Session 21: Death on the Demorte Report

General Summary

Introduction

The swirling purples and blues of the peaceful nebula float in silence serenity. The slowly floating asteroids flit past the still husks of ships long since destroyed. Across the Graveyard, name seems to have never rung truer. It is still. It is silence. It is filled with a peace only known in death.
A ship deep in the center of the stillness throws a flash, reflecting light from the purplish haze of the Galaxy around it. From its side, forms spew out into the darkness. Tiny dark shapes of various sizes spiral and twist out into the darkness beyond. The sight is filled with sparkly, shiny objects creating a beautiful pattern amidst the strange dance. The forms spiral out and away into darkness like new asteroids, spinning away slowly until silence and stillness returns again.
Alexa: “Hold On tight!” The voice chimes the ship’s intercom as a sudden lurch violently throws the ship back towards its left. A thin, nearly invisible membrane slaps over the entryway for the ramp and the sudden rush of air stops, feeling like a brief breeze to the crew safely aboard the Intrepid Explorer. At the top of the ramp, William Blake tightens his knuckles on the grip of the rifle to stop the end of rifle from sucking it out of his hands into the rushing wind beyond. Mark 37-091 strides forward, bow held in his severely damaged arm but somehow seeming all the more imposing for his injury. Alicia spins at the violent noise to see the explosive pop and rushing noise behind her as her feet cross into the cargo bay. Kyralin’s eyes rest on the cowering figure of a red headed girl in the corner of the room before being drawn to the ramp and the grisly forms being sucked out of eyesight. Finally, a thunk of metal on metal echoes behind them as a knife slips from Chiara’s hand onto the metal hull below as a man comes into view across the hanger desperately trying to claw onto the surface of a slowly rolling ship before suddenly vanishing as his fingers lose their purchase. William Blake: “By all the fuckin fates…”
We flash out of the cargo bay of a cherry red ship just as the dull thuds begin to echo and careen off of its Hull like a torrential rain on a tin roof. We flash through the rushing air and flying objects up towards an open doorway at the center of a large metal area rapidly clearing of the trappings of a transient town. Ahead of us, halfway down a long hallway, two figures desperately grasp for handholds on the long metallic hallways branching off, doorways, or various posters, signs, and objects quickly peeling off and being sucked into the tunnel-like vortex of the open door.

Game Start

Dash and Li braced themselves as Dash reached down the hallway using the Threads of Fate to activate the mechanical panel and slam the door closed. The Vacuum stopped and they were free to run down after the Krasian Demon firing down the hallway at them. They rounded the corner to see the hallway, the two demons they were chasing, and the open door. Li immediately chunked the explosive knife into Slade's chest.

Scene Description

You round the corner and see the end of the hallway opens into a room with a now open door. The sign beside the door is barely legible under the dripping, dark red blood splattered across it. Slumped against the outside of the doorframe, two Scav guard’s bodies lay contorted. One is pinned against the wall itself with a long metallic spearlike object rammed through his chest into the wall, though the extra measure seems excessive as his torso is riddled with bullets holes. The kill seems to be relatively fresh as blood from his lips still slowly drips onto the darkening patch bearing a diagonal lightning bolt sewn onto his chest. The second lies nearby, his head separated from his body…but the sprays upon the walls behind his post seem to indicate the beheading was not done in one clean strike. Inside of the doorway, you see a partially obscured large object that looks far larger but a very similar design to the nebula generator Mad Al gave you on your last visit. In front of it, another body is visible on the ground. The three vertical prongs that curve out of the side, angle towards the ceiling, and seem to be intended to spin quickly seem to be moving incredibly slowly instead, approaching a full standstill. Behind the object, you see a large figure wearing heavy, clunky plated vacuum-sealed armor that you have seen used by spacers interacting with radioactive substances or for spacewalks that may need to take up to a full day. Through his clear visor, you see the familiar face of Slade Troal, the man who lead the team working on repairing the Intrepid Explorer while Mad Al installed Alexa. The look on his face as he stares down at the datapad in his hands makes you briefly flash back to the subtle sneer he wore while asking you to betray your contract with the batty ol’ mechanic. He is flanked on either side by two more ‘Demons’, SMGs by their side and swords sheathed as they seem to be focusing on attaching something to either side of the generator.
He notices you at the end of the hall and looks up, his sneer fading to a friendly smile. “Oh, hey! It’s you guys! Hey, Harland, these are the guys I was telling you about. Couldn’t have done it without them.” *he sets his datapad to the side while talking* “By the Accolade’s right nut was I ever worried that they’d find my little device, rat me out, and set all this back just…years again. I watched that radar looking for it to announce their damn ship every day for about the last two months. Figured I’d be spacewalking sans a suit instead of getting my citizenship, but anything to get out of these piece of shit ship hulls and back on ground, eh? Fuckin years…Harland, you know how long it’s been.”
“But hey, look at us now! Finally wiping the scavs out of existence and with the help of number 37 on the KPO’s most wanted list, Dash Reynard himself! You rose from 96, sorry bud, don’t know if you heard. Killing a Citizen’s daughter, an Admiral’s kid no less, well..that’ll do it for ya. Made for great news, I’ll have ya know. Anyways, just goes to show that worries are often just that and it’ll all work out alright in the end.”
“So, since you guys had such a big part of helping us out here, I guess it’s only fair to pay you a fair share, huh? Here…payment in full.” *he cocks back a hand and tosses a fragmentation grenade out into the hallway.*

Meanwhile

The team on the Intrepid Explorer remained in their relative safety while aboard the ship, merely watching the chaos outside. They saw the dozen or so people attempting to clutch on before being sucked away. Rose continued to somewhat hide in the corner of the cargo bay while briefly looking up some of those she saw around her to get information on the people who were now in control over her living or being thrown off the ship. Alicia moved over and closed the ramp, though Mark used his grappling hook to dive outside and attempt to (unsuccessfully) save someone while it closed. Kyra attempted to understand what was going on with the Demorte's life support system failing and realized that the generator must have been sabotaged but not yet destroyed, thus it could be restored. Taylor reached out over coms to see what was happening but was quickly cut off and signal lost.

The Hallway

Li immediately detonated the knife as the grenade went off. Slade was severely injured and went flying through the Nebula Generator, destroying it entirely. A demon hidden in the room was obliterated and the others injured. Li and Dash squared up against the 5 demons that jumped out at them as Slade turned and started to run away, his mission completed. Dash began to kill one demon after another, luckily having his new shield belt take almost all of the blows. Li ran down the hallway with Slade racing him to the doors, but a brief stop and plunge of the sword killed the traitor.
As they fled, Lady Ash's voice came over Coms. "All Captains: flee into the Asteroids. The Graveyard is breached but the Court of Scavs MUST live on. All Blades, Hornet Pods, and all capable pilots, you must breach a path for the Chariots! All Scavs, retreat to Rendezvous Point: Risen Beast. I repeat, full retreat to the Risen Beast." She was cut off suddenly with static as well.
With all but 1 of the Demons killed, Dash intimidated the final man to surrender. Li talked Alexa through backing up to the doorway as he and Dash checked on Mad Al's workshop (Not finding him or any of his "children" inside), grabbing 2 bodies each (and forcing the captured Captain Harland carry one as well) with their SMGs and blades. They made the jump into the ship's ramp, Mark and Dash rushed in to grab scrap metal for repairs on his arm, and they all took off from the Demorte as two Hornets baring the Shieldbrovs approached. They seemed 

Fleeing the Demorte

Li and Alexa flew them out of the ship's hull as Chiara and Kyra escorted Rose to her room, Dash threw the prisoner into the Smuggler's hold, and the rest of the crew spread out from the cargo hold. As they breached the Demorte's hull, they looked out of the portholes to see the following.

Scene Description

“As you stare, you realize that the haze of the nebula is obscuring what seems to be lit engines behind those ships...those hundreds of if not thousands of ships. As you watch, the window and portholes seem to be immediately washed out in light. As the bright haze dies down somewhat, you realize it is flashes of hundreds of ships...firing. The ships floating into the edge of the Graveyard suddenly seem alive with beams of light, bursts of fire, and explosions wrecking into lines of hulls. It is eerily silent as you watch an orchestrated light show of pure destruction."
"Your radio crackles on the General Broadcast Channel as an unfamiliar, cold voice breaks through the eerie silence. 'Rejoice, you vermin. You have been granted an honor by the Accolade himself. I, Admiral Sergio MacKay, have been sent as the Avatar of the Accolade to grant you eternal rest among our honored dead. Too long have you scurried and defiled the resting place of our nation's heroes. Too long has your debauchery drank from the benevolence of our empire."
You see a massive flagship far larger than anything resting in the graveyard drift towards the middle of the Graveyard. It lights up with a series of beams along one side that slice into one of the Cruiser hulls and send the pieces flying like warm butter in a blender.
"You have been the anchor around the neck of the Colonies for too long. For too long have you held back the progress Krasia can bring. So rejoice, vermin. Your time of being the spot of mold on the bread has past. Your fight is over. Rejoice that you are the sacrifice heralding a new Dawn for the Rim." The ship turns its side towards the Ship Hull: KPO Demorte as your ship speeds out of the open holes in the side. Space itself turns bright once again as it unleashes its torrential blast."
The Crew realized that the Graveyard was surrounded by Krasian ships all targeting and destroying all inhabited targets...and there was no obvious way out.

Rewards Granted

[Minor Milestone]

Loot

• 3 Compaq Companion
• 3 Krasian SpecOps Collapsible Blade
• 2 Krasian SpecOps "Demons" Bodies (w/ Krasian Light Combat Armor)

Missions/Quests Completed

Graveyard Plot: Slade's Assault

Character(s) interacted with

Allies

• Taylor Mormont
• The Brothers Shieldbrov

Enemies

• Slade Troal
• Admiral Sergio MacKay 

PCs Present

• Dash Reynard 
• Kyralin Straussedorph 
• Alicia Candler 
• Rose Skytree 
• Tumerian Li Shen 

Campaign

What Hides Behind the Void?

Protagonists

Guru Kevin

Tumerian Li Shen

Kyralin Straussedorph

Jason Black - Player Copy-

Savannah Cruise

Jason

Dash Reynard

Report Date

14 Sep 2021

Primary Location

Hersperus Nebula: Graveyard