony ship as a team, though a shaky one at times, each united in their trauma, their uncovered knowledge, and their desperate need to survive. They have been bound together by threads of Fate, mysterious of ancient empires, and designs of deific entities that seem to just now be revealing themselves in the cumulation of a war before time. Let us rejoin them now as they stand before the Pioneer 2107 Colonist Ship Edarft's Opportunity in the wide streets seemingly made of gold under a starless sky tinted red in the long-since fallen seat of ancient power.

Game Start

The Crew approached the Colony Ship and quickly used Tumerian's knowledge of ships mixed with Kyra and Alicia's technical expertise to open the ramp. They went into the massive cargo bay and discovered the bodies of 4 crewmen, none of which seemed to be wearing a uniform, around a large puddle-like formation of what appeared to be Utopia through the grates of the Cargo Bay. They did find evidence of an attack with massive claws on several of the crates in the Cargo Bay.   They decided to split up to scout out the ship. Dash headed down the right hallway, Li down the middle, and Jason down the left hallway. William Blake remained on the ramp to guard them from anyone coming up behind and the girls remained in the Cargo Bay to begin searching the massive crates.

Cargo Bay

Rose, frustrated by a comment from Li, attempted to kick open a massive wooden crate and stubbed her toe. Alicia took out a crowbar and tried to pop open the crate. She succeeded with Rose's help and they revealed a Unknown Terrain Exploratory Bike within the crate that was strapped down and apparently in good condition even with working tires. Kyra, Rose, and Alicia looked over the UTEB and found it appeared to be functional (though they opted not to turn it on to avoid attracting attention). They spent some time looking through crates and found tools, MRE's, and other colony supplies. They also found a wagon and 3 fuel canisters for the UTEB.

Right Hallway

Dash investigated the right hallway on his own for some time. He discovered the Engine Room, the Systems room, and eventually a kitchen. The Engine Room was unlocked and had tools and parts scattered all over the room. The Kitchen had food scattered about. He noticed several of the boxes appeared to be gnawed open by something with far smaller teeth. He fortunately found 1 remaining, intact chocolate bar sealed in the back of the freezer that he took to give to Botley. The Systems Room appeared to be locked and he waited for others to proceed.

Central Hallway

Li moved down the Central Hallway on his own. He found that there were 4 rooms (2 on either side) in the hallway, another cross hallway at the end of the hall, and a door directly at the end with Bridge labeled over the door. Li checked one door at the far left of the hallway and found a normal crew barracks room with a dropdown toilet area, lockers, and bed. He checked the lockers and found some knick-knacks and odds and end. From there, he proceeded into the Bridge area. He was unsurprised to find the area fully power drained similarly to their ship. From there, he moved over and reconnected with Dash.

Left Hallway

Jason moved down the hallway and only found 2 doors towards the outside of the ship labeled Stasis Room A and Stasis Room B. He went and checked through Stasis Room A and found 2 survivors out of the 50 pods within along with medical equipment at the end of the walkways. He found shattered glass from several of the pods having been broken on impact as well as several others who seemed to have perished within their Stasis pods (whether asleep or alive).   He moved towards Stasis Room B and found the panel clawed open. Chiara approached him to assist as he tried and failed to repair the panel. He smashed his hands into the bulwark door and began forcing the door open loudly by trying to slam it open. As soon as he have some progress, Chiara assisted him with everything she could to force it open enough for him to slip into the room. With several loud bangs, cracking of metal, and pouring all of his frustration into the door, it eventually gave way. Inside of the room, he found 1 more survivor out of the 50 within.

Systems Panel

Together, Dash and Li opened the System panel door and went into the scattered room. They found a systems panel and generator completely intact, though very old, that they could use for their ship. The power generator was running on emergency power and sending all power to the living areas (with the majority on the stasis pods). The old system had glitched several times and temporarily drained power before restoring. They determined this to be the cause of those that were awoken or killed while still frozen in their pods.   This left them with the moral dilemma of waking the sleeping survivors or simply removing the generator. As they began to discuss, they each heard a shout over the radio from William Blake. "Fates be damned, boys. Whatever noise you're making seems to have attracted some attention, incoming! Wait...wait, Jerome? I...Oh. I understand..."

An Unwanted Visitor

The Crew ran back through their respective hallways towards William Blake, who had been left alone in the Cargo Bay. They ran in to find William Blake standing in the middle of the ramp with his gun dangling by his side and staring ahead intently. As they approached, you see one of the large, humanoid Seraphim approaching the ramp facing him several paces away with his long, thin, claw-like hand extended straight out towards William. They heard William Blake mumbling under his breath “Jerome…I…I’m so sorr…" He fell to his knees with tears streaming from his eyes.   They each heard the faintest of whispers echoing around the back of their minds. The creature’s flesh seemed to be writhing and twisting but fighting against itself as it slowly progressed towards William Blake. They saw the thin bones of wings crack from its long back before straining against an invisible force shoving the wings back into its flesh. The creature’s neck cracked to the side and began retract down into itself. The creature strained and pulls its neck forward again to the long, gaunt shape. It seemed to be barely containing itself and using all of its focus on maintaining its form while slowly walking towards William Blake, who seemed completely entranced. The creature didn't given any sign of even noticing their approach as it fought against its own flesh.   Dash ran full sprint past William to the creature's side, who completely ignored him. Li and Jason ran to William Blake's side, Jason ready to defend and Li ready to slice off the creature's hand should it reach towards him. The creature stepped forward as Rose and Alicia determined their respective plans.

Rose's Plan

Rose decided to try and turn the tables on the creature who's kin tried to force her to remember her mother by trying to replicate its own. Instead of opting to project her hologram as the creature with a wig on, she allowed herself to accept the whispers, stare into the creature, and release her mind to understand it. She saw before her two paths, two doors leading to the creature's creator. She saw one ringed in gold with black and red tendrils. She saw another that appeared to be interlaced with burning red threads throughout it.   She chose the door with burning red threads and willed her mind forward. She found herself in complete darkness with a point of light in the distance. She felt herself drawn towards it until she was confronted by the towering, burning symbol of Fate. In this brief second, she felt this featureless burning symbol gaze into her. She awoke with an odd sensation of connection to this creature, the feeling of a skill she may utilize to connect herself further, and a symbol to project. She created the same symbol she had seen behind William Blake moving towards the creature to frighten it, but allowed that connection to enhance the symbol as well.

Alicia's Plan

Alicia ran over to the UTEB and decided to rig it up to drive at full speed straight forward at the creature. She jammed the gas, heard it sputter to life, and sent it flying toward the creature and the kneeling William and the unaware Li and Jason. The latter two whirled around just in time. Li plunged towards William Blake and barely knocked him out of the way by the skin of his teeth, rolling along with him. Jason jumped out of the way seeing them both safe.   The Creature, seemingly distracted by the flying symbol of Orgeneous and his focus on William Blake, was met by the flying metallic projectile at full speed. The vehicle tumbled off to the side as the creature was thrown back and sent sprawling. Dash followed up the attack by jumping and smashing his fist into the creature's face. As the creature turned to move, Li vaulted forward and narrowly shifted his blade to sever the creature's head.

Dash's Response

Dash, still in fight mode, ran up the ramp, leapt into the air, and grasped the single thread of Fate he saw woven into the floating, false symbol. He snapped it clean in one motion then came plummeting to the floor. He demanded of the group who put that and who summoned it, but Rose simply made it disappear with slight of hand and feigned ignorance.

The Morality Choice

With the threat eliminated, the group convened to discuss the discovery of the Stasis Pods. Li asked Alicia to help with their revival and Kyra to assist with their medical needs. He was shocked by their responses which indicated they thought it would be wiser to simply allow them to perish in their sleep. The debate raged as he began showing more and more horror over the morality of his companions. In a moment of climatic frustration, Li grabbed Jason and Rose and stormed off to the Stasis Pods. He sealed the doors behind them and insisted that they work on reviving and helping these people, despite them not having as much technical or medical expertise.   Meanwhile, Dash and Kyra retrieved the UTEB and moved it back to the ramp. They uncovered more of the boxes while Alicia worked on repairing and refueling the UTEB. During the course of examining the cargo, they kept seeing flashes of fur. Eventually, they tracked a small creature about the size of a cat into a hole in the cargo bay. Kyra was able to lure it out with food and bond with the creature, eventually becoming able to carry and pet it.

Out of Time

The Stasis team moved into the Stasis Room B and began to work together to revive the living man. Jason boosted power from the panels while Li encouraged Rose (who took lead on the revival) by reminding her about Versian respect for life. She felt herself slipping and gave into a sensation of Fate to guide her hand and succeed. They were able to revive the man, named John Roffman (son of Mark Roffman, famous hero engineer of the New Horizons). He immediately tried to find his wife Lisa but discovered, along with Li and Rose standing in front of him, that he appeared to be paralyzed from the waist down.   Li encouraged Rose to use her hologram to simulate a breathing mask to cover his head so he would not see the carnage of the other deceased in the stasis pods (including his wife). They carried him to the hallway and left him propped out in the hallway waiting for the rest without informing him of his wife's death.   The group moved to Stasis Room A and began reviving the brown-haired girl survivor. Li went to work rerouting wiring as Rose managed to revive her without any complications. The trench-coat wearing, foul-mouthed girl named Yuka Antova seemed quite the handful from the start but was able to walk herself up to where Jason awaited her. Despite their request to not inform the "man in the hallway whose wife died" that she mistook for them meaning Jason, she "ripped the bandaid off", causing a little confusion.   Finally, they revived the man with dreadlocks within the last surviving pod. Rose felt herself slipping again and reached out to Fate for assistance. She was able to revive him as well, but they immediately saw he seemed completely unable to breath and began to suffocate. Li and Jason sprinted at full pace towards the medical area at the end of the room to grab and bring back oxygen tanks while Rose slapped the man on the back in a debatably helpful gesture to keep him awake until they returned. They were able to find and run back 5 tanks of oxygen in the nick of time. He introduced himself as Ladi between wheezes and they all rejoined the rest.

Scrapping the Colony Ship

The team worked together to successfully dismantle the systems panel, the engine, and managed to rig up a wagon to the UTEB. Alicia found and retrieved the captains logs, despite the device being drained of power at the moment. Yuka drove it as they used a caravan-like method to get the parts back to their ship and ensure Ladi and John were secured on the Intrepid Explorer's medical bay. They fought and slew 2 of the beasts enroute on one of the trips, but beyond that were able to make good time until they all were safely gathered around their ship once more.

Rewards Granted

Minor Milestone
+1 Fateweaving (Rose)