The cast:
- Brace (ex-Brainer Battlebabe): the ship's pilot and also a spook, that despised part of humanity touched by the weird. He has extensive psychic powers. The White Guard tried to violate him. He killed the crew of the Nevermore and claimed their ship. Now to get out from Bluejay's thumb he need to steal the leader of Megaton.
- Midnight Storm (ex-Skinner Solace): teenage post apocalyptic rock star who wants to help people. He has begun to see Wolves of the Maelstrom around and they want to end the music. But first he needs to stop the garden ship from corrupting all he loves.
- Nightingale (a.k.a. "Gale") (ex-Angel Touchstone): the ship's doctor hunting her brother Bluejay. She has a vision for the world. A vision to hold the darkness of the void at bay. Too bad her brother intends to fashion an empire instead.
- Manfred (Faceless): A massive man who wears a mask fashioned from a stop sign. He used be a cook on a cattle ship and now cooks for the Starlight. He has shown himself to be brutally deadly.
- Switchblade (Maestro D'): acrobatic woman in a fool's motley who runs a traveling carnival and is handy with a knife. She's friends with Midnight and Manfred.
I realized I never detailed the threat of White himself. While the others handled most of the rest of Megaton, I dealt with Bluejay and his goal: White.
White
Kind: Grotesque: Perversion of Birth
Impulse: to overthrow, chaos, the ruination of all
Description: White is a creepy albino, an elderly mystic who delved too deep into the Maelstrom and touched something beyond. Now he is a reaver.
Custom Moves:
- Foaming Rage: +1 harm
- Don't Blink: If unattended he disappears from any prison. If attended and his keepers are distracted, roll +Sharp. On a 10+ he tries to escape. 7-9, he attacks you, suffer harm. On a miss he is gone.
- Shutdown: He knows the controls of Megaton. See below.
Countdown Clock: If White escapes a countdown begins. 3:00 all ships power down. Escape becomes very hard. 6:00 Megaton powers down, including antigravity. 9:00: The beacons begins to broadcast Megaton's location. At 10:00 he has assembled a small gang. At 11:00 he has a medium gang. 12:00 the reavers arrive.
Reaver Gang Moves:
- Foaming Rage: +1 harm
- Swarm: when rolling harm move add +1.
All Good Things
“Dinner in 30 minutes,” Manfred barked into the mess hall. Brace and Nightingale flinched as the massive man's voice hit them from two feet away.Manfred backed up to allow into the kitchen.
"I need your help again," Brace said. "We need to retrieve someone from the inner sections of Megaton. There are many obstacles between us and him but I know you can handle doors."
Manfred chopped vegetables as Gale added, "I'd like to avoid killing too many people. So the faster we get to our target, the better."
The cook tossed the ingredients into a pan. "Who?"
"White," Brace and Gale chimed.
Manfred nodded and grabbed a jar of fennel from the spice rack. "Five month's wages."
5-barter.
Nightingale and Brace glanced at each other for a moment. Brace turned to Manfred, "there is likely going to be a lot of weapons and gear we can grab along the way. You can have a cut of the spoils."
Manfred turned away from the stove and shook his masked head slowly. "No. I need to cook now. Please get out of my kitchen."
Brace stepped closer. "No, we need your help. I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement."
I believe Brace failed to Manipulate a Person, possibly due to interference from Manfred.
Smoke filtered from behind Manfred. "I told you my price."
Farley burst in. "What the hell is burning?"
Manfred pulled the pan from the stove with astonishing speed and hurled the flaming debris onto the metal floor. He looked at Brace and Gale. "Get. Out. Now."
With a wave of his massive arm, he thrust everyone out of the kitchen and into the mess hall. From outside they heard him grumbling as he stomped the fire out.
Brace and Gale slipped into a booth at a crowded cafe.
Landers peered up with bleary eyes from behind a large cup of coffee. "Were you followed?"
Brace shook his head. "Are you ready?"
The woman slid a map across the table. The yellowed photocopy showed a dense network of corridors and chambers with a single path highlighted in red. "I can create a distraction once you reach this point. It should clear the way until you reach here. That's where the inner circle is monitoring him."
Gale looked up from the map. "We'll disguise ourselves as guards. Can we try tonight?"
Landers yawned. "I would but I haven't had a decent night’s sleep in a week. It's all I can do not to crash right here. Maybe I could rest on the Starlight?"
Brace and Gale nodded to each other.
"Okay," Gale replied. "I'll monitor you. We'll put the plan into action tomorrow night."
We left Midnight with Switchblade after his concert ended.
Midnight blinked his eyes open. A strange ceiling hung over him. Tattered posters mixed with a collection of puppets.
Switchblade snuggled into him. He looked down at her face, so smooth and unguarded.
He cast his mind back. After talking long into the night, they had just flopped onto the bed. He recalled Switchblade describing each and every item in the room and where it came from. At some point sleep caught up to them.
No sex moves. :)
Midnight probably would have pursued Switch, but romantically. He's brown out of one night stands.
His stomach rumbled. Midnight pulled slowly away from her. Gently he slipped her head off his chest and onto the bed. He stood up and tried to remember where the Carnival's kitchen lay.
Switch stretched out on the bed and yawned loudly. "Looking for breakfast?"
"Uh, yes."
"Find Belter," she said sleepily turning over. "Over in," she yawned, "the hanger bay."
As Switchblade resumed snoring, Midnight headed for the central section of the ship. He found the rest of the carnie family there, going through their morning routines.
"Great performance last night," Shatterglass said.
A few other entertainers murmured in agreement.
"Where is Belter?' he asked.
Shatterglass pointed to a large heavily tattooed man standing in one of the stalls. He stirred a large bowl of gruel. Midnight ambled over.
Belter poured him a bowl of slop. "Seeing Switch?"
"Yes. I mean, I was going to talk to her before leaving."
Belter grunted and poured another bowl.
Midnight carried both bowls back to the captain's quarters. He tried the latch with a pinky. Locked.
The musician carefully placed the food on the floor and knocked.
After a moment, Switch swung the door open, freshened up and in a different motley. "Oh breakfast. Great!"
As she dug into the gruel, Midnight said, "So I'm thinking of scouting the garden ship today. I want to see what they are hiding."
"Are you thinking of doing a show there?"
Midnight ate some of the thick bland slop. "Maybe. If it lets me get close to them."
"Sounds fun. I'll tag along."
"Thanks."
They exited the room. Warm stale air-filled the corridor. The pair stopped. Something moved in the air duct near the door.
"Get out now Mice," Switch ordered.
The grill lifted and a small girl tumbled out. "Sorry Switch. I wanted to go in your room. Can I play with the blocks?"
Switch pressed a button on a communications terminal next to the door. "Chainsaw, come up to the captain's quarters. Mice wants to play in there. Watch her."
Midnight looked on as the garden ship security turned a pair of gray-haired men away. He and Switch were next.
"You want to work?" the woman interviewing the line asked.
"Sort of," Midnight said. "I came by the other day. I'm Midnight Storm. Some of your crew were interested in having me put on a show."
"I remember." She smiled. "I'm Glory by the way."
Successful manipulate a person using the advanced move. So she became an ally and a guardian for Midnight Storm.
"Glory can I look around? I need to work out where I'll perform and put my equipment."
"Yes. Please, follow me."
Glory led them inside the garden ship. They passed familiar corridors opening onto grow rooms and green houses. This time Midnight and Switch carefully memorized their route.
"I think you'll impressed by the crowd," Glory said. "Our community is really growing." She laughed. "Seriously, Emma has really brought people together."
"Emma? That's your captain."
"Yes. But she's more than that. She's like a mother to all of us. I almost can't think of anyone I feel closer to."
"She started this ship?"
"Well she made it a garden."
"She must be good with plants."
Glory laughed.
"How do you get so much soil? It seems really...rich. I've never heard of someone doing a planet run for dirt."
"Sorry, it is a trade secret. Emma handles our composting."
Switch scanned the people weeding, pruning and harvesting the ship's bounty. Men, women, even children. None of them over thirty. She tried not to focus on the rich earth underfoot.
Its made of people!
They ended the trip in the orchard. "I think this spot would work well. We hold all our meetings here."
Midnight pressed the moist soil with a boot. "This will do. Hey, can I see your captain? Emma I mean."
"Sure, I'll find her. Can you wait here?"
"Sure." As soon as she walked off, he turned to Switch. "So, you didn't see any old people too, right?"
"Yes," she said, her hand reflexively gripping the handle of her knife in her belt. "We are not going to stay here?"
"Just long enough to take a measure of Emma. Then we get out."
"Sounds good. This place makes me edgy."
A woman with pale blond hair approached. Padding born of good food covered most of the signs but she was easily the oldest person they met on the ship.
"Welcome, welcome," she said. She embraced each of them. Midnight smelled clay and herbs. "So I hear you will be giving us a concert."
"Yes, I will."
"Glory, bring over that basket." Emma took a large wicker basket of fruit, fresh bread, and vegetables from Glory. "Take this breakfast as a sign of our appreciation."
"Um thanks," Switch said, taking the food.
"Why don't we eat a bit and you can tell me a bit about the songs you plan to sing. Glory lay out a blanket for us. Thank you."
The four of them sat on the picnic blanket. Midnight filled the time with a detailed list of his music, lyrics and backstory on where he learned or created each song.
"How did you get this place started?" he asked, nibbling just enough bread to be polite.
Luckily he made his roll to avoid any ill effects.
Also in this scene Midnight failed to read a person.
"Oh, I met people here and there who shared my vision. We worked together and refurbished this old hauler and made it a paradise."
"But this soil, there is so much of it. Did you get it planet side?"
"Oh I picked it up here and there. It took time but good things do."
"So Glory said there would be a big crowd. I noticed a lot of people signing up to work here."
"Humans are meant to work around growing things not dead metal boxes."
"Right, so where are the people who started this with you? I'd love to hear their stories."
"Oh they moved on to other projects, helping people in more direct ways. But enough questions, tell me about these ballads you mentioned. Did you write them or did you learn them elsewhere?"
Switch abstained from eating. Emma's smile grew colder as the meal progressed. The looks the acrobat drew from Glory and other onlookers were even meaner.
After a family of five glared at her for a solid minute, Switch stood up. "I need to use the bathroom."
"Glory show this nice woman to the facilities," Emma said.
Switch glanced around her as they headed to the bathroom. Glory led the way but a pair of men trailed along with her to the right. Another man and two women covered the rear.
She reached the bathroom safely, a porcelain lined room smelling of incense. Switch slipped her knife up carefully her sleeve, ready to cut anyone who got close. Then She stepped out.
"Glory?" she asked looking around.
A rugged man in green stepped forward. "Glory went back to the picnic."
"Okay. I'd like to leave now. My crew need me. Could you tell Midnight Storm I'll see him later?"
"Certainly, this way."
As soon as she left the green confines of the garden ship, Switch walked quickly back to the Carnival. She didn't stop until she reached her quarters. Out of breath and breathing heavily she leaned against the door and sank to the floor.
Then she noticed the safe across the room. The door was open. Bluejay's suitcases were there but the basket of fruit wasn't.
Midnight nibbled a bit more bread as he looked over Emma's shoulder. Still no sign of Switch.
"You should meet some of our local talent. Glory, go get Tank and Sil. I'm sure Midnight would love to discuss the concert with them." As Glory fetched the singers, Emma continued, "have you considered staying? We gather large crowds wherever we go. It seems like you would be a nice fit for our community. Oh, here they are."
Midnight greeted the singers, listened to some of the songs they knew and taught them a few of his own. After an hour with no sign of his companion, Midnight turned to Glory.
"Glory can you find out what happened to Switch for me? I'm worried she isn't back yet."
Glory glanced at Emma for a moment. "Switch left the ship a while ago."
"I see." Midnight stood up. "I'm sorry Emma but I need to see my friend. I'll be back tonight. We can talk more then."
Glory escorted Midnight out of the ship.
"Are you going to be okay?" she asked looking back at the garden ship quickly. "I can come along if you need me."
"Sure. I need to talk to one of my other friends Manfred."
"How long until our next stop?" Manfred asked. His bulk filled most of the pantry door.
"Depends, probably a few weeks," Farley replied from inside. "What do you think we need to stock up on?"
"Meat. Oregano. Chives. Fennel. A large sack of flour."
A slender young woman peeked out from behind Manfred. "Hey Captain? I found something."
"What is it Nova?" he said as Manfred stepped aside. "Oh Manfred, this is another new hire, Nova. She's going to tend the grow room under Gale's direction. Hopefully it can provide us with some of those herbs you wanted."
The grow room is Vivek's old workshop. Nova is the first of Gale's followers introduced this session.
"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about Captain. I found this in the grow room." She holds up a large silver box.
Farley picked it up. "Must be Vivek's. Locked. Oh well, we'll check it out later."
"Okay. Did you say something about flour? Are we making bread?"
Manfred nodded. "Midnight Storm gave me some yeast."
"Oh great! Ruth and I had fresh-baked bread every week growing up. You know if we expand the grow room, I could even grow some grains. And herbs. Oh I've got to check the market for seeds."
"Hey," Farley called as Nova began to hurry off. "Be careful. I like the idea of fresh bread as much as you but a lot of people have been going missing recently. Vivek, Bigs. I haven't even seen Brace or Midnight much lately."
"Hey Captain," Midnight said entering the kitchen.
"Oh there you are. Everything okay?" Farley said. Nova smiled from the kitchen corner.
Midnight avoided Farley's eyes. "They will be soon."
"Okay, then." Farley and Nova left the kitchen to the two men.
Midnight looked up to Manfred. "I need your help."
"Cooking or cutting?"
"Cutting. You remember the garden ship? It is worse than I thought. Will you help me shut it down? I can pay you."
Midnight storm gets a hard hit on his Manipulate a Person.
"A month's supplies. And you owe me a favor."
1-barter.
"Done." He shook the giant's meaty hand. "I am supposed to give a concert there tonight. You get on board a half hour after me and create a distraction. I imagine that should be pretty easy."
"What will you do?"
"I'll be going deeper into the ship and find where they make the fertilizer. Once we expose that the cult should be done."
Manfred considered the young man. Midnight Storm must still believe in fairy tales. But the cook nodded anyway.
Brace and Gale marched through the inner corridors of Megaton. The uniforms Lander lent them fit much better than the one Brace stole.
Gale used a passkey and referenced the map. "Almost there."
Brace hesitated at the threshold. "This is where the interrogation room is."
Gale took his arm. "Don't worry, I'm here. We can get through this."
A few minutes later they passed through a second security door. White flourescent lights brightly lit the corridors. Clean white walls and floors stretched before them.
As Brace and Gale continued, they passed children playing and elderly inhabitants moving along on their business. No one paid them any attention.
"I never thought about the White Guard having children," Gale said.
Brace and Gale stepped onto a strangely tiled section of the hallway. Instantly the floor began to move, carrying them towards their final destination.
Roughly halfway along, another White Guard soldier approached on a moving walkway going the opposite direction.
"Who are you?" asked the familiar voice of Commander Kriss.
"We are heading to relieve the guards stationed by the inner sanctum," Gale bluffed.
And succeeds at acting under fire.
Kriss nodded. Gale reached out and snagged his passkey as they slipped past him. A minute later the walkways put a hundred yards between them.
I forget if this was part of the above roll, a second roll, or the product of a 12+ with the advanced move. The original cast was highly experienced by this point in the story.
"I hope Landers has a good distraction ready," Brace muttered.
The lights began to flicker overhead. The other walkway speed up, whirring and flying along at an incredible rate. The cries and crashes of surprised passengers echoed dimly down the corridor.
The walkway ended at a final security door. Gale swiped the passkey and they entered the inner sanctum.
A gentle white glow filled the large chamber. Two soldiers flanked the door as they entered with two more guarding a door on the opposite side of the room. Six elderly men and women sat on comfortable chairs and sofas in the center discussing the daily metrics of Megaton.
Everyone fell silent.
"What are you doing here?" an old bearded man asked.
"There is a serious danger to the station," Brace said. "Equipment malfunctions are occurring throughout the inner sections. We need to move White now."
He makes his Manipulate a Person roll.
"Oh no!" said another elder, a balding man.
"What if we lose power?" a white-haired woman asked. "The automatic drips don't have backups."
"We need to switch to gravity feeds," another elder said, pushing himself up with a cane.
Gale followed the elders into the next room. An elderly albino man lay on a table in the dimly lit white room. A single guard followed them in. She let him lead.
White twitched, his eyes searching under their lids despite a chemically induced coma.
Brace accessed the door controls and sealed them inside.
"What's going on?" the guard asked as Gale's fist crashed into his head.
Seize by force.
The guard fell to the ground unconscious. The elders stared in dismay and amazement.
"Into the closet," Gale ordered.
The men and women shuffled into the small space. As Brace sealed them in, they quickly shouted warnings.
"Don't let him wake up!"
"He's far more dangerous than you realize."
"You don't know what you are doing!"
Nightingale meanwhile examined White. For an old man under a severe level of sedation, his vitals were exceedingly strong. It was almost as if he were somehow is resisting the medication. Gale injected him with enough tranquilizers to keep him down for a few hours.
Brace opened the door to the inner sanctum as Gale wheeled him out on a gurney. The three guards turned.
"Where are the elders?" one shouted.
White's eyes shot open.
Gale stabbed White with a syringe, injecting him with the last of her sedatives.
White attempts an escape!
Brace leveled his pistols. "Back off or everyone dies."
The guards backed away, leaving a path to the security door. The pair wheeled White away. Gale swiped Kriss's card on the way out, locking all access.
A successful Go Aggro.
Gale and Brace raced through the inner corridors of Megaton. Occasionally they heard the stomp of boots but always they stayed a step ahead. As they reached the elevator system it began to dawn on them that something else must be occupying the White Guard.
I think there may have been an acting under fire roll here but the main issue is that Midnight Storm (and Switch and Manfred) were sort of drawing all the attention by this point.
Next time we will see what they were up to.
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