Asteroids and Athletes Ch. 07

Cesar (GM): Alright, that's everyone right? As you all stand at the console getting ready to open the hatch, do you say anything before you press the button to release him into space? Who's going to do it?

Maira (Grita): I will, Grita.

Cesar (GM): Alright.

Maira (Grita): Grita will close her eyes, and you can see her mouthing something, and then she presses the button, and opens her eyes.

Cesar (GM): Which button? The-

Maira (Grita): The hatch button, not the grenades.

Cesar (GM): Ok just checking. *laughter* You hear the alarms, these are normal for when you're venting and ejecting something. From the window you see the hatch begins to open and suddenly the vacuum of space pulls Fanvo's body out. As his body continues to float outwards, the light of the nearby sun of Ag'eval IX lights him up.

Maira (Grita): Xoragol did you want to do the honors?

Justin (Xoragol): ... uh, what do you mean?

Maira (Grita): I put some charges on him. You know he'd want a giant explosion for this right? You were the closest to him, would you like to press the button?

Justin (Xoragol): Can... can we all do it?

Maira (Grita): Sure, let's do it.

Cesar (GM): Alright, so assuming Xoragol is holding the activator and everyone else has their hands over like a group cheer before starting a football game or something?

Justin (Xoragol): Sure.

Cesar (GM): Alright, sweet. So you counting down?

Justin (Xoragol): On three ok?

Maira (Grita): ok.

Justin (Xoragol): Three.

Cesar (GM): *laughs* You all press, you feel each other all pressing at the same time. Xoragol your thumb pushes the button, and you hear a click before... BOOM! There is a giant explosion. You feel the ship suddenly shift, and more alarms go off! There may be a breach, his body isn't too far off... *rolls dice*

Maira (Grita): I thought you said he was far enough away?

Cesar (GM): But then, the alarms go silent and show everything is normal, just seems to be one last trick played by Fanvo.

Maira (Grita): Bastard.

Cesar (GM): *laughs*

Justin (Xoragol): Grita.

Maira (Grita): Yes?

Justin (Xoragol): That was the perfect idea. And... I think you were right. We need a break from all this shit.

Heidi (Zarasti): I agree. We at least need some time to plan. To figure out our next move.

Maira (Grita): I just want to breathe... take some time to rest.

Heidi (Zarasti): What about Senyaava?

Maddy (Yaae): Who?

Heidi (Zarasti): The one who gave us the job. Xoragol's former lover. Maybe he can give us payment for clearing the way to the treasure chamber.

Maira (Grita): Yeah. But not, now. I don't want to talk about what happened to anyone else.

Justin (Xoragol): He should be able to help us. It's going to be alright.

Maira (Grita): I'll stay with the ship if you want to go.

Justin (Xoragol): That's fine.

Maira (Grita): I'll fly us back down and land near the city where Senyaava was staying.

Cesar (GM): Alright. You land the Red Nova back on the planet of Ag'eval IX at El'teeva the capital city, where the prime minister Senyaava is stationed. What do you do?

Justin (Xoragol): I'll go to Senyaava's office. His white house or whatever...

Heidi (Zarasti): While he's doing that I'll be working on that encrypted file I got a long time ago on the infested planet. I figure I have some time to work on it.

Cesar (GM): Alright, what is everyone else doing?

Maira (Grita): I'll look over the ship for any repairs.

Maddy (Yaae): Could I help?

Cesar (GM): Sure. Again this isn't a quick repair or under-pressure skill check. You have theoretically as much time as you need... but let's do Xoragol's scene first.

Maddy (Yaae): Ok.

Cesar (GM): Let me check something. *rolls* Alright you get to his office. It's actually green, not a white house.

Justin (Xoragol): *laughter* ok.

Cesar (GM): And only wait five minutes before his guard tells you, Senyaava will see you now. You get ushered in and Senyaava is there behind his desk. He's wearing a tight fitting suit that emphases his large arm muscles. It's shiny blue with large lapels. Over his shoulder is a long cape with the colors of the flag for the Conglomeration of Chogai'at. He asks the guards to leave so you can be alone. After they do, he approaches you with a charming smile, about to give you a kiss you think... But then he looks somewhat serious and concerned and pulls back. (As Senyaava) Are you alright my love?

Justin (Xoragol): Please, not now. Something terrible happened

Cesar (GM): What? Can I help?

Justin (Xoragol): Fanvo, you know the Leshani we travel with? He got killed by one of the trapped chests in the ruins.

Cesar (GM): That's awful. What happened?

Justin (Xoragol): Like you warned us, that place is filled with all manner of traps. But we had our robot trip most of them, so it wasn't much of a problem. Unfortunately it got fried just as we got to a chamber full of chests and artifacts. Fanvo couldn't help himself. I could see it in his eyes. He wouldn't wait, he wanted to get the treasure. He didn't notice the vibroblade trap that popped out of the treasure chest. It cut his arm completely off. We tried to save him, but he didn't make it. He must have died from blood loss.

Cesar (GM): I'm sorry, were you close?

Justin (Xoragol): We were.

Cesar (GM): I'm so sorry.

Justin (Xoragol): Captain Grita and the others have agreed we don't want to delve any more into the ruins right now. So... we won't be searching for artifacts any time soon.

Cesar (GM): I completely understand. Does your group want a place to stay for a few days?

Justin (Xoragol): Uh, maybe. Let me ask them what they want to do.

Cesar (GM): Whatever you need Xoragol. I'm here for you.

Justin (Xoragol): Thank you. I'll go back to the ship and let them know what you said. Just in case they agree, where would we stay?

Cesar (GM): You're talking to the Prime Minister! I'll be able to set you up in a nice suite at a comfortable hotel don't worry. The newest and most prestigious is here in El'teeva. I should be able to get you a few rooms there. Then he puts a hand on yours. I'm here for you.

Justin (Xoragol): I'll thank him again, and then leave.

Cesar (GM): Alright, let's flip back to Zarasti. You wanted to?

Heidi (Zarasti): The file? Can I try to hack it?

Cesar (GM): This is a highly encrypted file. Remember you were pretty sure it had safeguards that could delete itself from your computer if you aren't careful and fail your skillcheck.

Heidi (Zarasti): But I could take more time to get a bonus?

Cesar (GM): Yes you could get... let's say quarter skill bonus if you focus on hacking for the whole day.

Heidi (Zarasti): Ok, so that's 94% total. That's great. I guess I'm not doing anything else. I'm going to spend a whole day working on that file.

Cesar (GM): Ok we'll go through everyone else's stuff, and then before the 24 hours is up you can roll, just keep in mind Zarasti can't focus their mind on anything else. Best to find a place where they won't get distracted.

Heidi (Zarasti): No problem.

Cesar (GM): Alright Grita, what did she want to do?

Maira (Grita): Repair the ship.

Cesar (GM): Right, there's nothing wrong with it that you can tell.

Maira (Grita): Yeah, um... Could I just change the oil or whatever the spaceship equivalent is to keep my mind off of Fanvo.

Cesar (GM): Sure. You check the...

Maira (Grita): The thingamajig and the doodads.

Cesar (GM): *laughs* Right. We'll say you... check ark-plugs for any carbon buildup. Roll luck.

Maira (Grita): *rolls* Success.

Cesar (GM): They look clean to you.

Maira (Grita): Ok, Can I check anything else?

Cesar (GM): Whatever you want. Let me see... You can always organize the loading dock, cleanup the medbay, check all the sensors, clean the viewports, sweep the decks, or fill it up with fuel...

Maira (Grita): Can I do all of that? Except for the medbay, I want to stay away from there.

Cesar (GM): Yeah, that should take you all day, it's a big ship.

Maddy (Yaae): I'll help.

Cesar (GM): Alright, sounds good. Xoragol, when you come back to the ship you find Yaae and Grita cleaning and doing repairs.

Justin (Xoragol): Grita?

Maira (Grita): Hey. How did everything go?

Justin (Xoragol): Yes. It went... fine I suppose.

Maira (Grita): What did he say?

Justin (Xoragol): He said he could get us a place to stay if we wanted.

Maira (Grita): Like a hotel? Why?

Justin (Xoragol): Yes he said there was a new building in...

Cesar (GM): El'teeva

Justin (Xoragol): Right El'teeva. I think it's Senyaava's way of offering his condolences. Did you want to take him up on his offer?

Maira (Grita): I don't know...

Maddy (Yaae): Maybe it would take our mind off of the situation?

Justin (Xoragol): Possibly. Hey where's Zarasti.

Heidi (Zarasti): Zarasti is in their room.

Cesar (GM): There aren't individual rooms in the Red Nova.

Heidi (Zarasti): Oh right. Where could I go to be alone? I was going to do the hacking thing. Wait, I could just meditate couldn't I?

Cesar (GM): That's for resting and focusing your mind... that wouldn't exactly work. You need to be working on your computer. Where do you do that?

Heidi (Zarasti): I guess in Zarasti's bed.

Cesar (GM): Sure.

Heidi (Zarasti): I'd still hear them from over there?

Cesar (GM): Sure, I don't see why not.

Heidi (Zarasti): Hello Xoragol, I'm over here.

Justin (Xoragol): Would you like to go to a fancy hotel?

Heidi (Zarasti): If I am able to get my own room, yes.

Justin (Xoragol): Do you all want your own rooms?

Maira (Grita): I don't want to be alone.

Maddy (Yaae): Could I join you?

Maira (Grita): Please.

Justin (Xoragol): I'll ask him for three rooms then.

Cesar (GM): Alright, let's say you get in contact with Senyaava and get the rooms. Is everyone alright with jumping ahead to the hotel? It's only the middle of the day. You'll get all setup in late afternoon.

Maira (Grita): Yeah that's fine. I don't want to do anything else.

Cesar (GM): Does anyone want to do something special, or are you all going to just chill in your rooms?

Heidi (Zarasti): Well-

Cesar (GM): Except Zarasti.

Justin (Xoragol): Not really.

Maira (Grita): Actually. Let me talk to everyone before we all go to our own rooms.

Cesar (GM): Alright. What did you want to say?

Maira (Grita): Once everyone is together, I guess in my room with Yaae, I'll ask the group... Fanvo had money right?

Justin (Xoragol): Yes.

Maira (Grita): What should we do with it?

Justin (Xoragol): Can we talk about this tomorrow?

Maira (Grita): Sure, but think about this... maybe we should give it to a Lashani family. There are so many that are struggling.

Justin (Xoragol): Doesn't really seem his style.

Maira (Grita): Ok well think about it, we can talk tomorrow.

Justin (Xoragol): I'll head off to my own room.

Heidi (Zarasti): The same with me, but I'm going to work on hacking the file.

Cesar (GM): Is everyone else going to bed?

Justin (Xoragol): I'll take a moment to think about Fanvo and all the good times we had. It probably takes an hour before I'm able to drift off to sleep.

Maira (Grita): Grita is very quiet, just lying in bed.

Maddy (Yaae): Goodnight Grita.

Maira (Grita): Goodnight Yaae.

Cesar (GM): Is Zarasti going to spend twelve hours on hacking? I said add quarter skill right?

Heidi (Zarasti): That's a bit long. How about 6 hours?

Cesar (GM): You can add... 10 to your skill.

Heidi (Zarasti): Eighty five? Hmmm, no I guess I'll wait when we have more time. I don't want to rush this. If I'm lucky I could take down Stargiz with this information.

Maddy (Yaae): Stargiz?

Heidi (Zarasti): They were a former associate of Zarasti... same species who-

Cesar (GM): You should say it in character.

Heidi (Zarasti): Isn't Yaae asleep?

Maddy (Yaae): Yeah...

Heidi (Zarasti): Nevermind then.

Maddy (Yaae): That sucks.

Cesar (GM): There will be time for that later. So a decent night sleep comes to everyone. And the day is yours.

Then Cesar told us that in the morning, in the game, Senyaava (Xoragol's ex) came to the hotel and offered his condolences. Grita went off on him how the ruins were a literal deathtrap. She wanted at least some payment, but without anything to show for our journey into the ruins, he had nothing to offer us.

Maira got a bit angry with Cesar. She was begging him to give us a break and seemed exasperated. He was sympathetic to her request, but said she should be speaking in character to Senyaava. She tried to convince the NPC, but failed the roll. This got her angry again. I suggested we pool our money together and buy another bot. Nothing too fancy, but one that could be our guinea pig for the treasure room.

Maira and Heidi were surprisingly easy to convince, but Heidi wanted to use just Fanvo's money to get the bot. It didn't quite feel right. He had only 900 credits. I asked if he had a family we should send the money to, but Xoragol reminded me that he didn't. It felt wrong to split his money all between us. Justin (Xoragol) had a great idea to spend Fanvo's money on laser pistols for each of us and etching his name in the handle. It was like a piece of him would be with each of us. Eventually we all agreed to get the robot too by sharing the cost. We bought a bot in town and walked it through the ruins as the sun was setting. Although the robot was cheap, it opened the chests in the treasure room for us without risking ourselves. It was able to open four chests before it was destroyed in an explosion. Cesar asked us to roll a D6 for each chest to determine how many artifacts we found. All combined it was 12. Cesar said if we turned them all over it would be six thousand credits! The bot turned out to be money well spent.

It felt like a great victory. Before selling the artifacts, we decided to look and see if there was anything useful. Most was ornamental weapons and armor, nothing too remarkable, but there was an ancient timepiece. Cesar described it as a stopwatch with a glowing blue face without any numbers. Zarasti didn't roll well enough to place the technology, but thought they could sell it to someone else for more money. We decided not to tell Senyaava that we kept it and Grita rolled well enough so he didn't suspect. Or maybe he didn't care. He would give us the credits in the morning so we kept all the artifacts until then. Zarasti asked to keep them in her room. She wanted to study them some more. Then something crazy happened. Zarasti didn't know what exactly the ancient stopwatch did, but she managed to get it going. Suddenly there was a bright flash. It appeared as if nothing physically had happened and then Cesar rolled something behind his GM screen. Then he asked Heidi to roll an intelligence check. She succeeded. Cesar explained that Zarasti realized that they (Zarasti only) had travelled two days into the past! It was the day that Fanvo had died.

I couldn't believe it. Could Heidi save Fanvo? It got me hyped for next week. I asked Cesar, but he didn't share any secrets. Then I wished everyone goodbye, holding Justin in an embrace a bit longer than normal when I said goodbye. I told him to give a hug to Evan for me. He graciously agreed.

Then Jasmine reminded me to stay until everyone left. I helped Cesar and her cleanup as everyone said their goodbyes. After everyone else was gone she explained how their relationship had grown into something more, but still open like Cesar had told me. She and Cesar invited me to lunch the next day to say thank you (again) for being a good friend. I agreed and gave her and Cesar a hug goodbye.