The cast:
- Brace (Brainer): the ship's pilot and also a spook, that despised part of humanity touched by the weird. He has extensive psychic powers. Shiv hates him.
- Midnight Storm (Skinner): teenage post apocalyptic rockstar who wants to help people.
- Nightingale (a.k.a. "Gale") (Angel): the ship's doctor hunting her brother Bluejay.
- Vivek (Savvyhead): drug dealer/maker who experiments with his own product. He skipped out on his last employers.
The Nevermore
Kind: Brutes: Hunting pack
Impulse: To victimize anyone vulnerable
Description: A damaged ship of injured crewmen. The Nevermore is a scavenger, attacking weaker looking ships and abandoned hulks. They picked on the wrong ship last time and they suffered a hull breach. Of 35 crew members only 16 survived. Most have suffered some level of injury.
The ship is a sleek black dart, much smaller than the Starlight. Its weapons appear nonfunctional. The crew does have personal weapons which they keep on board. A few have slipped knives into Megaton.
Cast: Cipher (acting captain, lean woman), Bug (snapped spine), Cage (broken arm), Pin (severe internal trauma), Crypt (woman with a broken jaw and very pregnant)
Gang (Medium 3-harm 1-armor on board; Small 2-harm 1-armor on Megaton); suffering at least 1 harm. They are armed with smgs, 9mms, big knives, and many knives. They were armored space suits (black and brown).
Bad Dreams
We picked up right after the crew was released from quarantine.
The quarantine doors slid open letting the rumble of humanity to filter in. The crew of the Starlight pushed quickly out from their comfortable if tight quarters and into Megaton's marketplace.
"You want to help me?' Gale asked Brace.
"Sure," he said trailing along behind her. "With what?"
"I need to make some jingle and replace lost stock. Let's set up a stall and offer medical assistance."
"Sounds lucrative."
The pair found an empty spot in the market, large enough for a stretcher and some medical supplies. Brace crafted a crude sign while Gale prepared for their customers.
Brace scanned the crowd for wounded and ill. "Hey, do you need medical assistance? Our medic can help."
A lean woman in a space suit looked down at Brace. "Are they any good?"
"She's the best. What do you need?"
"I have an injured crew." She gestured behind her where a half-dozen men and women stood. Some nursed broken arms, other burns. One lay on a stretcher. "I'm Cipher, the new captain of the Nevermore. We suffered an...asteroid impact. It killed the captain and some of my crew."
Gale makes her Read a Person roll. Cipher is lying about the asteroid.
Gale watched from the stall. The Nevermore's crew bore wounds more consistent with a firefight than impact and decompression.
"Well we can patch you up," Brace offered.
"Good, let's start with Pin," Cipher said. Her crew pulled the stretcher into the stall.
Gale got to work, replacing bandages and stabilizing the wounded woman. "She has some internal bleeding. I'll need to cut her open to seal it up."
"Just do it."
An hour later, Gale stood up blood stained but confident. "She needs bed rest but she should make a full recovery."
"Great," the captain said, handing some barter to Brace. "I've already worked out payment with your assistant. I have more wounded back at my ship. There is more jingle if you come back with me."
Gale split the fee with Brace and then headed to the Nevermore. As she walked away, Brace opened his mind, hoping to see what this crew is like. He sensed a carrion bird flying across the cosmos, feasting on dying animals.
Brace successfully opens his brain.
The captain and Ula waited by the lifter just outside the Starlight's dock.
"Back already?" Farley asked as Brace returned with Gale's equipment.
"Gale is finished at the market for now. She's got a job patching up the crew of the Nevermore. What are you two doing?"
"Ula and I are waiting for Main Stream. We are heading to the market with the lifter to get some food supplies. Preferably not cat food this time."
Brace shrugged. "I thought I saw Main Stream in the market already."
"What? She said she was going to wait for us." Farley frowned and looked at Ula. "Fine, let's get going then. Brace come and help us. We might need extra hands to load the food."
Brace tagged along. Farley quickly haggled with the merchants, securing a supply of edible if not delicious canned goods.
Once he loaded up the lifter, Brace decided to find some work of his own. He spent the next few hours trading sex for jingle.
And apparently we chose not to record the specifics of that Seduce a Person roll.
Gale stopped at a makeshift pharmacy on the way to the Nevermore. "How much for chillstabs and chemostabs?"
"Oh, sorry, we are all out of chemostabs," the old woman said from behind a wall of bottles and jars. "I can sell you biostabs instead."
"Alright how much do you have?"
Gale procured some more stock but not nearly enough to fill her pack. "Do you think you'll have more of this soon? I've been burning through my supply lately."
"I should have more in a week. Less if a factory ship comes in."
Gale made the rest of the journey to the Nevermore. She found the ship on the farthest berth from the Starlight. The small black vessel resembled the fast attack craft her old home the Centurion used to travel with. She noted that the impact damage included scorch marks like those of a plasma weapon.
A man with an arm in a sling approached her. "Are you the doctor?"
"Yes."
"I'm Cage. Cipher said to show you to the wounded."
"What happened?"
"It was an accident."
Cage led her the rest of the way in silence. They soon arrived at a makeshift infirmary. A gray-haired man lay on the floor watched over by another man whose face was half covered in scar tissue.
"Can you help him?" Cage asked. "Bug here had a brace fall on him."
"I can't move my legs," the old man said.
"I think so with some time."
Cage grunted and left the three of them alone.
"Who are you?" Gale asked the scarred man.
"Hurt."
"Uh Hurt, get me some water."
Once Hurt was out of sight, Gale told Bug, "Hold still."
She injected his with a sedative and reached out with her mind. His spinal cord stitched together under her hand. Bug gasped in his slumber at the return of sensation and a flash of his memories leapt into her mind. Bug led the assault, armored in a military space suit. The suit stopped the burns and shrapnel of a grenade blast but not the concussive force.
Successful healing touch!
As the memory faded, Bug's breathing became shallow. Gale checked his vitals. Satisfied she tried to wake him. As Hurt returned, she said, "Call Cage."
Cipher entered instead. "How is he?"
"He is in a light coma. He should make a full recovery but the next day or so are critical. I need to keep watch over him to ensure there are no complications."
"I'll make arrangements for your stay."
Gale nodded but wondered if she made the right choice.
Midnight wandered the vast market of Megaton. As he moved through a thinly populated set of stalls, he spotted Main Stream escorted by a quartet of White Guard.
He moved to follow through the maze of stalls. The armored figures led Main Stream further away and through a secret panel in the outer wall. One guard remained outside as the door closed.
He cautiously approached the blank wall.
"Nothing to see here," the guard said.
"I thought I saw my friend around here," he said.
"There's no one here."
Midnight walked off and considered his options. He looked for his crew, eventually finding Brace in Megaton's Red Light District.
"Brace, we need your help. Main Stream was abducted by the White Guard."
"Didn't she say she was a passenger? I'm not sure it is our problem."
"She's a part of the Starlight. And anyway she's a paying passenger. We don't have many of those."
"Fine, I'll help you." Brace closes his eyes. "Main Stream come here."
He uses Lost successfully.
"What did you do?"
"I called her. She come here, eventually."
Only a few minutes later, a White Guard ran up to them with three more chasing after them.
"They're after me," Main Stream said from behind the featureless helmet. "We've got to run."
Brace turned to Midnight. "Run, I'll stall them."
As the two fled into a mess of tents and stalls, Brace faced the guards. "You don't want them."
Slowly he began to strip his clothes. The guards stared in wonder and unnatural lust as he performed. A small crowd of onlookers gathered transfixed.
Yes, he took that move: Arresting Skinner.
In a nearby tent, Main Stream removed her disguise. Midnight tossed her his coat and escorted her quickly back to the Starlight, glancing over his shoulder the whole way.
Meanwhile Brace reveled in the attention. "You know the four of us could go somewhere more private. For a more intimate performance?"
"That sounds good," one of the helmeted figures said.
Successful Seduce a Person?
The others nodded and they led Brace out of the market. Passing through a secret door, they headed deeper into Megaton.
Vivek sold another pouch of his special stash. The third this hour, he mused. Business was good.
A figured watched from the far end of the stalls. They ran the moment Vivek spotted them. The drug dealer chased after them, keeping them in sight through the busy market.
The shops and stalls gave way to the dockyards. Vivek skidded to a stop in Bay 3. People moved about on their day-to-day activities. No one matched the outline of the man he just saw.
Vivek checked the dockyard logs. The Good Trip was berthed in Bay 5. Vivek decided to check in on an old friend.
The small ship smelled of grease and salt. A few tables and chairs were scattered around it. A makeshift kitchen filled the main cargo bay. Lunch worked the grill as Vivek approached.
"You!" Lunch said, waving a metal spatula at him.
"Hey, it is good to see you too."
"Good to see," he mumbled. "You left me holding the bag when you ran out!"
Vivek held up his hands. "Sorry. But I needed to get away from Mech and Boss. You know how they were. You don't look too bad off."
"Too bad off? I had a diner last time you were here. A real sit down place. I had to hock it because I helped you."
"I said I was sorry. I just wondered if you had something of mine."
"What? I tossed all your smelly clothes."
"No I mean my protection, you know the nine mil."
"Oh that." Lunch turns back to his grill. "Yeah I guess I still have that."
"Can I have it back?"
"What do you want it for?"
"Like I said, protection."
"This is Megaton. You don't need that kind of protection."
"Lunch I need it."
Lunch served up a stack of burgers. "Okay. But I'll get some heat if they find you with it. I need you to do something for me first."
"What?"
"Thanks to you I'm still tied into this underworld crap. There's a job the powers that be want done. Do the job and I'll get your stuff."
"What's the job?"
Lunch leaned over to Vivek. "The White Guard want a woman named Main Stream eliminated. She's held in the inner sections of Megaton."
"Fine."
Lunch slid a watch over to him. "Use this to get inside. It has the map to where she's being held."
Vivek followed the path on the watch through a grid of corridors. After ten minutes he reached an interrogation room.
The door slid open. Instead of Main Stream, Brace stood cuffed to a wall. Three White Guard surrounded him. One of the guards, a woman, faced away from him. She must be the target.
"Die," he thought at her.
He picked up the move Direct Brain Whisperer. Vivek goes aggro and inflicts damage. He also had some harm boosting moves. She dies quick.
She gasped and collapsed. Vivek quickly backed out of the room.
As the other guards rushed to her aid, Brace strained at his bonds. He slipped his hands free in time to grip his side in agony. Blood spilled from his old wounds.
Soft success on acting under fire.
Brace straightened and pushed past the pain. Shaking in anger, he shouted, "Now you are both going to die."
The men drew their weapons but Brace jumped between them. He pushed one guard's sword into his friend before hurling the survivor into the mirrored glass.
I think we handled this with a seize by force.
Brace moved over the wounded man. "Please leave me alone. Just go. Please just go."
Brace shook from the adrenaline and pain. He pulled the man over the shackles on the wall. "No. You need to answer some questions."
"It's done." Vivek sat down next to the sizzling meat.
Lunch reached under the grill and pulled something small but heavy from under it. "Careful it's a bit warm."
Vivek stowed his gun and walked off. Once out of sight, he popped open the clip. The key was still there in the bottom.
Vivek looked back at the Good Trip. A few men watched from the edges of the dock. The drug dealer slipped the key out and heads to a messenger station.
"I need a package delivered."
"What and where," asked the kid sitting by the station.
He grabbed an empty bag and dropped the key inside. "This. Take it to Gale at the Starlight."
Vivek quickly paid and hurried elsewhere.
I forget if Jordan introduced the key as part of a Threat or if someone else collaborated with him. Either way we never saw it pay off.
He spent the next few hours at one of Megaton's night clubs. Then together with a blond named Dez, he purchased a sleep cycle at a high-end hotel.
The guard gasped in pain as blood streamed from his eyes and ear. "No, please stop."
Brace uses liberal use of In-Brain puppet strings.
"Not until you tell me what is going on. What has become of the White Guard? Why are you after Main Stream?"
"I don't know. I don't know what's happening to us. The dreams, the nightmares, they just keep coming. I see myself doing horrible, even inhuman things. Sometimes I don't know if I'm awake or asleep. The others, they said it was tied to White. Something happened to him. And now it is happening to us too. That's all I know."
"Thanks," Brace said, sliding his hands around the man's neck.
The guard's eyes bulged. He opened and closed his mouth soundlessly as Brace tightened his grip. His struggles slowly weakened and then stopped. Brace held on until the life left his eyes.
Brace took a guard's gun and blasted the surveillance cameras. Donning some White Guard armor, he made his way back out into the markets. Quietly he slipped onto the Starlight.
He entered his quarters and grabbed some fresh clothes. On his bed was his violation glove and a note. Carefully he picked up and read it.
"Beware the dreams of madness. If you want to know more meet at Bay 33 at 5 AM."
Bay 33, that was far into the abandoned end of Megaton.
I think this scene was the result of a combination of several shorter episodes interspaced with the events above.
Midnight Storm adjusted his duster. He looked in the mirror one last time and ran a hand through his long dark hair. He pulled his guitar out of its case, checked the tuning again, and then packed it up for the concert.
On his way out of the docks, the musician passed some fliers he and Snaz put up earlier in the evening. The eager fan had been happy to spread the word. Snail, the club owner would be grateful. More people meant more money spent on drinks. For Midnight that meant a larger take as well.
He arrived early and smiled at the White Guard watching the entrance. Wrench nodded back at him. Even Megaton's guardians enjoyed his music.
A small crowd waited for him inside. Snaz pushed up to the front dragging a red-headed woman behind him.
"Hey Midnight!" He turned to the beauty beside him. "Molly, this is Midnight Storm!"
"Hey," she said, trying to wrench her arm free.
"Hi," Midnight said. "Looks like we have a good crowd already."
"This is nothing," Snaz said. "Just wait until the show. Molly go get us some drinks. Hurry now."
Midnight watches her go. "Molly is your girlfriend?"
"Yes, the old ball and chain. Hey, I can't wait to see you play."
Midnight stepped away. "Well I need to go back stage and get ready."
Later the club walls vibrated to his songs and the thrum of a sea of humanity. Midnight saw Molly and Snaz right in front. Snaz cheered him on while Molly's gaze took on a look he'd seen many times before. That could be trouble.
A successful Artful and Gracious move. Molly is in love with Midnight. Or at least his music.
As the concert wound down however Midnight saw something worse. Snaz became abusive, drunk on music and booze. When Molly tried to leave the crowd (for the restroom or some quiet, Midnight couldn't tell) Snaz smacked her. More than once.
After the show, Midnight peeled Snaz away from the rest of his fans. "Snaz, you seem like you have a good thing with Molly. But you can't treat her like that."
"What do you mean?"
"I can tell Molly cares about you but need to treat her nice in return. She's not your servant or your toy."
"Hey don't butt into my relationship."
"If you want to hang with me, I don't want to see you hurting women."
I'm not sure if there was a Manipulate a Person roll here but there should have been.
"I need an assistant if I'm going to handle all these wounded," Gale told Cipher.
The captain looked down at her and stroked her chin. "Okay. Rat! Come in here."
A man entered the infirmary, the first Gale saw out of the ship's black and brown uniforms. "What do you need me to do, Captain?"
"This is Rat, our nurse," Cipher said. "Rat assist Nightingale. Keep an eye on the injured and make sure she's comfortable."
Rat nodded.
After Cipher left the room, Gale asked, "why don't you have a uniform?"
"I'm uh new here." He started checking supplies. "I guess they didn't have a spare."
"They must not trust you much then. I know some of the crew died. They should have a spare now."
"I guess."
"Look I know something fishy is up with this crew. You don't look happy here. Let me in on what's going on and I'll take you with me when I leave."
I'm pretty sure Gale succeeds on a Manipulate a Person roll.
Rat glanced around. The wounded were all asleep. "I didn't realize it until it was too late but the Nevermore is a pirate ship. The crew hide their weapons when they come to port. The ship's weapons are shielded even from Megaton."
"How did you join them?"
"I was just looking for a new crew to join. My old one disbanded when the captain lost our ship in a game of cards. I didn't realize they were pirates until their next raid. By then it was too late."
"Okay, my offer still stands. Until then just keep an eye on me while I sleep and wake me if Cipher returns."
Rat nodded.
"I'm going to wash up first,' Gale said.
As she splashed water in her face, she noticed some shell casings on the bathroom floor. She reached out with her mind. She saw images of men and women on their knees followed by the sound of distant gun shots.
A successful opening of her brain.
That's it until next time.
Cipher entered instead. "How is he?"
"He is in a light coma. He should make a full recovery but the next day or so are critical. I need to keep watch over him to ensure there are no complications."
"I'll make arrangements for your stay."
Gale nodded but wondered if she made the right choice.
Midnight wandered the vast market of Megaton. As he moved through a thinly populated set of stalls, he spotted Main Stream escorted by a quartet of White Guard.
He moved to follow through the maze of stalls. The armored figures led Main Stream further away and through a secret panel in the outer wall. One guard remained outside as the door closed.
He cautiously approached the blank wall.
"Nothing to see here," the guard said.
"I thought I saw my friend around here," he said.
"There's no one here."
Midnight walked off and considered his options. He looked for his crew, eventually finding Brace in Megaton's Red Light District.
"Brace, we need your help. Main Stream was abducted by the White Guard."
"Didn't she say she was a passenger? I'm not sure it is our problem."
"She's a part of the Starlight. And anyway she's a paying passenger. We don't have many of those."
"Fine, I'll help you." Brace closes his eyes. "Main Stream come here."
He uses Lost successfully.
"What did you do?"
"I called her. She come here, eventually."
Only a few minutes later, a White Guard ran up to them with three more chasing after them.
"They're after me," Main Stream said from behind the featureless helmet. "We've got to run."
Brace turned to Midnight. "Run, I'll stall them."
As the two fled into a mess of tents and stalls, Brace faced the guards. "You don't want them."
Slowly he began to strip his clothes. The guards stared in wonder and unnatural lust as he performed. A small crowd of onlookers gathered transfixed.
Yes, he took that move: Arresting Skinner.
In a nearby tent, Main Stream removed her disguise. Midnight tossed her his coat and escorted her quickly back to the Starlight, glancing over his shoulder the whole way.
Meanwhile Brace reveled in the attention. "You know the four of us could go somewhere more private. For a more intimate performance?"
"That sounds good," one of the helmeted figures said.
Successful Seduce a Person?
The others nodded and they led Brace out of the market. Passing through a secret door, they headed deeper into Megaton.
Vivek sold another pouch of his special stash. The third this hour, he mused. Business was good.
A figured watched from the far end of the stalls. They ran the moment Vivek spotted them. The drug dealer chased after them, keeping them in sight through the busy market.
The shops and stalls gave way to the dockyards. Vivek skidded to a stop in Bay 3. People moved about on their day-to-day activities. No one matched the outline of the man he just saw.
Vivek checked the dockyard logs. The Good Trip was berthed in Bay 5. Vivek decided to check in on an old friend.
The small ship smelled of grease and salt. A few tables and chairs were scattered around it. A makeshift kitchen filled the main cargo bay. Lunch worked the grill as Vivek approached.
"You!" Lunch said, waving a metal spatula at him.
"Hey, it is good to see you too."
"Good to see," he mumbled. "You left me holding the bag when you ran out!"
Vivek held up his hands. "Sorry. But I needed to get away from Mech and Boss. You know how they were. You don't look too bad off."
"Too bad off? I had a diner last time you were here. A real sit down place. I had to hock it because I helped you."
"I said I was sorry. I just wondered if you had something of mine."
"What? I tossed all your smelly clothes."
"No I mean my protection, you know the nine mil."
"Oh that." Lunch turns back to his grill. "Yeah I guess I still have that."
"Can I have it back?"
"What do you want it for?"
"Like I said, protection."
"This is Megaton. You don't need that kind of protection."
"Lunch I need it."
Lunch served up a stack of burgers. "Okay. But I'll get some heat if they find you with it. I need you to do something for me first."
"What?"
"Thanks to you I'm still tied into this underworld crap. There's a job the powers that be want done. Do the job and I'll get your stuff."
"What's the job?"
Lunch leaned over to Vivek. "The White Guard want a woman named Main Stream eliminated. She's held in the inner sections of Megaton."
"Fine."
Lunch slid a watch over to him. "Use this to get inside. It has the map to where she's being held."
Vivek followed the path on the watch through a grid of corridors. After ten minutes he reached an interrogation room.
The door slid open. Instead of Main Stream, Brace stood cuffed to a wall. Three White Guard surrounded him. One of the guards, a woman, faced away from him. She must be the target.
"Die," he thought at her.
He picked up the move Direct Brain Whisperer. Vivek goes aggro and inflicts damage. He also had some harm boosting moves. She dies quick.
She gasped and collapsed. Vivek quickly backed out of the room.
As the other guards rushed to her aid, Brace strained at his bonds. He slipped his hands free in time to grip his side in agony. Blood spilled from his old wounds.
Soft success on acting under fire.
Brace straightened and pushed past the pain. Shaking in anger, he shouted, "Now you are both going to die."
The men drew their weapons but Brace jumped between them. He pushed one guard's sword into his friend before hurling the survivor into the mirrored glass.
I think we handled this with a seize by force.
Brace moved over the wounded man. "Please leave me alone. Just go. Please just go."
Brace shook from the adrenaline and pain. He pulled the man over the shackles on the wall. "No. You need to answer some questions."
"It's done." Vivek sat down next to the sizzling meat.
Lunch reached under the grill and pulled something small but heavy from under it. "Careful it's a bit warm."
Vivek stowed his gun and walked off. Once out of sight, he popped open the clip. The key was still there in the bottom.
Vivek looked back at the Good Trip. A few men watched from the edges of the dock. The drug dealer slipped the key out and heads to a messenger station.
"I need a package delivered."
"What and where," asked the kid sitting by the station.
He grabbed an empty bag and dropped the key inside. "This. Take it to Gale at the Starlight."
Vivek quickly paid and hurried elsewhere.
I forget if Jordan introduced the key as part of a Threat or if someone else collaborated with him. Either way we never saw it pay off.
He spent the next few hours at one of Megaton's night clubs. Then together with a blond named Dez, he purchased a sleep cycle at a high-end hotel.
The guard gasped in pain as blood streamed from his eyes and ear. "No, please stop."
Brace uses liberal use of In-Brain puppet strings.
"Not until you tell me what is going on. What has become of the White Guard? Why are you after Main Stream?"
"I don't know. I don't know what's happening to us. The dreams, the nightmares, they just keep coming. I see myself doing horrible, even inhuman things. Sometimes I don't know if I'm awake or asleep. The others, they said it was tied to White. Something happened to him. And now it is happening to us too. That's all I know."
"Thanks," Brace said, sliding his hands around the man's neck.
The guard's eyes bulged. He opened and closed his mouth soundlessly as Brace tightened his grip. His struggles slowly weakened and then stopped. Brace held on until the life left his eyes.
Brace took a guard's gun and blasted the surveillance cameras. Donning some White Guard armor, he made his way back out into the markets. Quietly he slipped onto the Starlight.
He entered his quarters and grabbed some fresh clothes. On his bed was his violation glove and a note. Carefully he picked up and read it.
"Beware the dreams of madness. If you want to know more meet at Bay 33 at 5 AM."
Bay 33, that was far into the abandoned end of Megaton.
I think this scene was the result of a combination of several shorter episodes interspaced with the events above.
Midnight Storm adjusted his duster. He looked in the mirror one last time and ran a hand through his long dark hair. He pulled his guitar out of its case, checked the tuning again, and then packed it up for the concert.
On his way out of the docks, the musician passed some fliers he and Snaz put up earlier in the evening. The eager fan had been happy to spread the word. Snail, the club owner would be grateful. More people meant more money spent on drinks. For Midnight that meant a larger take as well.
He arrived early and smiled at the White Guard watching the entrance. Wrench nodded back at him. Even Megaton's guardians enjoyed his music.
A small crowd waited for him inside. Snaz pushed up to the front dragging a red-headed woman behind him.
"Hey Midnight!" He turned to the beauty beside him. "Molly, this is Midnight Storm!"
"Hey," she said, trying to wrench her arm free.
"Hi," Midnight said. "Looks like we have a good crowd already."
"This is nothing," Snaz said. "Just wait until the show. Molly go get us some drinks. Hurry now."
Midnight watches her go. "Molly is your girlfriend?"
"Yes, the old ball and chain. Hey, I can't wait to see you play."
Midnight stepped away. "Well I need to go back stage and get ready."
Later the club walls vibrated to his songs and the thrum of a sea of humanity. Midnight saw Molly and Snaz right in front. Snaz cheered him on while Molly's gaze took on a look he'd seen many times before. That could be trouble.
A successful Artful and Gracious move. Molly is in love with Midnight. Or at least his music.
As the concert wound down however Midnight saw something worse. Snaz became abusive, drunk on music and booze. When Molly tried to leave the crowd (for the restroom or some quiet, Midnight couldn't tell) Snaz smacked her. More than once.
After the show, Midnight peeled Snaz away from the rest of his fans. "Snaz, you seem like you have a good thing with Molly. But you can't treat her like that."
"What do you mean?"
"I can tell Molly cares about you but need to treat her nice in return. She's not your servant or your toy."
"Hey don't butt into my relationship."
"If you want to hang with me, I don't want to see you hurting women."
I'm not sure if there was a Manipulate a Person roll here but there should have been.
"I need an assistant if I'm going to handle all these wounded," Gale told Cipher.
The captain looked down at her and stroked her chin. "Okay. Rat! Come in here."
A man entered the infirmary, the first Gale saw out of the ship's black and brown uniforms. "What do you need me to do, Captain?"
"This is Rat, our nurse," Cipher said. "Rat assist Nightingale. Keep an eye on the injured and make sure she's comfortable."
Rat nodded.
After Cipher left the room, Gale asked, "why don't you have a uniform?"
"I'm uh new here." He started checking supplies. "I guess they didn't have a spare."
"They must not trust you much then. I know some of the crew died. They should have a spare now."
"I guess."
"Look I know something fishy is up with this crew. You don't look happy here. Let me in on what's going on and I'll take you with me when I leave."
I'm pretty sure Gale succeeds on a Manipulate a Person roll.
Rat glanced around. The wounded were all asleep. "I didn't realize it until it was too late but the Nevermore is a pirate ship. The crew hide their weapons when they come to port. The ship's weapons are shielded even from Megaton."
"How did you join them?"
"I was just looking for a new crew to join. My old one disbanded when the captain lost our ship in a game of cards. I didn't realize they were pirates until their next raid. By then it was too late."
"Okay, my offer still stands. Until then just keep an eye on me while I sleep and wake me if Cipher returns."
Rat nodded.
"I'm going to wash up first,' Gale said.
As she splashed water in her face, she noticed some shell casings on the bathroom floor. She reached out with her mind. She saw images of men and women on their knees followed by the sound of distant gun shots.
A successful opening of her brain.
That's it until next time.
