Convicted
Background: Only three days after the events of "Gold Shield" Deke's maintenance crew have finally finished outfitting the Griffon with light armaments from among those seized from the Anchorage and she's ready for a live fire test. With Cylon recon drones still actively seeking the fleet through Ragnar's stormy upper atmosphere (and a Cylon basestar presumably in orbit waiting to pounce on them) the fleet has used its time on the run to upgrade it's combat craft as rapidly as possible. Scuttlebutt has it that Admiral Drake has managed to wrangle the committee into agreeing with a plan to leave Ragnar and move the fleet into the asteroid belt where we'll have a lot more room to hide. The focus on arming otherwise unarmed craft, and upgrading existing armaments and armor, is in preparation for that move.
The session begins with Nike reassigned back to the Griffon as primary pilot but with the tech specialist position for the ship still open. Though Admiral Drake seems inclined to give Sun the opportunity to prove herself she still has to complete her sentence. So far the team is only able to convince the Admiral to assign her temporarily to the Griffon for the initial round of live test fire exercises, receiving no promises beyond that. Deke is likewise assigned due to his familiarity with the ship and Aella is to cross-train on the Griffon's weapons systems.
During our mission briefing we are informed that we, as a team, will likely be more or less permanently tied to the Griffon from here on, and that she'll be used only rarely and for highly specialized missions. As such we should still be able to complete our primary assignments without undo interruption. Wrapping up our mission report we head out onto the deck to board the Griffon, wait for her be outfitted and launch for our assigned testing area.
Scene one:
Now cruising well out of sight of the fleet (due to the storm's low visibility) we are forced to rely on beacons to keep track of the fleet in order to avoid being left behind. At well beyond capitol range from the closest civilian ship in the convoy we take position for our live fire tests against a dispersed group of remote controlled targets.
While we're waiting for the Raptor monitoring the test to disperse the drones and announce we're ready to begin, we have Deke and Sun run quick maintenance checks on both the ship generally and ship systems specifically, hoping to avoid any trouble. They both make decent rolls so we're at least confident that we can avoid any simple malfunctions or failures.
As the live fire test begins we find that the EM interference from Ragnar's story atmosphere prevents a fully satisfactory test of our systems since it negates almost everything but skirmish range targeting. Still, since we're more or less testing to be sure the weapon systems even function in the first place we're satisfied with that for now. We are a little anxious when we see a couple of the missiles impact their targets and actually explode (meaning someone dropped the ball and failed to defuse all of the warheads for the test). We spend a little more time making sure the Raptor observing us stays well out of the field of fire and are glad we did so when a two of our missiles completely fail to lock onto their targets and hare off out into the storm.
Once the tests have wound down and we're satisfied the basic firing systems seem to be more or less working (though the missiles themselves seem to require some looking into) we wrap up our testing and prepare to return to the Rock. Before we can move out, though, the Griffon's sensors pick up on a mass displacement drifting through the storm nearby just out of sight. After communicating with the Raptor we both decide to approach the object close enough to get a visual on it. In moments we spy the Idyllia, a prisoner transport ship that joined our civilian fleet back at the Anchorage. Pouring over our spotty sensor readings and zooming in visually as much as we can we see the Idyllia has a Raptor docked on it's port side facing us. Apparently the Raptor's engines have exploded and damaged the Idyllia's thrusters, leaving her drifting. As we're close enough to establish at least a spotty radio communication with the ship we take another look when we can't raise her. Again, it quickly becomes apparent that the ship's antennae bundle seems to have been damaged by debris from the explosion. It seems the Idyllia is very lucky to have drifted right past us as she did.
Nike pilots the Griffon around until we're face to face with the ship, close enough to be seen clearly, and begins pinging with the Griffon's signal lights. In moments we're communicating with Idyllia's captain and establish that the ship and crew are alright (other than drifting without propulsion or even the spotty radio communication available in the storm). The Raptor nearby then drops another beacon/relay and heads back to the fleet (on the assumption that she'll be carrying a repair crew right back here again). Once the relay comes online we contact the Rock ourselves and receive orders to maintain visual with the Idyllia until help can arrive.
As we continue to communicate with the Idyllia's captain it doesn't take long for us to realize the destroyed Raptor stuck to her port airlock didn't explode at all but was rather struck by a missile. Nor is it much of a stretch for us to realize the missile was very probably one of those we lost track of during our live fire test. A little more back and forth via signal lights more or less confirms this when we consider the timeline. Naturally, we're a little embarrassed. Still, we're suitably impressed that the Idyllia's pilot was agile enough to turn the transport and take the hit right on the Raptor's docked to it. Quite a fancy bit of flying, that.
After nearly an hour of waiting our Raptor escort still hasn't returned with a repair crew and we've already drifted out of contact with the relay, our last orders being a merely a repeat of our previous ones. After discussing the matter with the other captain he finally agrees that perhaps Sun and Deke should come aboard and see what they can do, since help from the fleet seems delayed to the point that the fleet may end up losing track of us altogether. With that Nike pilots the Griffon around to the Idyllia's starboard side and docks successfully.
Perfectly aware that we're about to board a damaged prisoner transport ship, we take a moment to gear up properly with body armor and fully loaded weapons before stepping aboard the Idyllia. Hopefully we won't come across as unnecessarily aggressive but there's no point in failing to prepare in an effort to appear polite. In due course we've exited the Griffon and find the captain and XO there to greet us. Introducing themselves as Patre and Mana Dektrian, we find that the married couple apparently run the entire predominantly automated vessel themselves. After questioning this a bit we find that the prisoner transport is, in fact, devoid of prisoners at the moment and that the Dektrians were merely employed to pilot the ship to a salvage yard when the Cylon attack occurred. Which is why the Raptor was docked in the first place, to deliver a crew of surveyors from the Rock to make a rough estimate of the Idyllia's free cargo/passenger space before assigning her a fair share of the fleet's load.
Once we've established all that it naturally leads to the question of where that crew of surveyors are at the moment. At which point we find out they were all boarding the Raptor and preparing to leave when the missile struck. The ship pilot, Mana, is distraught to recount this as she claims she wasn't aware the Raptor was occupied at all when she turned to take the missile strike there in an effort to minimize damage from the blast.
Once we've established the situation we jot back over to the Griffon to make one last good look around for an approaching Raptor bring a repair crew. Having done that we ask the Doctrine’s to point Sun and Deke in the right direction so they can get to work. Nike and Aella decide they'll follow Mana back to the flight deck. Patre escorts Deke to engineering after pointing out the adjacent electronics room to Sun.
By the time Patre returns Nike is already starting to irritate Aella. From his horoscope he gets the feeling that maybe they should stay on board the Griffon while they wait for Deke and Sun to report in. Being stuck on a drifting transport that's already proven itself prone to nasty accidents has him fairly jumpy. Aella, however, takes time to make sure the Dektrians can monitor Deke and Sun from operations before she drags Nike back to the Griffon to fetch space suits and take a look at the damage to the Raptor still stuck to the port airlock. We figure by then Deke and Sun will have determined what they can do and what needs to be done and we can both then chip in to help them.
While Deke and Sun make some very good rolls diagnosing the problems facing the Idyllia, Nike and Aella suit up and head to the port airlock. Accessing the Raptor from there proves difficult as even the outer hallway connecting to the airlock itself has been depressurized by breaches from the missile strike. The airlock, once we've reached it, is naturally warped just enough to make getting through without cutting tools impossible. Since Sun and Deke are reporting in by then we decide to leave it for now and go pitch in with them. Aella heads back to the flight deck with Patre while Nike heads down to the lower deck where Deke is.
[Everyone receives 1 Plot Point for shaking out all the bugs in the Griffon's weapon systems and another for discovering and responding to the Idyllia's situation.]
Scene two:
Sun is then called on to make an Alertness + Perception check but since she's so horrible at those she doesn't waste any Plot Points on it and just accepts that she's about to get hosed. Mana then pops into the electronics room looking a bit anxious and asks Sun if any of us have first aid training. Sun naturally informs her that she has extensive medical training. Mana then tells her that Patre has been injured and requires her help. Sun drops what she's doing to follow Mana off the flight deck and down to the prisoner detention level. There she is confronted with three men armed with pistols, all of them identical in appearance to Patre. Sun considers for a moment before tossing up her hands, allowing them to take her pistol and escort her down the hall.
When Aella and Patre arrive on the flight deck and find Mana and Sun gone, Patre calls her over the comm. Mana claims she's just off showing Sun to the lavatory. Patre offers Aella a seat (which she declines) and tries to engage her in conversation while they wait for them to return. Nike meanwhile arrives in engineering and pitches in with Deke in repairs.
Downstairs Sun is escorted into the rear cargo area where she finds two dead Gold Shield surveyors, one live but badly wounded "Patre", a wounded Gold Shield surveyor (who's been shot in the leg) and, of all people, Regina Cauler. Interestingly, the "Patres" point out the wounded surveyor to Sun first, insisting she get to work on him while simultaneously doing their best to convince her they didn't intend to harm anyone. Sun naturally believes them but merely triages the surveyor before moving on to the more seriously wounded "Patre" (though she only has a first aid kit to work with).
Regina, however, is pretty furious and claims the "skinjobs" here killed the two unarmed men with little provocation. After a bit of back and forth, with the three "Patres" insisting it was Regina's actions that resulted in violence breaking out, they finally give up arguing with Regina. They step back outside, closing the door behind them. Regina immediately insists Sun use the scissors in the first aid kit to cut her bonds so she can jump them when they return. Sun is torn for a moment but decides her Duty complication is going to lead her to stabilizing the wounded Cylon humanoid first before worrying about freeing Regina and thinking about escape.
Nike, down in engineering with Deke utterly fails a Hard Alertness + Perception (+ Sixth Sense) check and carries on without a twinge that anything is amiss. Aella, however, decides Sun's been gone too long (and needs to be reminded to check in with her before she hares off somewhere). She tells Patre that he might need to show her the way to the lavatory as well. He agrees and takes the lead down to the prisoner detention level. She fails an Alertness + Perception check herself in the process. Once she's stepped off the ladder she finds Mana joining them there, claiming Sun is still making use of the facilities. She points out the door to Aella who enters and, of course, doesn't find Sun anywhere. When she comes again to confront Mana she finds no less than two "Manas" and four "Patres" waiting for her, with pistols. Aella actually considers resisting for a moment but ends up surrendering. She is escorted to the room where Sun and Regina are being kept with the other prisoners.
While Nike and Deke make the last couple of rolls to restore the Idyllia's engine to a somewhat functional status Sun finishes up performing first aid on the two wounded prisoners and Aella interrogates the wounded Patre as to what's going on. She learns that the prisoner transport holds some excess of two hundred Cylon humanoids, Patres and Manas all, (apparently keeping out of sight by hiding in the supposedly empty prison cells). They intend to use this opportunity to break away from the fleet and flee the storm. From there they intend to jump out of the system and eventually find a habitable planet far away from both human and Cylon space. We also discover that the Patres and Manas are fraternal twins, which seems obvious now that it's pointed out, and that they are in fact based on a single model. This thirteenth model's existence was largely a secret until relatively recently and now that the Cylons know about them they feel compelled to flee before they are hunted down and exterminated.
When asked why the Cylons are hunting them, the prisoner Patre explains that the group of human scientists that aided the Cylons in developing the humanoid models created the Thirteens in secret, though they don't know to what end. The group of humans, it turns out, were the same ones we picked up on the anchorage and that have since committed suicide, so when they failed to rendezvous with them and learn of their fate the model thirteens decided to break from the fleet at the first opportunity and simply run.
[Sun gets 1 Plot Point for her Trusting complication and another for her Duty complication. Nike and Deke get 1 Plot Point for wrapping up repairs so quickly.]
Scene Three:
Nike and Deke decide to head back to the flight deck to hook up with Sun and Aella again and report that they've repaired enough to restore some propulsion to the Idyllia. Deke is the first one up the ladder and sees several Patres standing nearby with pistols aimed at him as he emerges. He climbs up carefully, keeping his hands in view but issuing a warning to Nike below him. Nike pauses on the ladder and asks what the problem is. One of the Patres then informs him from above that they have Deke at gunpoint and that he better get up there and surrender himself as well. Nike is reluctant to do so but with Deke under the gun I can't figure a way around it so eventually he has to give in and come on up.
We consider putting up a fight once we're up there (OOC we're aware the Sun and Aella are already captured and IC we figure as much) but since the Patres have us Covered with pistols it seems just a tad too suicidal. Deke of course decides his Glory Hound complication should rear it's head right about now and decides to go for it anyway. The GM is kind enough to rule that the Patres moving in to disarm Deke and Nike eliminates the other Patre's Covering actions.
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Deke lunges and grapples the Patre that comes for his weapon, overcoming three attempts to break free by the Cylon humanoid before establishing a firm hold and successfully disarming him.
1)
Nike grapples the Patre coming for his weapon but the back and forth scuffle between the two eliminates the possibility of following up with a disarm attempt so Nike is forced to make due with just a good grapple. The two Patres that comes after him with a flurry of punches fails to connect at all despite Nike lackluster innate defense roll and the poor cover of the Patre he's grappling. Deke likewise proves very lucky, taking only one blow from the Patre attacking him.
2)
Nike draws his pistol and tosses off two shots at one of the Patres trying to beat him off the one he's grappling but fails to land a hit. His opponent immediately takes advantage of his multiple actions to break free and pummel him with two hard hits. Nike takes his Second Wind for the day to try to shake off some of the stun damage but rolls a 2, then uses his Lady Luck asset to roll again for a 5. He's shaken but still in the fight.
The Patre trying to get at Deke over his grappled comrade attempts a series of grapples in order to set up an opposed Strength + Wrestling check to pull him off but Deke's exceptional rolls nips that in the bud. The Patre he's grappling struggles but can't break free either. Deke draws his pistol and fires off a shot at the Patre who tried to grapple him landing a grazing shot on him.
Nike, after grappling, drawing his pistol, firing and losing his grip on his primary opponent is relying entirely on innate defense and it takes only a single punch from one of the Patres to knock him out cold. Deke is likewise limited to innate defense and takes a couple of light hits from the last Patre as well.
3)
Deke immediately takes three hits from the Patre coming to rescue the guy he's grappling. He dodges one attack but opts for innate defense on the other two, hoping to save an action or two for some fighting when his turn comes around. Some nice rolls by the Patre damage him though and he decides to dodge the last hit anyway to avoid being knocked out completely. Deke then takes his Second Wind for the day to reduce his stun damage 4 points. Unfortunately it's all for naught as the Patre he's grappling breaks free this turn and spins around to lay into him and he's forced to dodge both those attacks as well. He's unable to field the skill dice for another shot after the multiple action penalties but he can toss off one weak punch with his Talented (Brawling) asset. He lands a light blow on one of the Patres facing him. The two remaining Patres finish him off though and Deke goes down quickly.
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Aella and Sun aren't all that surprised when Deke and Nike are hauled into the room unconscious. Sun has already since patched up the wounded in the cell and tries to engage the Patres as to what their plans are for them. We're surprised a bit when the Mana who has accompanied them into our cell tells us that they have no ill will toward us at all. While the rest of the Cylon race seems bent on eradicating humanity, the model thirteens just want to get away and out of the system. We are assured that we are to be released with our ship once the Idyllia has cleared Ragnar's storm and jumped clear of trouble. Making our way back to Ragnar and finding the Rock in her storm is our problem, of course.
Sun then receives a fully loaded medkit from the Mana which she is grateful for (having neglected to bring one) and takes a moment to check it out. As the model thirteens leave the cell Sun immediately breaks out the sedatives to knock out the Patre in the cell (pretending it's a painkiller), then delivers painkillers and stims to Deke and Nike once she's roused both of them. With about six hours before Deke and Nike take a hard hit from the crash of both those chemicals we set to work figuring how to get out of the cell as quickly as possible. It soon proves impossible as we've been stripped of all our gear and the cell is clearly monitored as well. In the end we opt to simply wait until someone returns and try in unison to break out, hoping that the stims and painkillers don't wear off before then.
After nearly an hour we decide to make someone come for us by setting Sun to disable the security camera. Nike hoists her up on his shoulders so she can reach it while Deke gets to work pretending (for the benefit of whoever is watching) to work on the cell door. Sun disables the monitor easily, despite having no tools, by simply unscrewing the lens from the camera. We then take positions near the door and wait. Still, after several minutes, no one has come and it seems we're not being monitored so very well after all.
Eventually we give up on any plans to ambush our next set of visitors once another hour has passed. By now we can already detect from the movement of the ship and cycling of the engines that we're likely headed out of the storm. Since we haven't FTL jumped so far we can only assume we're not quite there yet. In time another Mana comes to visit, with several armed Patres in tow, to speak with us again. We opt not to take our chances jumping them this time and wait to see what they have to say first instead.
The Mana seems anxious and begins asking questions about Sun's technical training. Apparently her medical skills have called that into question and the Mana seems unconvinced she really is our technical expert rather than simply a talented medic. Eventually Sun has her convinced that she's skilled in both fields and Mana then offers us a deal. While they had originally intended to release us after several jumps away from the system they now find that an important piece of equipment has been damaged and want to make use of all their available resources to insure that it's repaired before they begin to jump. The Mana offers to release us immediately after we clear the storm (and thus greatly improve our chances of relocating the Rock's fleet) if we pitch in with repairs.
We agree and are escorted down to the lower level by several armed Patres and Manas, all keeping a respectable distance and all armed. Once we arrive we find a rather strange set of devices centered around two pools of glowing slime. The various computer and electronics devices surrounding the pools have already been cracked open and stripped down, with about a dozen Manas and Patres hard at work on them. When we pick out Sun and Deke to get to work (the rest of us having no real skill to offer the situation) the Mana leading the group orders Nike, Aella and Regina bound and placed under guard nearby until the work is completed. Regina, surprisingly, pipes in claiming some technical training and offering to help with repairs if it will get her off the ship any faster. The leading Mana readily agrees but a couple of the Patres nearby object and huddle up with her for a quick conference on the matter.
While the rest of us are shackled and forced to sit on the floor out of the way Sun and Deke get to work and we find out the entire apparatus is the model thirteen's personal resurrection chamber. With this any member who dies can be reborn in another body, dozens of which they have in suspended animation in a nearby room. Once Sun and Deke have some basic idea how the process is supposed to work they get busy with repairs. The thirteens conferring about Regina pop back up again, this time with a handheld device of some kind, which they insist on using to test all of us for something before we proceed any further. They test Regina first and it's clear they suspect her of something right off the bat. Taking a blood sample while she's still bound and testing it with the device, it's only seconds before whatever they were testing for comes back positive and Patres step forward aggressively, drawing pistols. Regina instantly snaps free of the cuffs holding her, leaps up and begins scuffling with the nearest Patre, disarming him and shooting two others before dashing out the door with half a dozen Patres in pursuit.
While the running gunfight continues on down the hallway outside our two main assumptions are confirmed by remarks between the thirteens nearby. First, that they were testing if any of us were Cylons and that Regina, in fact, was. Second, none of them recognized her and apparently these thirteens don't know what any of the other Cylon humanoids look like.
Before they can proceed with testing the rest of the ship suddenly rocks hard, throwing some of the thirteens to the floor. Though we suspect at first that Regina has set of some kind of explosion or something it soon becomes apparent that the Idyllia is under fire. As she takes two more hits the engines suddenly go down again (because we jury-rigged them in the first place) and we're drifting, still taking fire from someone out there.
[Deke gets 2 Plot Points for his Glory Hound complication. Deke and Nike both get 1 Plot Point for entertaining the ladies by getting their asses handed to them by Patres in unarmed combat. Sun gets 1 Plot Point for taking advantage of the medkit she's given to stim Nike and Deke while knocking out the wounded Patre.]
Scene four:
As the various thirteens abandon efforts to repair the resurrection chamber and dash off for other duties we're left with what appear to be the handful of Manas and Patres who are calling the shots around here. While they confer it becomes clear (what we already know) that the Idyllia is unarmed. A quick check over the comm confirms that three Cylon raiders have engaged the ship and are already coming around for another pass.
Before long the thirteens are offering us another deal, asking for our promise to defend the Idyllia long enough for them to jump away if they release us on board the Griffon. We naturally jump at the chance but we're surprised when Sun pipes up, wanting to stay on board and repair the resurrection chamber (and clearly doubting the rest of us will honor the deal anyway once we're on board the Griffon). This causes a bit of division between the lot of us since it's unlikely we'll ever get Sun back if she jumps away with the Idyllia. Aella takes control of the situation then, asking a few quick questions before using her So Say We All asset to convince everyone to do it her way. Once the thirteens assure Sun that the resurrection chamber isn't all that vitally important she's more agreeable (they can always attempt repairs later themselves). They apparently have plans to colonize a planet eventually and the human scientists who created them already developed a method that would allow them to reproduce normally, so they intended to abandon the practice anyway.
With that Aella soon has the leading thirteens agreed to jump away at the first opportunity while she herds us all of to the Griffon. She convinces them to send one of their number along as well to ease their concerns that we'll simply abandon them once we're free (and provide her with a prisoner for her marines to interrogate later). As we dash out the door she looks around for the device the thirteens were intending to test us with and finds it dropped to the floor. She snatches it up on the way out of the door.
During the short moment it takes us all to spring to the airlock and board the Griffon the Idyllia has already taken two more hard hits from outside and we're a little worried she'll blow up around us (not to mention questioning whether she'll be able to jump away at all). Once we're on board Nike and Sun both dive into the cockpit while Deke disengages from the Idyllia and Aella squares off with the Patre who's joined us. The moment we're free Nike breaks away, finding us already at Skirmish range with the three Cylon sparrows attacking the Idyllia.
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Nike spends 3 Plot Points on his Initiative roll, getting a very nice 16. He already takes Griffon's Agility but fails the Strength check and is stuck with his own d6. With Aella having no piloting skill to speak of and still training on Griffon's weapon systems, Nike takes control of the autocannons and piloting while giving Aella the two remaining missiles on board to fire. Sun takes the Griffons sensors and special systems while Deke takes over keeping an eye on their armed model thirteen who's watching over them in turn. Since Sun and Aella have combat roles they make Initiative rolls as well.
1)
Nike decides to close in with one of the Sparrows to personal range, getting right on it's tail and providing Aella with the best shot possible. The Sparrow is simply too fast for the Griffon, however, and three attempts fail to get us any closer. Nike doesn't want to waste any more actions on the attempt and drops 3 Plot Points on his last action to fire on the Sparrow with the Griffon's new autocannons, ripping it up nicely.
The Sparrow we've engaged has used up it's actions for the turn and can't do much else, so Aella takes her turn to try her hand at a missile shot. She has to make a control check to account for the Griffon's wild maneuvering which she wins handily. Though she has no Pilot/Guided Weapons skill at all she manages to match the Sparrow's innate dodge and fires, landing a hit and disabling the Sparrow.
The other two Sparrows are now in on the action and the first simply opens up on the Griffon with two missiles from skirmish range. It's first shot botches and locks onto the disabled Sparrow, hitting and destroying it(!), while the second homes in on us. Having spent so many actions on attempting to close in on the initial target raider, Nike is unable to even attempt to break the missile lock and we're stuck with the Griffon's innate defense. We're hit hard by the missile strike (Griffon's armor absorbing the worst of it, thankfully) but still manage to evade the Sparrow's follow-up burst of autocannon fire.
The third Sparrow attempts to close to personal range and succeeds easily since Nike can't put up much resistance. It opens up with a missile shot and two bursts of autocannons as well, intending to finish us off. It's missile shot locks on easily and it's first burst hits as well, doing some wince-worthy damage. It botches it's second burst of autocannon fire and the GM rules that it takes out it's own missile before it can even hit us.
Sun finally reaches her Initiative point and uses the Griffon's "Sheep's Clothing" system to quickly take on the signature of the Sparrow trailing us, dropping 2 Plot Points on the attempt and scoring the extraordinary success needed to institute the effect immediately. Though she has no Pilot/Guided Weapons skill either she drops 2 more Plot Points at a missile shot at the Sparrow still out at skirmish range, deploying one of our only two Deception missiles after it. She (amazingly, considering her Alertness of d4) wins the control check and uses Griffon's Agility for the shot. The Skirmish range Sparrow has been busy this turn and relies on innate defense. Sun scores the hit nicely and the second Sparrow is now broadcasting the Griffon's signature while we suddenly look like a Cylon raider.
[Deke, meanwhile, hasn't anything to do during the battle but to be on hand to repair any damage. He elects instead to go with his Glory Hound complication again and try to do something noteworthy while everyone is busy fighting. He jumps the Patre and grapples him successfully, then disarms him and knocks his pistol to the floor, spending a total of 4 Plot Points on all this to pull it off. The Patre's attempts to break free all fail and Deke now has a solid grip on him for the turn.]
2)
Nike, wanting to end the fight quickly before we take any more damage, turns and opens up on the Sparrow out at Skirmish range. He fires three bursts from the Griffon's autocannons but the Sparrow dodges all three, taking only one light hit. Aella fires our last missile at the same Sparrow, dropping 2 Plot Points on the shot and it's innate defense allows her to land a light hit from that as well.
The skirmish ranged Sparrow is now faced with two Cylon raider signatures, one of which is firing on it. Fortunately it has time to decide what it's going to do as all the dodging it's done eliminates any possibility of firing back on us. The third Sparrow on our tail likewise suddenly finds itself chasing what appears to be another raider while "the Griffon" just replaced it's buddy out at skirmish range. After a slight hesitation (and a botch on some roll by the GM), the Sparrow turns suddenly and fires at the second raider, scoring two solid missile strikes that destroy it.
Sun decides to go for broke and deploys the Griffon's Signal Cloud during her Initiative point, which will render missile locks impossible next turn. Since we're out of standard missiles and the remaining raider isn't, this seems a good time for it.
[Deke takes advantage of the Initiative point and pummels the Patre he's grappling. As an easy target who can't even attempt to break free again yet, Deke has him laid low with two solid hits. He tosses in a nice kick to add some more stun damage once he drops him just to be sure.]
3)
Nike orients on the last raider and launches an all-out attack with autocannons. Though he uses up all his actions for the turn he doesn't do a lot of damage in the process. Aella's turn comes around but she's out of missiles to fire so she abandons her station to investigate the scuffle she hears going on in the lounge. When she finds Deke stomping on the prone Patre there she snatches up the pistol and orders him to go find something to tie him up with.
The remaining Cylon raider, meanwhile, realizes it's mistake and reorients on the Griffon but it's used up it's actions for the turn dodging Nike fierce attack. Sun's Signal Cloud has meanwhile dispersed and no one has a target for missile fire for the remainder of the dogfight.
[Deke spends the rest of the turn looking for something to tie up the Patre with while Aella covers him.]
4)
Nike opens up again with autocannons in an all-out attack. Though the raider dodges the first two shots, apparently intending to save a couple of actions for shots at the Griffon, Nike's fire lights it up and destroys it completely.
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Once we're out of danger Nike turns around to orient back on the Idyllia, intending to close and take a shot at disabling it before it can get away. Apparently detecting that we're closing in, though, the Idyllia suddenly jumps away and we're alone outside Ragnar's storm. Sun checks the DRADIS and detects a number of patrolling Cylon craft in the area, several of which are already heading our way. Once she's made Nike aware of that we elect to dart full speed back to Ragnar's storm cover and take our chance at finding the Rock again.
In the lounge Deke and Aella have the Patre trussed up at last using some restraints Deke dug out of our stores. Once we're back in the storm again and have spent a half hour simultaneously seeking out the beacons we left behind and avoiding pursuit we're reasonably sure we're safe. Still, we haven't the first clue where the fleet is now and it's looking unlikely that we'll find them easily. Aella spends her time waiting for Nike and Sun to announce we're in the clear to inspect the device she took from the model thirteens back on the Idyllia. Once she's reasonably sure she's got it figured out she tests in on the unconscious Patre, taking a blood sample straight from the busted lip Deke gave him. When he tests positive for certain synthetic molecular compounds she figures she has the handy-dandy Cylon detector she hoped for.
Aella then calls everyone into the lounge to discuss our plans. Once we're all there she has us under the gun (being the only one of us still armed) and orders Deke to retrain everyone else with the steel handcuffs they got from the Griffon's storage. When we all balk at this she makes it clear she's willing to shoot someone to enforce her orders. With her Unstable complication apparently kicking in (she's pretty twitchy about it all) we decide to go along with her orders and Deke soon has everyone cuffed. Once Aella has Deke produce a blood sample for her to test she orders him back across the room and tests it. He comes up negative.
She then attempts to reason with him, citing this as the perfect opportunity to lay some suspicions to rest. By her argument we seem to be more or less a team now, especially since we've all been assigned to the Griffon more or less officially. In order to function effectively we have to be able to trust one another and, hence, we have to know if any of us are Cylon humanoids or even sleeper agents like Karen back on Madison's asteroid. Sun has already behaved oddly on a number of occasions and Nike has done some rather questionable things as well. Deke, at least, appears to have all the expected human foibles (his inhuman brawling ability notwithstanding). Deke finally capitulates and agrees to help her.
Taking the device and some quick instruction on how to operate it he takes a blood sample from Nike and tests it while Aella keeps everyone under the gun anyway. Nike comes back negative as well and is released. This leaves only Sun still bound and she doesn't put up a fuss when Deke takes a sample from her.
To our complete surprise Deke announces that Sun's results are negative, too. Nike isn't buying it and Aella seems suspicious as well so Nike snatches the device from Deke and tosses it to Aella, who conducts a second test herself. She, likewise, finds none of the synthetic compounds in Sun's blood either. Still, the GM has everyone operating the device on Sun making Intelligence + Technical Expertise checks so I use Nike's Intuitive asset for the day to ask flat out if Sun is a Cylon. The answer is a simple "no". Color us surprised because we all honestly thought we had Sun pegged as a sleeper agent for sure.
Once all that bit of drama is concluded successfully and Sun is released (with no hard feelings, thankfully), we head back to the cockpit to get back to the business of avoiding pursuit and finding the fleet again. After several hours we finally manage to stumble across one of the beacons we left behind and figure roughly which direction the fleet went from there. It takes several more hours before we are able to finally catch up and report in via wireless about everything that's happened. We're ordered to dock with the Rock immediately and the command staff are quite eager to get their hands on the Cylon detector we've brought them.
While Deke gets the Rock's maintenance crew busy repairing and rearming the Griffon (along with some minor modifications that we determined from the live fire tests) we report directly to Admiral Drake. While he and the rest of the command staff and a bit surprised to hear about a thirteenth model of Cylon it's resolved that it really doesn't matter since they're more or less out of the picture now anyway. News that Regina Cauler was a Cylon humanoid is met with some dismay as her position in Gold Shield security potentially gave her access to some intelligence that the Cylons are likely happy to have. Even if she was killed on board the Idyllia by the model thirteens pursuing her, she was free from Ragnar's storm at the time and likely downloaded to the nearest basestar. News concerning the Cylon's ability to resurrect is met with much dismay as well.
In the end the Admiral is visibly relieved that we've all already tested out on the Cylon testing device and quickly has Sun get to work on duplicating the test for use on the Rock. We take the opportunity to run down what models we've identified so far as well, coming up with a total of eight (the Gina/Karen model, the male and female among the refugees from the Anchorage who were killed on board the Griffon, the male and female among the dead on Typhoeus, the male and female among Nike's interrogators on Typhoeus and Regina Cauler). With that we complete our report, not to mention confirming Griffon's combat abilities, and take our leave. Which is good since Deke and Nike are in pretty sad shape since the drugs in their system have long since crashed and they're both barely hanging on to consciousness. They both report to the Medbay while Sun gets to work on the Cylon detector and Aella reports back to her duties on Admiral Drake's security staff.
[Sun gets 1 Plot Point for her Contrarian complication and 1 more Plot Point for using the Griffon's special systems so effectively. Aella gets 2 Plot Points for taking charge of the delicate situation and coming to a resolution that's agreeable to everyone and another 1 Plot Point for her Unstable complication leading her to force everyone into an impromptu Cylon blood test. Deke gets 1 Plot Point for his Glory Hound complication in jumping the Patre and successfully bring him down and another 1 Plot Point for something between he and the GM. Nike gets 1 Plot Point for not getting everyone killed in the dogfight with Cylon raiders.]
*Nike's horoscope for the day: Your usual routine is likely to be disrupted now, either by "freak" accidents beyond your control or by your own impatience with the status quo. Sudden unexpected events and breaking free of confining situations and relationships are very likely.
Advancement: none
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