Begin a Session: I decided to write a flashback for Hammer - back to the beginning of his last mission for the Kenduri
The pilot turned towards Special Agent Hammedin; "Reaching comms range, sir," she said quietly.
"Thank-you, Leftenant," he replied toggling the external comms. "Kenduri Outpost Alpha 3-3, this is Kenduri Cargo Starship Populi Maru, respond."
"KCS Populi Maru, KO Alpha 3-3 responding," came the reply. "You are expected. Transmit your clearance code to confirm."
A moment passed as the computer aboard the ship completed its electronic 'handshake' with the outpost's Overseer AI module.
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| Cavalo-337 |
"Thank you KO Alpha 3-3," said Hammedin before closing the comms and leaving the bridge.
The pilot sighed audibly after the door closed behind the special agent. "I'll be glad when he's gone," said the co-pilot; more cautious than her colleague, the pilot said nothing, concentrating on their approach so the Outpost's Overseer would have nothing to report when it took over.
The Cavalo-337 interstellar cargo shuttle Populi Maru span simultaneously through both horizontal and vertical axes as the AI took control and glided it gently into dock 5 where the holding clamps secured it firmly.
The 337 container (named for its dimensions - 3m x 3m x 7m) disengaged from the ship and transferred onto the outpost. Then a different container was placed in the ship and it was released from the dock. The Populi Maru's relief crew powered the ship away from the outpost and towards minimum distance for an e-jump.
As his custody pattern container transited along the conveyor belts to the security station, Hammedin did his best to contain his impatience to begin the investigation on the outpost. Black marketeering in itself was below his paygrade, but the death of his informant merited intervention - whistle-blowers had to be protected or they'd stop coming forward ...
Begin a Session: end of flashback
* +1 momentum : now 4
* * * * * * *
Detaching from the rope, Hammer approached the door as the others followed him down.
Undertake an Expedition: troublesome, "Explore Fanum's Vault" : vigilantly, roll +wits : 3 +3 vs 3 & 5 : strong hit
* reach a waypoint; envision the location
* mark progress per the rank of the expedition, now 3 / 10
The doorway itself had two doors that met in the middle; in the seam, two metres up from floor level, was what appeared to be a button. His tribarrel at the ready, Hammer approached the button and examined it carefully seeing that it bore the 'open' icon that he had seen in previous vaults. Cautious as always, he waited until the entire team was down and ready before pushing it.
The doors ground slowly open, and as they did so, lights came on in the corridor that led away from them into the vault. The lights revealed piles of debris and detritus littering the floor, but not enough to impede them. Not until the doors had fully opened and a full minute had passed did Hammer move slowly forward across the threshold and into the vault.
As this vault is Hammer's first foray, I made choices on the Oracles instead of rolling and here are the choices that I made that have been revealed so far:
* location : planetside
* scale : minor, confined site
* form : woven into environment
* shape : practical
* material : metallic industrial
* outer first look : cavernous opening
* inner first look : damage and debris
Slowly advancing, Hammer entered the vault, skirting the debris as his HUD identified the components of the litter as pieces of remnant robots.
"Looks like the vault's last visitors were attacking remnant robots from another faction," said Hammer on the team's intercom. "You can see the differing styles of manufacture."
"Indeed," replied the Professor. "Asha, vid them all please." His assistant transferred her carbine to her off-hand, pulled out her camera and began recording.
Around thirty metres in, there were arches in each side of the corridor. Looking into each of them, the team could see that they were now empty hangars. It seemed that they had held the robots that now lay destroyed in the main corridor, although some had not managed to leave their hangars, destroyed before they could move.
The destroyed aerial robots in one of the hangars were of particular interest to Professor Doyce and the team stopped to take detailed measurements and samples. Positioning and manufacture style indicated that they had been attackers.
Thirty metres on, the corridor terminated at a T-junction.
Undertake an Expedition: troublesome, "Explore Fanum's Vault" : vigilantly, roll +wits : 5 +3 vs 5 & 8 : weak hit
* reach a waypoint; envision the location
* mark progress per the rank of the expedition, now 6 / 10
* face a peril at the waypoint
To the right, the corridor decreased in size to three by three metres terminating at a door after five metres, while to the left it continued at the same ten by ten metre size curving to the right from Hammer's perspective. Electing to check the smaller area first, Hammer left the team at the junction and advanced to the door.
The one piece door had the open icon button in its centre, so Hammer pushed it with the muzzle of his tribarrel. The door slid smoothly downwards to reveal a control room with multiple consoles and three of the remnant hexapod robots powering up!
Enter the Fray: objective "Defeat the remnant robots" - troublesome : sizing up the situation, roll +wits, +1 from Weapon Master asset : 2 +3 +1 vs 4 & 8 : weak hit
* You are in control
* +1 momentum from Weapon Master asset, now 5
Strike: attack at a distance : roll +edge : 5 +2 vs 5 & 6 : strong hit
* mark progress twice, now 6 / 10
* you stay in control
"BLAM! BLAM!" Hammer's tribarrel barked twice and the control centres of the closest two robots disintegrated as the slugs impacted. As he fired Hammer had entered the room and crashed against the nearest console using it as cover. Given the range, Hammer switched to his SMG, stuck it over the top of the console and sprayed the entire magazine into the area of the last bot.
Gain Ground: charging boldly into action : roll +heart : Weapon Master asset - once per fight, when Gain Ground by switching weapons, take an automatic strong hit : strong hit
* stay in control
* +2 momentum, now 7
* mark progress, now 9 / 10
Take Decisive Action: roll progress : 9 vs 2 & 6 : strong hit
* +1 momentum, now 8
Hammer could see the last bot falling to the floor through the SMG's sight display on his HUD, so he reloaded the SMG then stepped out scanning the room to ensure all foes were down. As they were, he called the research team forward.
Reach a Milestone: vow "I will escort Professor Doyce and his team into, and out of, the vault on Fanum"
* mark progress, now 4 /10